gentleman and a man of law, and of great knowledge therein. He had the deepest reach into affairs of any man that was at the council-table; the knottiest head to pierce into difficulties; the most comprehensive judgment to surround the merits of a cause; the strongest memory to recollect all circumstances of a business at one view; the greatest patience to debate and consider; and the clearest reason to urge anything that came in his way in the Court of Chancery."

"In that Court," says Peacham in his Compleat Gentleman,'" and in the Star-chamber, he made use, on proper occasions, of set speeches, in which he was happier than most men, pleasing the people by their sound, and charming the wisest men of that age with their sense, whence he attained the reputation of uniting two opposite characters, viz., of a witty and a weighty speaker.”

Some there are who intimate that his cautious and considerate temperament amounted to a dexterous subtlety, hardly consistent with sincerity. Sir Robert Naunton says of him, that "he was an arch-piece of wit and wisdom. . . . . Those that lived in his age give him a lively character, and they decypher him to be another Solon, and the Sinon of those times, such a one as Edipus was in dissolving of riddles.” This imputation, of an extreme craft and subtlety, implying a certain amount of dishonesty of purpose, appears to have been made against him very shortly after his death, in a political libel published in behalf of the Catholics in 1592, and is highly resented and indignantly denied by Lord Bacon.

"He says 'Sir Nicholas Bacon, that was Lord Keeper, was a man of exceeding crafty wit;' which showeth that this fellow, in his slanders, is no good marksman, but throweth out his words of defaming without all level. For all the world noted Sir Nicholas Bacon to be a man, plain, direct, and constant, without all finesse and doubleness; and one that was of the mind that a man in his private proceedings and estate, and in the proceedings of state, should rest upon the soundness and strength of his own courses, and not upon practice to circumvent others; according to the sentence of Solomon, Vir prudens advertit ad gressus suos, stultus autem divertit ad dolos: insomuch that the Bishop of Ross, a subtle and observing man, said of him, that he could fasten no words

upon him, and that it was impossible to come within him, because he offered no play: and the queen mother of France, a very politic princess, said of him, that he should have been of the council of Spain, because he despised the occurrents, and rested upon the first plot; so that if he were crafty, it is hard to say who is wise."

Perhaps the most trustworthy testimony to his merits is the small share of obloquy with which, upon the whole, either his character when living, or his memory when dead, was visited. The motto he selected was probably an exterior type of the character of his mind, as the maxim it contains appears to have regulated his conduct:-"He gave for his motto," says Fuller, "Mediocria firma, and practised the former part thereof, mediocria, never attaining, because never affecting, any great estate."

Mr. Macaulay, in his eloquent essay on the life and writings of Lord Bacon, speaking of the memorable band of statesmen who surrounded and strengthened the throne of Elizabeth, and amongst whom the Lord Keeper Bacon ranked second only to Burleigh, justly describes this attribute of moderation, expressed in the motto adopted by Bacon, as the distinguishing characteristic of their administrative policy, and that whereby they consolidated and so long retained their authority. "They were more solicitous to lay the foundations of their power deep, than to raise the structure to a conspicuous but insecure height. None of them aspired to be sole minister. None of them provoked envy by an ostentatious display of wealth and influence. None of them affected to outshine the ancient aristocracy of the kingdom. They were free from that childish love of titles, which characterized the successful courtiers of the generation which preceded them, and that which followed them. As to money, none of them could, in that age, justly be considered as rapacious. Some of them would, even in our time, deserve the praise of eminent disinterestedness. Their fidelity to the state was incorruptible. Their private morals were without stain. Their households were sober and well-governed." To none of them does this description apply more aptly than to Sir Nicholas Bacon.

He was fond of rural pleasures and occupations, and was

an agreeable and mirthful companion. One well-known specimen of his witticisms has already been mentioned: others are recorded by Lord Bacon. Among them is the old judicial joke founded upon his name, which has long been accounted as apocryphal as any that boasts the venerable paternity of Joe Miller:-"Sir Nicholas Bacon being appointed a judge for the northern circuit [when could that be?], and having brought his trials that came before him to such a pass as the passing of sentence on malefactors, he was, by one of the malefactors, mightily importuned for to save his life; which when nothing that he had said did avail, he at length desired his mercy on account of kindred. 'Prithee,' said my lord judge, 'how came that in?' 'Why, if it please you my lord, your name is Bacon, and mine is Hog, and in all ages Hog and Bacon have been so near 'kindred, that they are not to be separated.' 'Ay, but,' replied Judge Bacon, you and I cannot be kindred, except you be hanged; for Hog is not bacon until it be well hanged.""

