and Elvingsto. his brother: / to reconc. to Hayes / use of Hamilton / Gibb / Jh. Murry. Ackinso. Rog. Ash. / greatnes of Britt./union in Parlam1. / sutes / mariages. To reconc. to Hayes. The reading here is doubtful. Mr. Hamilton reads it "To recone to Hayes," of which I can make no sense. I had myself taken the letters to be "To recove. Lo. Hayes; and supposed them to be short for "To recover Lord Hayes," that is, to renew acquaintance with him. James Hay, a gentleman of the Privy Chamber in Scotland, came to England with the King, and appears to have been a great personal favourite, and much distinguished at all tilts, masques, and other gaieties of the Court. He was knighted in 1603 (?), and in June 1606 was made Lord Hay, with all the rights and privileges of a Baron, except that of sitting in Parliament. He was afterwards created Earl of Carlisle, and was one of the most splendid noblemen of his time. Clarendon describes him as a man of great abilities, but one who chose merely to enjoy himself, and deliberately declined the pursuit of greatness in any other way.

I do not know what acquaintance Bacon had had with him, or whether it had been suffered to decline. But he was one of those, when he first came, whose acquaintance Bacon would naturally seek, and it may very well be that their ways lay too far apart, and that their fortunes advanced too unequally in speed of growth, to allow of its being kept up. If so, it was natural now, when Bacon was looking about for means of access to the King, that he should think of re-establishing his relations with Lord Hay. This note is also crossed out in the MS.

Hamilton. We have seen (Vol. III. ch. 6, § 3) that at the meeting of the Commissioners for the Union, on the 2nd of November, 1604, "report was made severally, first by Sir Francis Bacon, and then by Sir T. Hamilton, Lord Advocate of Scotland, of the services performed by the subcommittees ;" and that on the 24th, "direction was given to Sir Francis Bacon and the Lord Advocate of Scotland to review the articles" agreed upon, and put them into form. There can be little doubt, therefore, that this was the person here alluded to. He is described in the list of Commissioners as "Sir Thomas Hamilton, of Binnie, Knight."

Gibb. John Gibb, Groom of the Bedchamber, of whose character and relation to the King we may gather something from an anecdote told by Wilson, which would have been better known than it is (as it well deserves to be if he had told it more simply. The scene is at Theobalds, and the date some fourteen years after the time we are treating of. The King wanted some papers in a hurry, which he thought he had given to Gibb. Gibb, being asked for them, declared they had not been given to him. The King insisted that they had, and flying into a rage, when Gibb fell at his feet and offered to take it upon his death that he never had them, struck him with his foot as he passed. Gibb rose from his knees, and saying, "Sir, I have served you from my youth, and you never found me unfaithful; I have not deserved this from you, nor can I live longer with you with this disgrace; fare ye well, Sir, I will never see your face more,"-left the room. The gentleman to whom the missing papers had really been given, seeing the stir and learning the cause of it, immediately produced them. Upon which the King instantly called for Gibb, and being told that he had left the place and gone to London, sent a messenger post haste to bring him back, protesting that he would neither eat, drink, nor sleep till he saw his face; and, when he returned, kneeled down before him upon his knees, gravely entreated his pardon, declared that he would not rise till he had forgiven him, "and though Gibb modestly declined it with some humble excuses, yet it would not satisfy the King till he had heard the words of absolution pronounced." (Wilson, p. 219.)

Jh. Murry. John Murray, another gentleman of the bedchamber, afterwards Earl of Annandale; concerning whom see above, chap. i. § 1.

Ackinso (crossed out). Perhaps "Archibald Acheson, Scotus," who was knighted at Whitehall on the 31st of March, 1620. (Nicholls, iii. 603.)

Rog. Ash. Sir Roger Aston, a gentleman of Cheshire, who had been in the King's service before his accession, and was one of the first sent over upon news of Elizabeth's death. He also was of the bedchamber; was knighted in 1603, and made master of the wardrobe about 1607. He appears to have been in constant attendance on the King's person, and a great absorber of his bounties.

greatnes of Britt. Bacon's own treatise "of the true greatness of Britain;" of which I have spoken fully in the last section of the last chapter.

Setting down and finishing my Argumt of the postnati and [f. 2, b.] p'senting it to ye. K / my L. of Salsbury.

