queen's counsellors thought it neceffary that the attainder of her mother fhould be taken off; but the lord-keeper was of another mind. He thought the crown purged all defects; and, in compliance with his advice, two bills were brought into parliament, and paffed into laws; one for recognizing the queen's title, the other for reftoring her in blood as heir to her mother. The main business of this feffion was the fettlement of religion, in which no man had a greater fhare than the lord-keeper, though he acted with fuch prudence as never to incur the hatred of any party. On this account he was made choice of, together with the archbishop of York, to be moderator in a difpute between eight proteftant divines, and eight popish bifhops; and the latter behaving very unfairly in the opinion of both the moderators, and defiring, to avoid a fair difputation, to go away, the lordkeeper put that queftion to each of them, and when all except one infifted on going, his lordship difmiffed them with this memorandum, For that ye would not that we should hear you, perhaps you may fhortly hear of us;' and, accordingly, for this contempt, the bishops of Winchester and Lincoln were committed to the Tower, and the reft were bound to appear before the council, and not to quit the cities of London and Weltminfer without leave. The whole bufinefs of the feflion, than which there was none of greater importance throughout that reign, was chiefly managed by his lordihip, who pursued therein his wife maxim, Let us ftay a little, that we may have done the fooner," and thereby brought all to a good conclufion, ending the feffion as he began it, with a very excellent fpeech. Thenceforward the lord-keeper ftood as high in the favour of the queen as any of her minifters, and he took care to fortify his friendship, by maintaining a cordial intereft with other great men, particularly with thofe eminent perfons, who had married into the fame family with himfelf, viz. Cecil,

I

Hobby, Rowlet, and Killigrew. Bý their affistance he maintained his credit at court, though he fometimes differed in opinion from the mighty favourite Leicefter, who yet once bade fair for his ruin. Great intrigues, it feems, were at that time carried on in relation to the fucceffion. Some great men, and particularly the earl of Leicester, pretended to favour the title of the queen of Scots, while others were more inclined to the houfe of Suffolk. The queen fometimes affected a neutrality, but, at others, the fhewed a tenderness for the title of the Scottish queen. In 1564, when these difputes were at the height, one Mr. John Hales, clerk of the hanaper, thought fit to write a treatise, or rather to publifh it, for it feems to have been written before, in favour of the Suffolk line, and directly, and in plain terms, against the title of the queen of Scots. This book was complained of by the bishop of Rofs, who was ambaffador from the queen of Scots, and his caufe being warmly fupported by the earl of Leicester, Hales was committed to prison, and fo fevere an enquiry made after al who had expreffed any favour for this piece, that, at laft, the lord-keeper came to be fufpected, which drew upon him the queen's displeasure to fuch a degree, that he was forbidden the court, removed from his feat at council, and prohibited from meddling with any affairs but thofe of the chancery: nay, Camden carries it fo far as to fay he was confined. Certain it is, that the queen was much eftranged from him, and he in the utmost danger of total ruin. At laft, however, Cecil, with much difficulty, reftored him to the queen's good opinion, who, in all probability, liked him not the lefs in the fucceeding part of her reign, for this diftalte he had fhewn toward the title of the

of

queen Scots; as appears by her setting him at the head of the commiffion, granted in the year 1568, for hearing the difference between that unfortunate princefs, and her rebellious subjects;

and,

and, in 1571, we find him again acting in the like capacity, though very little was done before the commiffioners, at either time; and very likely this was what queen Elizabeth chiefly defired, and the covering her inclination with a decent appearance of juftice, was perhaps not a little owing to the addrefs of the lord-keeper. Thenceforward he continued not only in, but at the head of her majefty's councils, and had a great hand in preventing, by his moderation, fome warm advices that afterward took effect. The fhare, however, that he had in the business of the duke of Norfolk, his known diflike to the title of the queen of Scots, and his great care for promoting the proteftant religion, created him many bitter enemies among the papifts, both at home and abroad; who, though they were able to do him no great hurt, yet by feveral bitter libels gave him no fmall pain. As a statesman he was remarkable for a clear head, and deep counfels; and while it was thought of fome other great men, that they feemed wiser than they were, the common voice of the nation agreed in this, that fir Nicholas Bacon was wifer than he feemed. His great skill lay in balancing factions; and it is thought he taught the queen that fecret, the more neceffary to her because the last of her family, and confequently without many of thofe fupports incident to princes. In the chancery he diftinguifhed himself by a very moderate ufe of power, and fhewing great refpect to the common law. At his own request, an act of parliament was made, to fettle and establish the power of a lord-keeper; though he might probably have taken away all need of this, by procuring the title of lord chancellor: but, according to his motto, which was • Mediocra firma,' he was content to be fafe, and did not defire to be great. In that court, and in the star chamber, he made ufe, on proper occafions, of fet fpeeches, in which he was happier than most men, pleafing the people by their

found, and charming the wifeft men of that age with their fenfe; whence he attained the reputation of uniting two oppofite characters, viz. of a witty and a weighty fpeaker. His great parts and great preferment were far from raifing him in his own opinion, as appears from the modeft anfwer he gave queen Elizabeth, when fhe told him his houfe at Redgrave was too little for him: Not fo, madam,' returned he, but your majefty has made me too great for my house.' Yet to fhew his respect for her majefty's judgment, he afterward added wings to his houfe. His modefty in this refpect was fo much the greater, fince he had a great paffion for building, and withal a very fine tafte, as appeared by his house and gardens at Gorhambury, near St. Alban's; a feat which now belongs to viscount Grimstone, who, to the great regret of all the lovers of antiquity, demolished the venerable old structure, and, on its fite, has built an elegant new one. Toward the latter end of his life he became very corpulent, which made queen Elifabeth fay merrily, that Sir Nicholas' foul lodged well.' To himself, however, his bulk was very cumberfome; infomuch that, after waiking from Westminster-hall to the Star-chamber, which was but a very little way, he was usually fo much out of breath, that the lawyers forbore fpeaking at the bar till he recovered himfelf, and gave then notice of it by knocking with his itaff, After having held the great feal more than twenty years, this able statefman and faithful counsellor was fuddenly removed from this life, as a certain writer informs us, by the following accident. He was under the hands of his barber, and the weather being fultry, had ordered a window before him to be thrown open. As he was become very corpulent, he prefently fell asleep, in the current of fresh air that was blowing in upon him, and awaked after we time diftempered all over. 'Why,' faid he to the fervant, did you suffer me to fleep thus $ $ 2 exposed?