DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

( 13 ) lic opinion, which is inseparable from social public opinion. JuprcraL Corruprion.—In speaking of the po- litical corruption of past generations, we must not forget the judicial corruption which was rife at the same time. In 1621 Lord Bacon was Lord Chan- cellor to James I. A powerful writer and philoso- pher, he was already a distinguished lawyer in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In his earlier days he owed everything he possessed to the generosity of Lord Essex. Nevertheless, when Lord Essex, having rebelled against Queen Elizabeth, was arraigned for high treason, Bacon, in order to ingratiate himself with the Queen, not only acted as counsel against Lord Essex, but by his skilful and relentless conduct of the prosecution, established his former patron’s guilt, secured his conviction, and his execution. Such baseness was no bar to his elevation to the highest office in the legal profession. Queen Eliza- beth, it is true, steadily refused to listen to his claims for advancement, but her successor, James I., made him his Lord Chancellor. As such he accepted bribes from suitors, and sold justice to the highest bidder. The crash eventually came, and Bacon was dismissed from his office ; ostensibly because he had accepted bribes, but really because it was expedient at the moment that the King and his party should make