Dispersing ye argumt and the 2 speaches as in one book amongst

ye Ks

the Sco. men and namely the L. fivy: the Advoc. Cragius. Being p'pared in ye matter of prohibicions: putting in a clayme Note. for the K./ the 4 necessities; tyme as of warre / place as fron- justice beSummary tieres remote; person as poore that have no means to sue longeth to those that come in by safe conducte; Matter, mixt wth prrogative. state; Judges to consult with K. as well as ye K wth Judges/The founRusswell Sollic. in ye case of the duchy concurred not. qu. of rune making use of my L. of Cant. opposit. to ye. la. in poynt of whear the reformyng the Lawes, and dispriz. mere Lawyers. To p'pare eyther collect. or at lest advise towching the equalling stopped.

of Lawes.

Rem. to advise the K. not to call Sergts before parlamt, but to keep the lawyers in awe.

argum of the postnati. See Lit. and Prof. Works, ii. p. 639. This whole note is crossed out.

the 2 speaches. Namely the speeches on general naturalization, and on union of laws.

the L. Fivy: the Advoc. Cragius. In the list of Commissioners for the Union on the part of Scotland the names occur of "Alexander, Lord Fivie, President of the Counsell of Scotland," and Sir Thomas Craig, of Writchisland, Knight, Lawyer." And these are no doubt the persons alluded to.

Lord Fivy was selected, along with Lord Cranbourn (R. Cecil), to prepare a preface for the instrument of union, the body of which was to be put into form by Bacon and Hamilton.

Sir Thomas Craig was an old and distinguished Scotch lawyer, author of a learned work on the Feudal Law, and of treatises (unpublished) on the succession to the throne, on the union of the kingdoms, and on homage. He was at this time Advocate of the Church of Scotland.

These two, therefore, were obviously the likeliest men to turn "the argument and the two speeches" (concerning which see chap. i. §7 of this volume, and chap. viii. §§ 6 and 8 of vol. iii.) into account among the Scotchmen. But Sir Thomas Craig died in the following February, being over seventy years of age. (English Cyclopædia.')

dispriz. mere Lawyers. The "matter of Prohibitions" was the dispute as to jurisdiction between the courts at Westminster and the provincial courts in Wales and the North; of which I have already said something (vol. iii. chap. ix. § 2) in connexion with the draft "Proclamation touching the Marches ;" and a full account will be found in Mr. Heath's preface to Bacon's legal argument on the subject. The "claim" to be put in "for the King" was in the interest of government the necessity of a reference to Westminster upon every point of litigation being inconvenient for the subject in places so far remote, owing to delay and expense. In such a dispute the Archbishop of Canterbury naturally took part with the Crown: and it occurs to Bacon by the way that the humour of " opposition to the lawyers" into which it brought him might perhaps be worked upon so as to give him an interest in that reform of the law which he wanted to bring about, and "disprizing mere lawyers," who were the natural obstacles in the way of it. equalling of Lawes. That is, removing the discrepancies between the laws of England and Scotland, preparatory to a perfect union. See "Preparation for the Union of Laws," Lit. and Prof. Works, ii. p. 729.

In awe. That is, to keep them in expectation of promotion, and in fear of forfeiting it.

taine must

conduits

are

[f. 3.] to joyne another

and a

cau.

To make somewt of my sute and refer. towching ye place of ye
Mars. eyther for my self or some other.

To remember to be ready for argumt in my La. Arb. cause before

The place of the Mars. Probably the Court of the Marshalsea, which had jurisdiction to hear and determine causes between the servants of the King's household within the verge of the Court-that is, within a circle of twelve miles round the King's palace. A few months before, a man had been arrested for debt under the authority of this court (Coke, Rep. x. p. 69), upon which an action for false imprisonment was brought, on the ground that the parties were not servants of the King. The action was apparently still depending; but the question may very likely have been referred to Bacon for his opinion. And, judging by the course which was ultimately taken, I suppose his opinion was that, the jurisdiction being questionable, and yet the limitation being inconvenient, it would be best to erect a new court with authority to hear and determine all causes between party and party within the verge, whether they were servants of the household or not. If so, the way he could "make somewhat of his suit and reference touching the place of the Marshalsea, either for himself or some other," would be by getting the appointment: which he afterwards did, as we shall see when we come to his "Judicial Charge upon the Commission of Oyer and Determiner for the Verge." The words in the margin (the last of which, if I read the letters right, I cannot guess; but it may possibly be meant for Com., i. e. "Commission ") seem to contain a suggestion that two judges should be appointed, which was done; for in the letters-patent which erected the new court two judges were nominated (Montague, 'Life of Bacon,' p. cli.), himself and Sir Thomas Vavasor, then Knight Marshal of the Household.