We add one or two other professional mots: "Sir Nicholas Bacon, when a certain nimble-witted counsellor at the bar, who was forward to speak, did interrupt him often, said unto him, 'There is a great difference between you and me; a pain to me to speak, and a pain to you to hold your tongue.'

Another:-"The same Sir Nicholas Bacon, upon bills exhibited to discover where lands lay, upon proof that they had a certain quantity of land, but could not set it forth, was wont to say-'And if you cannot find your land in the country, how will you have me find it in the Chancery?""

Of somewhat a better class is his answer to the Queen, when she asked his opinion of one of the monopoly licences which were so largely granted in those days:-"He answered, 'Madam, will you have me speak the truth? Licentiâ omnes deteriores sumus-we are all the worse for licences!'

Sir Nicholas was a munificent benefactor of his college, in which he endowed six scholarships. He bequeathed also a number of valuable manuscripts to the library.

The only known productions of his pen are the tract already mentioned, in defence of the Stuart succession, and another pamphlet, entitled "Arguments exhibited in Parliament, whereby it is proved that the persons of noblemen are attach

able by law for contempts committed in the High Court of Chancery;" first published in 1641.

He was twice married: first, to Jane, daughter of William Ferneley, Esq., of West Creting, Norfolk, by whom he had three sons; Sir Nicholas, the first baronet created on the foundation of that order in 1611, and in whose descendant the same precedency still survives; Nathaniel, and Edward; and three daughters; Anne, married to Sir Henry Wodehouse, of Waxham, Norfolk; Jane, who was first married to Sir Francis Windham, a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and secondly to Sir Robert Mansfield; and Elizabeth, who was thrice married; first, to Sir Robert D'Oyley, an Oxfordfordshire baronet; secondly, to Sir Henry Nevil; and lastly to Sir William Periam, chief baron of the Exchequer. Sir Nicholas's second wife was Anne, daughter and coheir of Sir Anthony Cooke, and sister, as we have already mentioned, of Lady Burleigh, by whom he had two sons; Anthony, to whom he bequeathed Gorhambury; and Francis, the philosopher and Chancellor, the glory at once and shame of his name and country.

All the daughters of Sir Anthony Cooke were ladies of great erudition. Katherine, Lady Killigrew, wrote Latin verses with facility and elegance; Mildred, Lady Burleigh, is described by Roger Ascham as the best Greek scholar among the young women of England, with the exception only of Lady Jane Grey; and Lady Bacon was famous for having translated into English Bishop Jewell's "Apologia Ecclesiæ Anglicana," which she sent for revision to the author, accompanied by an epistle in Greek; and on a comparison of it with the original, both by Jewell and Archbishop Parker, so accurate was the translation found to be, that they had not, as we are assured, occasion to alter a single word. She also translated from the Italian a number of sermons, on predestination and other knotty theological subjects, the work of an ecclesiastic named Bernardin Ochin. Her illustrious son doubtless owed much of his early acquirements to her direction of his youthful studies.

W. N. W.

ART. III.-LAW MAXIMS.-CAVEAT EMPTOR, &c.

CAVEAT emptor, qui ignorare non debuit quod jus alienum emit;1 viz.

Let a purchaser beware [without relying on any remedy by law], for he ought not to be ignorant of [the amount of] that other person's interest, which he is to purchase.

Simplex commendatio non obligat, viz.

Mere commendation or puffing an article [at time of sale] does not amount to warranting it.

Vigilantibus non dormientibus jura subveniunt,3 [or succurrunt], viz.

The laws assist those who are vigilant, not those who slumber over their rights.

Volenti non fit injuria, viz.

Whatever a man does or submits to of his own will, affords him no ground of suit for injury, or of defence as done on compulsion. For

Interest reipublicæ ut sit finis litium, or ut judicia rata sint, or res judicatas non rescindi,5 viz.

It concerns the public that litigation should have an end, or that the judgments of courts should be adhered to as valid. And

Nemo debet bis vexari pro eâdem causâ, si constet curiæ quod sit pro unâ et eâdem causâ,6 viz.

No one should be harassed or vexatiously sued twice for what shall clearly appear to the court to be one and the same cause of action.

viz.

Quilibet renunciare potest beneficio juris pro se introducto,7

Every man is at liberty to reject the benefit which the law provides for him.

Modus et conventio vincunt [or faciunt] legem; viz. The methods or fashions of doing things, and the agreements of

Hobart's Rep. 99..

3 Wingate, 672, Lord Ray. 20, &c.

2 Domat's Civil Law, 85.

4 Grendon v. Lincoln (Bp.), Plowd. 500 a; Wingate, 482.

5 2 Inst. 83, &c.

7 1 Inst. 99 a.

VOL. XXX. NO. LXII.

62 Wils. 308; 2 Inst. 359.

8 Cowper v. Andrews, Hobart, 40.

U