the King or to the Council-board and from them receive such directions as may best agree with the Government of that place 15. That the Kings reasonable profit be not neglected partly upon reservation of moderate rents and services and partly upon Customes and partly upon importation and exportation of Merchandize which for a convenient time after the Plantation begin would be very easie to encourage the work but after it is well setled may be raised to a considerable proportion worthy the acceptation VIII I come to the last of those things which I propounded which is the Court and Curiality The other did properly concern the King in his Royal capacity as Pater patriae this more properly as Pater familias And herein 1. I shall in a word and but in a word only put you in mind That the King in his own person both in respect of his Houshold or Court and in respect of his whole Kingdom for a little Kingdom is but as a great Houshold and a great Houshold as a little Kingdom must be exemplary Regis ad exemplum c. But for this God be praised our charge is easie for your gracious Master for his Learning and Piety Justice and Bounty may be and is not only a president to his own subjects but to forreign Princes also yet he is still but a man and seasonable Memento's may be useful and being discreetly used cannot but take well with him 2. But your greatest care must be that the great men of his Court for you must give me leave to be plain with you for so is your injunction laid upon me your self in the first place who is first in the eye of all men give no just cause of scandal either by light or vain or by oppressive carriage 3. The great Officers of the Kings Houshold had need be both discreet and provident persons both for his Honour and for his Thrift they must look both ways else they are but half-sighted Yet in the choice of them there is more latitude left to affection then in the choice of Councellors and of the great Officers of State before touched which must always be made choice of meerly out of judgment for in them the publick hath a great interest 4. For the other ministerial Officers in Court as for distinction sake they may be termed there must be also an eye unto them and upon them they have usually risen in the Houshold by degrees and it is a noble way to encourage faithful service But the King must not bind himself to a necessity herein for then it will be held ex debito neither must he alter it without an apparent â—â—â—use for it but to displace any who are in upon displeasure which for the most part happeneth upon information of some great man is by all means to be avoided unless there be a manifest cause for it 5. In these things you may sometimes interpose to do just and good offices but for the general I should rather advise meddle little but leave the ordering of those Houshold affairs to the white-staffs which are those honourable Persons to whom it properly belongeth to be answerable to the King for it and to those other Officers of the Green-cloth who are subordinate to them as a kind of Councel and a Court of Justice also 6. Yet for the Green-cloth Law take it in the largest sence I have no opinion of it further then it is regulated by the just Rules of the Common-Laws of England 7. Towards the support of His Majesties own Table and of the Princes and of his necessary Officers His Majesty hath a good help by purveyance which justly is due unto him and if justly used is no great burthen to the subject but by the Purveyors and other under-Officers is many times abused In many parts of the Kingdom I think it is already reduced to a certainty in money and if it be indifferently and discreetly manag'd it would be no hard matter to settle it so throughout the whole Kingdom yet to be renewed from time to time for that will be the best and safest both for the King and People 8. The King must be put in mind to preserve the Revenues of his Crown both certain and casual without diminution and to lay up treasure in store against a time of extremity empty coffers give an ill sound and make the people many times forget their Duty thinking that the King must be beholden to them for his supplies 9. I shall by no means think it fit that he reward any of his servants with the benefit of forfeitures either by Fines in the Court of Star-Chamber or High Commission Court or other Courts of Justice or that they should be farmed out or bestowed upon any so much as by promise before Judgment given it would neither be profitable nor honourable 10. Besides matters of serious consideration in the Court of Princes there must be times for pastimes and disports When there is a Queen and Ladies of Honour attending her there must sometimes be Masques and Revels and Enterludes and when there is no Queen or Princess as now yet at Festivals and for entertainment of Strangers or upon such occasions they may be fit also Yet care would be taken that in such cases they be set off more with wit and activity then with costly and wasteful expences 11. But for the King and Prince and the Lords and Chivalry of the Court I rather commend in their turns and seasons the riding of the great Horse the Tilts the Barriers Tennis and Hunting which are more for the health and strength of those who exercise them then in an effeminate way to please themselves and others And now the Prince groweth up fast to be a man and is of a sweet and excellent disposition it would be an irreparable stain and dishonour upon you having that access unto him if you should mislead him or suffer him to be misled by any loose or flattering Parasites The whole Kingdom hath a deep interest in his virtuous education and if you keeping that distance which is fit do humbly interpose your self in such a case he will one day give you thanks for it 12. Yet Dice and Cards may sometimes be used for recreation when field-sports cannot be had but not to use it as a mean to spend the time much less to mispend the thrift of the Gamesters SIR I shall trouble you no longer I have run over these things as I first propounded them please you to make use of them or any of them as you shall see occasion or to lay them by as you think best and to add to them as you daily may out of your experience I must be bold again to put you in mind of your present condition you are in the quality of a Sentinal if you sleep or neglect your charge you are an undone man and you may fall much faster then you have risen I have but one thing more
