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THE LIFE

SIR EDWARD COKE,

LORD CHIEF JUSTICE OF ENGLAND IN THE REIGN OF

JAMES I.

WITH

MEMOIRS OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES,

CUTHBERT WILLIAM JOHNSON, Esq.
OF GRAY'S INN, BARRISTER- AT-LAW.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL I.

LONDON:
HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER,
GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
1837-

WITH GREAT PLEASURE

THE AUTHOR DEDICATES THIS WORK

(BY PERMISSION)

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

THE EARL AND COUNTESS OF LEICESTER,

AS IT AFFORDS HIM AN OPPORTUNITY

TO RECORD HIS SENSE

OF THEIR KINDNESS AND

HOSPITALITY.

CONTENTS

THE FIRST VOLUME.

CHAPTER I.
Page
The period in which Coke lived — His general character
— His birth in 1550 — His parents — His family —
Childhood — Enters Trinity College Cambridge —
Archbishop Whitgift — Coke's studies — His power of
intense application — Nature of his readings — Biogra
phy of Whitgift — Coke becomes a Templar — Is called
to the Bar —The course of legal study followed in his
days — Mootings — Anecdotes of the law students —
Coke pleads his first cause — Gets into practice — Accu
mulates considerable property — Rapidly acquires estates
— Notices of his landed property in Norfolk, Essex,
Bucks and Dorsetshire. . . . .1

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER II.

1578—1582,

Page
Coke's early career at the bar — Account of his first cause
— Style of pleading — His emoluments — His legal con
temporaries — Plowden — Bacon — Lord Ellesmere — Sir
George Croke — Sir Harbottle Grimstone — Sir Henry
Yelverton — Sir Lawrence Tanfield — Dodderidge — Da
vid Jenkins. . . . . .27

CHAPTER III.

1582—1593.
Coke's first marriage — The Paston family — Coke's father-
in-law — This the happiest period of his life — Trial of
Mary Queen of Scots — Coke made Recorder of Nor
wich, Coventry and London — A bencher and reader
of Inner Temple — Elected into parliament for Nor
wich — Made solicitor-general- — Sketch of his parliamen
tary demeanour — His description of the properties which
a member of parliament ought to possess — The mem
bers of that age — Their character — Their pay — Coke
elected speaker — Sir John Puckering's speech on the
occasion — Coke's first speech in parliament in address
ing Queen Elizabeth — The lord keeper's reply — The
Commons displease the Queen — Certain members com
mitted to the Tower — Speech of Coke on the bill
for reforming the ecclesiastical courts — His address

CONTENTS.
as speaker to the Queen at the close of the session
— The Queen's speech in reply — Appointed attorney
general— Sketch of the parliamentary proceedings dur
ing the last years of Elizabeth and the first of James
I.

Page

6.5

CHAPTER IV.
1593—1603.
Coke's residence at Huntingfield Hall — The mansion and
its remains — Coke's children — His wife — Her death —
Her epitaph — Coke again thinks of marriage — The trea
ty with Lady Hatton successful — His illegal marriage
— Whitgift puts him into the Spiritual Court — Death
of Burleigh — Notice of Sir William Hatton — Rivalry
of Bacon — Letters of Lord Essex — ^Character of Lady
Hatton — Trial of Essex and Southampton— Speech of
Coke — Notice of Essex and of his son — Criminal
trials of that age — The public quarrel of Coke and Ba
con — Queen Elizabeth — Her conduct to Coke — Her
gift to him — Her death — Coke continued attorney-
general by her successor. . . . .119

CHAPTER V.
1602—1606.
Coke knighted — Trial of Raleigh — His speech — Raleigh's
defence — His condemnation — Sir Henry Montague's
speech to him on judgment being passed — Notice of
Raleigh— The gunpowder plot — Trial of the cons-

CONTENTS. Page
pirators — Coke's speech to the judges — Notice of this
plot and of the conspirators — Many of its particulars
doubted — Coke made Chief Justice of the Common
Pleas — Coke's emoluments when at the bar — His fees
of office. . . . . . .155

CHAPTER VI.

1606—1614.
Coke's upright character as a judge — Ceremony of his
investiture — Is previously made a king's sergeant —
His introduction into the Court of Common Pleas —
Bacon's letter to him — The case of Marmaduke Lang-
dale — Opposes the court — Refuses to give his opinions
— Opposes the Court of High Commission — History
of this court — Coke nominated a commissioner —
Refuses to sit — Conference in consequence — Archbi
shop Bancroft's speech to him — The Court of Com
mon Pleas, and the High Commission Court come
into contact in the case of chancery — Coke sum
moned before the Privy Council — Coke succeeds in
his opposition — Is made Chief Justice of the Court
of King's Bench — The real cause of his promotion —
The case of Edward Peacham — the King desirous of
ascertaining Coke's opinion — Bacon demands it — Coke
finally baffles him — King James writes his opinion —
Coke made High Steward of Cambridge. . .213

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.

1614—1616.

Page
Benevolences — Coke contributes to them — Presides
at the trial of the murderers of Overbury — Weston
—Ann Turner — Sir John Elvis— Sir Robert Monson
— The Earl and Countess of Somerset — Roger Coke's
account of the detection of the plot — King James'
fears — The plots which attended him — Coke's address
— The declining health of the Lord Chancellor —
Bacon intrigues to be his successor — Contest between
the Courts of King's Bench and Chancery — Coke
consulted by the King. . . . .256

CHAPTER VIII.
1616—1617.
The Case of Commendams — Bacon's letter to Sir Edward
Coke — The letter of the Judges to the King — The
Judges summoned before the King in council — The
King's speech to them — Coke's reply — The King's
rejoinder — Bacon's opinion — Coke's reply — The
Chancellor puts a question to the Judges, which
Coke alone refuses to answer — Again summoned
before the council — The reports of the council to the
King — Coke again summoned before them — The
sentence of the Privy Council upon him — Desired to
revise his reports — Suspended from his office — Again

CONTENTS.

Page

appeared before the Privy Council — Letter of Bucking
ham to Bacon — The King himself enters into the
examination of Coke's reports — Coke again summoned
before the Privy Council — The Chancellor's reports to
the King, of the examination — The examination
suspended — Letter of Coke to Buckingham. . 293

CHAPTER IX.
1616.
The real causes of Coke's suspension from the Court of
King's Bench — The case of the chief clerkship of the
Pleas — Resolution to discharge him — Bacon's letter to
the King enclosing a form for the purpose — Warrant
for his successor — Bacon advises the King as to Mon
tague — Further notices of the review of Coke's re
ports — Copy of Coke's supersedeas — Coke's behaviour
on the occasion — The opinion of his legal contempo
raries—The letters of Mr. Chamberlain — The Queen
befriends him — Sir Henry Montague appointed his
successor — Bacon's letter to Buckingham — Speech of
the Chancellor to Sir Henry Montague when he was
sworn to his place — Incomes of the judges in the time
of Coke — Notice of Robert Cecil first Earl of Salisbury
— Of Villiers Duke of Buckingham, . . . 328

INTRODUCTION.

The works of Sir Edward Coke have been
long familiar to the legal profession ; to no
English lawyer, indeed, are his gigantic labours
unknown. But with regard to the life of their
great author, with the exception of the able no
tice by Oldys, in the Biographia Britannica, little
has yet been accomplished. To the readers of
English history, Coke is principally known as the
pleader who so rancorously conducted the pro
secution of Sir Walter Raleigh ; and he is hard
ly remembered for anything except the part
which he played in that melancholy trial. To
this, many circumstances have contributed ;
he was much too independent in his political
conduct to be a favourite with the historians of
either party ; too patriotic for the royalists ; his
high prerogative legal opinions were, on the
other hand, equally distasteful to the republicans.

XIV INTRODUCTION.
In this work, I have endeavoured to supply
the deficiency above referred to ; and for this
purpose have availed myself of the stores con
tained in the Plumian Library, in my own im
mediate neighbourhood ; that of Lambeth, which
has been opened to me by the kindness of his
Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, and that
of Holkham, through the liberal hospitality of
the Earl and Countess of Leicester.
In none of these collections, however, nor
even among the splendid stores of the British
Museum, have I found so many original letters
of Coke as I once anticipated. In truth, the
now remaining correspondence of this great
lawyer is extremely limited, and not much dis
tinguished either for its ease or its elegance ;
and, upon the whole, our knowledge of his pri
vate life is but little extended by his own
writings. In the present work I have endeavoured to do
justice to Coke's character, by showing him not
only as the lawyer and the author, but as the
unflinching patriot, for in all these public rela
tions he puts forth the highest claims to our
gratitude and admiration— claims which he well

INTRODUCTION. XV
maintained to the end ; for at the age of four
score we shall find him still the same ardent
lover of his country as in the prime of life ; still
exerting his great powers and acquirements, as
when he was Attorney General to Queen Eliza
beth. At the same time, I have on no occasion en
deavoured to conceal Coke's great and manifold
defects, so often displayed during his long ana
eventful career. But, in reviewing these errors,
we must not forget the character of the age in
which he lived. We must remember, that mo
deration of language, and liberality of feeling,
were not then the fashionable attributes of public
characters, or mildness of punishment the de
sired attribute of the criminal code of England.
Moreover, we must not forget that if Coke, in
common with the political party with whom he
associated, sometimes outstepped the bounds of
moderation and humanity, he was surrounded
by difficulties and perplexities at once novel and
unprecedented ; that he was claiming for the
Commons privileges never before exercised, and
combating mighty prerogatives of the crown,
which had been long enjoyed without resistance ;

XVI INTRODUCTION.
that he was very often obliged to argue, without
authorities, and to maintain positions in "which he
was of necessity the aggressor. In short, while
reviewing at this distant and improved period of
human cultivation, the life of this, in many res
pects, truly great man, let us not withhold from
our estimate that liberal interpretation of his
failings, the absence of which, in his estimate of
others, was Coke's chief error.
C. W. J.

THE LIFE

SIR EDWARD COKE.

CHAPTER I.

1550—1578.

The period in which Coke lived — His general character
— His birth in l55o — His parents! — His family — Child
hood — Enters Trinity College Cambridge — Archbishop
Whitgift — Coke's studies — His power of intense application
— Nature of his readings — Biography of Whitgift — Coke
becomes a Templar — Is called to the Bar— The course of
legal study followed in his days — Mootings — Anecdotes of
the law students — Coke pleads his first cause — Gets into
practice — Accumulates considerable property — Rapidly ac
quires estates — Notices of his landed property in Norfolk,
Essex, Bucks and Dorsetshire.
The long series of eighty-four years which
intervened between the birth and death of Edward
Coke, comprehends one of the most eventful
periods of English History. Its commencement
VOL I. b

2 the life of
in the mild reign of Edward VI, was distin
guished by the arduous and energetic struggles
of an enlightened band of patriots, to throw off
the last chains of the Church of Rome ; a
reformation which they endeavoured to effect by
conciliatory measures, and to perpetuate by wise
statutes, remarkable even at the present day for
their moderation of tone, as well as for the force
and elegance of their very preambles.
Coke's days of childhood likewise included
the short yet sanguinary reign of Queen Mary,
marked by the temporary restoration of popery,
the fierceness of its professors, and the misguided
zeal of its clergy ; a zeal which Pope Paul the
fourth himself foresaw would for ever ruin the
papal religion in England. The sagacity of this
hierarch enabled him correctly to conclude, that
persecution is, of all others, the best mode of
promoting sectarianism; and that no doctrine was
ever yet promulgated, so absurd, as not to be
elevated into importance by oppression and
cruelty. Of a still more certain consequence,
therefore, the rational doctrines of the reformers
would be more widely diffused when the suffer
ings of its professors had given them the fervour
of martyrs, and had gained to them the compas
sionate interest of their countrymen.
Coke was only eight years of age when

SIR EDWARD COKE. 6
Elizabeth commenced her prosperous reign. He
witnessed, in its lengthened duration, numerous
great and important events, and in many of them
he appeared as no inconsiderable actor. The
final estabUshment of the Protestant Church of
England, the astonishing increase of this island
in commerce, in riches, in knowledge, and in
power, were a few of the works of this great
and glorious reign, in which Coke assisted.
He was fifty three years of age, at the ac
cession of her cowardly successor James I,
and shone forth among those leaders of the
land, who endeavoured to rescue it from the
degradation into which it was sinking in his
reign of plots, favourites and pedantry. This
was a period remarkable in the Constitutional
History of England for the first successful efforts
of the Commons to acquire that due weight in the
national legislature, which they did not dare to at
tempt in the reign of his arbitrary and talented
predecessor ; and justly may it be considered
as fortunate for the cause of liberty, that the
Commons of England had, in their earliest
struggles, to contend with so cowardly and so
contemptible a monarch as James I.
In all the plots, debates and contentions of
this reign, Coke never forgot his duty to his
country, even when fulfilling the duties of the
b2

THE LIFE OF

highest judicial offices in the gift of the crown-
offices, which were then held at the mere abi-
trary will of the King, to meet whose wishes too
many of Coke's predecessors had not refused to
falsify the decisions of justice.
In the early part of the reign of Charles I,
Coke died, still acting with the liberal party of
that day ; for, they then spoke with dignity, and
acted with a manly moderation worthy of English
Commoners. Unfortunately for Charles I, as his
difficulties increased, and his dangers thickened,
his most talented friends fell from him. Death,
disgust for his insincerity, exile, and the sword,
had reduced his supporters to a brief array. At
the period of the king's trial, Coke had been
fifteen years in his grave, otherwise he would not
have been a silent spectator of his sovereign's
murder. Although a member of the moderate
party, his moderation would not have degene
rated into cowardice, and indolence. He would
not only have disapproved, but have opposed, the
violence of the popular torrent, when he saw it
overpowering all bounds, and sweeping away the
landmarks of constitutional liberty. The great
Selden might plead his love of ease, his
natural inactivity ; others their want of weight
in the state, a third party might content them
selves with a cold negative to the proposed murder,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 5
or silently withdraw from the tragic judgment —
but such pusillanimity would not have enervated
Coke : he would rather, in all the towering strength
of the profound old lawyer, have stood undis
mayed between his king, and those whQ went
through the mockery of his trial ; he would have
dared them to proceed to judgment ; he would
have scouted their pretended authority as too
transparently ridiculous for vindication; as com
pletely contrary to all law, as it was unjustifiable
in equity.
In following Coke through this long and
eventful period, it will be necessary to trace
at some length many of the scenes in which he
was an actor, and, in so doing, we shall find
that he managed to preserve at the same time
his loyalty and his patriotism, his ardent love of
liberty with an uncompromising allegiance to
his sovereign. We shall have the conclusion
naturally forced upon our attention, that he
fulfilled high and important duties with a success
which, in many succeeding periods, lawyers and
statesmen have found infinite difficulty in attain
ing. Coke, we shall find, was able to accomplish
these things, not because they solely occupied his
attention, but amidst all the irksome employments
of a laborious profession. Besides the imperative
duties that devolved on him he voluntarily

D THE LIFE OF
found time to write comments upon the laws
of his country, even to this day, unexcelled in
their profound legal knowledge ; and to arrange
huge volumes of decisions distinguished for
their learning and accuracy — voluminous works,
still regarded as first authorities by the lawyer,
at the same time that they are among the best
text books of the legal student.
To the law student, the life of Sir Edward Coke
is full of materials for the most careful, the most
serious reflection. Riches did not render him
idle, affluence did not enervate him. Born to a
competent estate, he yet laboured in his profes
sion as if for his very existence. Rising from
his bed before day-break, he studied unceasingly
until weariness compelled him to seek repose.
He was one of the few eminent lawyers on
whom, as Lord Woodhouselee justly remarks,
" Fortune has bestowed hereditary affluence;
for, to a man of talents and of moderate activity,
the possession of a competence in early life is
very far from being an advantage."*
Coke did not start in life with both the great
advantages which Lord Talbot considered the
best endowments of a law student, " parts
and poverty," for he had a family estate, and
* Life of Lord Karnes, vol. 1, p. 3.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 7
excellent connexions — connexions which through
life he studiously, perhaps too carefully, pre
served and extended, certainly in his latter days
more so than accorded with his happiness.
He commenced, however, with still greater
endowments than these : namely, with a moral
courage which no difficulties appalled, and with
habits of industry, for which no investigation was
too tedious or intricate.
It would be unjust to the student to hold up
Coke as a perfect model for his imitation, for
he had many great and important defects of
character. He was proud in the extreme, impe
rious and overbearing. This pride was one great
actuating principle which followed him through
life, was distinguished in his two marriages, in
his pleadings, in his decisions as a judge, in
his contests with Bacon, in his intrigues at
court, in the marriages of his children, and even
in his speeches in Parliament.
His pride, however, was not confined to himself,
storehouse as he was of common law, or to his
own gigantic acquirements. He felt proud of the
equity of the laws of England, proud of his country
and of his country's rights, and, when tottering
towards his grave, in one of his last addresses to
the Commoners of England, he again spoke of
his country's glories, of the feats of her children
in by-gone days of triumphant victories, with

8 THE LIFE OF
all the buoyant enthusiasm of youth . This proud
feeling of patriotism is discernible in all his
works ; it is found in every page of his " Com
mentaries," and it peeps out even in the dry
prefaces, to still more uninviting reports.
His ever anxious solicitude for the progress of
the student was worthy of so great a man. It
was not with him an occasional feeling, for it
will be found beaming through all his gigantic
labours — he let no opportunity escape to further
this benevolent intention.
Of Coke's morality, of his religious feelings,
we have abundant evidence. The student will
not fail to be struck with the testimony he gives
to the unvaried non-success of every lawyer of
his day, who was distinguished for his disregard
of the rules of virtue or the laws of God.
The foregoing is a slight sketch of the life and
mind of Edward Coke, an outline that I will
now proceed to fill up in detail. He was born
on the first of February in the year 1551, at his
father's seat in the parish of Mileham, near
East Dereham, in Norfolk.
The house in which he was born no longer
exists ; it was pulled down some years since by
the present Mr. Coke, and another erected on
its site. It stood on the ground formerly occu
pied by some of the outworks of the old Castle
of Arundel; built in the age of William of

SIR EDWARD COKE. 9
Normandy, by Alan son of Flaad, to whom the
Conqueror granted the Manor of Mileham.
Sir Henry Spelman was shown by Sir Ed
ward Coke the very spot of his birth, his
mother being suddenly delivered of him, by the
parlour fire-side, before she could be carried up
stairs to her bed.*
Although the house no longer remains, Mrs.
Leeds, the present tenant of the new mansion,
still shews the spot of Sir Edward's birth.
According to the register of Mileham, he was
baptized on the 8th of February, 1551, so
that he was probably born on the day I have
assigned, or late in the previous year.f
His father, Robert Coke, was a bencher of
Lincoln's Inn, and a barrister of very extensive
practice. J
His mother, Winifred Knightley, was daughter

* Spelman's Icenia sive Norfolcise p. 150 Mileham — Praedica-
bat miri quidpiam ejus Genitura ; Matrem ita subito juxta
Focum intercipiens et in Thalamum cui suberat non move-
retur. Locum ipsum ipse mihimet demonstravit. The
learned Spelman resided at Narborough, in Norfolk, about
twenty miles from Mileham.
t I owe to the politeness of the Reverend C. B. Barnewall,
the following copy of the Mileham Register. " Edvardus
Coke generosus baptizatus fuit VIII die Februarius, An. 1551"
| Stowe's London, p. 429.

