iderable share in the debates,
consistently upheld the prerogative, and seemed yet to possess the
confidence of the Commons. The death of Salisbury, occurring soon after,
opened a position in which Bacon thought his great political skill and
sagacity might be made more immediately available for the king's service.
How far he directly offered himself for the post of secretary is uncertain,
but we know that his hopes were disappointed, the king himself undertaking
the duties of the office. About the same time he made two ineffectual
applications for the mastership of the wards; the first, on Salisbury's
death, when it was given to Sir George Carey; the second, on the death of
Carey. It is somewhat hard to understand why so little favour was shown by
the king to one who had proved himself able and willing to do good service,
and who, in spite of his disappointments, still continued zealously to
offer advice and assistance. At last in 1613, a fair opportunity for
promotion occurred. The death of Sir Thomas Fleming made a vacancy in the
chief justiceship of the king's bench, and Bacon, after some deliberation,
proposed to the king that Coke should be removed from his place in the
court of common pleas and transferred to the king's bench. He gives several
reasons for this in his letter to the king, but in all probability his
chief motive was that pointed out by Spedding, that in the court of king's
bench there would be less danger of Coke coming into collision with the
king on questions of prerogative, in handling which Bacon was always very
circumspect and tender. The vacancy caused by Coke's promotion was then
filled up by Hobart, and Bacon, finally, stepped into the place of
attorney-general. The fact of this advice being offered and followed in all
essentials, illustrates very clearly the close relations between the king
and Bacon, who had become a confidential adviser on most occasions of
difficulty. That his adherence to the royal party was already noticed and
commented on appears from the significant remark of Chamberlain, who, after
mentioning the recent changes among the law officials, says, "There is a
strong apprehension that ... Bacon may prove a dangerous instrument."

Further light is thrown upon Bacon's relations with James, and upon his
political sympathies, by the letter to the king advocating the calling of a
parliament,[9] and by the two papers of notes on which his letter was
founded.[10] These documents, ev