March 30. 1663. Let this Collection of Letters and other Discourses be Printed HENRY BENNET SCRINIA CECILIANA MYSTERIES OF State Government IN LETTERS Of the late Famous Lord Burghley And other Grand Ministers of STATE In the Reigns of Queen ELIZABETH and King JAMES Being a further Additional Supplement of the CABALA AS ALSO Many Remarkable Passages faithfully Revised and no where else Published With two exact Tables The one of the Letters The other of Things most Observable LONDON Printed for G. Bedel and T. Collins and are to be sold at their Shop at the Middle-Temple-gate in Fleetstreet 1663. The Stationers To the READER Courteous Reader ALthough it be a received Position That Merit is worthier than Fame yet duly considered they ought to be inseparable the one being the just Guerdon of the other Upon that account we have presumed to make Publick these ensuing Memorials or Letters being Monuments of some late Eminent Patriots and Hero's of this Nation Who whilst they were Actors in such grand Affairs as suited with their high Service under their Sovereigns were deservedly Dignified here and Renowned abroad The first of these Worthies being Sir William Cecil Lord Burghley who was an unparallel'd Minister of State And as we conceive of the longest continuance that any Prince then or ever since with such Success enjoyed a person alwayes peaceable and moderate free from Covetousness or Ambition in the course of his Service rather willing to endure the Burthen than desiring the fruition of Honour or Profit profound in Judgment assisted with great Experience and therefore worthily celebrated both here and abroad as Pater Patriae and an indefatigable Votary to the Crown And for the matters and designs in the Letters themselves we shall be silent hoping the Fame of the person will be motive sufficient for you to purchase this Jewel Concerning the Times they were wheeled about with new and great Revolutions and Divisions not only at Home but also in France Scotland the Low Countries and generally in most of the other Kingdoms and States abroad Forâs Pugnae intus Timores Conspiracies Invasions and Insurrections amongst our selves War Devastations and Massacres amongst our Neighbours for the most part shadowed with the Vaile of Religion many Princes of the Blood and persons of great Authority being sacrificed on either part turbulent Times and of great mutations proper to try the Ability and Fidelity of a State Atlas wherein with what Wisdom he acquitted himself is referred to you to determine The next is Sir Nicholas Throckmorton Ambassador in France for Queen Elizabeth in the Infancy of her Reign we have nothing here of his remains but only his Letter to Her Majesty touching a free passage for the Queen of Scots through England wherein you will find variety of Politick Reasons pressed on each part with smart Judgment In the third place is Sir Philip Sidney that choice Darling of the Muses whom we suppose you will freely grant to have been Tam Marti quam Mercurio in whom England Netherland the Heavens and the Arts the Souldiers and the World did emulate a share here we have only a dissuasive Letter to the Queen touching Her Marriage with Mounsieur of France fortified with many pressing and effectual Reasons against that match and penned with a Politick and Ingenuous Stile And in the last place we present you with some Pieces of the inimitable Viscount St. Alban some in the Reign of the late glorious Queen and others in the Halcyon dayes of the late King James never before to our best knowledge made Publick deck't with many grateful Flowers of Philosophy History and Policy the Fall of the Earl of Somerset and the immediate Advance of the Duke of Buckingham with many other passages of moment and here you may observe the memorials of other worthy persons although the Title point only at Sir William Cecil for we conceive it not imaginable That such experienced and sure Masters of Knowledge would employ their thoughts in any thing sleight or superficial However we dare not assume that boldness as to write Encomiasticks of such great Personages that Right we suppose is much better performed by more quaint Pens already Lunae Radiis non maturescit Botrus And their Names and Honour still live in fresh memory Here you may safely turn Necromancer and consult with the dead or rather with the living for such Monuments as these survive Marble Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori These are not like Augustus his two infamous Daughters or his unworthy Nephew Posthumus Agrippa Impostumes as he termed them that broke from him but pure and legitimate Issue of the nobler part which is with care exposed to publick View for the better accomodation of those that have been pleased to purchase the two former Volumes of the like Nature and Quality Temple-gate June 18. 1663. G. B. T. C. A TABLE of the LETTERS contained in this COLLECTION B. SIR Francis Bacon to the Lord Treasurer Burghley Pag. 1. Sir Francis Bacon to the Lord Treasurer Burghley p. 2. Sir Francis Bacon in recommendation of his Service to the Earl of Northumberland a few dayes before Queen Elizabeths death p. 4. Sir Francis Bacon to Mr. Robert Kempe upon the death of Queen Elizabeth p. 5. Sir Francis Bacon to Mr. David Foules in Scotland upon the entrance of His Majesties Reign ibid. Sir Francis Bacon to the King upon presenting his Discourse touching the Plantation of Ireland p. 6. Sir Francis Bacon to the Lord Chancellor touching the History of Britain p. 7. Sir Francis Bacon to the King upon the sending unto him a beginning of a History of His Majesties time p. 9. Sir Francis Bacon to the Earl of Salisbury upon sending him one of his Books of Advancement of Learning ibid. Sir Francis Bacon to the Lord Treasurer Buckhurst upon the same occasion of sending his Book of Advancement of Learning p. 10. A Letter of the like Argument to the Lord Chancellor ibid. Sir Francis Bacon of like Argument to the Earl of Northampton with Request to present the Book to His Majesty p. 11. Sir Francis Bacon his Letter of Request to Dr. Plafer to Translate the Book of Advancement of Learning into Latine ibid. Sir Francis Bacon to Sir Thomas Bodley upon sending him his Book of the Advancement of Learning p. 13. Sir Francis Bacon to the Bishop of Ely upon sending his Writing intituled Cogitata visa ibid. Sir Francis Bacon to Sir Thomas Bodley after he had imparted to him a Writing intituled Cogitata visa p. 14. Sir Francis Bacon to Mr. Matthew upon sending him part of Instauratio Magna p. 15. Sir Francis Bacon to Mr. Matthew touching Instauratio Magna p. 16. A Letter to Mr. Matthew upon sending his Book De Sapientia Veterum p. 17. Sir Francis Bacon to Mr. Savill ibid. Sir Francis Bacon to the King touching the Sollicitors place p. 18. Sir Francis Bacon to the King his Suit to succeed in the
accompt my thankfulness the less for that my disability is great to shew it but to sustain me in her Majesties grecious opinion whereupon I onely rest and not upon any expectation of desert to proceed from my self towards the contentment thereof But if it shall please God to send forth an occasion whereby my faithful affection may be tried I trust it shall save me melibour for ever making more protestation of it hereafter In the mean time howsoever it be not made known to her Majesty yet God knoweth it through the daily sollicitations wherewith I address my self unto him in unfeigned Prayer for the multiplying of her Majesties prosperities to your Lordship also whose recommendation I know right well hath been material to advance her Majesties good opinion of me I can be but a bounden servant So much may I safely promise and purpose to be seeing publick and private bonds vary not but that my service to her Majesty and your Lordship draw in a line I wish therefore to shew it with as good proof as I can say it in good faith c. Your Lordships c. Sir Francis Bacon in recommendation of his service to the Earl of Northumberland a few days before Queen Elizabeths death It may please your good Lordship AS the time of sowing of seed is known but the time of coming up and disclosing is casual or according to the season So I am a witness to my self that there hath been covered in my mind a long time a seed of affection and zeal towards your Lordship sown by the estimation of your vertues and your particular