10 THE LIFE OF
and co-heiress of William Knightley, of Mor-
grave Knightley, in Norfolk, and a very estima
ble woman. Coke, in after life, always spoke of
her with much gratitude and reverence.
The surname of Coke is evidently of British
origin, being derived from the British word
coc, or coke, a chief.
The town of Cuckfield, in Sussex, was origi
nally spelt Cokefield, Cokkfield, or Cookefield,
then Cuxfield and lastly Cuckfield.*
In the reign of Henry III, in a grant to the
great Earl de Warren, it is spelt Cokefieldf ;
in the ninth of Edward II, I find it changed into
Cokefeld ;} and in the eighteenth of Henry VII
into Cockfield.§
I find the same variations in spelling the name
of Sir Edward Coke ; he is often designated by
contemporary authors as Cook ; even Lady
Hatton, his second wife, always spelt his name
Cook, or Cooke ; and, in Norfolk, his native
country, the provincial pronunciation of the
name is still more extraordinary, being more like
Kuke than Coke.
In the writs of military aid, printed by order of
* Horsfield's Sussex, vol. 1, rage 252.
¦f Tower Records. No. 2.
X BurrellMSS.
§ Tower Records.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 11
the commissioners of the public records, there are
several directed, to the Cokefords, of the east
ern English counties : thus, there is one dated at
Westminster, August 30, 1293, enjoining John
de Cokeford to repair in person, with his horses
arms, and servants, to the sea shore, either in
Norfolk, or Suffolk, for the defence thereof
against the French.
The Cokes of Norfolk, according to a pedi
gree, by the great Camden, Sir Edward Coke's
friend, are a very ancient family, one of them,
William Coke of Doddington, being seated there
in the year 1206.* From him lineally des
cended the two Sir Thomas Cokes, father and
son of the reign of Edward III, the father a
man of considerable abilities, the son Seneschal
of Gascoigne.
Robert Coke, the grandson of the first Sir
Thomas Coke, married a lady of fortune, and
his grandson, Thomas Coke, marrying Alice,
daughter of William Falcard, Lord of Sparham
and Stiveskey, these estates came to their son
Robert Coke, who married Ann Woodhouse, by
whom he had Robert Coke, his heir, who was
the father of Sir Edward Coke.
Sir Edward Coke's father died on the 15th
* Fuller's Worthies, p. 250.

12 THE LIFE OF
of November 1561, at his chambers in Lincoln's
Inn, leaving his only son, then in his eleventh
year, and seven daughters. Many years sub
sequently, Sir Edward Coke caused a monument
to be erected to his memory in the parish church
of St. Andrew's Holborn, on which is the fol
lowing inscription : —
Monumentum Roberti Coke de Mileham, in
Comitatu Norfolcise Armig. illustrissima Hospi-
tii Lincolniensis quondam socii Primarii.
Qui ex Winefrida Uxore sua, Gulielma
Knightley filia, hos suscepit liberos.
Edwardum Coke, filium, Majestatis Regiae
Attornatum Generalum.
Winefridam, Miloni, Mingay, Generos.
Dorotheam, Gulielmo Franklyn, Generos.
Elizabetham, Richardo Osborne, Generos.
Ursulam, Georgio Ledys, Generos.
Annam, Francisco Stubbe, Generos.
Magaretam, Roberto Barker, Armig.
Ethelredam, Nicolas Bohun, Armig.
Obiit in Hospitio "J Domini 1561.
Prsedicto 15 Die V Elizab. 4.
November Anno J Aetat. sua? 48.*

* Stowe's London, 229. Collins's Peerage, Ed. 1756. v. 3.
p. 679.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 13
Coke had been scarcely two years at Cambridge
when he lost his mother. He erected a monu
ment to her memory in the church at Titleshall.
She had, it appears, married again, but of her
second husband I have no particulars except
those furnished by her epitaph.*
I am entirely unacquainted with the history
of Sir Edward Coke's seven sisters, and their
husbands ; the latter were most probably coun
try gentlemen, who had no distinguishing quali
ties ; were perhaps lords of the villages in which
they dwelt ; perchance shone to most advantage
in a Norfolk fox chase.
No particulars of the early youth of the sub
ject of the present biography have rewarded my
researches. He may be supposed to have
spent his childhood at Mileham, under the di
rection of his mother, for whose care of his
early years he always expressed the highest gra
titude and veneration.
In 1$60, being then ten years of age, he was
sent to the grammar school at Norwich, at that
time under the mastership of Mr. Walter Hawe,f

* By her second husband, Robert Bosanne, Esq., she had
issue a son named John, and was buried January 16, 1569.
Bloomfield's Norfolk, vol. 5. page 1079-
t Antiq. Scholae Reg. Norwic. p 57.

14 THE LIFE OF
where it is said by the editors of the Biographia
Britannica, he displayed great diligence and ap
plication. It is more than probable that this
was the case, for his works are far too great,
and betray a mind far too industrious for him to
have been the slave of indolence, or pleasure,
at any period of his career.
Coke remained at Norwich school seven
years, and was from thence removed to Trinity
College, Cambridge. This occurred in 1567,
when he was seventeen years of age, and, on
the 25th of October in that year, he was matri
culated a pensioner of Trinity College. It does
not appear from the University books that he
ever took a degree.*
The admission books of Trinity College do
not reach back nearly so far as 1667 ; neither is
the name of Edward Coke to be found in the
list of the scholars of the college. "His cir
cumstances in life," says Dr. Wordsworth,
" being such as not to allow of his seeking ad
mission to the pecuniary benefits of the institu
tion, "f

* The Rev. J. Romilly's (the registrar's) certificate, trans
mitted to me in the obliging communication of Dr. Wordsworth,
Master of Trinity.
t Dr. Wordsworth's letter to the Author, Nov. 7 1835.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 15
He remained at the University four years.
There is no account of his studies to be found
at Cambridge ; there exist no traditions con
cerning his sayings and doings. Being intended
for the profession of the law, he probably paid
more attention to the study of Norman French,
and to the year books, than to mathematics
or classic lore.
He had now arrived at an age when young
persons begin to acquire the chief portion of
the useful information which they are to benefit
by in life. Coke certainly was not an idler ;
he early began to read such books as would
serve him in his future professional pursuits.
Among the books at Holkham Hall, there are
many law authorities, containing his auto
graphs and notes, dated at a very early period
of his life. He must have possessed from his
boyish days the power of intense application, in
a very remarkable degree. The books which he
studied so steadily, and so perse veringly, were
of a nature which almost defy the mental di
gestion of a modern student.
There were then no law books written with
the elegance of Blackstone's Commentaries, or
Fearne's Contingent Remainders. Every law au
thority was composed in the barbarous law French
of the age, and Coke had to struggle to obtain

16 THE LIFE OF
knowledge from such authors as Fleta, Bntton,
Hengham and Littleton ; from the year books,
and the reports of Plowden and Dyer.*
It has been often said that Dr. Whitgift was
Coke's university tutor, but of this fact I have
not been able to obtain the slightest proof.
Coke came to Cambridge in 1567, in which
year Whitgift was master of Pembroke Hall,
and not long after Master of Trinity, Coke's own
college. It could not have been usual for Mas
ters of Halls, at Cambridge, to officiate as tutors
which must have been the case had Whitgift
performed that office for Coke.
If, however, he was not Coke's tutor, he was
certainly his friend, for otherwise this great
divine, would not have thought of sending him
when made Attorney General to Queen Eliza-
* To a non-professional reader, the asserted barbarism of an
old Law Report will hardly appear credible, the following is a
case from Dyer's Reports, 240 — 45 which I give verbatim
selecting it for its brevity,
" Fuit resolve per le pluispart de les justices & le counsell
del Roigne cest terme a sergeants inne, in prsesentia comitis
Sussex Justic Forestar citra. Trentram que le building dun
novel Mease in le severall soyle on waste dascun home deins
un Forest, est un purpresture & noyance al Forest & Game &
finable ou arrentable, pur le toUeration ou permission de ceo
destroyer al arbiterment & discretion del justice, ou raceable
& destrue al pleasure, &c."

SIR EDWARD COKE. 17
beth, the Greek Testament with the fatherly
message, " that he had studied the Laws of
Man long enough, and that henceforth he would
have him study the Laws of God." The fact
that Whitgift put Coke into the Bishop's Court
upon his second irregular marriage, was a noble
instance of the prelate's firmness and impartia
lity. Whitgift was admirably adapted by these, his
characteristic qualities, for the unsettled age
in which he was Primate of all England ; for
its church was then, as it has been often since,
violently attacked on all sides, catholics and
non-conformists of all sects uniting in their
attempts to humble and subvert it. Whitgift
resisted these parties with equal courage and
good success. His measures of severity were
hardly regarded as such, at the period when he
presided over the church. He was one among
many of the great men whom Queen Elizabeth
found out, and promoted to the highest steps
of their profession. She was certainly, in this res
pect, even more than usually admirable ; no
one hated superficial men more than good Queen
Bess*. * John Whitgiflfwas a native of Grimsby, in Lincolnshire :
he rose entirely by his own merit to the University honours
which were conferred upon him. He was made successively
VOL. I. C

18 THE LIFE OF
In his twenty-first year, Coke was removed
from Cambridge to Clifford's Inn, in London,
and, in the following year, April 24, 1572, entered
himself a student of the Inner Temple. As a
student, it appears, he speedily was noticed for
a very close application to his studies ; and more
publicly by a very clear statement to the Ben
chers of the Cook's case, which had consider
ably embarrassed these grave lawyers and who
Bishop of Worcester and Archbishop of Canterbury, which last
promotion he obtained in 1583, on the death of Archbishop
Grindal. He was employed and trusted, by Burleigh, in many state
affairs of importance ; thus he was one of the commissioners in
1586, who were appointed to try Mary of Scotland ; he did not,
however, proceed to Fotheringay, but he was present in the
Star Chamber, to which place the court was adjourned, after
hearing Mary's reply to the charges brought against her.
He died in 1608, lamented, says Camden, by all good
men (a).
The college at Croydon, of which he was the founder, tes
tifies to his munificence and charitable disposition. Of his
forgiving temper, there are many instances. Thus, when Sir
Richard Knightley, who had established a secret printing
press, from which issued many bitter libels on the church
and its primate, was heavily fined by the Court of Star
Chamber, Whitgift had the greatness of mind to sue for and
obtain his pardon (b).
[a) Britannia, p. 200.
(b) Beetham's, Baronetage, vol. 4, p. 3S6.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 19
very much admired the way in which Coke un
ravelled the story.. It was probably a case
relating to the management of the House, with
which I confess myself unacquainted*.
He was admitted to the bar in his twenty-
seventh year when he had been a member of
the Middle Temple only six years, which at his
age was thought to be a very extraordinary cir
cumstance, for the students were then accus
tomed to remain eight or nine years on the
books of the society, before they were called.f
From the period when Coke left Cambridge,
until his twenty-eighth year, when he pleaded
his first cause, I have few materials from
which I can learn the course of his studies, the
books he read, or the students with whom he
associated. That he was not an idle reader is
proved by his published works; for he never
touched upon any theme, commented upon a
section of his author, or reported any case, but
he apparently exhausted all the learning which
could be applied to the subject. His habit of
early rising, which attended him through life,
gave him ample time for his studies. His
grandson, Roger Coke, tells us that he usually
rose at three o'clock in the morning, and, in
* Lloyd's Worthies, p. 823.
t Fuller's Worthies, p. 250.

20 THE LIFE OF
his time, the courts seldom sat later than noon.
The business of a barrister having the most
extensive practice would then leave him ample
space for a very careful and e vtended course of
study. The cases, too, in Coke's day, princi
pally involved questions of real property :
these were rare, and others not more important
were trivial ones of defamation of character.
Trials on bills of exchange were then nearly
unknown. There are not more than two or
three reported cases of this description previously
to the time when Coke quitted the bench.
Few cases then occurred of the kind, which now
so incessantly occupy the attention of the courts.
The labours of the judges were light.
The course of legal study was, in his time,
rather different from the system at present
adopted. A student was then usually obliged
to be eight years on the books of an inn of
court before he could be called to the bar ; five
years longer than is at present necessary.
Clifford's Inn, as well as several other subor
dinate inns, were then, as now, appendages to
the larger inns of court, and in these it was
usual for the law students to dwell, and associate
together, for the purpose of study and the dis
putation of doubtful or difficult points of law.
The practice has long been disused. I learn

SIR EDWARD COKE. 21
from an old manuscript of the time of Henry
VIII, that in these inns a curious system of
study was then adopted.*
" After dinner and supper," says this writer,
" the students and learners, in the house, sit to
gether, by three and three, in a company ; and
one of the three putteth forth some doubtful
question in the law to the other two of his
company ; and they reason and argue unto it
in English ; and at last, he that putteth forth
the question declareth his mind, also shewing
unto them the judgment, or better opinion of
his book, where he had the same question ; and
this do the students observe every day through
out the year, except festival days."
The benchers of the Temple had even then to
contend with some unruly spirits. In the 38th.
year of Henry VIII, May 30, they ordered the
students not to have long beards. The treasu
rers of all the inns of court conferred together
on this mighty affair in their full parliament,
and in consequence it was ordered, by the de
cree of the 5th of May, the 1st. and 2nd. year of
Philip and Mary, " that no fellow of this house
should wear his beard above three weeks'
growth." In the 38th year of Elizabeth, the
students were desired, by the benchers, not to
* Cotton MS. Vitellus, chapter 9, page 320.

22 THE LIFE OF
go into the city with either cloaks, or hats,
boots, or spurs, " except when they ride out of
the town."
The benchers equally set their faces against
gambling. " None of the society shall, within
this house exercise the play of shoffe-grotte, or
slyp-grotte upon pain of six shillings and eight-
pence.* The students, it seems, very early ac
quired the accomplishment of tobacco-smoking ;
for, on the 7th_of November, 7th year of Charles
I, an order was issued, " That there be no
drinking of healths, nor any wine or tobacco
uttered or sold within the house."
It was usual in those days for many gentle
men's sons to belong to an inn of court, who had
no intention of practising the law as a profession ;
and ' this must account for the multitude of
students who then belonged to them. Chief Jus
tice Fortescue, who wrote his De Laudibus legum
Angliee, a century before the time of Coke, tells
us that in his days. " Neither at Orleans,
where as well the canon, as the civil laws are
taught, and'whither out" of many countries stu
dents do resort ; neither at Angers or at Caen ;
or any university of France, Paris only ex
cepted, are found so many students, past child-
* 17th of July 13th year of Henry VIII.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 23
hood, as in this place of studies, notwithstand
ing that all the students there are English born."
Such was the legal school in which Coke was
educated. That he was industrious and perse
vering, time, by its fruits, demonstrated; plea
sure did not tempt him from the dry legal
inquiries of his profession ; he was never even
suspected of any licentious conduct. If the
youth is the epitome of the man, he was
proud and reserved, economical in his expenses,
neat in his dress, ambitious of distinction, and
leaving no means unemployed, to realize his
aspiring hopes, the fondest wishes of his
heart. His public principles, there is little doubt, par
took of the spirit of the age. Born in the short
reign of Edward VI, he first became a public
character in the reign of Elizabeth, when an
intense dread of popery and an earnest, grateful
admiration, of Elizabeth's services in the cause
of protestantism threw a veil over even her most
arbitrary proceedings ; public feelings, which
were completely lost in the reigns of her not
more arbitrary, but more selfish successors.
In Trinity term, 1578, Coke pleaded his first
cause ; his practice speedily became considerable,
and, soon after this great event in a barrister's
life, he received the appointment of reader of

24 THE LIFE OF
Lyon's Inn, a situation which he held for three
years with the highest credit.
" The benchers," says the manuscript I have
before referred to, " appoint the utter barris
ters to read among them, openly in the hall, of
which he has notice half a year before. The
first day he makes choice of some act or statute,
whereupon he grounds his whole reading for
that vacation ; he reciteth certain doubts, and
questions, which he hath devised upon the said
statute, and declares his judgment there
upon, after which one of the utter barristers
repeateth one question, propounded by the
reader who did put the case, and endeavours
to confute the objections laid against him.
The senior barristers, and readers, one after
the other, do declare their opinions and judg
ments in the same, and then the reader, who
did put the case, endeavours to confute the
objections, laid against him, and to confirm his
own opinion. After which, the judges and ser
geants, if any be there, declare their opinion."
Coke had begun, some time before this, to
accumulate considerable property. His practice
at the bar was lucrative, and the estates left
him by his father, had evidently increased in his
hands. There is at Holkham Hall, the original
book of title deeds belonging to Sir Edward,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 25
with various notes in his own hand writing.
Thus, at the end of the first indenture, which re
lates to Titleshall Austens, dated 2nd October
1576, he has written : " This was the first pur
chase made by the aforesaid Sir Edward Coke."
These purchases succeeded each other with
great rapidity, and at last attracted the notice of
government. There is a tradition in the Coke
family, that when he was in treaty for the family
estate of Castle Acre Priory, in Norfolk, James I
told him, that he had already as much land as
it was proper a subject should possess. To this,
Sir Edward replied, " Then, please your Majesty,
I will only add one acre more to the estate.*
This fine estate, once the property of the splen
did abbey of Lewes, in Sussex, and afterwards
of the first Earl of Exeterf is still possessed by
the descendants of Sir Edward Coke. The ob
servations of King James, with regard to the
Castle Acre estate, must have been made about
the year 1615, fori find by the book of Title
Deeds at Holkham Hall that Castle Acre was
bought by Sir Edward Coke, in the thirteenth
year of that sovereign's reign.
* For this and other information with regard to Sir Ed
ward Coke, I am indebted to the present Mr. Coke, when
hospitably received by him and Lady Anne Coke, at Holkham
in July, 1835.
f Dugdale's Monasticon, vol 5, p. 46.

