e closely the king and his parliament. He believed that the
royal difficulties would be removed if a policy were adopted with which the
people could heartily sympathize, and if the king placed himself at the
head of his parliament and led them on. But his advice was neglected by the
vacillating and peace-loving monarch, his proffered proclamation was put
aside, and a weak, featureless production substituted in its place.
Nevertheless the new parliament seemed at first more responsive than might
have been looked for. A double subsidy was granted, which was expressly
stated to be "not on any consideration or condition for or concerning the
Palatinate." The session, however, was not far advanced when the question
of patents was brought up; a determined attack was made upon the very ones
of which Bacon had been in dread, and it was even proposed to proceed
against the referees (Bacon and Montagu) who had certified that there was
no objection to them in point of law. This proposal, though pressed by
Coke, was allowed to drop; while the king and Buckingham, acting under the
advice of Williams, afterwards lord keeper, agreed to give up the
monopolies. It was evident, however, that a determined attack was about to
be made upon Bacon, and that the proceeding against the referees was really
directed against him. It is probable that this charge was dropped because a
more powerful weapon had in the meantime been placed in his enemies' hands.
This was the accusation of bribery and corrupt dealings in chancery suits,
an accusation apparently wholly unexpected by Bacon, and the possibility of
which he seems never to have contemplated until it was actually brought
against him. At the beginning of the session a committee had been appointed
for inquiring into abuses in the courts of justice. Some illegal practices
of certain chancery officials had been detected and punished by the court
itself, and generally there was a disposition to overhaul its affairs,
while Coke and Lionel Cranfield, earl of Middlesex (1575-1645) directly
attacked some parts of the chancellor's administration. But on the 14th of
March one Christopher Aubrey appeared at the bar of the House, and charged
Bacon with having received from him a sum of money while his suit was going
on, and with having afterwards decided against him. Bacon's letter[29] on
this occasion is worthy of serious attention; he evidently thought the
charge was but part of the deliberate scheme to rui