honours and favours to my brother deceased and to my self which seed still springing now bursteth forth into this profession And to be plain with your Lordship it is very true and no winds or noyses of civil matters can blow this out of my head or heart that your great capacity and love towards studies and contemplations of an higher and worthier nature then popular a Nature rare in the world and in a person of your Lordships quality almost singular is to me a great and chief motive to draw my affection and admiration towards you and therefore good my Lord if I may be of any use to your Lordship by my Head Tongue Pen Means or Friends I humbly pray you to hold me your own and herewithal not to do so much disadvantage to my good mind nor partly to your own worth as to conceive that this commendation of my humble service proceedeth out of any streights of my occasions but meerly out of an election and indeed the fulness of my heart And so wishing your Lordship all prosperity I continue Sir Francis Bacon to Mr. Robert Kempe upon the death of Queen Elizabeth Mr. Kempe This alteration is so great as you might justly conceive some coldness of my affection towards you if you should hear nothing from me I living in this place It is in vain to tell you with what a wonderful still and calme this wheel is turned round which whether it be a remnant of her felicity that is gone or a fruit of his reputation that is coming I will not determine for I cannot but divide my self between her memory and his name Yet we account it but as a fair morn before Sun rising before his Majesties presence though for my part I see not whence any weather should arise The Papists are conteined with fear enough and hope too much The French is thought to turn his practice upon procuring some disturbance in Scotland where Crowns may do wonders But this day is so welcome to the Nation and the time so short as I do not fear the effect My Lord of Southampton expecteth release by the next dispatch and is already much visited and much well wished There is continual posting by men of good quality towards the King the rather I think because this Spring time it is but a kinde of sport It is hoped that as the State here hath performed the part of good Attorneys to deliver the King quiet possession of his Kingdom so the King will re-deliver them quiet possession of their places rather filling places void than removing men placed So c. Sir Francis Bacon to Mr. David Foules in Scotland upon the entrance of His Majesties Reign SIR The occasion awaketh in me the remembrance of the constant and mutual good offices which passed between my good brother and your self whereunto as you know I was not altogether a stranger though the time and design as between brethren made me more reserved But well do I bear in mind the great opinion which my brother whose Judgment I much reverence would often express to me of the extraordinary sufficiency Dexterity and temper which he had found in you in the business and service of the King our Sovereign Lord. This latter bred in me an election as the former gave an inducement for me to address my self to you and to make this signification of my desire towards a mutual entertainment of good affection and correspondence between us hoping that some good effect may result of it towards the Kings service and that for our particulars though occasion give you the precedence of furthering my being known by good note unto the King so no long time will intercede before I on my part shall have some means given to requite your favours and to verifie your commendation And so with my loving commendations good Mr. Foules I leave you to Gods goodness From Graies Inne this 25th of March. Sir Francis Bacon to the King upon presenting his discoursetouching the Plantation of Ireland It may please your excellent Majesty I know no better way how to express my good wishes of a New-year to your Majesty then by this little book which in all humbleness I send you The stile is a stile of business rather then curious or elaborate And herein I was encouraged by my experience of your Majesties former Grace in accepting of the like poor field-fruits touching the Union And certainly I reckon this action as a second brother to the Union For I assure my self that England Scotland and Ireland well united is such a Trifoil as no Prince except your self who are the worthiest weareth in his Crown Si Potentia reducatur in actum I know well that for me to beat my brains about these things they be Majora quam pro fortuna but yet they be Minora quam pro studio voluntate For as I do yet bear an extream zeal to the memory of my old Mistriss Queen Elizabeth to whom I was rather bound for her trust than for her favour so I must acknowledge my self more bound to your Majesty both for trust and favour whereof I will never deceive the one as I can never deserve the other And so in all humbleness kissing your Majesties Sacred hands I remain Sir Francis Bacon to the Lord Chancellor touching the History of Britain It may please your good Lordship SOme
we remember our part to be to make him Delinquent to the Peers and not odions to the People That part of the Evidence of the Ladies Exposition of the Pronoun He which was first caught hold of by me and after by His Majesties singular Wisdom and Conscience excepted to and now is by her Re-examination retracted I have given order to Serjeant Montague within whose part it falleth to leave it out of the Evidence I do yet crave pardon if I do not certifie touching the point of Law for respiting the Judgment for I have not fully advised with my Lord Chancellor concerning it but I will advertise it in time I send His Majesty the Lord Stewards Commission in two several instruments the one to remain with my Lord Chancellor which is that which is written in Secretary hand for his Warrant and is to pass the Signet the other that whereunto the great Seal is to be affixed which is in Chancery hand His Majesty is to sign them both and to transmit the former to the Signet if the Secretaries either of them be there and both of them are to be returned to me with all speed I ever rest Your true and devoted Servant May 5. 1616. Sir Francis Bacon the Kings Attorney and some great Lords Commissioners concerning the perswasion used to the Lord of Somerset to a frank Confession It may please Your Majesty WE have done our best endeavours to perform Your Majesties Commission both in matter and manner for the examination of my Lord of Somerset wherein that which passed for the general was to this effect That he was to know his own Case for that his day of Trial could not be far off but that this dayes work was that which would conduce to Your Majesties Justice little or nothing but to Your Mercy much if he did lay hold upon it and therefore might do him good but could do him no hurt For as for Your Justice there had been taken great and grave opinion not only of such Judges as he may think violent but of the most saddest and most temperate of the Kingdom who ought to understand the state of the proofs that the Evidence was full to convict him so as there needed neither Confession nor supply of Examination But for Your Majesties Mercy although he were not to expect we should make any promise we did assure him That Your Majesty was compassionate of him if he gave you some ground whereon to work that as long as he stood upon his