26 THE LIFE OF
Besides his Norfolk purchases, Coke bought
some large estates in Essex : among these were
the Manor of Pitsey in 1582, and that of Crust-
wic in the parish of Wiley in 1580.* By degrees,
he also possessed himself of various lands in
Dorsetshire, for instance, the manor and village
of Durwarston and Shillingston ; lands and
houses in the borough of Wareham, and certain
fisheries adjoining. f In the Manor of Corfe
Castle, by his marriage with Lady Hatton, he
acquired only a life interest, for immediately
after his decease in 1 635, this high spirited lady
sold the property to Chief Justice Banks, in the
possession of whose descendants it still remains. |
With the same lady, Coke also received a life
interest in the mansion and estate of Stoke in
Buckinghamshire, where he resided in his old
age, and Hatton House in Holborn, built by,
and formerly the town residence of, the Lord
Chancellor Hatton. §
* Morant's History of Essex, vol I, p. 256 — 474.
t Hutchin's Dorsetshire, vol 2, p. 161. Vol 1, p. 24  89.
t Ibid, vol 1, p. 174.
§ This house was built on the orchard ground of the Bishop
of Ely, who long refused to alienate it, until he was frightened
into compliance by the well known short and energetic letter
of Queen Elizabeth, threatening to " unfrock" him if he
did not immediately comply with her favourite chancellor's
request. Hatton Garden now occupies the site of this man-

SIR EDWARD COKE. 27

CHAPTER II.
1578—1582.
Coke's early career at the bar — Account of his first cause —
Style of pleading — His emoluments — His legal contempo
raries — Plowden — Bacon — Lord Ellesmere — Sir George
Croke — Sir Harbottle Grimstone — Sir Henry Yelverton —
Sir Lawrence Tanfield — Dodderidge — David Jenkins.
The thirty years which Coke spent at the
bar, as a barrister, solicitor-general to Queen
Elizabeth, and lastly as attorney- general were
the happiest of his life. He was then rising
rapidly in his profession, had wealth and honours
daily thrown in his way, and in his first wife,
Bridget Paston, had an excellent and affectionate
companion. The court had not then entangled
him ; parliamentary affairs and family broils had
not yet rendered him notoriously uncomfortable
and ridiculous.
This portion of his life, however, is not the
richest in furnishing materials for his biographer,

28 THE LIFE OF
since, even in his own admirable reports of cases
in which he appeared, there is little mention of
himself. The pleadings are but rarely given, and,
when they are added^they turn upon mere points
of law, and the cases are detailed in the driest
style, uninteresting to any but the student.
Blackstone had not yet written ; Mansfield,8 El-
lenborough and Lyndhurst had not then con
vinced the legal profession, that it was] possible
to render even law an attractive and agreeable
study. The conduct of Coke, at the bar, partook
of the spirit of the age; he was deeply read, both
in the statute, and the common law. Of the
last, perhaps, no man possessed so much, neither
was he deficient in classical lore ; but these ad
vantages lost much of their effect for want of a po
lished manner and some'humility of deportment.
Of his style of pleading, we have no very
correct account. His recorded speeches are
distinguished for their legal knowledge, their
learning and their close adherence to the facts
of the case ; there is little" trace of imagi
nation ; he was seldom figurative and still more
rarely eloquent. His speeches, to a modern
reader, will often appear tedious from the mass
of facts with which they are inelegantly crowded;
and their effect is by no means assisted by the
writers whom it was his fate to have as reporters.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 29
I have already stated that the first cause in
which Coke was engaged was in Trinity term
1578, when he appeared as counsel for the
defendant, in the case of the Lord Cromwell
against Denny.* From this case, which was an
action for slander, his client the Rev. E. Denny,
vicar of Norlingham in Norfolk, appears to have
had the misfortune of such a neighbour as the
Lord Cromwell, who introduced as preachers
into Norlingham Church two unlicensed persons.
These, in their sermons, denounced the book of
Common Prayer as impious and superstitious.
For this reason, when they again came to preach,
the vicar endeavoured to prevent them, but,
being supported by Lord Cromwell, they suc
ceeded in gaining possession of the pulpit. At
this time, some high words passed between Mr.
Denny and Lord Cromwell who exclaimed in
his anger, " Thou art a false varlet, and I like
not of thee." To this the former replied, " It
is no marvel that you like not of me, for you
like of these (meaning the preachers) who main
tain sedition against the Queen's proceedings."
In the action for these words, the Lord Cromwell
failed, another was then commenced, but finally
the matter was compromised.
* Coke's Reports, 4, fol. 13.

30 THE LIFE OF
Coke's practice as a lawyer was certainly very
great ; we have it from good authority that he
was employed in most of the great causes in
Westminster Hall,* and the tradition among the
members of the bar is, that his emoluments were
equal to those of a modern attorney- general.
This is, probably, a correct report, when the
difference in the value of money is taken into
the account ; for otherwise, such were the com
parative smallness of the fees then usually paid
to a barrister, that the gross amount of the sums
received by him could not have amounted to
the receipts of a modern lawyer in first rate
practice. Coke had for his contemporaries at the bar,
some of the ablest lawyers which this country
has produced ; men alike distinguished for their
learning and their probity. Among the fore
most of these, I may mention Plowden, Bacon,
Egerton, Croke and Yelverton; and there were,
besides these, Hobart and Tanfield, afterwards
chief justices, Heath and Dodderidge. Of these
great lawyers it will be well to give a short
notice, since they were mixed up with many of
the chief events of Coke's life, were his rivals
at the bar, his contemporaries on the bench,
* Preface to his own Reports.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 31
assisted in his disgraces, and were witnesses of
his restoration to the smiles of the court.
Edmund Plowden, the author of the " Com
mentaries," was born in Shropshire in 1519.
He was one of the most eminent lawyers of his
age, but, being of the Roman Catholic persuasion,
Queen Elizabeth, in whose reign he died, did
not promote him to the bench,. If this had not
obstructed his promotion, he ^was too learned in
the law, was regarded too much as a legal oracle
to have been passed over by that sagacious and
provident Queen.
In early life, he appears to have been undeter
mined in the choice of a profession ; for, although
he tells us in the preface to his Commentaries,
that " his first commyng to the studye of the
lawe, was in ye twentyeth yere of myne age,"
which he adds was in 1 539 ; yet in 1552 he was
admitted by the university of Oxford to practise
chirurgery and physic ; but says Wood : "As
Dr. Thomas Phaer did change his studies from
common law to physic, so did our author Plowden
from physic to common law." He had probably
been induced to turn his attention to the study
of medicine from some professional prospects of
advantages which proved deceptive, for he speedi
ly resumed his legal studies, became reader to
the Middle Temple, and a sergeant at law.

32 THE LIFE OF
He has been well described by Daines Bar-
rington as " the most accurate of all reporters,
and Sir Edward Coke, in the preface to his own
tenth book of Reports, thus speaks of the labours
of his learned and laborious contemporary : —
" Plowden's Commentaries, consisting of two
parts, both of them learnedly and curiously
polished, and published by himself, the one in
the 18th year of Queen Elizabeth and the other
in the 21st year of the same Queen; works
with all the professors of the law, of high account.
The author was an ancient apprentice of the law,
of the Middle Temple, and of great gravity,
knowledge and integrity." The biographical
materials afforded by the life of a learned bar
rister, are necessarily few, since his adventures
are usually merely the every day contests and
technical controversies which attend motions
for new trials ; their extreme of popular interest
not rising above the development of evidence.
His wanderings are confined to his circuit, or
amid the briefs and authorities dispersed around
his chamber. It is only when he becomes a
law officer of the crown, and thus his history
is identified, in some degree, with that of the
court to which he owes his promotion, that it
becomes interspersed with more stirring inci
dents and attraction. Plowden came of an

SIR EDWARD COKE. 33
honourable and ancient family long seated on
their estate at Plowden in Shropshire. Dying
in his sixty fifth year, he was buried in the
Temple Church, where he is represented on his
tomb reclining in his gown.
He was treasurer to his society when their
great hall was rebuilding ; and his coat of arms,
with the date 1576, may still be seen in one of
the windows.*
Of the illustrious Francis Bacon, the life of
Coke will necessarily contain much information,
since he was by far the most distinguished and
the most formidable of all Coke's rivals. His
intrigues, his cringings to court favourites, his
miserable mistakes, the final termination of his
disgraced judicial career, his long continued con
tests with Coke ; these will often be found con
nected very intimately with the life of the latter.
Bacon was indeed an extraordinary man : ' ' the
wisest, brightest" but certainly not the " meanest
of mankind." He was born at York House, in
London, on the 22nd of January 1561. Trinity
College, Cambridge, had the honour of being
his Alma Mater, as it was of his rival Coke.
For this nursery of his genius he ever retained
the kindest remembrance. When he published
his " Instauratio Magna" in 1620, he presented
* Herbert's Antiquities, 269>
VOL. I. D

34 THE LIFE OF
a copy to his college, with a latin letter, still
preserved in its library, of which the following is
a translation : —
" All things are indebted for their advance to
their commencement ; therefore, as I drew my
first knowledge of the sciences from your foun
tains, I have thought it right to return my
improvement of them to you ; with which hope
I expect, that with just modesty of mind and
reverence towards the ancients, you do not
neglect the improvement of the sciences ; but
that after the sacred volume of the word of God,
you should enroll, in the second place, that
his great volume of the Works and Creatures of
God, which the first ought to have for their
Commentaries only. Farewell."
According to Aubrey, Bacon was one of the
martyrs of science ; an experiment was the cause
of his death. "As he was taking the air in a
coach with Dr. Winterbourne (a Scotch physi
cian to the king) towards Highgate, snow lay
on the ground, and it came into my lord's
thoughts why flesh might not be preserved in
snow as well as in salt. They were resolved they
would try the experiment presently.
' They alighted out of the coach, and went
into a poor woman's house at the bottom of
Highgate Hill, and bought a hen and made her

SIR EDWARD COKE. 35
exenterate it, and then stuffed the body with
snow, and my lord did help to do it himself.
" The snow so chilled him, that he immediately
fell so extremely ill that he could not return to
his lodgings, I suppose then at Gray's Inn, but
went to the Earl of Arundel's house, at High-
gate, where they put him into a good bed,
warmed with a pan; but it was a damp bed,
which had not been laid in for a year before,
which gave him such a cold, that in two or
three days, as I remember Mr. Hobbes told me,
he died of suffocation."
This event happened on the 9th of April,
1626. That Bacon was liberal even to extravagance,
is very certain, for he died with debts amount
ing to twenty- two thousand pounds; but that,
to support it, he was guilty of receiving bribes,
to influence his judicial decisions, is sustained
by no unquestionable evidence. Though justly
condemned and fined in one reign, (for under no
pretence should a judge receive presents of suit
ors) he was restored to his honours, and the
fine remitted by the succeeding monarch. His
merits, as a philosopher, are without dispute ;
he is universally hailed as the reformer of
science. Before his time, men were the slaves
of names, and Aristotle, the fathers, and the
d2

36 THE LIFE OF
schoolmen, were appealed to as authorities to
which it was heretical not to submit. Bacon
was the first who dared openly to teach, that
man should appeal, for information, to observa
tion and experiment. " Man," says the first
axiom of his immortal Novum Organum, " is
but the servant and interpreter of nature; he
knows nothing, he can know nothing, but what
he learns from experiment, or the observation
of nature." An army of philosophers arose after
him, and have gone on, making conquests in
every department of science ; but he was, and
is (for his spirit still survives,) the pioneer who
led and cleared the only way which conducts to
truth. Such he is esteemed by the world ; and that,
with the prophetic eye of conscious genius,
he foresaw the fame which would arise to him,
seems apparent in the lofty opening of his
wTork : —
" Francis of Verulam thus thought and rea
soned, and deemed that for his thoughts to be
known to the living, and to future generations,
was of concern to them."
Of all Coke's contemporaries, next after
Bacon must be placed the chancellor, Thomas
Egerton, first Lord Ellesmere.
This great lawyer presided over the Court of

SIR EDWARD COKE. 37
Chancery from 1596, until 1616, with equal
credit to himself and benefit to his king and
country. He had the rare good fortune to be,
at the same time, the favourite of the court, and
the popular friend of the people. Through life
he preserved his integrity, his private friend
ships, and his office ; never betraying his so
vereign by his flatteries, nor leaving his friends
in the hour of their adversity. This he strikingly
evinced, when the great and gallant favourite,
the Earl of Essex, was in disgrace ; for while
Coke pleaded against him, with bitter energy
and the most caustic invectives ; while Bacon
forgot his friend, in his duty to the queen ;
Egerton could find a more admirable and a more
pleasing path ; — he, at the same time, stood by
his queen, and by that friend who, in his more
prosperous days, had often successfully and
faithfully supported him. He preserved both his
loyalty and his gratitude. He still farther evinced
these highly honorable feelings, in bringing about
a reconciliation between Elizabeth and Essex,
after she had given the warm-hearted Earl a
box on the ear, in a debate about the appoint
ment of a Viceroy for Ireland, — which Essex
regarded as an unpardonable insult, and in con
sequence had withdrawn from court.

38 THE LIFE OF
Egerton then addressed him a letter,* in which
he feelingly and sensibly implored the indig
nant Earl to submit himself to the mercy of
the Queen, and to remember the observation of
Seneca, " If the law punish one that is guilty,
he must submit to justice ; if one that is inno
cent, he must submit to fortune."
The reply of the gallant but outraged favourite
was full of proud and passionate indignation.
" The queen's heart is hardened," he exclaims.
" What I owe as a subject, I know ; and what
as an earl and marshal of England, I know ; but
how to serve as a drudge and slave, I know not.
If I should acknowledge myself guilty, I should
do wrong to the truth, and to God, the author
of truth. My whole body is wounded by that
one blow."f
To this, Egerton, nothing daunted by the
warmth of Essex, replied in a long and able
letter, still urging him to submission. "The
difficulty, my good lord," he observed, " is to
conquer yourself, which is the height of all true
valour and fortitude, whereunto all your ho
nourable actions have tended. If I might have
conferred with you myself in person, I would
* Cabala, p. 234.
f Cabala, p. 235.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 39
not then have troubled you with so many idle
blots*." Essex gradually cooled during this correspon
dence ; but he had not yet the courage to avow
himself in the wrong. " Natural seasons," he
remarked in reply to Egerton, " are expected
here below ; but violent and unseasonable storms
are from above. There is no tempest equal to
the passionate indignation of a prince, nor yet, at
any time, is it so unreasonable as where it
lighteth upon those who might expect an harvest
of their careful and painful labours.
" In this course do I anything for my ene
mies ? When I was in the court I found them
absolute, and therefore I had rather that they
should triumph alone, than they should have me
attendant on their chariots." This letter was
written in 1598.
Essex, at length, relented; himself humbled at
court ; but was appointed to his Irish expedition^
but failed in its execution ; was again in disgrace ;
and was committed to Egerton's custody, who
again befriended him.
On the 21st of October, 1599, from the court
at Richmond, Egerton again addressed his
friend.f " Her Majesty is gracious towards you,
* Birch's Memoirs, vol. 2, p. 385.
t Cabala, p. 235.

40 THE LrFE OF
and you want not friends to remember and com
mend your former services ; of these particulars
you shall know more when we meet. In he mean
time, take this from me by way of caution :—
there are sharp eyes upon you ; your actions,
public and private, are observed; it behoveth
you, therefore, to carry yourself with all inte
grity and sincerity both of hands, and heart,
lest you overthrow your own fortunes, and dis
credit your friends, that are tender and careful
of your reputation and well doing."
Essex again humbled himself, and the Queen
again admitted him to favour. The Earl was
however, regarded, by the public, as an injured
patriot ; the government, therefore, advised a
commission for his open trial, which took place
in the lord keeper Egerton's house, before a body
of commissioners over whom Egerton presided.
The same good spirit, which is so apparent in
all the Chancellor's letters, did not desert him
when he sat in judgment on his friend. He
preserved the stern dignity of the court, even
while he was counselling and advising the ac
cused ; and, on his recommendation, the Earl
pleaded guilty and was speedily again pardoned
by his partial Queen.
When, on a future occasion, Essex openly
revolted against his sovereign, and had actually

SIR EDWARD COKE. 41
fortified himself in Essex house, Egerton was
sent, with some other privy councillors, to
demand the cause of the disturbance. Essex
immediately imprisoned him and his compa
nions in a room by themselves, while he went
into the city, to sound the feelings of the citizens.
They were all, however, liberated before his
return ; at which Essex expressed himself to his
followers with great indignation. Egerton was not
concerned in the unfortunate Earl's trial; but he
visited him with others of the privy council,
before his execution.
The favour which Egerton received from Eli
zabeth was continued to him by King James,
who made him his chancellor, and created him
Baron Ellesmere. For a period of twelve years
he held this high office with unblemished inte
grity and reputation. He maintained with firm
ness all the prerogatives of his court ; and in his
declining moments, when the hand of death was
almost upon him, he withstood, with unshaken
energy, in the celebrated case of the clashing
jurisdiction of their respective courts, the deci
sion of Coke and the judges of the Court of
King's Bench.
King James seems to have been fully aware
of the talents and integrity of his high-minded
chancellor. He made him Viscount Brackley ;

42 THE LIFE OF
he visited him, and endeavoured to cheer him
in his illness. Several of his letters to Egerton
are preserved, in which he breathes the most
paternal feelings to his old and faithful servant.
In one of these the King says :*
"The letter I wrote, the last year, unto you,
proved so good a cordial for your health, as I
am thereby encouraged to do the like at this
time, and as both I hope and pray for with the
like success.
" The greatness of your place, and the ability
which God hath given you to discharge it, to
the honour of your God and the great benefit
of the commonwealth, are causes sufficient to
stir you up to be careful of your own health,
even to fight against disease as far as you can ;
but when you shall remember how ill I may
want you, and what miss your master shall have
of you, I hope the reason will be predominant
to make you not only strive with, but conquer
your disease, not for your own sake, but for his of
whom you may promise yourself as much love
and hearty affection as might be expected from
so thankful and kind a master, to so honest and
worthily deserving a servant."
This affectionate letter could not fail of being
gratefully received by Egerton. He made yet
* From Newmarket, February 9th, 1612.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 43
a last rally ; his health visibly improved ; and
nine days after the King's letter, the Prince,
afterwards Charles the First, congratulated him
by letter, from the same place.
" As I was very sorry," begins the Prince,
" having understood of your danger, so do I
rejoice at the good appearance of your recovery."
These flattering appearances were entirely decep
tive. Egerton became worse, and the King, pay
ing him an affectionate visit, reluctantly received
from the hands of his venerable chancellor the
great seal of England. During his lordship's
life, the King would not bestow it upon another.
He told Egerton, that he would be his under-
keeper of the great seal ; advised with him, as
to his successor, and adopted his advice. The
dying chancellor recommended to the King, the
great Francis Bacon, who immediately succeeded
him on the woolsack.
Egerton's last hours were soothed by the
attentions of the King ; for on his death-bed on
the 15th of March, Lord Buckingham and Sir
Francis Bacon announced to him, that the King
had granted to him a pension of three thousand
pounds per annum, and that he was to be made
Earl of Bridgewater.
He felt however that he was dying ; and though
he gratefully thanked his sovereign for the