In the session of 1606-7 three bills for reformation of abuses in the Marshalsea Court were brought in; one of which passed its third reading, and was sent up to the Lords (12th May, 1607); but as I do not find it among the statutes, I presume it was lost in the upper house.

My La. Arb. cause. The "Lady Arabella's cause must not be supposed to have had anything to do with Sir William Seymour, the discovery of her relation with him being of later date by a year and a half. It may possibly have been connected with a grant which she received the year before (S. P. Dom. 9th March, 1607) of "all sums paid into the Exchequer from the lands of Thomas Earl of Ormond,"- -or with that "bill put into the Exchequer, or some other court, concerning much land that by reason of pretended bastardy in Queen Elizabeth should descend to divers persons," of which Chamberlain "heard a muttering" in October, 1608, and in which she was named as "one of the chief actors." In either of these there may have been some cause pending before the judges, in which the King was interested "in point of profit." But the cause in question was most likely a suit for the erection of a patent office,-which we know was moved about this time on her behalf. It was one of the innumerable projects for raising money, partly for the profit of the Crown, partly for the benefit of the public, chiefly for the benefit of the promoter-and supposed to be altogether at the expense of persons who were making unfair profits-in which these times were so prolific. Whenever any trade took advantage of the market to sell dear, there was some one who could show that a restriction upon the rise of prices would be a gain both to people and King, and who would undertake, for a share in the King's gain, to enforce it. The Lady Arabella Stuart's project, or the project invented in her behalf, was to cheapen oats, for the benefit of travellers, at the expense of innholders; to effect which, it was proposed that every innholder or hostler should be required to bind himself every year in a recognizance of £5 "not to take any more than sixpence gain over and above the common price in the market, for and in every bushel of oats which he or they should vend or sell, in gross or by retail, unto any passengers or travellers; the said bushel also, or any other measure, to be according to the ancient measure or standard of England, commonly called Winchester measure." For every such bond or recognizance the Lady Arabella (or her deputy) was to be authorized to take "of every innholder or ostler the sum of two shillings and sixpence," of which she might retain for her own use, "in consideration of pains and

terme and to sp. wth my L. of Salsbury in it: cheefly in poynt of profite; and ye Judges to be made and p'pared (though my La. be otherwise remembred).

To sp. to my L. of Salsbury of 3 restitucions. Cote and condt mony to ye cuntry. / Tythes owt of parishes to ye Church: fifteenthes levyed of Townes excepted to ye Townes. Note ye conceyt that hath been putt into ye Ks head, that puritans are most for the union and the BPs against it.

N. Sals. loveth not to have the Bds informed of any good affectio in ye peop. to ye Sc. nat.

charges," a fifth part. By this it was estimated that the King's revenues would be increased, without any charge, by £1000 a year; that "the travelling subject of all sorts, as noblemen, judges, lawyers, gentlemen, linen-men, woollen-men, hardwaremen, and carriers, who are the upholders of all trades within this land, would in their travel be much eased, and thereby wares might be sold in the country the cheaper;" that the use of the common measure of the land would be enforced; while the innholder and ostler would still receive "ten times more than ever any law heretofore allowed them."

I do not find that this suit was granted, but that it was under consideration at this very time is proved by the endorsement of the paper (Lodge, iii. p. 236), from which I have extracted these particulars,-" A copy of that which the King's Majesty is to be moved to sign touching oats. July, 1608." It is in the form of a warrant for a Patent under the Great Seal, and the endorsement is said to be in the hand of the Earl of Shrewsbury. What Bacon had to say to Salisbury about it, and in what shape it was to come before the judges the next term, I do not know. We shall see a little further on that to "beat down unfit suits with law" was one of the duties of an Attorney-General in which he found Sir Henry Hobart weak or negligent. And this may have been one of them.

This note and the next are crossed out.

Cote and cond' money. See S. P. Dom. James I., vol. v. No. 71, from which it appears that complaint had been made of the misappropriation of coat and conduct money paid in the late Queen's time; which the Deputy-Lieutenants of certain counties in Wales professed to have expended in different ways for the benefit of the county.