Innocency and Tryal Your Majesty was tyed in Honour to proceed according to Justice and that he little understood being a close Prisoner how much the expectation of the World besides Your love to Justice it self engaged Your Majesty whatsoever Your inclination were but nevertheless that a frank and clear Confession might open the gate of Mercy and help to satisfie the point of Honour That his Lady as he knew and that after many Oaths and Imprecations to the contrary had nevertheless in the end been touched with remorse confessed that she that led him to offend might lead him likewise to repent of his offence That the confession of one of them could not fitly do either of them much good but the confession of both of them might work some further effect towards both And therefore in conclusion we wished him not to shut the gate of your Majesties mercy against himself by being obdurate any longer This was the effect of that which was spoken part by one of us part by another as it fell out adding further that he might well discern who spake in us in the course we held for that Commissioners of Examination might not presume so far of themselves Not to trouble Your Majesty with Circumstances of his Answers the sequel was no other but that we found him still not to come any degree further on to confess only his Behaviour was very sober and modest and mild differing apparently from other times but yet as it seem'd resolv'd to expect his Tryal Then did we proceed to examine him upon divers Questions touching the Impoysonment which indeed were very material and supplemental to the former Evidence wherein either his Affirmatives gave some light or his Negatives do greatly falsifie him in that which is apparently proved We made this further observation That when we asked him some Question that did touch the Prince or some Forrain practice which we did very sparingly at this time yet he grew a little stirred but in the Questions of the Impoysonment very cold and modest Thus not thinking it necessary to trouble Your Majesty with any further particulars we end with Prayer to God ever to preserve Your Majesty Your Majesties most Loyal and Faithful Servant c. If it seem good unto Your Majesty we think it not amiss some Preacher well chosen had access to my Lord of Somerset for his preparing and comfort although it be before his Tryal Sir Francis Bacon to the King upon some inclination of His Majesty signified to him for the Chancellors place It may please your most Excellent Majesty THe last day when it pleased Your Majesty to express your self towards me in favour far above that I can deserve or could expect I was surprised by the Princes coming in I most humbly pray Your Majesty therefore to accept these few lines of acknowledgement I never had great thoughts for my self further then to maintain those great thoughts which I confess I have for your service I know what honour is and I know what the times are but I thank God with me my service is the principal and it is far from me under honourable pretences to cover base desires which I account them to be when men refer too much to themselves especially serving such a King I am afraid of nothing but that the Master of the Horse your excellent servant and my self shall fall out about this who shall hold your Stirrup belt but were Your Majesty mounted and seated without difficulties and distastes in your business as I desire and hope to see you I should ex animo desire to spend the decline of my years in my studies wherein also I should not forget to do him honour who besides his active and politick vertues is the best pen of Kings and much more the best subject of a pen. God ever preserve Your Majesty Your Majesties most humble Subject and more and more obliged Servant April 1. 1616. Sir Francis Bacon the Kings Attorney returned with Postils of the Kings own Hand It may please Your most Excellent Majesty YOur Majesty hath put upon me a work of providence in this great Cause which is to break and distinguish future events into present Cases and so to present them to your Royal Judgement that in this action which hath been carried with so great Prudence Justice and Clemency there may be for that which remaineth as little surprize as is possible but that things duly foreseen may have their remedies
lower orb It were to be wished and is fit to be so ordered that every of them keep themselves within their proper spheres The harmony of Justice is then the sweetest when there is no jarring about the Jurisdiction of the Courts which methinks wisdom cannot much differ upon their true bounds being for the most part so clearly known 19. Having said thus much of the Judges somewhat will be fit to put you in mind concerning the principal Ministers of Justice and in the first of the High-Sheriffs of the Counties which have been very Ancient in this Kingdom I am sure before the Conquest The choice of them I commend to your care and that at fit times you put the King in mind thereof that as near as may be they be such as are fit for those places for they are of great Trust and Power the Pesse Comitatus the Power of the whole County being legally committed unto him 20. Therefore it is agreeable with the intention of the Law that the choice of them should be by the commendation of the great Officers of the Kingdom and by the Advice of the Judges who are presumed to be well read in the condition of the Gentry of the whole Kingdom And although the King may do it of himself yet the old way is the good way 21. But I utterly condemn the practice of the latter times which hath lately crept into the Court at the Back-stairs that some who are prick'd for Sheriffs and were fit should get out of the Bill and others who were neither thought upon nor worthy to be should be nominated and both for money 22. I must not omit to put you in mind of the Lords Lieutenants and deputy Lieutenants of the Counties their proper use is for ordering the military affairs in order to an invasion from abroad or a rebellion or sedition at home good choice should be made of them and prudent instructions given to them and as little of the Arbitrary power as may be left unto them and that the Muster-Masters and other Officers under them incroach not upon the Subject that will detract much from the Kings service 23. The Justices of peace are of great use Anciently there were Conservators of the peace these are the same saving that several Acts of Parliament have altered their denomination and enlarged their jurisdiction in many particulars The fitter they are for the Peace of the Kingdom the more heed ought to be taken in the choice of them 24. But negatively this I shall be bold to say that none should be put into either of those Commissions with an eye of favour to their persons to give them countenance or reputation in the places where they live but for the Kings service sake nor any put out for the dis-favour of any great man It hath been too often used and hath been no good service to the King 25. A word more if you please to give me leave for the true rules of the moderation of Justice on the Kings part The execution of Justice is committed to his Judges which seemeth tobe the severer part but the milder part which is mercy is wholly left in the Kings immediate hand And Justice and Mercy are the true supporters of his Royal Throne 26. If the King shall be wholly intent upon Justice it may appear