44 THE LIFE OF
favour, he added very pathetically " these things
are now to me but vanities."*
He died the same day at York House, in the
seventy-seventh year of his age, and was buried
on the sixth of the following April, at Doddleston
in Cheshire, without any pageantry or glory, says
Dugdale in his baronage " than what resulted
from the fame of his glorious actions."
The grave closed over Egerton, but King
James did not forget his memory ; he created his
son Earl of Bridgewater, from whom the present
noble family of that name are lineally descended;
and he especially patronized Egerton's chaplain
and friend Dr. Williams, afterwards Archbishop
of York, and keeper of the great seal.f
In private life, Egerton was equally amiable
as in public. He did not omit to study the word
of God, even when overwhelmed with business
of the most important description. His heart,
says Dr. Kippis, was full of faith, and hope of
immortality. In his letter to King James, re
questing to be relieved from the heavy duties of
his office, he observed " Cupio dissolvi et esse
cum Christo." He left behind him an estate
which produced eight thousand pounds per
annum ; yet he was entirely the architect of his
* Carlton Letters, Birch M.S. 4175.
t Hackett's Life of Williams, pt. 1, p. 30.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 45
own fortune. He could inherit nothing from
his ancestors, the Cheshire Egertons ; since he
was the natural son of Sir Richard Egerton of
Ridley. James the First appears to considerable ad
vantage in his transactions with this truly estim
able nobleman. He was always sensible of his
services, was kind, affectionate and grateful.
It is true that, in his reign, Egerton was always
prosperous : he never saw the hour of adversity;
so that James had no opportunity of having his
friendship tested, in the way, the most trying
to a Stuart.
Egerton, there is no doubt, possessed great
suavity of manner, united with great dignity of
deportment. It was usual for many persons, in
his time, to visit the Court of Chancery, for'the
purpose of seeing the manner of its venerable
judge ; " and happy were they," says the facetious
Fuller, " who had no other business there."*
In treating of Coke's learned contemporaries,
I must not omit to notice Sir George Croke.
This great judge, so advantageously known to the
lawyer by his reports, and to the lover of liberty
and his country for the fearless decision which
* Cheshire Worthies, p. 176

46 THE LIFE OF
he gave in favour of Hampden in the great
cause of ship money, was born in 1559 at Chil
ton in Buckinghamshire.
He was educated at Thame school, was of
University College Oxford, and a member of the
Inner Temple. In 1619 he was made king's
sergeant ; in the succeeding year a judge of the
Court of Common Pleas ; and on the death of
Sir John Fortescue in 1629, he succeeded him
as a judge of the Court of King's Bench.
Sir Harbottle Grimstone, master of the
rolls to Charles II, married Croke's daughter,
and edited his valuable reports. He describes
him as " of a strict life to himself, yet in con
versation full of sweet deportment, affable, tender
and compassionate, seeing none in distress
whom he was not ready to relieve ; a man of
great modesty, and of a most plain and single
heart, of an ancient freedom and integrity of
mind, esteeming it more honest to offend, than
flatter or hate. He was remarkable for his
hospitality, a great lover, and much beloved of his
country, wherein he was a blessed peacemaker ;
and in those times of conflagration was more
for the bucket than the bellowrs, often pouring
out the waters of his tears to quench those flames
which others did ventilate. He was an example,"

SIR EDWARD COKE. 47
adds Grimston, " of faith, hope, and good works ;
refounded a chapel of ease and an almshouse
at Studeley in Buckinghamshire, and amply
endowed them."
In the case of ship money, in which Croke
so much distinguished himself, every precau
tion was taken by the court to ensure a verdict
for the crown. Previously to the trial, the
following artfully drawn case was put to the
twelve judges by the lord keeper.
" When the good and safety of the kingdom
in general is concerned, and the whole kingdom
in danger, may not the King, by writ under the
great seal of England, command all the subjects
of this kingdom at their charge to provide and
furnish such number of ships, with men, vic
tuals, and munition, and for such time as he
shall think fit, for the defence and safety of the
kingdom from such danger and peril ; and by
the law compel the doing thereof in case of re
fusal or refractoriness ?"
To this case a favourable- answer was, with
some difficulty, unanimously obtained from the
twelve judges. Croke and his brother judge,
Hatton, seemed reluctant to acquiesce, but were
persuaded to subscribe to the answer by the
assurance, that it would not at all stand in the
way of any contradictory decision to which

48 THE LIFE OF
they might arrive, when the cause should come
to a trial. When that occasion did arrive,
and Hampden's case, after being solemnly
argued for many days in the Court of Ex
chequer, was finally determined, Croke then
spoke fearlessly and learnedly against the le
gality of the impost.* The judges of that day-
would gladly have avoided coming to a decision
on such a case; for their reluctant determination
was sure to displease either the King or the
people. " Judgment," said Croke, " is of the Lord;
the hearts of men, and also their judgments
are in the hands of God ; and when judgment
is once past, we have done. For my own part,
I know we cannot do so well in this case as
we should ; but we satisfy ourselves in our con
sciences and our understandings, and in this
case we are to give counsel to the King ac
cording to our oaths, whether the charge be
legal or not. If legal, the subject ought not to
complain ; if not legal, then it is not in the
King's power thus to charge the subject."
Even the intrepid Croke, if we may credit
Whitelocke, faltered in the discharge of his
duty, and at one time was resolved to give
* State Trials, vol. I, p. 16.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 49
judgment in favour of the crown against his
own conscience and conviction. From this dis
grace he was happily rescued, by the exhorta
tions of his wife, Lady Mary Croke, who im
plored him to do justice, and deliver his opinion
in the case openly and fearlessly, without any
regard to what might in consequence be the
fate of either himself, his wife, or his children.
The moral courage of this admirable woman
deserves a more widely diffused record than it has
yet attained. She felt that the frowns of a court
were trivial when compared with the sacrifice of
integrity and conscience. When learned courts
trembled, and judges were afraid to be honest,
she alone dared to be just, and to exhort others
to feel and to act as she did.
Thus, although the majority of the judges
gave their opinions in favour of ship money,
yet the doubts and divisions amongst them, and
the length of the pleading, both for and against
the impost, gave a blow to all taxes and sup
plies of money from the subject to the King,
obtained without the sanction of parliament,
from which they never afterwards recovered.
Of Lady Mary Croke, I regret that my bio
graphical notices are so limited. Her son-in-law,
Sir Harbottle Grimstone, tells us that " this
virtuous lady" was the daughter of Sir Thomas
VOL. I. E

50 THE LIFE OF
Bennett, and that she survived her husband, to
the memory of whom, at Waterstoke in Oxford
shire, she erected a monument. Its latin inscrip
tion tells us that he was one of the justices of the
Court of King's Bench, and remarkable for his
acuteness and superior mind ; — adding that
" he wras the heir of truth, whom neither threats
nor rewards could allure ; he weighed the au
thority of the King and the people with a just
balance. Wise in religion, virtuous in life, he
provided for the poor with a liberal hand, and
a humble heart. He both conquered and forsook
the world, in the 82nd year of his age, A.D.
1641.* Two years after the memorable trial of Hamp
den, Croke, now in his 81st year, resolved
to retire from his public labours ; he there
fore petitioned Charles I to relieve him from
his office, reminding the King that " he was
now become very old, being above the age
of eighty years, sixteen of which he had served
as a judge."
The King, to his honour, acceded readily to
the request of his venerable judge ; excused him
from further attendance at Westminster, yet
continued to him the fees and salary which he
* Preface to the third volume of Croke's Reports.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 51
received while he sat on the Bench — " as a
token," says the writ of discharge, " of our
approbation of the former good and acceptable
service done by Sir George Croke to our deceased
father and ourself."
Croke did not long survive his retirement. Re
treating to his house atWaterstoke, a few months
afterwards " he cheerfully resigned his soul into
the hands of Him that gave it."
Grimstone describes him to have possessed
a rare memory, prompt invention, and quick
apprehension. It appears that he was indefati-
gably industrious. This is shewn by his " Re
ports," which were not published until after his
death. They rank high as legal authorities.
The first edition of these appeared in 1657.
The case, in the third volume, of the King
against Sir John Elliott, Denzil Hollis, and
Valentine, speedily attracted the notice of the
House of Commons, and ten years afterwards,
in 1667, they made a formal complaint of it
during a conference with the House of Lords :
" as it did much concern this great privilege of
parliament, and which passing from hand to hand
amongst the men of the long robe, might come
in time to be a received opinion as good law."
The case arose from the commotion and riot
which took place on the 4th of March, 1626,
e 2

52 THE LIFE OF
when Sir John Finch, having announced to
the House the King's pleasure that they should
adjourn for six days, refused to put any ques
tions afterwards moved by the members of the
House. But upon his attempting to depart
he was forcibly pushed back into the chair,
and held in it by Hollis, Valentine and others,
Sir John Elliott at the same time affirming
that : " The King's privy council, his judges
and his council learned, have conspired toge
ther to trample under their feet the liberties
of the subjects of this realm, and the privileges
of the House." For this they were indicted in
the Court of King's Bench, found guilty, fined
and imprisoned, although they objected very
justly to the jurisdiction of the court in any ques
tions concerning the privileges of parliament.
The crown lawyers had provided against this
objection, by mixing up their principal charge
with other matters, implicating them in crimes
committed out of parliament, and before its
meeting ; so that their plea did not avail them.
' The court," said the complaining Com
mons " overruled the whole plea mingled to
gether, and took it in general ; so that, perhaps,
whatever was criminal in their actions, might
serve as a justification of their rule, and might
make it seem, in time to come, a precedent and

SIR EDWARD COKE. 53
a ruled case against the liberty of speech in par
liament, which they durst not singly and bare
faced have done."
In consequence of this remonstrance of the
commons, and by the direction of the House
of Lords, Denzil Hollis, then become Lord
Ifield, brought a writ of error in the upper
house, and after hearing counsel on both sides,
it was finally resolved on the 15th of April,
1668, " That the judgment given, in the Court
of King's Bench, should be reversed."*
Such was the estimation in which Croke's
writings were held by the parliament of Charles
II, that the mere reading of one of his reports,
induced both houses to open a case, and re
verse a decision made by the Court of King's
Bench nearly forty years previously.f
Sir Henry Yelverton was another of Coke's
legal contemporaries whose name is yet familiar
to the modern lawyer.
* Croke Car. p 189, 604.
f Sir Harbottle Grimstone, the biographer and son-in-law
of Croke, was a younger brother and bred to the study of the
law. Little captivated, however, by its dryness, upon coming,
at the death of his elder brother, into the family estate, he
very readily abandoned his legal researches. Becoming attached
to Sir George Croke's daughter, his future father-in-law,
who probably perceived his talents, would not bestow her
hand upon him in marriage, unless he returned zealously to

54 THE LIFE OF
Yelverton was born at Islington, in 1566,
and was the eldest son of Sir Christopher Yelver
ton, speaker of the House of Commons in 1602,
and a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in
1606. Henry Yelverton was educated at Oxford,
and was called to the bar by the society of Gray's
Inn. He was appointed solicitor general in
1613; and in 1616, through the interest of the
Earl of Somerset, he became the king's attorney
general. When Somerset fell into disgrace, Yelverton
nobly refused to plead against his benefactor,
and, in consequence, was committed to the
Tower, but was speedily released. Four years
afterwards, having lost the favour of the new
favourite, Buckingham, he fell under the dis
pleasure of the court, and was prosecuted in
the star chamber, for having put into a charter
for the city of London, some clauses which
were not authorized by his warrant. Coke,
his old rival, and against whom, in the dispute
his studies; — which he immediately did, with great alacrity and
success ; becoming a very distinguished pleader.
He was a member of parliament during the Commonwealth,
and on the Restoration, was elected speaker of the House of
Commons, and made, by Charles II, master of the rolls.
MS. note in Heber's copy of Croke's Reports. Wood's
Athena? Oxon.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 55
with Lady Hatton, he had filed an informa
tion in the same court, was now sitting on the
bench as a judge, and in no very measured terms
proceeded to describe the nature of Yelverton's
offence ; in conclusion, proposing a fine of six
thousand pounds, with an imprisonment during
the King's pleasure. The court somewhat miti
gated this excessive punishment, imposing a
fine of four thousand pounds.
It was Yelverton who, in 1626, after he had re
covered the favour of Buckingham, and was called
to be a sergeant, preparatory to his being made
a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, in
effectually endeavoured to do away, upon that
occasion, with the usual procession from Ser
geant's Inn to Westminster, in the party-coloured
robes. At this time, according to Croke, all the
judges and barons met at Sergeant's Inn, by ap
pointment of the chief justice ; when Sir Henry
Yelverton shewed the reasonableness of his re
quest, because by reason of the suddenness of the
calling, he was unprovided for the solemnities ;
citing, at the same time, a precedent, viz., that
Sir Edward Coke, " being the king's attorney-ge
neral, was made sergeant, and chief justice of
the Common Pleas, and sworn in chancery on
the same day ; then his robes and coif being put
on, in the treasury of the common bench,

56 THE LIFE OF
by Sir John Popham, chief justice, and Sir
Thomas Fleming, chief baron, he was led in his
party robes to the common bench bar, to make
his count, and there took the oath of chief justice,
all in one day : And he likewise desired that so
it might be done to him. But all the justices
conceived it was not a precedent to be followed ;
being part of the ceremony for the creation of
sergeants which ought to be performed in a
solemn manner ; nor could it be convenient to
suffer any more such examples." So Yelverton,
attended by the benchers of his inn of court,
with Sir John Walter and Sir Thomas Trevor,
the two other sergeants, made at the same time,
walked in procession, from Sergeant's Inn to
Westminster Hall, making their counts, taking
the oaths, and presenting their rings. On Yel-
verton's rings was inscribed: " Stat Lege Co
rona." " They then," adds Croke, " all returned
to Sergeant's Inn, where was a great feast at
which Sir James Lee, lord treasurer, and the
Earl of Manchester, were present."*
Yelverton did not long remain in the Court
of King's Bench, for on the 12th of May follow
ing he was appointed a judge in the Court of
Common Pleas ; and had not Buckingham been
murdered by Felton, it is supposed that he
* Reports, vol. 3, p. 3 — 4.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 57
would have promoted Yelverton to the wool
sack. Yelverton died, whilst a judge of the Common
Pleas, on the 24th of January, 1630, in the
sixty-fourth year of his age, with the' character of
a most learned, upright and religious judge.
For his friendship and gratitude to Somerset
and Weston, Buckingham patronized and pro
moted Yelverton, who, he clearly saw, did not
desert his benefactors in the hour of their mis
fortunes. It is supposed that Weston, when on
his trial for the murder of Overbury, stood
mute, principally through the advice of Yelver
ton. His excellent report of cases argued and de
termined, in the Courts of King's Bench and
Common Pleas, wTere published in 1661, by
judge Wylde. His descendants now hold the
Barony of Grey of Ruthin*.
Of another great contemporary of Coke, chief
Baron Tanfield, my notices are very limited.
Lawrence Tanfield was of the Inner Temple,
and, along with thirteen other barristers, was
made king's sergeant in 1602.
In 1603 he became a judge in the Court of
King's Bench, and in 1608 chief Baron of the
Exchequerf .
* Wood's Athense Oxoniensis.
t Croke's Reports, vol 2, p 1, 107, 181.

58 THE LIFE OF
He was one of Coke's steady associates and
supporters, in the many struggles which the
judges had, in their opposition to the illegal re
quisitions of James I and Charles ; maintaining
his post and the dignity of the court over which
he so ably presided, amid all the degradations
and disgraces of his judicial brethren.
He died on the 30th of April, 1 625, and lies
buried in the beautiful church of Burford, in
Oxfordshire, under a large, highly painted and
partially gilt monument, for the keeping of
which in repair his lady left an estate.*
Sir Lawrence Tanfield died possessed of the
Manor of Great Tew, in the priory and demesnes
of Burford, and other estates, all of which he left
to his daughter, Elizabeth, who was married to
Henry, Lord Falkland, by whom she became mo
ther of the celebrated Lucius Cary, Lord Falkland,
the flower of chivalry on the side of Charles I,
and who was slain in the fight of Newbury Field.f
* From the 8th report of the commissioners of Public
Charities, p. 458 it seems that dame Elizabath Tanfield, by her
will, dated May 23, 1629, left a messuage and tenement to
her trustees, " that they should with the profits thereof, repair,
maintain and cleanse the tomb of her late husband, and the aisle
of Burford Church in which it stands."
It appears that upon this tawdry tomb forty pounds were
expended in 1819, and as much more in painting and gilding
in 1832.
t Wood, vol 1, p. 586.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 59
While Tanfield presided over the Court of
Exchequer, Henry Hobart was chief justice of
the Court of Common Pleas.
He was of a family long resident in the county
of Norfolk. In the 39th year of Elizabeth's
reign he was member of parliament for Yar
mouth,* and two years afterwards was made
a sergeant at law.f He was a bencher of Lin
coln's Inn. He obtained his baronetcy in 1611,
being the ninth created by James the First, in
the institution of the order. In 1613 he was
constituted chief justice of the Court of Common
Pleas. He died at his seat at Blickling in
Norfolk, December 26, 1625, and was buried in
Christchurch, Norwich. He is described by
Spelman as "a great loss to the weal pub
lic;"! and by judge Croke as " a most learned,
prudent, grave and religious judge. "§ He was
the author of a valuable volume of reports.
As a contrast to these firm and courage
ous judges, I may mention the name of the
timid and nervous Dodderidge, who became
one of the judges of the Court of King's Bench
in 1618. Croke describes him as being " a
* Ex collect. B. Willis Arm.
t Dugdale, orig. jurid 262.
+ Glossar. Lit. Collin's peerage, 3 vols. 17 and 42.
§ Reports, vol 3. p. 28.