"Coat and conduct money was money assessed upon the hundreds for the outfit of the levies they had to provide, and the expenses of conducting them to the place of rendezvous or embarkation. On the 12th of October, 1607, letters were sent from the Council to the Lord Lieutenants, etc., "for the sending of 600 soldiers into Ireland, with arms and apparel to be provided by the country, the conduct money after the rate of 84 a day for each man, 6s for the conductor, and 4 for a coat, to be allowed upon certificate out of the Exchequer." See Abstracts of the Registers of the Privy Council, 1550-1610,' Add. MSS. Brit. Mus. 11,402. See also 'Verney Papers' (Camd. Soc.) pp. 118, 127.

fifteenthes levyed of townes excepted. By 35 Eliz. c. 13, the subsidies thereby granted were to be levied " as well within the liberties, etc., and other whatsoever places, exempt or not exempt, as without," any grant, etc., to the contrary notwithstanding; but with an express proviso that all such exemptions should hold good in future. (See Stat. of the Realm, iv. pp. 871, 882.) I fancy that the commissioners for subsequent subsidies, following the last precedent and not remembering the proviso, had continued to levy the fifteenths upon some of the towns that had a right of exemption.

Bds. I cannot guess what this word is meant for, unless it be "Boards "-that is, Council Boards. Nor do I understand why Salisbury should have disliked "to have the Boards informed of any good affection in the people to the Scottish nation;" unless he thought it might confirm the King in the notion that the Puri

My L. of Sa. is to be remembred of the great expectation. wherewith he enters; as that he will make the Ks paymts certen; that he will remedy unlawfull transportat. as ordon. leather, grayne: That he will lymite assynmts of bonds; That he will deale moderately wth recusants; That he will fauor the Ks. tents. That he will moderate concelmts. That he will moderate new Imposicions.

of

[.3, .] To have ever in readyness matter to minister taulk wth every the great counsellors respectivè, both to induce familiarity and for countenance in publike place. Note amongst the pores of gayn thought of by my L. of Salsb. He wanteth Divites et Orbi tanquã indagine capi; and matter of marchanding, wch mixt with power of estate I conceyve may doe wonders.

Spec.

13.

To wynne cred. comparate to ye Att. in being more short, rownd and resolute. (All this is nothing except) (Thear is more) (Oportet isthæc ficri finis aute non dum).

To foresce no imput. upon ye serv. of depopulacion; Not se

tans were the best friends of the union, and so incline him to be too favourable to that party. It may be that those who "put into the King's head" that conceit, would take advantage of discussions in Council to work upon it.

Concelm". "Concealers" (says Cowell) "be such as find out concealed lands; that is, such lands as privily are kept from the King by common persons, having nothing to show for them.' It is obvious that the zeal of commissioners for the discovery of such lands (who farmed the office) would need moderating very much.

New Impositions. Taxes upon goods imported and exported; the imposition of which by the Crown without consent of Parliament, though held legal by the judges, was disputed in the Lower House, and became soon after a principal battlefield between the King and the Commons. It seems to have been too late to remind Salisbury of what was expected of him in this department, for he had already, the month before, while lessening the existing impositions upon some commodities, laid new ones upon others to the amount of £60,000 a-year. (See a memorandum by Sir Julius Cæsar, Lansd. MSS. 168, f. 307.)

Romæ tes

Divites et orbi tanquam indagine capi. Tacitus, Annal. xiii. 43. tamenta et orbos velut indagine ejus capi. Compare Bacon's Essay on Riches. The fishing out of rich orphans was, I presume, with a view to the profit upon wardship.

Spec.The meaning of this marginal reference, which is repeated several times, 13. I cannot conjecture to my satisfaction. It may perhaps have been the title and number of another note-book, into which a particular class of memoranda was to be transferred.

Depopulacion. In a paper in Sir Julius Caesar's hand (Lansd. MSS. 168, fo. 318), dated 10th Oct., 1608, and headed "The L. Tre despatches for this last summer for Excheq. business," I find the subject of "Depopulation: How much hath been paid of the fines imposed upon the depopulators, what behind, the causes, the remedies," assigned to Mr. Attorney, Mr. Solicitor, and Mr. Recorder. The "service of Depopulation," therefore, was the enforcement of the legal penalties for “depopulating”—that is, for turning arable into pasture. A commission to examine abuses touching depopulation had been issued to the Lord Chancellor and the Earl of Salisbury in May, 1608 (S. P. Dom.). I do not know how to