with an over-rigid aspect but if he shall be over remiss and easie it draweth upon him contempt Examples of Justice must be made sometimes for terrour to some Examples of mercy sometimes for comfort to others the one procures fear and the other love A King must be both feared and loved else he is lost 27. The ordinary Courts of Justice I have spoken of and of their Judges and judicature I shall put you in mind of some things touching the High Court of Parliament in England which is superlative and therefore it will behove me to speak the more warily thereof 28. For the institution of it it is very antient in this Kingdom It consisteth of the two Houses of Peers and Commons as the Members and of the Kings Majesty as the head of that great body By the Kings Authority alone and by his Writs they are Assembled and by him alone are they Prorogued and Dissolved but each House may Adjourn it self 29. They being thus Assembled are more properly a Councel to the King the great Councel of the Kingdom to advise his Majesty in those things of weight and difficulty which concern both the King and People then a Court. 30. No new Laws can be made nor old Laws abrogated or altered but by common Consent in Parliament where Bills are prepared and presented to the two Houses and then delivered but nothing is concluded but by the Kings Royal assent They are but Embryos 't is he giveth life unto them 31. Yet the House of Peers hath a power of Judicature in some cases properly to examine and then to affirm or if there be cause to reverse the judgments which have been given in the Court of Kings Bench which is the Court of highest jurisdiction in the Kingdom for ordinary judicature but in these cases it must be done by Writ of Error in Parliamento And thus the rule of their proceedings is not absoluta potestas as in making new Laws in that conjuncture as before but limitata potestas according to the known Laws of the Land 32. But the House of Commons have only power to censure the Members of their own House in point of election or misdemeanors in or towards that House and have not nor ever had power so much as to administer an oath to prepare a judgment 33. The true use of Parliaments in this Kingdom is very excellent and they would be often called as the affairs of the Kingdom shall require and continued as long as is necessary and no longer for then they be but burthens to the people by reason of the priviledges justly due to the Members of the two Houses and their attendants which their just rights and priviledges are religiously to be observed and maintained but if they should be unjustly enlarged beyond their true bounds they might lessen the just power of the Crown it borders so near upon popularity 34. All this while I have spoken concerning the Common Laws of England generally and properly so called because it is most general and common to almost all cases and causes both civil and criminal But there is also another Law which is called the Civil or Ecclesiastical Law which is confined to some few heads and that is not to be neglected and although I am a professor of the Common Law yet am I so much a lover of truth and of Learning and of my native Countrey that I do heartily perswade that the professors of that Law called Civilians because the Civil Law is their guide should not be discountenanced nor discouraged else whensoever we shall have ought to do with any forreign King or State we shall be
at a miserable loss for want of Learned menin that profession III. I come now to the consideration of those things which concern Councellors of State The Council Table and the great Offices and Officers of the Kingdom which are those who for the most part furnish out the honourable Board 1. Of Councellors there are two sorts The first Consiliarii nati as I may term them such are the Prince of Wales and others of the Kings Sons when he hath more of these I speak not for they are naturally born to be Councellors to the King to learn the Art of Governing betimes 2. But the ordinary sort of Councellors are such as the King out of a due consideration of their worth and abilities and withal of their fidelities to his person and his Crown calleth to be of Councel with him in his ordinary Government And the Councel Table is so called from the place where they ordinarily assemble and sit together and their Oath is the only ceremony used to make them such which is solemnly given unto them at their first admission These honourable persons are from thenceforth of that Board and Body They cannot come until they be thus called and the King at his pleasure may spare their attendance and he may dispence with their presence there which at their own pleasure they may not do 3. This being the quality of their service you will easily judge what care the King should use in his choice of them It behoveth that they be persons of great trust and fidelity and also of wisdom and judgment who shall thus assist in bearing up the Kings Throne and of known experience in publick affairs 4. Yet it may not be unfit to call some of young years to train them up in that trade and so fit them for those weighty affairs against the time of greater maturity and some also for the honour of their persons But these two sorts not to be tied to so strict attendance as the others from whom the present dispatch of business is expected 5. I could wish that their number might not be so over great the persons of the Councellors would be the more venerable And I know that Queen Elizabeth in whose time I had the happiness to be born and to live many years was not so much observed for having a numerous as a wise Councel 6. The duty of a Privy Councellor to a King I conceive is not only to attend the Councel Board at the times appointed and there to consult of what shall be propounded But also to study those things which may advance the Kings honour and safety and the good of the Kingdom and to communicate the same to the King or to his fellow Councellors as there shall be occasion And this sir will concern you more then others by how much you have a larger share in his affections 7. And one thing I shall be bold to desire you to recommend to His Majesty That when any new thing shall be propounded to be taken into consideration that no Councellor should suddenly deliver any positive opinion thereof it is not so easie with all men to retract their opinions although there shall be cause for it But only to hear it and at the most but to break it at first that it may be the better understood against the next meeting 8. When any matter of weight hath been debated and seemeth to be ready for a Resolution I wish it may not be at that sitting concluded unless the necessity of the time press it lest upon second Cogitations there should be cause to alter which is not for the Gravity and Honour of that Board 9. I wish also that the King would be pleased sometimes to be present at that Board it adds a Majesty to it And yet not to be too frequently there that would render it less esteemed when it is become common Besides it may sometimes make the Councellors not to be so free in their Debates in His Presence as they would be in His Absence 10. Besides the giving of Councel the Councellors are bound by their Duties Ex vi termini as well as by their Oaths to keep Councel therefore are they called De Privato Consilio Regis à secretioribus Consiliis Regis 11. One thing I