60 THE LIFE OF
man of great knowledge, as well in the com
mon law, as in other human sciences and
divinity."* He was born at Barnstaple in 1555
and speedily became distinguished, both at Oxford
and at the Middle Temple, for his industry and
learning. His cowardice was very great ; he
was much too fearful of offending the court to
preserve his independence ; and in one or two
instances left his brother judges to bear the
brunt of the battle, while he slunk over into the
ranks of the courtiers. His speech in the House
of Lords on the question of the imprisonment
of Hampden and others, April the 14th, 1628,
shews him to have been then getting into his
dotage. f He told the lords, " I have always en
deavoured to keep a good conscience; for a
troubled one, who can bear ? — 1 have sat in this
court fifteen years, and I should know something.
Surely if I had gone in a mill so long, dust would
cleave to my clothes. "J
The judges who presided in the Courts of Law
and Equity during the reigns of James and Charles
the First, with hardly a single exception, did
honour to the legal profession. They evinced a
stubborn integrity, a fearless independence,
* Reports, vol. 3, p. 127.
t He died five months afterwards.
t Pari. Hist. p. 6. Wood.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 61
which their successors in those high offices have
well imitated, but never excelled. Throughout
the reign of the ill advised Charles, they ear
nestly endeavoured to dissuade him from every
arbitrary attempt upon the liberty of the subject ;
and in the cases which were brought before them
by the officers of the crown, they gave their
judgment, sometimes in favour of the King, but
as often in favour of the subject; — alike disre
garding the smiles or frowns of the court. Often
compelled, by a regard to the laws, to oppose the
encroachments of the crown, they yet demonstrated
by their after conduct, that they did not seek
by such means to court the smiles of the repub
licans. Thus, when the death of Charles had
terminated their commissions, six of the judges
who resumed their seats, stipulated with the
Commons, that, if they did so, they should still
administer the laws of England as they were
used to do in the time of their murdered master.
The other six judges absolutely refused to serve,
on any conditions whatever.* The mock trial
and death of Charles the First was a piece of
atrocity, which violated, in the minds of these
honest judges, every principle of law and equity.
* Pari. Hist, vol 19. p. 7. These intrepid judges were
Barons Trevor and Atkins and judges Brown, Bedingfield,
Bacon and Creskeld.

62 THE LIFE OF
The bungling managers of that proceeding, had
not the discretion to put on even the appearance
of a legal trial. That shadow of a parliament did
not even depose him, before they called their
victim to the bar. In his indictment he was
charged as " Charles Stuart, King of Eng
land ;" and even in his death warrant he is so
described.* His persecutors heeded not forms ;
they had only one object in view — the death of
their King; and to accomplish that object, they
perpetrated many brutal absurdities.
During all the tragic events of the civil war,
these reverend judges of the courts at Westmins
ter continued peaceably to administer the law,
unmindful of passing events.
David Jenkins " the honest Welsh judge,"
could not imitate such safe and praiseworthy
examples. He fired up, with all the natural
impetuosity of a Glamorganshire lawyer, when
ever he heard of any of the arbitrary proceedings
of the Commons ; denouncing them as contrary
to all law. His courage seems to have equalled
his zeal ; for when the Commons had committed
him to the Tower, transferred him to Newgate,
and thence brought him to the bar of the house
on a charge of treason, nothing daunted, he stood
* Pari. Hist, vol 23. p 210.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 63
boldly on his defence — absolutely refused to kneel
in their presence — and when urged by the house,
denounced them in a rage, as " a den of thieves."
Even when the house, by way of reducing him
to submission, threatened to hang him, his
imagination carried him instantly to the gallows,
but infused no terror into his intrepid spirit.
" I wTill suffer then," he exclaimed, " with the
bible under one arm, and Magna Charta under
the other!"
The courageous zeal of this honest Welchman
could not but inspire his judges with feelings
of respect. They did not put their threats into
execution, but contented themselves with re
committing him to prison, where he remained
until 1656.
There exists but scanty materials for any
detail of his life. He was born in 1586, at Hensol
in Glamorganshire ; was educated at Edmund
Hall in Oxford, and was a member of Gray's Inn ;
he eventually became a Welch judge, and died
on the 6th of December 1663, in the 81st
year of his age. He was a person of great
ability in his profession ; Noy and Banks, when
attorney generals, often seeking his advice.
Wood describes him as " a heart of oak."

64 THE LIFE OF
He died, it appears, as he lived, — " preaching
with his last breath, to his relations and those
who were about him, loyalty to his majesty,
and obedience to the laws of the land."*
* Athena; Oxon, vol. 1. p 239.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 65

CHAPTER III.
1582—1593.
Coke's first marriage — The Paston family — Coke's father-in-
law — This the happiest period of his life — Trial of Mary
Queen of Scots — Coke made Recorder of Norwich, Coventry
and London — A bencher and reader of Inner Temple —
Elected into parliament for Norwich — Made solicitor-ge
neral — Sketch of his parliamentary demeanour — His descrip
tion of the properties which a member of parliament ought
to possess — The members of that age — Their character —
Their pay — Coke elected speaker— Sir John Puckering's
speech on the occasion — Coke's first speech in parliament,
in addressing Queen Elizabeth — The lord keeper's reply —
The Commons displease the Queen — Certain members com
mitted to the Tower — Speech of Coke on the bill for re
forming the ecclesiastical courts — His address as speaker
to the Queen at the close of the session — The Queen's
speech in reply — Appointed attorney general — Sketch of
the parliamentary proceedings during the last years of
Elizabeth and the first of James I.

It was in the year 1 582 that Sir Edward
Coke married his first wife, Bridget Paston,
VOL. I. F

66 THE LIFE OF
daughter and co-heiress of John Paston, Esq.
of Huntingfield Hall in Suffolk, with whom he
received then, and at her father's death, a for
tune, very large for those days, amounting to
thirty thousand pounds.*
This lady, then in her eighteenth year, whose
beautiful portrait by Casati adorns the yellow
dressing-room at Holkham Hall, was of an ancient
and honourable family, which had been long
seated in the county of Norfolk. She was de
scended from Sergeant Paston, who was a judge
in the reign of Henry VII, and accumulated a very
considerable estate. Of the same family was
Sir Clement Paston, who, according to Lloyd,
Henry VIII called " his champion ;" the Protec
tor Somerset, " his soldier ;" Queen Mary, " her
seaman ;" and Queen Elizabeth, " her father. "f
By this marriage, Coke became connected
with several of the first families in the kingdom ;
for Eleanor Paston, his wife's aunt, having mar
ried Thomas, Earl of Rutland, she had by him
Henry, Earl of Rutland ; Gertrude, Countess of
* To the Rev. Henry Uhthoff, Rector of Huntingfield, I am
indebted for the following copy of the register of Cookley : —
" 1582, Edward Cooke, Esq. and Bridget Paston, the daughter
of John Paston, Esq. were married the 13th day of August,
the year aforesaid."
t State Worthies, 20S.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 67
Shrewsbury ; Ann, Countess of Westmoreland ;
and Francis, Lady Abergavenny.
The honourable and distinguished family of
the Pastons has long since become extinct.
They had their surname from the village of
Paston, near North Walsham, in Norfolk, in
wThich county they had considerable estates.*
Nicholas Stone, the sculptor, erected several
of their monuments in the reign of Charles I,
and in his memorandum book, he speaks of the
hospitality of the Pastons, and how " extraordi
narily" he was entertained at their seat while
proceeding with his work.f
When Philemon Holland published his edition
of Camden, about 1625, they were then flourish
ing among the chief Norfolk families ; for he
speaks of them as " a family grown great both
in estate and in alliance, since they matched
with the heiress of Barry and Maulbye." This
lady was Agnes, daughter and coheir of Sir
Edward Barry, who married Judge Paston.J
* The last of the Pastons, William, Earl of Yarmouth, died
in 1733, when the title became extinct.
f Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting, vol. 2, p. 47.
I Coke could not have been married more than a month
when his father-in-law, Sir John Paston, died. According
to the register of Huntingfield, he was buried there on the
F 2

68 THE LIFE OF
Of such a noble family was Coke's first wife,
with whom he probably passed one of the hap
piest periods of his life, and by whom he had
ten children.
23rd of September, 1 582. On his tomb in the church of that
parish is the following odd inscription :
This earthlye coloured marble stone behold with weeping eyes,
Under whose cold and massive weight, John Paston buried lies,
A gentleman by birth and deedes, the second son to one
Sir William Paston, worthie knight deceased long agone.
This gentle Squire in Huntingfield a wydowe took to wyfe,
That hight Anne Arrowsmith, with whom he led a loving lyfe.
Eleven years space and somewhat more, by whom he also had
One only child, a virgin mayd, his aged heart to glad.
In youthful yeares this gentleman a gallant courtier was,
With rarest virtues well adorned, to courtiers all a glass,
A pensioner to princes four, Henry the Eight that boye,
To Edward King, to Mary Queen, to Elizabeth our joye,
Which four he served faithfullie, the court laments his end,
His countrie neighbours all bewail the loss of such a friend.
To poore a'present remedie, to honest men an ayde,
A father to the fatherless, the widows playnt he wayde,
Against the hungrie travailer his doors were never shett,
Against the reely needie soul his purse was never knitte.
When he had lived three score yeeres and four, death closed up
his eyes,
He lyved well, he dyed well, and buried here he lyes.(a)
(a) I am almost tempted to believe that Coke himself was
the author of these heavy lines. Poetry was a branch of polite
literature in which he did not excel.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 69
At this period he was rapidly rising in his
profession, incessantly and happily employed,
and returned from his chambers in the Temple
to an elegant and well regulated house. Thus
engaged, his name is not connected with the
state prosecutions of those days; for he had not
yet become a political character.
Mary Queen of Scots was condemned at Fo
theringay in 1586. Had she been allowed the
assistance of counsel, it is probable that Coke
would have been employed on her behalf ; for
he was then one of the leaders of the bar, and
had established a high character for courage and
independence. Mary, however, had no one to
defend her ; she had, in fact, only a few hours'
notice of her approaching examination ; which I
cannot by any latitude of interpretation en
title a trial: for by no competent authority
were Burleigh and the other commissioners em
powered to try the prisoner for her life, nor were
even the most common forms of a trial observed.
Neither was Sir Edward Coke employed against
the Scottish Queen. Popham, afterwards chief
justice of the Court of King's Bench, and
Egerton, afterwards Lord Chancellor Ellesmere,
were then attorney solicitor and generals ; and
they conducted the accusation.
It is not my intention to travel over the details

70 THE LIFE OF
of this wretched proceeding, which the historian
has long since recognised as one of the few blots
in the fair page of Elizabeth's reign. The mockery
of a trial—the sending down a large and talented
body of the first public officers of the land to
the distant and obscure castle of Fotheringay,
to try an imprisoned Queen — clearly betrayed
the intention of the court. Had the Queen of
England been regardful of her own honour in
this case, she would at least have taken especial
care to send an impartial, unprejudiced body of
commissioners. We should not then have found
in the list the names of almost all her ministers :
Burleigh, Lord Treasurer ; Bromley, Lord Chan
cellor ; Oxford, Great Chamberlain ; Warwick,
Master of the Ordnance ; Leicester Master of
the Horse ; Howard, Lord Admiral ; Hunsdon,
Lord Chamberlain ; Crofts ; Knolles ; Saddler ;
and others. Some care would also have been
taken that the accused might have a public trial;
that she should be defended with energy, and
not condemned unless on the clearest evidence.
The tears and pretended reluctance of Elizabeth
to sign her death warrant, might then have been
spared; Walsingham need not then have intrigued,
nor poor Secretary Davison have been sacrificed.
Mary's case affords another instance of the
folly of extending harsh measures even to those

SIR EDWARD COKE. 71
of whose guilt there is every probability. Had
Mary been sent back to her own country, all
the historical romance of her character would
have been spared. Her name, instead of being
associated with the image of a friendless, beau
teous woman, suffering patiently and with dig
nity, would then have reminded every reader of
British history of far less agreeable scenes ; she
would have been known in after ages as the
busy, thoughtless, unhappy, intriguing Queen,
whose claims to our sympathy were only her
misfortunes ; and whose few private virtues made
no atonement for her public errors.
It was about the year 1585 that the citizens
of Coventry elected Sir Edward Coke to be their
recorder ; and in 1587 those of Norwich followed
their example. In 1590, he was chosen a bencher
of the Inner Temple, and two years afterwards
succeeded Sergeant Fleetwood as recorder of Lon
don, — an office which he held only six months —
resigning it in the following June, on being made
solicitor-general. From 1590 until 1610, he
held the office of steward of the manor of Fram-
lingham.* In 1592 he was elected reader, or law
lecturer, to the Inner Temple. This office he evi
dently executed to the satisfaction of his Inn ; for
* Green's History of Framlingham.

72 THE LIFE OF
he tells us in his own Note Book, that having com
posed seven lectures on the statute of uses, he had
delivered five of them to a large and learned
audience, when the plague broke out in the
Temple. He then left London for his house at
Huntingfield, in Suffolk ; on which occasion, to
do him honour, nine benchers of the Temple,
and forty other templars, accompanied him on
his journey as far as Romford.
I now approach the period of Sir Edward
Coke's life when, by his election as the repre
sentative of Norfolk in the House of Commons,
he first appeared in the political arena. This
took place in 1592, when he was in his forty-
second year.*
The political conduct of Coke we shall find
partook of the changing character of the age,
and was adapted to the necessities of his country.
It was quiet, passive, and loyal in the reign of
Elizabeth, owing to the obligation which all good
patriots felt, of uniting every energy, and of
sinking all minor differences, in favour of those
great and paramount objects, the preservation of
their country's independence, and the mainte
nance of the protestant religion.
* He was elected with Nathaniel Bacon, Esq.— Brown Wil
lis's Notitia Pari. vol. 2, p. 131.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 73
No reader of English history need be in
formed, with what extreme difficulty these great
objects, so important to England, so essential
to the dearest interests of knowledge, of liberty,
and of religion, were attained by Queen Eliza
beth, — surrounded as she was by a host of
enemies ; exposed to the religious hatred of
the large and treacherous catholic portion of the
people of England ; and with a crown already
bestowed by the Pope upon another.
At such a stormy period, no friend of England
thought of embarrassing, by his opposition, any
of the Queen's measures, however arbitrary.
If she browbeat any liberal, noisy member of the
Commons ; if she committed any of the " im-
pertinents," as she called them, to prison, or
adopted any other measures equally despotic ;
still the best patriots of those days were content
to sit silent, rather than even by a conscientious
opposition, give an indirect support to the na
tion's enemies.
It is in vain to search among the parliamen
tary debates of this great Queen's reign, for any
of Coke's patriotic effusions. Whether acting
as one of the members for his native county,
or as speaker of the House of Commons, we
shall find him following one uniform course : he

74 THE LIFE OF
was all loyalty to his Queen— a high prerogative
lawyer. Elizabeth's long and glorious reign produced
strange changes in the political feelings and rela
tions of England. Her wise measures had van
quished every enemy, and had immeasurably added
to the foreign trade, the manufactures, the know
ledge, and the riches of England. But her suc
cessor had neither her talents, her frugality, nor
her courage. He was, moreover, a foreigner ; he
preferred foreigners; loved long speeches and
talkative sessions of parliament, in which much
was said and very little done ; was extravagant,
the slave of favourites, and a coward. The crown
had, indeed, lost strangely by the transition
from Queen Elizabeth to King James. The
Commons of England had, on the contrary,
made astonishing advances, and in conse
quence, they felt inclined to exert powers, and
to assert rights, which in the reign of Elizabeth
had never been thought of, or at least, never
mentioned. Having vanquished all the foreign
enemies of England, they now felt inclined to
combat, with equal ardour, internal abuses and
corrupt mismanagements.
It was then that Sir Edward Coke first ap
peared on the public stage, as a patriot and a

SIR EDWARD COKE. 75
reformer. This hitherto subdued trait in his
character was apparent, before he was made chief
justice of the Common Pleas, long previous to his
promotion to the King's Bench ; and it adhered
to him as long as he remained chief justice of
England. This ardent patriotism was, in truth,
the real cause of his removal from his chief jus
ticeship ; for when the great Egerton, Lord Elles
mere, was addressing Montague, his successor, in
the King's Bench, he earnestly warned him not to
be too ambitiously desirous of popular applause.
It was not probable that he, who was a patriot
when sitting at the mere pleasure of the crown,
as chief justice in the Court of King's Bench,
would be less warm in his love of liberty and
of even handed justice, when, after his unjust
dismissal, his neighbours again elected him as
their representative in parliament. He warmed
in his love of liberty, as his years crept on. His
ardour kept pace with the advancing spirit of
liberty which marked the age ; and he was never
cooled in these, his patriotic feelings, by either
the smiles or the frowns of the court — a
court which, however base and profligate in the
reign of the first Stuart, was much altered for
the better in that of his son and unfortunate
successor. I think, when these facts are taken into con-

76 THE LIFE OF
sideration, the political conduct of Coke will
appear, to the dispassionate reader of English
history, as neither wavering nor inconsistent.
His political life filled nearly half a century of
a period, crowded with great and mighty events,
in which his country passed from the extreme
of slavery, both in church and state, to nearly
the very opposite extreme of liberty— a li
centious extremity which it certainly attained
before he had long been in his grave. Those,
therefore, of Coke's adversaries, who accuse him
of changing his politics with those of the age,
merely confess what they are unwilling to allow,
—that he regulated his patriotism by the dictates
of prudence, and a wise caution ; that he ex
amined with patience, and legislated with care,
in the hour of danger ; and that when, in days
of public tranquillity, his boldness of language
and his love of reformation became more ap-
< parent, he merely demonstrated, that when other
men had made a great and mighty march in the
road to improvement and knowledge, the first
lawyer of his age had not stood still.
Coke, in his fourth Institute, gives an account
of the properties which every member of Parlia
ment ought to possess ; and he seems to have been
guided pretty closely, in his own career, by the
principles which he there quaintly inculcates. He

SIR EDWARD COKE. 77
tells us that ' ' every member of the House, being a
counsellor, should have three properties of the ele
phant : 1 . That he hath no gall. 2. That he is inflex
ible and cannot bow. 3. That he is of a most ripe
and perfect memory.* That he should be without
malice, rancour, heat, and envy ; not turned from
the right either by fear, reward, or favour ; and
that of a perfect memory, remembering perils past,
he might prevent dangers to come." Coke also
advised the members of parliament to adopt
another property of the elephant : ' ' They are
sociable and go in companies. Sociable creatures,"
he adds, " that go in flocks or herds, are not
hurtful, as deer, sheep, &c. but beasts that walk
solely or singularly, as bears, foxes, &c. are
hurtful. These properties ought every parlia
ment man to have."
Coke was elected, in 1592, to represent the
county of Norfolk, as I have already stated,
without any opposition ; — the election being,
as he tells us in his own Note Book, " una
nimous, free and spontaneous, without any
solicitation or canvassing on my part."
The office of a member of parliament had not
then become of that honourable nature, that men
* Coke gives these properties on the authority of the Rot.
Pari, anno 3, Henry VI.

