ed dignity of attorney-general, a
post which he filled with power and energy, but which he disgraced by the
torture of Peacham, an old clergyman, who was charged with having written
treason in a sermon which he never preached nor published. As nothing
could be extorted from him by the rack, Bacon informed the king that
Peacham "had a dumb devil." It should be some palliation of this deed,
however, that the government was quick and sharp in ferretting out
treason, and that torture was still authorized.

In 1616 he was sworn of the privy council, and in the next year inherited
his father's honors, being made lord keeper of the seal, principally
through the favor of the favorite Buckingham. His course was still upward:
in 1618 he was made lord high chancellor, and Baron Verulam, and the next
year he was created Viscount St. Albans. Such rapid and high promotion
marked his great powers, but it belonged to the period of despotism. James
had been ruling without a parliament. At length the necessities of the
government caused the king to summon a parliament, and the struggle began
which was to have a fatal issue twenty-five years later. Parliament met,
began to assert popular rights, and to examine into the conduct of
ministers and high officials; and among those who could ill bear such
scrutiny, Bacon was prominent.

HIS FALL.--The charges against him were varied and numerous, and easy of
proof. He had received bribes; he had given false judgments for money; he
had perverted justice to secure the smiles of Buckingham, the favorite;
and when a commission was appointed to examine these charges he was
convicted. With abject humility, he acknowledged his guilt, and implored
the pity of his judges. The annals of biography present no sorrier picture
than this. "Upon advised consideration of the charges," he wrote,
"descending into my own conscience, and calling my memory to account so
far as I am able, I do plainly and ingenuously confess that I am guilty of
corruption, and do renounce all defence. O my lords, spare a broken reed!"

It is useless for his defenders, among whom the chief are Mr. Basil
Montagu and Mr. Hepworth Dixon, to inform us that judges in that day were
ill paid, and that it was the custom to receive gifts. If Bacon had a
defence to make and did not make it, he was a coward or a sycophant: if
what he said is true, he was a dishonest man, an unjust judge. He was
sentenced to pay a fine of L40,000, and to be imp