add in the Negative which is not fit for that Board the entertaining of private Causes of Meum Tuum those should be left to the ordinary course and Courts of Justice 12. As there is great care to be used for the Councellors themselves to be chosen so there is of the Clerks of the Councel also for the secreting of their Consultations and methinks it were fit that His Majesty be speedily moved to give a strict Charge and to bind it with a solemn Order if it be not already so done that no Copies of the Orders of that Table be delivered out by the Clerks of the Councel but by the Order of the Board nor any not being a Councellor or a Clerk of the Councel or his Clerk to have access to the Councel-Books And to that purpose that the Servants attending the Clerks of the Councel be bound to Secresie as well as their Masters 13. For the great Offices and Officers of the Kingdom I shall say little for the most of them are such as cannot well be severed from the Councellorship and therefore the same rule is to be observed for both in the choice of them In the general only I advise this let them be set in those places for which they are probably the most fit 14. But in the quality of the persons I conceive it will be most convenient to have some of every sort as in the time of Queen Elizabeth it was one Bishop at the least in respect of questions touching Religion or Church Government one or more skilled in the Laws some for Martial affairs and some for I orreign affairs By this mixture one will help another in all things that shall there happen to be moved But if that should fail it will be a safe way to consult with some other able persons well versed in that point which is the subject of their Consultation which yet may be done so warily as may not discover them in end therein IV. In the next place I shall put you in mind of Forreign Negotiations and Embassies to or with Forreign Princes or States wherein I shall be little able to serve you 1. Only I will tell you what was the course in the happy dayes of Queen Elizabeth whom it will be no dis-reputation to follow she did vary according to the nature of the employment the quality of the persons she employed which is a good rule to go by 2. If it were an Embassy of Gratulation or Ceremony which must not be neglected choice was made of some noble person eminent in place and able in purse and he would take it as a mark of favour and discharge it without any great burthen to the
to both the shipping of both in conjuncture being so powerful by Gods blessing as no Forrainers will venture upon This League and Friendship must inviolably be observed 15. From Scotland we have had in sormer times some Alarms and Inro esinto the Northern parts of this Kingdom but that happy Union of both Kingdoms under one Sovereign our gracions King I hope hath taken away all occasions of breach between the two Nations let not the cause arise from England and I hope the Scots will not adventure it or if they do I hope they will find that although to our King they were His first-born Subjects yet to England belongs the Birth-right But this should not be any cause to offer any injury to them nor to suffer any from them 16. There remains then no danger by the blessing of God but a Civil War from which God of his mercy defend us as that which is most desperate of all others The Kings Wisdom and Justice must prevent it if it may be or if it should happen quod absit he must quench that Wild-fire with all the diligence that possibly can be 17. Competition to the Crown there is none nor can be therefore it must be a fire within the bowels or nothing the cures whereof are these Remedium praeveniens which is the best physick either to a natural body or to a State by just and equal Government to take away the occasion and Remedium puniens if the other prevail not The service and vigilancy of the Deputy Lieutenants in every County and of the High Sheriff will contribute much herein to our security 18. But if that should not prevail by a wise and timous Inquisition the peccant humours and humorists must be discovered and purged or cut off mercy in such a case in a King is true cruelty 19. Yet if the Heads of the Tribes can be taken off and the mis-led multitude will see their error and return to their obedience such an extent of mercy is both honourable and profitable 20. A King against a storm must fore-see to have a convenient stock of treasure and neither be without money which is the sinewes of war nor to depend upon the courtesie of others which may fail at a pinch 21. He must also have a Magazine of all sorts which must be had from forreign parts or provided at home and to commit them to several places under the custody of trusty and faithful Ministers and Officers if it be possible 22. He must make choice of expert and able Commanders to conduct and manage the War either against a forreign invasion or a home rebellion which must not be young and giddy which dare not only to fight but to swear and drink and curse neither fit to govern others nor able to govern themselves 23. Let not such be discouraged if they deserve well by mis-information or for the satisfying the humors or ambition of others perhaps out of envy perhaps out of treachery or other sinister ends A steddy hand in governing of Military affairs is more requisite then in times of peace because an error committed in war may perhaps prove irremediable 24. If God shall bless these endeavours and the King return to His own House in Peace when a Civil war shall be at an end those who have been found faithful in the Land must be regarded yea and rewarded also the traiterous or treacherous who have mis-led others severely punish'd and the neutrals and false-hearted friends and followers who have started aside like a broken bowe be noted Carbone nigro and so I shall leave them and this part of the work VI. I come to the sixth part which is Trade and that is either at home or abroad And I begin with that which is at home which enableth the Subject of the Kingdom to live and layeth a foundation to a forreign trade by traffique with others which enableth them to live plentifully and happily 1. For the Home-trade I first commend unto your consideration the encouragement of Tillage which will enable the Kingdom for Corn for the Natives and to spare for Exportation And I myself have known more than once when in times of Dearth in Queen Elizabeths dayes it drained much Coyn of the Kingdom to furnish us with Corn from Forrain Parts 2. Good Husbands will find the means by good Husbandry to improve their Lands by Lime Chalk Marl or Sea-sand where it can be had But it will not be amiss that they be put in mind thereof and encouraged in their Industries 3. Planting of Orchards in a Soyl and Air fit for them is very prositable as well as pleasurable Sider and Perry are notable Beverage in Sea-Voyages 4. Gardens are also very profitable if planted with Artichokes Roots and such other things as are fit for food whence they be called Kitchin-Gardens and that very properly 5. The planting of Hop-yards sowing of Woad and Rape-seed are sound very profitable for the Planters in places apt for them and consequently profitable for the Kingdom which for divers years was furnished with them from beyond the Seas 6. The planting and preserving of Woods especially of Timber is not only profitable but commendable therewith to furnish posterity both