78 THE LIFE OF
of fortune and influence struggled for the acqui
sition of the distinction. At that period the
knights and burgesses had only in a few instances
begun to pay their own expenses, while attending
the parliament: these were long afterwards a
regular charge, paid by the electors to their
members,- at the close of every session.
In those days, as the power of the parliament
was limited, so the duration of its sittings was
short. A session seldom lasted longer than a
month. The houses met early in the morning,
and their debates rarely lasted until noon. Short
however, as these sessions proved, the crown
seldom troubled them with even these formal
meetings. Thus, the first parliament in which
Coke appeared, was speedily prorogued, and it
did not meet again for four years. When it did
assemble, on the 24th of October 1597; its dura
tion was equally short ; and another long period
of five years elapsed, before it met at West
minster, on the 27th of October 1601. This
was the last parliament of Queen Elizabeth.
The pay of a knight of the shire, as then
allowed by the statute of the sixteenth of Edward
the Second, was four shillings per day; a burgess
was to be content with half that sum. This,
however, did not preclude the members from

SIR EDWARD COKE. 79
entering into private bargains with their electors.
As an instance, John Strange, the member for
Dunwich in 1463, agreed with the burgesses of
that town, to take his wages in red herrings.*
In the same reign, the citizens of York, being
anxious that the dignity of that ancient corpo
ration should be properly represented in parlia
ment, unanimously agreed that their members
should be allowed four shillings a day if they
* This is a copy of the original agreement between these
careful burgesses and their economical representative in parlia
ment. " This Bylle indentied mead the XVI day of Aprille in the
threddezer of King Edward the fourte, betwyn Thomas Peers
and John Scherlyng, Ballyfs of the town of Donewych, and
John Strawnge of Brampon Esquyer witnessyth that the sayd
John Strawnge granteth be these presents, to be oon of the
burgeys for Donewych at the parliament to been holdyn at
Westm' the XXIX day of this sayd month of Aprille, for
qwhech qwhedyr it hold longer tyme or shortt or qwhedyr
it fortune to be porogyt the sayd John Strawnge granted no
more to be takyn for hys wagys than a cade full of heryng
and halff a barell full heryng tho to be deliveryd be Chryst-
masse next coming.
In witnesse thereof eyther parte to other indenture inter-
chawn jabilly her selys hav setl. day and zer abovesayd.''
From the original in the possession of Thomas Astle Esq.
Preface to Glanville's Reports by Topham XXIII.
The celebrated Andrew Marvel was the last person who
received these wages ; he represented the town of Hull in par
liament in 1661.

80 THE LIFE OF
kept a house in London during the session, but
only two shillings if they went " to borde."*
They were not, however, underpaid, if we
may judge of their integrity and independence '
by their actions. They probably much resem
bled the petty juries of modern quarter ses
sions : they were drawn from home with equal
reluctance, and were, in the majority of instances,
far less independent, and not nearly so well in
formed as to the best interests of their country.
They were willing to redress grievances, and to
assert their own privileges ; but they proceeded
with much cautious timidity and shrank back
into inactivity, upon the first rebuke of the
chief magistrate.
The persons who were sent to parliament from
the Cinque Ports received for many years a
daily stipend of two shillings ; but after the year

* Ult. die Sept. an, 2 Ed. quarti. It was ordained and agreed
by the assent of the counsel of the city, yet for als mykel as
nowe late some aldermen being at the parliaments in time
passed have gone to borde, wheras yai have at all times to fore
holden house for the worship of the cite, vet fro hencefurth
what alderman soever shall go to parliament and will hold
house, shall have for his costs daily iiiis. and if he go to borde,
he shall have but iis upon the day and no more fro nowe forth
E registro in cam. styli pont. Us<e. Drake's Antiquities of
York, p. 357.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 81
1576, it was raised to four shillings, and the
inhabitants were then wont to evade the bur
then, by neglecting to make a return to the
writ. As early, however, as the reign of Henry
the Sixth, the burgesses of Dover made a bar
gain with the mayor and jurats of Faversham,
that, for the sum of forty shillings per annum,
they should, once in three or four years, name a
member to represent Dover in parliament.
In 1468, the now opulent shires of Essex and
Hertford were so bare of substantial inhabitants,
that the sheriff could only find Colchester and
Maldon, in Essex, and not one town in Hert
fordshire, which could send burgesses. Hence,
and from other instances, it appears that it lay
in the choice of the sheriff, whether a town should
send any representative or not ; and there is no
instance of complaint, either of the House of
Commons, or of the towns, against the sheriff, for
any partiality on this score.
Several little boroughs pleaded their poverty,
as an excuse for not making a return to the writ
at all. Much rejoicing took place when they were
excused from the burthen ; and many boroughs
managed, by some address, to be excused for
ever. Of this class were Kingston in Surrey, and
Thaxted in Essex. The attendance of the mem
bers was always very unwilling, and the minis-
VOL. I. G

82 THE LIFE OF
ters of the crown never thought of threatening
them with a dissolution, when they were idle and
inattentive ; for that, in those primitive days,
was not considered a punishment.
A member at that period had to report to his
constituents, upon his return home, what he
had said, and how he had voted, in parlia
ment ; for there were then no paid reporters of
speeches. The mayor and corporation usually provided
each of the representatives with a horse to
ride to the parliament ; and, as it was a usual
thing for them to be summoned to meet at
some town far away from London, — as Ox
ford, Winchester, or even Carlisle, — such was
the unwillingness of the elder burgesses to fill
the office of member of parliament, that the
choice fell of necessity upon the best horse
men, and those most able to bear fatigue ; — just
as, in modern days, the choice of parish con
stables is decided.
About the year 1640, in a private manuscript,
J. Harrington, Esq., ofKelston, Somersetshire,
thus described his canvass, in the December of
that year.*
* In the long parliament, which met in November 1640,
I find that J. Harrington and T. Horner sat for Somersetshire.
Pari. History, vol. 9, p. S9.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 83
" A NOTE OP MT BATHE BUSINESS ABOUTE THE PARLIAMENT.
" Saturday, December 26, — went to Bathe
and dined withe the Maior and citizens ; con
ferred aboute my election to serve in Parliament,
as my father was helpless, and ill able to go
any more. Went to the George Inn at night ;
met the Baihffs, and desired to be dismissed
from serving ; drank strong beer and metheglin
(mead) ; expended about three shillings, went
home late ; but could not get excused, as they
entertained a good opinion of my father.
" Monday, December 28.— Went to Bathe ;
met Sir John Horner ; we were chosen by the
citizens to serve for the city ; the Maior and
citizens conferred about Parliamentary business.
The Maior promised Sir John Horner and my
self a horse a piece, when we went to London to
the Parliament, which we accepted off; and we
talked about the synod and ecclesiastical dis
missions. I am to go again on Thursday and
meet the citizens about all such matters and
take advice thereon.
" Thursday, 31 .—Went to Bathe ; Mr. Ashe
preached ; dined at the George Inn with the
Maior and four citizens : spent at dinner six
shillings in wine. Laid out in victuals, at the
George Inn, xis. 4d. ; laid out in drinking, viis. ;
laid out in tobacco and drinking vessels, his. Ad.
g 2

84 THE LIFE OF
" January 1.— My father gave me 41. to bear
my expenses to Bathe. Mr. Chapman, the
Maior, came to Kelston and returned thanks for
my being chosen to serve in Parliament, to my
father, in the name of all the citizens. My
father gave me good advice touching my speak
ing in Parliament as the city should direct.
Came home late at night from Bathe: much
troubled hereat concerning my proceeding, truly
for men's good report and mine own safety.
" Note.— I gave the city messenger iis. for
bearing the Maior's note to me : laid out in all
vim. for victuals, drink, and horsehire, together
with divers gifts."
In the parliament which met at Westminster,
on the 19th of February 1593, Sir Edward Coke
was unanimously elected speaker.
On that day the Queen opened the session in
person, and the lord keeper, Sir John Pucker
ing, by command of his sovereign, gave the
parliament some very undisguised and salutary
advice, which modern senates would do well to
remember and follow.
" Her Majesty hath farther willed me to sig
nify to you," said this plain speaking minister,
" that the calling of this parliament now, is not
for the making of any more new laws and sta -
tutes, for there are already a sufficient number,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 85
both of ecclesiastical and temporal, and so
many there be, that rather than to burthen the
subjects with more, to their grievance, it were
fitting an abridgement were made of those there
are already.
" Wherefore it is her Majesty's pleasure that
the time be not spent therein.
" And whereas, heretofore, it hath been used
that many have delighted themselves in long
orations, full of verbosity and of vain ostenta
tions, more than in speaking things of substance,
the time that is precious should not be therein
spent." Three days afterwards, the Queen having again
come to the House of Lords, the Commons
presented for their speaker, Sir Edward Coke,
then solicitor general, who from the bar of the
house addressed her Majesty in a long speech,
full of the dry conceits of the time ; expressions
of modesty, and high flown compliments to the
Queen, — who certainly made both the lords and
the commons of those days feel very distinctly
that she was, and intended to be, ruler of
England. Towards the conclusion of his ad
dress he told her :
" Amidst my many imperfections, this is my
comfort, I never knew any in this place, but if
your Majesty gave them favour, God, who

86 THE LIFE OF
called them to the place, gave them also the
power to discharge it."*
The lord keeper then commended him, by
command of the Queen, for his modest and well
composed speech ; and desired him to proceed
in the execution of his office.
Sir Edward Coke then, as speaker, again
addressed the Queen, in the name and on the
behalf of the Commons. In this address, after
taking a rapid survey of the critical situation of
the kingdom, then threatened with invasion;
glancing at the Pope ; speaking at greater length
on the laws, and giving several latin sentences ; —
he concluded by claiming for the Commons, in
the usual way, freedom of speech, freedom from
arrest, and ready access to the person of the
sovereign. To these requests, after receiving the com
mands of the Queen, the lord keeper replied at
some length; and with regard to the three claims
of the Commons, he very candidly informed
them, —
" To your three demands the Queen an-
swereth, liberty of speech is granted to you ;
but how far, this is to be thought on. There be
two things of most necessity, and those two do
most harm : which are wit and speech ; the one
* Pari. History, vol 4, p. 346.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 87
exercised in invention, and the other in uttering
things invented. Privilege of speech is granted,
but you must know what privilege you have ;
not to speak every one what he listeth, or what
cometh into his brain toutter ; but your privilege is
aye or no. Wherefore, Mr. Speaker, her Majesty's
pleasure is, that if you perceive any idle heads,
which will not stick to hazard their own estates,
which will meddle with reforming the churches,
and transforming the commonwealth, and do
exhibit any bills to such purpose, that you
receive them not until they be viewed and con
sidered by those who, it is fitter, should consider
of such things, and can better judge of them."*
Sir Simon d'Ewes, in his journal, gives the
only notice I have met with of a slight indispo
sition of Sir Edward Coke. At the first meeting
of this parliament, he tells us that
" On Saturday the 24th of February 1592,
the house being set, and a great number of the
members of the same assembled, Mr. Speaker,
not being as yet come to the house, some of the
house said one to another, they heard he was
sick ; and one affirmed it to be so; indeed, shewing
that he had been with him that morning him-
* Pari. History, vol. 4, p. 349-

88 THE LIFE OF
self, and left him sick in his bed, and his physi
cian and his wife with him. And some others
supposing that he would shortly signify unto
the house the cause of his absence, moved
that the clerk might in the mean time proceed
to saying of the litany and prayers.
" Which being so done accordingly, the sergeant
of this house, presently after the said prayers
finished, brought word from Mr. Speaker unto
the Right Honorable Sir John Wooley, Knight,
one of his Majesties most Honorable Privy
Council and a member of the house, that he had
been this last night, and also was this present
forenoon, so extremely pained in his stomach,
that he could not as yet without his farther
great peril and danger adventure into the air,
at this time, which otherwise he most willingly
would have done.
" And he further willed, that the clerk of this
house, might signify unto the house the said
estate of his case, and in his name desire their
good and favourable considerations of the same,
not doubting their gentle and courteous accept
ance of that, his so reasonable excuse, as by
this house hath also been in former time used
in like cases, towards other his predecessors in
the pplace he now serveth ; and to shew them

SIR EDWARD COKE. 89
farther that he trusteth in God he shall be able
to attend them in this house upon the next day
of sitting, which will be on Monday next.
" The effect of which message, being signified
unto this house by the said clerk of the house,
all the said members being very sorry for Mr.
Speaker's sickness, rested well satisfied, and so
the house did rise, and every man departed
away."* D'Ewes has probably given a wrong date to
this indisposition ; for, according to the Parlia-
liamentary History, on that day, an important
debate arose in the Commons ; which could not
have been the case if the speaker had been
absent. According to this authority, on the 24th of
February, Sir Henry Bromley and Sir Peter
Wentworth, having presented a petition to the
lord keeper, desiring the lords of the upper
house to be supplicants with the lower house to
her Majesty, for her concurrence in a bill they had
drawn for " entailing thesuccession to the crown,"
they were speedily summoned before the Privy
Council, and committed to the Tower and Fleet
Prisons, in company with Mr Stevens and Mr.
Welch, two other members of the house, who had
* Sir Simon d'Ewes' Journal 470.

90 THE LIFE OF
been concerned with them in drawing the peti
tion. Such was the cowardice of the Commons,
that, although Mr. Wroth moved for an address
to the Queen, yet the house resolved to do
nothing. The speaker sat silent, and the house re
mained quiet, as if conscious of having committed
some great crime. Camden, in his annals of
the reign of Elizabeth, passed the transaction
over in silence ; and no one afterwards, during
the reign of " Good Queen Bess," dared to men
tion in parliament the question of the succes
sion to the throne.
This caution was not confined to this subject ;
for, on the 27th of February, after a long debate
on a bill introduced by Mr. Morris to reform
the abuses of the Ecclesiastical Courts, the house
resolved to commit the bill to the examination of
Sir Edward Coke, their speaker ; who, previously
to their coming to this complimentary resolution,
had addressed them to the following effect :*
" In favour and free love, above my merits or
deserts, you have elected me, which should bind
me to do all my best service, and to be faithful
towards you.
' This bill delivered me, is long and con-
taineth important matters of great weight, and
* Pari. Hist, vol 4, p 3/8.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 91
such matters as cannot be expressed in few
words. It hath many parts, and if you put me
presently to open it, I cannot so readily under
stand it, and do it, as I should ; for indeed it is
a matter far above my ordinary practise ; and to
deliver a thing before I conceive it, I could not.
Wherefore if it would please you to give me leave
to consider of it, I protest I will be faithful
and keep it with all secrecy."
This careful mode of proceeding was adopted
by the house, to avoid giving offence to the
Queen ; who had warned them, on the opening of
the session, not to meddle with pretended reforms
in the Church, and alterations in the Common
wealth. All their caution, however, failed of its intended
result ; for, on the afternoon of the day on which
Mr. Morris made his motion, Sir Edward Coke
was sent for to court, and on the next day
delivered to the house a message from the
Queen, forbidding the house to meddle with
either Church or State !
This message Coke delivered with his usual
ability ; not being restrained by the unpleasant
nature of the communication, or the difficulty
of serving two masters, from executing the
Queen's commands entirely to her satisfaction.
" Yesterday," said Coke, " a great member

92 THE LIFE OF
of this house, after a speech used and his reasons
laid forth, delivered to me two bills, which bills,
through not being read, were diversely spoken of.
They being long, the matters grave, and of great
importance and the day being almost spent, I
desired further time to consider of these bills. I
humbly thank this honourable house, time was
granted me freely, it being almost twelve of the
clock. " A little after I had perused the bills, I was
sent for by a special messenger from her Majesty.
Coming into her royal presence, I was com
manded to deliver these words from her most
excellent Majesty, unto the Body of the Realm
(for so she termed this house.)
" The matter I have to speak is great, yea it
is the greatest matter I ever had to deal in,
wherefore I pray God direct " mentem et lin-
guam hanc.
" I must be short, for her Majesty's words were
not many and 1 may perhaps fail in the delivery
of them. For though my auditors be great, yet
who is so impudent that the presence of such a
majesty would not appal him ?
" And it did greatly fear me, when I did see
none of these honourable persons in her presence
who were present at the holding of this matter
in this house ; yet so God in his providence, had

SIR EDWARD COKE. 93
appointed it, that even in this while, came some
persons here present, who, if I fail in delivering
what was given me in charge, can report it unto
you ; and I am glad that there are witnesses, with
me, in this action, what was my faithful service for
the house. I protest a greater comfort never befel
me, than that this my integrity and faithful pro
mise to the house is not violated, for her Majesty
in her most gracious wisdom, before my coming,
determined not to press me in this, neither
indeed did she require this bill of me, for this
only she required of me, ' what were the things
spoken of by the house ?' which points, I only
delivered, as they which heard me can tell.
" The message delivered me from her Majesty
consisteth of three things : first the end for
which the parliament was called ; secondly the
speech which her Majesty used by my lord
keeper; thirdly what her pleasure and command
ment now is.
" ' For the first, it is in me and my power/ (I
speak now in her Majesty's person) ' to call
parliaments ; and it is in my power to end and
determine the same ; it is in my power to assent
or dissent to any thing done in parliament.'
" The calling of this parliament was only that
the majesty of God might be more religiously
served, and those that, neglect this service might

94 THE LIFE OF
be compelled by some sharper means to a more
due obedience and more true service of God
than there hath been hitherto used ; and farther,
that the safety of her Majesty's person and of
the realm might be by all means provided for
against our great enemies, the Pope and the
King of Spain.
" Her Majesty's most excellent pleasure being
known, there was delivered unto us by the lord
keeper, ' it was not meant we should meddle with
matters of state, or in causes ecclesiastical ;' (for
so her Majesty termed them) ' she wondered that
any would be of so high commandment to attempt'
(I use her own words) ' any thing contrary to
that which she hath so expressly forbidden ;' where
fore with this she was highly displeased.
" And because the words then spoken by my
lord keeper are not now perhaps well remem
bered, or some be now here that were not there,
her Majesty's present charge and express com
mand is. ' That no bills touching matters of
state, or reformations in causes ecclesiastical, be
exhibited.' '¦' And upon my allegiance, I am commanded
if any such bill be exhibited not to read it."*
These commands of the Queen, her submis-
* Pari. Hist. vol. 4, p. 395.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 95
sive parliament very gravely, and with all dig
nified tameness and gratitude, strictly obeyed.
They meddled not again with church or state
affairs for that session ; they suffered their four
members to remain in prison without the slightest
remonstrance, or other effort to extricate them ;
and yet they listened with due complacency and
without self-reproach, on the tenth of the fol
lowing April, when the Queen put an end to
the session in person, to their speaker, who, in
addressing the Queen, told her that " the High
Court of Parliament is the greatest and most
ancient court within this your realm."*
The remainder of his speech was adapted to
the spirit of the age and the character of the
Queen. He gave a short history of the origin
of parliaments, which he traced from the West
Saxons ; gave a summons of King Ina to all his
" fatherhood, aldermen, and wisest commons
with the Godly men of his kingdom ;" shewed
that by these were intended bishops, lords and
commons; proceeded to compare, "this sweet
council" to the " sweet commonwealth of the
little bees ;" informed the Queen, that " the
little bees have but one governor whom they all

* Pari. Hist. vol. 4, p. 395.

96 THE LIFE OF
serve, he is their king ;" proceeded to describe,
partly in English, and partly in Latin, the natu
ral history of those insects ; informed her that
the working bees " forage abroad, sucking honey
from every flower to bring to their King;" spoke of
the drones wdio have no stings, and are turned out
of the hives, and that the king bee, not having a
sting, the working bees sting every thing that at
tacks their sovereign. He then applied these facts
to the Queen at considerable length, and came to
the very correct conclusion, " I fear I have
been too long, and therefore do come now to
your laws.
" The laws we have conferred upon this
session of so honourable a parliament, are of
two natures : the one such as have life, but are
ready to die, except your Majesty breathe spirit
into them ; again, the other are laws that never
had life, but being void of life, come to your
Majesty to seek life.
" The first sort, are those laws which had con
tinuance until this parliament, and are now to
receive new life, or are ready to die for ever.
The other that I term capable of life, are those
which are newly made, but which have no es
sence until your Majesty giveth them life.
' Two laws there are, but I must give the
honour where it is due, for they come from the

SIR EDWARD COKE. 97
noble, wise lords of the upper House, the most
honourable and beneficial laws that could be
desired : the one a confirmation of all letters
patent from your Majesty's most noble father,
of all the ecclesiastical livings which the King
of most renowned memory, your father, took
from those superstitious monasteries and priories,
and translated them to the erecting and setting
up of many foundations of cathedral churches
and colleges, greatly furthering the mainte
nance of learning and true religion.
" The other law, to suppress the obstinate
recusant and the dangerous sectary, both very
pernicious to your government."
Much in the way usually adopted by speakers,
Coke then concluded his address :
" I have in many ways since the beginning
of this parliament, by ignorance and insuffi
ciency to perform that which I should, of
fended your Majesty. I, therefore, most humbly
crave to be a partaker of your Majesty's pardon."
In reply to this, the lord keeper, by instruc
tions from the Queen, spoke at much length,
and did not omit to notice every theme on
which the Queen had felt offended at the con
duct of the Commons.
" In some things," said the Queen's minister,
" you have spent more time than was needful.
VOL. I. H

98 THE LIFE OF
The Queen perceives that some men do it more
for their satisfaction than the necessity of the
thing deserved. She mislikes, also, that such
irreverence is shewn towards privy councillors,
who are not to be accounted as common knights
and burgesses of the House, that are coun
sellors only during the parliament."
When the lord keeper had finished his speech,
some little interval elapsed, and then the Queen,
seated in her chair of state, addressed the
parliament. The opening part of Her Majesty's speech
would sound harsh to the refined ears of modern
statesmen. " This kingdom," said this Amazonian Queen,
" hath had many wise, noble, and victorious
princes. I will not compare with any of them
in wisdom, fortitude, and other virtues ; but,
saving the duty of a child, that is not to com
pare with his father, in love, care, sincerity,
and justice, I will compare with any prince that
ever you had, or shall have. It may be thought
simplicity in me, that all the time of my reign
I have not sought to advance my territories
and enlarge my dominions ; for opportunity
hath served to do it. I acknowledge my wo
manhood and weakness in that respect. But
it hath not been the hardness to obtain, or how
to keep the things so obtained, that only hath

SIR EDWARD COKE. 99
withheld me from these 'attempts. My mind was
never to invade my neighbours, or to usurp
over any. I am contented to reign over my
own, and to rule as a just prince. Yet the
King of Spain doth challenge me to be the
quarreller and the beginner of these wars. He
doth me the greatest wrong, for my conscience
doth not accuse my thoughts wherein I have
done him the least injury, so that I am per
suaded in my conscience, if he knew what I
knew, he would be sorry himself for the wrong
he hath done me. I fear not all his threatenings.
His great preparations and mighty forces do not
stir me, for though he came against me with
a greater power than ever was his invincible
navy, I doubt not but (God assisting me, upon
whom I always trust,) I shall be able to defeat
him, and overthrow him ; for my cause is just.
I heard say, that when he first attempted his
last invasion, some upon the sea coasts forsook
their towns and fled into the country, and left
all naked and exposed to his entrance ; but I
swear to you by God, that if I knew those per
sons, or may know of any that shall do so
hereafter, I will make them know and feel what
it is to be so fearful in so urgent a cause. The
subsidy you give me, I accept thankfully, if you
give me your good will with it ; but if the ne-
h 2

100 THE LIFE OF
cessity of the time, and your preservation did
not require it, I would refuse it."*
Such was the energetic speech of Elizabeth ;
an address, by a comparison with which, modern
royal speeches I fear will not appear in any way
to advantage.
She evidently inclined to reprove the House
of Commons, for its tardiness in granting the
supplies which she required for the next three
years ; and to expedite which grant, the House
of Lords had demanded a conference with the
lower House ; but the meeting was not productive
of any effect, since the Commons were, in those
days, nearly as tenacious in reserving to them
selves the exclusive right of granting the public
money, as they are now.
When, after much debate, they finally
agreed to pass the subsidy bill, they deemed
it proper to introduce into its long and carefully
drawn up preamble, this declaration : " That
these large and unusual grants, which are made
to an excellent Princess, on a most urgent, and
pressing, and extraordinary occasion, must not
at any time hereafter be drawn into a prece-
dent."f Sir Edward Coke held the speakership but
* Pari. Hist, vol, 4, p. 401.
f Stowe's Chronicle, p. 765.— Par). Hist. vol. 4, p. 393.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 101
for one session ; it being not then usual to hold
it longer. Neither was it an office sought for
with avidity ; it was then almost in the gift of
the crown, and the chief duty of its holder
was to prevent the Commons from meddling
with church or state affairs, and to stimulate
them to a cheerful and ready grant of subsidies,
tenths, and sixteenths.
The form of electing a speaker, and the mum
mery of presenting him to the King for his
approval, are of ancient date ; but the present ce
remony was of slow growth.
Richard de Walgrave, in the parliament of
1382, was the first speaker who made a formal
apology for his inability to fulfil the duties of
his office ; and, twelve years afterwards, John
Busby was the first who was presented by the
Commons to the King for his approval.
In 1484, William Catesby was chosen, pre
sented, and approved by the King, according to
the modern practice. Previously to this, many
irregularities had occurred : thus, in 1451, the
speaker, Thomas Thorpe, being arrested for
debt and in jail, the House of Lords decided
that he was not privileged from imprisonment,
and, in consequence, the House very quietly
chose another speaker, Sir Thomas Charlton.
In 1542, Thomas Moyle Esq. was the first

102 THE LIFE OF
speaker who petitioned the King for freedom of
speech. In the reign of Elizabeth, barristers were in
variably chosen for speakers.
In her parliament of 1558, the speaker was
William Cordell, Esq. Master of the Rolls.
In 1559, Sir Thomas Gargrave, the Queen's
Counsel. In 1563, Thomas Williams, Esq.
In 1566, Solicitor General Onslow.
In 1571, Wray, afterwards Lord Chief Justice.
In 1572, Bell, afterwards Lord Chief Baron.
In 1581, Popham, afterwards Lord Chief Jus
tice. In 1585, Puckering, afterwards Lord Keeper.
In 1589, Sergeant Snagg.
In 1592, Sir Edward Coke.
In 1597, Christopher Yelverton, afterwards a
judge. In 1601, Croke, afterwards a judge.
It is probable that the early speakers of the
House of Commons were stout, strong voiced
members, who were sometimes civilians, at
other periods, soldiers. The first speaker of
whom we have any account (1260,) was slain,
fighting gallantly at the battle of Evesham.
* Pari. Papers, Vol. 1, p. 8.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 103
In fact, the very office of speaker was a
later improvement ; since, in the early meetings
of parliament, the Lords and the Commons sat
in the same room, and, of course, only one
chairman was required.
Almost immediately after the dissolution of
the parliament of 1592, Sir Edward Coke was
appointed the Queen's attorney-general ; and he
held that office during the rest of her reign.
The attorney-general was then regularly sum
moned to advise the House of Lords, and at
tended during all their sittings ; consequently,
we find no parliamentary notices of Sir Edward
Coke for some years, until, by losing all his
offices under the crown, he had again become
eligible to be elected into the House of Com
mons. It will be well, however, to follow the pro
ceedings of the Commons during his absence.
When, in 1597, after an interval of nearly four
years, the parliament again assembled, Egerton,
afterwards Lord Ellesmere, was lord keeper, and
in virtue of his office addressed the Commons
with some plain advice, which was evidently ear
nest and sincere. " The number of laws,"
said this great and accomplished lawyer, " already
made are very great, some of them obsolete and
worn out of use, others idle and vain, serving to

104 THE LIFE OF
no purpose, some again over heavy and too
severe for the offence, others too loose and slack
for the faults they are to punish, and many of
them so full of difficulties to be understood that
they cause many controversies. You are, there
fore, to enter into a due consideration of the
said laws ; and, where you find a superfluity, to
prune and cut off; where defect, to supply ; and
where ambiguity, to explain, — that they be not
burthensome, but profitable to the Common
wealth."* In consequence of Egerton's directions, the
Commons proceeded to the choice of a Speaker,
and they chose as Coke's successor Sergeant
Yelverton. It was very long the custom for speakers to
beg his Majesty to excuse them from this office.
It was even a regular farce for him to be forced
into the chair, by the gentle violence of his
mover and seconder. Yelverton, however, seemed
in earnest ; he possessed the same open sincerity
which distinguished his son, the great Yelverton ;
for he thus addressed the Commons :f
' Whence your unexpected choice of me to
be your mouth or speaker should proceed, I am

* Pari. Hist, vol 4, p. 405.
+ D'Ewes' Journal.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 105
utterly ignorant. If from my merits, strange
it were that so few deserts should purchase
suddenly so great an honour.
" Nor from my ability doth this your choice
proceed ; for well known it is to a great number
in this place now assembled, that my estate is
nothing correspondent for the maintenance of
this dignity ; for my father dying, left me a
younger brother, and nothing to me but a bare
annuity. " Then growing to man's estate and some
small practise of the law, I took a wife by whom
I have had many children, the keeping of us all
being a great impoverishment to my estate, and
the daily living of us all, nothing but my daily
industry. " Neither from my person nor nature doth
this choice arise, for he that supplieth this place
ought to be a man big and comely, stately and
well spoken ; his voice great, his courage majes-
tical, his nature haughty, and his purse plentiful
and heavy ; but contrarily, the stature of my
body is small, myself not so well spoken, my
voice low, my carriage lawyer-like and of
the common fashion, my nature soft and bash
ful, my purse thin, light, and never yet plenti
ful. " Wherefore, I now see the only cause of this

106 THE LIFE OF
choice is a gracious and favourable censure of
your good and undeserved opinions of me. But
I most humbly beseech you to recall this your
sudden election ; and, therefore, the more sudden,
the sooner to be recalled.
" But, if this cannot move your sudden choice,
yet let this one thing persuade you, that myself
not being gracious in the eye of her Majesty,
neither ever yet in account with any great per
sonages, shall deceive your expectation in
those weighty matters and great affairs which
should be committed unto me."
Yelverton was too good a man to be excused.
All his eloquence availed not : he was compelled
to take the chair, and distinguished himself as
an able, upright and eloquent speaker. The
prayer composed by him for the use of the house
was an admirable specimen of devotional elo
quence.* Little worthy of particular notice occurred
during the session ; and the Queen in person dis
solved it on the 9th of February 1 597.
During its continuance, the house had been em
ployed on the question of the monopolies granted
by the crown; and Egerton, as lord keeper, noticed
this, in his parting address to the parliament.
* Pari. Hist, vol 4, p. 413.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 107
" Touching the monopolies, her Majesty hoped
that her dutiful and loyal subjects would not
take away her prerogative, which is the chiefest
flower in her garden, the principal and head
pearl in her diadem. They shall be examined
to abide the trial and true touchstone of the
law." The Queen then gave her assent to forty-three
bills, and rejected forty-eight ; a prerogative then
very commonly exercised.
I find Sir Edward Coke's name but rarely
mentioned during the session. No doubt he was
closely in attendance upon the House of Lords.
The following year, he lost his great friend
Burleigh, lord treasurer of England, to whom he
owed much of his preferment and advancement at
court. Burleigh invariably patronized profound
men in all professions ; his discernment rarely
deceived him. Both Burleigh and Elizabeth dis
trusted the legal knowledge of the great Bacon.
Queen Elizabeth again met her parliament
on the 27th of October 1601. By an unlucky
accident, the lord keeper Egerton addressed the
Lords with closed doors, the Commons not
even being summoned to the bar. Of this par
liament, Sergeant Croke, recorder of London, a
relative of the great judge Croke, was chosen
speaker.

108 THE LIFE OF
He received a rebuke from Queen Eliza
beth, which did credit to her understanding.
He was speaking of the state of the kingdom,
" which had been defended," as he said,
" by the mighty arm of our dread and sacred
" Queen."
Elizabeth instantly exclaimed, from the throne,
in a manner which must have caused no mean
sensation : " No, Mr. Speaker, but rather by
the mighty hand of God."
When Croke had finished, Egerton, by
the Queen's command, addressed them, in
an able speech, which I can almost believe
was intended for the ears of a more modern
senate. " Touching your requests for freedom of
speech, her Majesty willingly consenteth there
to, with this caution, that the time be not
spent in idle and vain matter ; painting the same
out with froth and volubility of words, whereby
the speakers may seem to gain some reputed
credit, by emboldening themselves to contradic
tion, and by troubling the house of purpose,
with long and vain orations, to hinder the pro
ceedings in matters of greater and more weighty
importance. ' She further willeth you, to have an especial
eye and regard, not to make new and idle laws

SIR EDWARD COKE. 109
and trouble the house with them ; but rather
look to the abridging and repealing of divers
obsolete and superfluous statutes."
In this session, Lord Bacon, then a commoner,
brought in a bill for the regulation of weights
and measures ; a question, which even to this
day, has engaged the attention of the house, and
has been productive of many wise regulations,
and several absurdities. The subject is na
turally encompassed with difficulties ; it is a
question of trade ; and upon commercial trans
actions, the efforts of the legislator are seldom
attended with the desired results.
The Commons, in the course of the session,
finding that the patents, granted by the Queen,
had produced a very serious monopoly in va
rious staple articles, seriously began to inves
tigate the injuries thus produced ; and ultimately
the Queen withdrew them all, and Cecil, after
wards Earl of Salisbury, announced the fact to
the Commons in a humorous speech, wherein he
told them: "And because you may eat your meat
more savoury than you have done, every
man shall have salt as cheap as he can buy or
make it, without danger of that patent, which
shall be previously revoked.
4C The same benefit shall they have which have

110 THE LIFE OF
cold stomachs, both for aqua vitee and aqua com-
posita ; and they that have weak stomachs, for
their satisfaction, shall have vinegar and alegar,
and the like, set at liberty. Train oil shall go
the same way ; oil of blubber shall march in
equal rank ; bottles and brushes endure the like
judgment ; the patent for poldavy canvass, if
it be not called in, it shall be. Those that
desire to go sprucely in their ruffs may at a less
c"harge than accustomed, obtain their wish, for
the patent for starch, which hath been so much
prosecuted, shall now be repealed."
The labours of this parliament were not very
important. It was the last during the reign of
Elizabeth, who personally dissolved them on the
19th December, 1601.
The Lords and Commons had, during this
session, few conferences ; few messages had to
be brought down ; and, in consequence, Sir Ed
ward Coke's name does not appear often as the
messenger of the upper house.
No sovereign ever laboured more successfully
than Elizabeth to curtail the duration of parlia
ments ; her warning against long, frothy ora
tions, were regular, energetic, and generally suc
cessful. She died at Richmond, two years after the
dissolution of this parliament ; leaving to the

SIR EDWARD COKE. Ill
crown a parliament rapidly increasing in know
ledge, riches and independence ; but a successor
infinitely her inferior in talents, and personal
qualifications. Consequently, when her long
and glorious reign terminated, the timid and sub
servient Commons began to assume a courage
and to assert an independence that were in
those days novel and surprising.
James I naturally concluded, when he as
cended the throne of England, that he carried
with him all the power, and every prerogative,
exercised by his predecessor. Actuated by this
feeling, and ignorant of the newly acquired
independence of the Commons, we shall not
feel surprised, that he speedily came in colli
sion with them on a question of privilege.
This was in the great case of Goodwin and
Fortescue, each of whom claimed to be a
knight of the shire, for the county of Bucking
ham. Our surprise at this misunderstanding, and at
the boldness and success of the claim of the house
to judge of the legality of the parliamentary
returns, is not lessened by a cursory retrospect
of the manner in which Elizabeth treated the
house on similar occasions.
Thus, in the session of 1571, the Queen
being displeased with the speeches of Mr. Strick-