for building and shipping 7. The Kingdom would be much improved by draining of drowned lands and gaining that in from the over-flowing of salt waters and the sea and from fresh waters also 8. And many of those grounds would be exceeding fit for Daries which being well houswived are exceeding commodious 9. Much good land might be gained from Forrests and Chases more remote from the Kings access and from other commonable places so as always there be a due care taken that the poor Commoners have no injury by such improvement 10. The making of navigable Rivers should be profitable they would be as so many in-draughts of wealth by conveying the commodities with ease from place to place 11. The planting of Hemp and Flax would be an unknown advantage to the Kingdom many places therein being as apt for it as any forreign parts 12. But add hereunto that it be converted into Linnen-cloth or Cordage the commodity thereof will be multiplied 13. So it is of the Wools and Leather of the Kingdom if they be converted into manufactures 14. Our English Dames are much given to the wearing of costly Laces and if they be brought from Italy or France or Flanders they are in great esteem whereas if the like Lace were made by the English so much thred as would make a yard of Lace being put into that manufacture would be five times or perhaps ten or twenty times the value 15. The breeding of cattel is of much profit especially the breed of Horses in many places not only for travel but for the great saddle the English horse for strength and courage and swiftness together not being inferiour to the horses of any other Kingdom 16. The Minerals of the Kingdom of Lead Iron Copper and Tynn
the Pardon of the Parliaments Sentence Most gracious and dread Sovereign BEfore I make my Petition to your Majesty I make my Prayers to God above pectore ab imo That if I have held anything so dear as your Majesties service nay your hearts ease and your honour I may be repulsed with a denial But if that hath been the principal with me That God who knoweth my heart would move your Majesties royal heart to take compassion of me and to grant my desire I prostrate my self at your Majesties feet I your ancient servant now sixty four years old in age and three years and five moneths old in misery I desire not from your Majesty means nor place nor imployment but only after so long a time of expiation a compleat and total remission of the sentence of the Upper House to the end that blot of ignominy may be removed from me and from my memory with posterity that I die not a condemned man but may be to your Majesty as I am to God Nova creatura Your Majesty hath pardoned the like to Sir John Bennet between whose case and mine not being partial to my self but speaking out of the general opinion there was as much difference I will not say as between black and white but as between black and gray or ash-coloured Look therefore down dear Sovereign upon me also in pity I know your Majesties heart is inscrutable for goodness and my Lord of Buckingham was wont to tell me you were the best natured man in the world and it is Gods property that those that he hath loved he loveth to the end Let your Majesties grace in this my desire stream down upon me and let it be out of the fountain and spring-head and ex mero motu that living or dying the print of the goodness of King James may be in my heart and his praises in my mouth This my most humble request granted may make me live a year or two happily and denied will kill me quickly But yet the last thing that will die in me will be the heart and affection of Your Majesties most humble and true devoted servant Fr. St. Alban July 30. 1624. Sir Francis Bacon to King James of a Digest to be made of the Laws of England Most Excellent Sovereign AMongst the Degrees and Acts of Sovereign or rather Heroical Honour the first or second is the person and merit of a Law-giver Princes that govern well are Fathers of the People But if a Father breed his Son well and allow him well while he liveth but leave him nothing at his death whereby both he and his Children and his Childrens Children may be the better it is not in him compleat So Kings if they make a portion of an Age happy by their good Government yet if they do not make Testaments as God Almighty doth whereby a perpetuity of good may descend to their Countrey they are but mortal and transitory benefactors Domitian a few days before he dyed dreamed that a golden Head did rise upon the Nape of his Neck which was truly performed in the golden Age that followed his times for five Successions But Kings by giving their Subjects good Laws may if they will in their own time join and graff this golden Head upon their own necks after their death Nay they make Nabuchodonosors Image of Monarchy golden from head to foot And if any of the meaner sort of Politicks that are sighted only to see the worst of things think That Laws are but Cobwebs and that good Princes will do well without them and bad will not stand much upon them the discourse is neither good nor wise For certain it is That good Laws are good Bridles to bad Princes and as a very Wall about Government And if Tyrants sometimes make a breach into them yet they mollifie even Tyranny it self as Solons Laws did the Tyranny of Pisistratus and then commonly they get up again upon the first advantage of better times Other means to perpetuate the memory and merits of Sovereign Princes are inferiour to this Building of Temples Tombs Palaces Theatres and the like are honourable things and look big upon Posterity But Constantine the Great gave the name well to those works when he used to call Trajan who was a great Builder Parietarius because his name was upon so many walls So that if that be the matter that the King would turn Wall-flower or Pelitory of the Wall with cost he may Adrians vein was better for his mind was to wrastle a fall with Time and being a great Progressor over all the Roman Empire when ever he found any decayes of Bridges or High-wayes or cuts of Rivers and Sewers or Walls or Banks or the like he gave substantial order for their Repair He gave also multitudes of Charters and Liberties for the comfort of Corporations and Companies in decay so that his Bounty did strive with the ruines of time But yet this though it were an excellent disposition went but in effect to the Cases and Shells of a Commonwealth it was nothing to Virtue or Vice A bad man might indifferently take the benefit and ease of his Wayes and Bridges as well as a good and bad people might purchase good Charters Surely the better works of perpetuity in Princes are they that wash the inside of the Cup such as are foundations of Colledges and Lectures for learning and education for youth likewise foundations and institutions of Orders and Fraternities for Nobleness Enterprize and Obedience and the like But yet these also are but like Plantations of Orchards and Gardens in plats and spots of ground here and there they do not Till over the whole Kingdom and make it fruitful as doth the establishing of good Laws and Ordinances which make a whole Nation to be as a well ordered Colledge or Foundation This kind of work in the memory of time is rare enough to shew it excellent and yet not so rare as to make it suspected for impossible inconvenient and unsafe Moses that gave Laws to the Hebrews because he was the scribe of God himself is fitter to be named for Honours sake to other Law-givers then to be numbred and ranked amongst them Minos Lycurgus and Solon are examples for Themes of Grammar-Scholars For ancient Personages and Characters now a days use to wax children again Though that Parable of Pindarus be true The best thing is water for common and trivilal things are many tmies the best and rather despised upon pride because they are vulgar then upon cause or use Certain it is that the Laws of those three Law-givers had great prerogatives the first of fame because they were the pattern among the Grecians the second of lasting for they continued longest without alteration the third a spirit of reviver to be often expired and often restored Amongst the seven Kings of Rome there were four Law-givers For it is most true that a Discourse of Italy saith There was never State so well
swadled in the infancy as the Roman was by the vertue of their first Kings which was a principal cause of the wonderful growth of that State in after-times The Decemvirs Laws were Laws upon Laws not the Original For they graffed Laws of Graecia upon the Roman stock of Laws and Customs But such was their success as the twelve Tables which they compiled were the main body of the Laws which framed and welded the great Body of that State They lasted a long time with some supplementals and the Pretorian Edicts in Albo which were in respect of Laws as Writing-tables in respect of Brass the one to be put in and out as the other is permanent Lucius Cornelius Sylla reformed the Laws of Rome For that man had three singularities which never Tyrant had but he That he was a Law-giver that he took part with Nobility and that he turned private man not upon fear but upon confidence Caesar long after desired to imitate him only in the first for otherwise he relied upon new men and for resigning his power Seneca describeth him right Caesar gladium cito condidit nunquam posuit And himself took it upon him saying in scorn of Sylla's resignation Sylla nescivit liter as dictare non potuit But for the part of a Law-giver Cicero giveth him the Attribute Caesar si ab eo quaereretur quid egisset in Toga leges se respondisset multas praeclar as tulisse His Nephew Augustus did tread the same steps but with deeper print because of his long Reign in peace whereof one of the Poets of his time saith Pace data terris animum ad Civilia vertit Jura suum legesque tulit justissimus Author From that time there was such a race of Wit and Authority between the Commentaries and Decisions of the Lawyers and the Edicts of the Emperours as both Laws and Lawyers were out of breath whereupon Justinian in the end re-compiled both and made a Body of Laws such as might be wielded which himself calleth glorious and yet not above truth the edifice or structure of a sacred Temple of Justice built indeed out of the former ruines of Books as materials and some novel constitutions of his own In Athens they had sex viri as AEschines observeth which were standing Commissioners who did watch to discern what Laws were unproper for the times and what new Law did in any branch cross a former Law and so ex officio propounded their Repeal King Edgar collected the Laws of this Kingdom and gave them a strength of a Faggot bound which formerly were dispersed which was more glory to him than his sailing about this Island with a great Fleet for that was as the Scripture saith Via Navis in Mari it vanished but this lasteth Alphonso the Wise the Ninth of that Name King of Castile compiled the Digest of the Laws of Spain intituled The six Partidas an excellent Work which he finished in seven years And as Tacitus noteth well That the Capitol though built in the beginnings of Rome yet was sit for the great Monarchy that came after so that building of Laws sufficeth the greatness of the Empire of Spain which since hath ensued Lewis the Eleventh had in his mind though he performed it not to have made one constant Law of France extracted out of the Civil Roman Law and the Customes of Provinces which are various and the Kings Edicts which with the French are Statutes Surely he might have done well if like as he brought the Crown as he said himself hors de Page so he had brought his people from Lacquay not to run up and down for their Laws to the Civil Law and the Ordinances of Courts and Discourses of Philosophers as they use to do King Henry the Eighth in the Twenty seventh year of his Reign was authorized by Parliament to nominate Thirty two Commoners part Ecclesiastical part Temporal to purge the Common Law and to make it agreeable to the Law of God and the Law of the Land but it took not effect For the Acts of that King were commonly rather proffers and fames then either well grounded or well pursued But I doubt I err in producing so many examples for as Cicero said to Caesar so may I say to Your Majesty Nil vulgare te dignum videri possit though indeed this well understood is far from vulgar for that the Laws of both Kingdoms and States have been like buildings of many pieces and patched up from time to time according to occasions without frame or model Now for the Laws of England if I shall speak my opinion of them without partiality either to my profession or Countrey for the matter and nature of them I hold them wise just and Moderate Laws they give to God they give to Caesar they give to the Subject what appertaineth It is true they are as mixt as our Language compounded of British Roman Saxon Danish Norman customs and surely as our Language is thereby so much the richer so our Laws are likewise by that mixture the more compleat Neither both this attribute the less to them then those that would have them to stand out the same in all mutations For no tree is so good first set as by transplanting and graffing I remember what happened to Calisthenes that followed Alexders Court and was grown into some displeasure with him because he could not well brook the Persian adoration At a Supper which with the Grecians was a great part he was desired the King being present because he was an eloquent man to speak of some Theme which he did and chose for his Theme the praise of the Macedonian Nation Which though it were but a filling thing to praise men to their faces yet he performed it with such advantage of truth and avoidance of flattery and with such life as was applauded by the Hearers The King was the less pleased with it not loving the man and by way of discountenance said It was easie to be a good Orator in a pleasing Theme But saith he to him turn your stile and tell us now of our faults that we may have the profit and not the praise only Which he presently did with such quickness that Alexander said That Malice made him Eloquent then as the Theme had done before I shall not fall into either of these extreams iu this Subject of the Laws of England I have commended them before for the matter but surely they ask much amendment for the Form which to reduce and perfect I hold to be one of the greatest Dowries that can be conferred upon this Kingdom which Work for the Excellency as it is worthy Your Majesties Acts and Times so it hath some Circumstance of propriety agreeable to Your person God hath blessed Your Majesty with posterity and I am not of opinion that Kings that are barren are fittest to supply perpetuity of generations by perpetuity of noble acts but contrariwise that they that leave posterity are the more