112 THE LIFE OF
land, on the question of reforming the Book
of Common Prayer, she desired him to keep
away from the house ; which command he very
dutifully obeyed, and the house took no notice
of the Queen's interference. Not but that the
house wished to appear a little independent;
for, in the same session, finding that a sim
ple fellow, one Thomas Long, had been re
turned for the borough of Westbury, they
inquired of him how the electors came to
choose him ; and he being very candid, as well
as simple, informed them very readily, that he
had given the Mayor of Westbury, Mr. Anthony
Garland, and a Mr. Watts, four pounds for his
place in parliament. The house were highly in
dignant at the Mayor's baseness, and summoned
him to the bar of the house, and fined the
corporation twenty pounds.*
The members of the house, however, were by
no means consistent in the maintenance of their
own privileges ; for, on the first day of the session,
Mr. Paul Wentworth, member for Tregony,
having made a warm speech in favour of their
claims, the Lords and Commons in a great
fright sequestered him the house, committed
him first to the custody of the Sergeant at
arms, and finally to the Tower, from whence
* Parliamentary History, vol. 4, 155.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 113
he was only liberated by a message from the
Queen .
Mr. Paul Wentworth was in truth rather a
turbulent person ; for, in spite of this warning,
I find him again, in 1577, speaking of the
privileges of the Commons, and again sent to
the Tower, by order of the House. At the
same time, the Privy Council thought fit to
commit to the Fleet Prison, for a similar offence,
four other members, Messrs. Cope, Lewknor,
Harlston and Baynbrigg.
In the last parliament of Queen Elizabeth,
the members of the House of Commons appear
to have paid frequent visits to the Tower.
In 1592, Mr. Wentworth was again committed,
by the Privy Council, to his old prison ; and Sir
Henry Bromley, with Messrs. Steven and Welsh,
were sent to the Fleet, for proposing to intro
duce a bill to entail the succession to the crown ;
and when Mr. Morrice proposed, soon after
wards, to introduce a bill to regulate the Eccle
siastical Courts, he was speedily sent for to
court, and committed to the care of the chan
cellor of the exchequer.
To these violations of their privileges, not a
complaint was made by the Commons. The
parliament submitted to the aggressions of the
Queen without a murmur ; and the word
VOL. I. I

114 THE LIFE OF
" privilege" was a word they were evidently, in
her reign, afraid to breathe. She was imperious ;
they were subservient.
James came to the throne with an equal
desire to maintain the privileges of the crown ;
but he had not the talents or energy of Elizabeth;
the parliament owed him no debt of gratitude
for past favours ; they had, moreover, rapidly
been increasing in wealth, intelligence, and inde
pendence. In the very first session, therefore, of the
first parliament of James, when the writs for a
new parliament had all been returned to the
High Court of Chancery, from whence they
originally emanated, Sir Francis Goodwin being
elected a knight of the shire for the county of
Bucks, the clerk of the crown refused to accept
this return, because Goodwin was an outlaw.*
A second writ being then issued by the crown,
to the sheriff of Buckingham, Sir John For
tescue was returned.
Upon this question, the Commons and the King
disagreed. The Commons summoned the clerk
of the crown office to appear before them on
the 22nd of March 1603, with both returns ; and
the next day they resolved that Sir Francis
* He had been outlawed, in two actions, for sixty pounds
and sixteen pounds.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 115
Goodwin was lawfully elected and returned, and
ought to be received*.
On the 27th of March, Sir Edward Coke and
Dr. Hone brought a message from the Lords,
begging a conference on the case.
The Commons, after much debate, determ
ined that they should not confer with the
Lords on the question ; and they informed the
peers that it did not comport with the honour
and order of the house, to give account of any
of their proceedings or doings.
To this communication, Sir Edward Coke, Dr.
Carew, Dr. Hone and Mr. Tyndal, brought a
reply from the Lords, in which they informed
the Commons, that it was the pleasure of the
King that the two houses should confer on the
case. Upon this, the House resolved to seek an
audience of the King, which was granted them
on the following day. Other conferences,
lengthened debates, and sundry committees
followed. The House and the King wrere evi
dently equally puzzled; and precedents were
brought forward on both sides, in which it was
clearly shewn that sometimes the King, some
times the sheriffs, and sometimes the House of
Commons, decided the contested returns.
* Journal of the House of Commons. 1 James I.
i 2

116 THE LIFE OF
Finally, the matter was compromised, by the
House declaring that neither Fortescue nor Good
win was duly elected, and that a new writ should
issue ; which was accordingly done,* by a war
rant from the speaker, directed to the clerk of
the crown.
The issue, however unsatisfactory to both
parties, betrayed the first great feeling, on the
part of the parliaments of the house of Stuart,
to assert their independence, and to maintain
their privileges.
Yet, long after this, the chancellor was wont
to issue his writs to supply vacancies in the'
representation of the people ; and when the
King, his master, had the power, (which he
certainly had, down to the reign of Charles II,)
of creating boroughs at pleasure, and nominating
electors, it would seem to be a very slight ex
tension of the privileges of the King, to decide
upon the validity of their returns. The very writ
from the King to the sheriff, on which Goodwin
was returned, expressly forbids the election of
outlaws ; and it was, therefore, absurd to contend,
that in case of the return of such outcasts, they
were to sit in judgment upon themselves.
Such, however, has long ceased to be the
election law of England. There is now only one
* 5 Parliamentary History, Z7.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 117
court to appeal to, in cases of controverted elec
tions ; namely, the House of Commons ; and by
them all cases of disputed returns are, under
the provisions of George III, c. 16, commonly
called the Grenville Act, referred to a committee
chosen by ballot.
This plan has removed many causes of com
plaint, as to the partiality displayed by former
committees of privilege ; but still it is open to
many objections ; it is attended with much delay,
expense, and many contradictory determina
tions. It would be much more satisfactory if the
house could appoint, annually, certain judges
to determine all election petitions. They would,
by such a course, ensure uniformity in their
decrees, escape all suspicion of political partia
lities, and effect much greater despatch.
Sir Edward Coke's name often appears during
the progress of this affair: he was on most of
the committees and conferences ; bringing down,
as attorney-general, several of the messages from
the Lords, whom he attended in virtue of his office.
In those days, the attorney-general was regu
larly summoned to be in attendance upon the
House of Lords ; which writ is even now formally
issued, though never obeyed.
Coke himself tells us* that, in his time, the
* 4 Institutes, 48.

118 THE LIFE OF
House of Commons resolved, that the attorney-
general was ineligible to be a member of their
house. If, however, they wTere members of the
Commons previously to their appointment to the
office, then the house claimed them as members,
and they were not compelled to attend the
House of Lords*.
Since the time of Charles II, if the attorney-
general has been a member of the House of
Commons, his attendance in the upper house
has been always dispensed with. Sir Heneage
Finch, afterwards chancellor Nottingham, mem
ber for Oxford University, and attorney-general
in 1670, was the first who enjoyed this pri
vilege.! The attorney-general, when in attendance
upon the Lords, had not the power of voting,
unless he was a peer. He was in exactly the
same position, in this respect, as the judges and
masters in chancery, who regularly attend the
House of Lords, at this day, to be ready to offer
their advice when called upon. Even the secre
taries of state still receive their summons to
attend the Upper House.
* Moor's Reports, 55 1 .
t 1. Blackstone's Comm., 168. Christian's note. Com-
mons Journals, l lth April 1614. 8th February 1620.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 119

CHAPTER IV.
1593—1603.
Coke's residence at Huntingfield Hall — The mansion and its
remains — Coke's children — His wife — Her death — Her epi
taph — Coke again thinks of marriage — The treaty with Lady
Hatton successful — His illegal marriage — Whitgift puts him
into the Spiritual Court — Death of Burleigh — Notice of Sir
William Hatton — Rivalry of Bacon — Letters of Lord
Essex — Character of Lady Hatton — Trial of Essex and
Southampton — Speech of Coke — Notice of Essex and of
his son — Criminal trials of that age — The public quarrel of
Coke and Bacon — Queen Elizabeth — Her conduct to Coke
— Her gift to him — Her death — Coke continued attorney-
general by her successor.
From the time of his first marriage in 1582,
Coke appears to have resided, during vacation
time, at Huntingfield in Suffolk ; and it is most
probable that nearly all his children were born
there, for the baptisms of seven of them are re
corded in the register of the parish ; and Eliza
beth, one of his daughters, who died an infant,
in 1586, was buried in the church of that place.

120 THE LIFE OF
It appears that Coke occupied Huntingfield
Hall jointly with his mother-in-law, Lady Bed-
ingfield, on whose death, in 1595, he came into
the sole possession of the estate.
Of this fine old mansion no remains are now
existing. It was sold from the Coke family, by
Lord Leicester, to Sir Joshua Vanneck, who pulled
down the family residence, and erected a farm
house on its site. By the Reverend Henry Uht-
hoff, the present intelligent rector of Hunting-
field, a drawing of the old house has been
recovered, and the following description of this
interesting relic is in his own words :*
" It is an old coarse painting, probably done
in the time of Elizabeth ; its size, without the
frame, about four feet square, but much con
fused, from an attempt to take in a portion of
the grounds as a forest. It corresponds, pretty
exactly, with the following description of it
given by the Reverend C. Davy, rector of One-
house in Suffolk, in a letter to his son, a gen
tleman with whom I was intimately acquainted,
and upon the accuracy of whose description you
may rely. This has been further confirmed to
me by the vivd voce evidence of the tenant of
the park farm, who formerly resided in the
old hall, and was resident in the new one for
* Letter to the author.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 121
many years during my incumbency. A labourer
likewise, now in my service, who was born in
the parish, stated to me, in consequence of my
inquiries, that he perfectly well remembered
seeing it when a boy, and that it was a very
large square house. This all corresponds with the
drawing." " The Queen's oak at Huntingfield," says
Davy, " called Queen Elizabeth's oak, is si
tuated in a park of the Lord Hunsdon, about
two bow shots distant from the eld Mansion
House of Huntingfield Hall, where Queen Eliza
beth is said to have been entertained by this
nobleman, and to have enjoyed the pleasures of
the chase in a kind of rural majesty. The
approach to it (the hall) was by a bridge over
an arm of the River Blythe, and, if I remember
rightly, through three square courts. A gallery
was continued the whole length of the building,
which, opening with a balcony over the porch,
gave an air of grandeur, with some variety, to
the front. The great hall was built round six
massy oaks ! which originally supported the roof
as they grew. Upon these, the foresters and
yeomen of the guard used to hang their nets,
crossbows, hunting poles, great saddles, calivers,
belts, &c,. &c. The roots of them had been
long decayed when I visited this romantic

122 THE LIFE OF
building, and the shafts, sawn off at the bottom,
were supported either by irregular logs of wood
driven under them, or by masonry.
" Part of the long gallery, where the Queen
and her attendants used to divert themselves,
was converted into an immense cheese chamber;
and, upon my first looking into it in the dusk
of a summer's evening, when a number of those
huge circular things were scattered on the floor,
it struck me that the maids of honour had just
slipped off their fardingales, to prepare for a
general romping."
Davy adds, " I have so much of the anti
quary about me, as to wish that some memorial
of its simple grandeur could have been pre>-
served." " The oak above mentioned," continued Mr.
Uhthoff, " is still standing, (August 1836) a
most magnificent relic. The trunk, a mere shell,
is about thirty- three feet in circumference, and
still supporting branches widely extended in all
directions, clothed with beautiful foliage."
It was in this mansion, surrounded by his
family, that Coke passed the happiest of his days;
blessed for seventeen years with an excellent
and affectionate wife ; prosperous in his profes
sion, honoured by his sovereign, and applauded
by even his rivals for his industry and learning.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 123
But continued felicity is not the lot of mortals ;
and Coke was not an exception to this unpalate-
able lesson of experience.
The year 1598 may be regarded as the one in
which his domestic misfortunes, and sources of
disquietude, commenced ; for in that he lost his
first wife.
By this lady, he had ten children. I find no
particulars of her habits and disposition. She
died, according to the inscription on her monu
ment, on the 27th of June ; and the register of
Tittleshall records that she was buried on the
following 24th of July. Though sensible and
affectionate, she was probably not highly accom
plished ; for their's was not the age for general
literature. Coke ever spoke of her with warm
affection ; and his testimony is decisive of her
merits : for he had no taste for the poetry of life,
was seldom enthusiastic, and never too full of
feeling. According to the register of Huntingfield, she
must have been about thirty-three years of age
at the period of her decease ; for she was baptized
on the 4th of March 1565.*
In the book of memorandums, kept for his
own exclusive use, Coke thus spoke of her
virtues : " Most beloved and most excellent
* On the authority of Mr. Uhthoff.

124 THE LIFE OF
wife, she well and happily lived, and as a true
handmaid of the Lord, fell asleep irrthe Lord,
and now lives and reigns in Heaven."
Three years previously he had lost his mother-
in-law, whom he thus described, on a monument
which he erected in the Church of Huntingfield,
where it still remains :
" Here resteth the body of Ann, daughter of
John Moulton Esq. first married to Nices Smythe
Esq. of Huntingfield Hall, secondly to John
Paston of Sporle Esq. (by whom she had issue
Bridget) thirdly to Edmund Bedingfield of Ox-
boroughs, Esq. She was a godly, wise and
virtuous woman and kept a bountiful house in
Huntingfield Hall, especially for the poore, nere
fifty years. She departed this life in her good
old age, the 20th of June, 1595.
" Edwrard Coke, Esq. attorney-general to the
Queen's Majesty, (who married the said Bridget)
for the great duty and reverence he ought (owed)
to the said Ann, caused this monument in me
mory of her to be made."
His wife could not have been long in her grave,
before he again began to turn his thoughts to
wards matrimony, and soon commenced his treaty
for a union with Lady Elizabeth Hatton, the
beautiful, young, and wealthy widow of Sir
William Hatton, the daughter of Thomas Cecil,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 125
first Earl of Exeter, and consequently grand
daughter of the great Burleigh.
The treaty for Coke's second marriage must
have been hurried forward with great speed.
The interest of the Cecils was on this occasion
zealously and successfully employed in his fa
vour. The persuasion of friends, not the ardour
of the wooer, obtained the lady's speedy consent,
and the nuptials appear to have been celebrated
before he had been many months a widower/w
He was then forty-eight, the father of ten chil
dren, rich, and rising in his profession.
This rash and ill-considered union commenced,
continued, and terminated most disastrously.
Coke probably thought that his interests would
not be injured by a transient neglect of propriety;
but it eventually proved a sacrifice of his peace
and happiness on the altar of his ambition. Both
parties were ill-tempered, talented, and haughty.
with too much obstinacy in their characters to
give way, in the slightest degree, to each others
failings. Yet they each could stoop too much,
when it suited the purpose of their ambition.
This is proved by the very commencement of their
union. Coke was then the first law officer of
the crown, yet he allowed the marriage to be
illegally solemnized. In the year of its celebra7
tion, Archbishop Whitgift had desired the clergy

126 THE LIFE OF
of his province to be very particular in the
celebration of marriages, both as to time, form
and place.* This great prelate further desired
* The following extract from the Archbishop's letter to the
Bishops of his province, will give the reader some idea of the
gross irregularities then practised in the solemnization of
matrimony. " There came daily complaints to him out of several parts
of this, his province, that some ministers, neither regarding
her Majesty's pleasure nor careful of their credit, did marry
some couples in private houses ; others did marry those who
came to be married at unreasonable hours, others never staied
asking the banns three several festival days as is by law re
quired, but did ask them twice upon some holiday and the
third time the next morning, when they were married, as if
ordinances were to be restrained and ministers to be left at
large to break all good order ; for redress and prevention of
all which disorders he had thought good and did hereby require
his lordship to give both public and particular warning to all
the ministers of or within his diocese, that they should observe
the hours as well as the places limited in the aforesaid consti
tution and not otherwise marry any either by license or by
banns published, and marry only such inhabitants within their
parishes not licensed otherwise, who were three several festival
days publicly asked, upon the penalty within the provincial
constitutions inflicted ; — which his lordship and his officers,
whom in that case it concerned, were to have a vigilant care
to see diligently observed, for the avoiding of all future scan
dals and offences which might justly grow therein." Dated,
Lambeth, November 19, 1598. (a)
(a) Strype's life of Whitgift, p. 522 — 3.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 127
them to cause all persons who offended against
the canons of the church, to be diligently pro
secuted. Coke was either ignorant of these salutary
regulations, or he thought his rank and that of
Lady Hatton would exempt them from the just
consequences of not obeying the ordinance.
The marriage ceremony was performed in a pri
vate house, without either banns or a licence.
In consequence of this irregularity, Coke and
his lady, with the Rev. Henry Bathwell, Rector
of Okeover, Thomas Lord Burleigh, afterwards
Earl of Exeter, the bride's father, and several
others present at the marriage, were prosecuted
in the Archbishop's court.
By a timely and respectful submission, how
ever, by their proxies, they escaped the greater
excommunication; since, as the record says, they
offended not so much out of contumacy, as
through ignorance of the law. This was pro
bably the only instance in the life of Coke, of
his being accused and condemned for a deficiency
of legal knowledge ; and on this occasion it is
only just possible that he was unaware of the
salutary enforcement of the marriage laws by
the great Whitgift, and had relied upon the
clergyman to perform the ceremony with the
customary correctness.

128 THE LIFE OF
If, in this instance, he erred through igno
rance, we have a modern case, almost as extraor
dinary, where the will of a learned judge was
set aside, although throughout his judicial career
he had presided in a court in which the validity
of such testamentary documents is continually
disputed and adjudged.
The law of marriages, for a lengthened period,
was a disgrace to England. The irregularities
practised at their celebration, — of which Coke's
was an example; the false oaths, the deplorable
neglect with which the registers were kept ; the
Fleet marriages ; and a number of other minor
sources of litigation ; have but very lately been
removed. Coke's wife, like her husband, must have dis
played her bridal dress in public, before she
ought to have ceased to appear in those of
grief and mourning ; for, on the 4th of August
1 598, the very year of their marriage, she lost
her grand-father, William Cecil Lord Burleigh.
This great and good minister of the crown of
England, had on many important occasions been
the friend of Coke, whom he perseveringly patro
nized, in opposition to the great Francis Bacon,
who had the support of Essex. He never
wavered in this preference ; and, when he died,
his son Robert Cecil, who inherited his father's

SIR EDWARD COKE. 129
talents, seems also to have adopted towards Coke
the same partial feelings.
Burleigh had to preside over the destinies of
England in strange and difficult times, — when
Popery and Protestantism were contending for
the supremacy with doubtful and varying suc
cess, and when it required talents of no mean
order to bring the cause of the Reformation
in triumph through the struggle. He had
to contend, as Elizabeth's minister, with a great
and powerful party, supported by the wealth,
the intrigue, and the power of Rome ; a party,
moreover, justly exasperated by the unprincipled
spoliations of Henry VIII.
England had not then attained that concen
trated power, riches, and glory which we have
enjoyed in our age. Its position was one of
extreme danger and difficulty. It was assailed
by inveterate and powerful catholic states ; was
weakened by continued rebellion in Ireland — a
portion of its own empire ; and had its borders
threatened by its then agitated neighbour, Scot
land. This must account for many of the measures
of apparent harshness which distinguished Cecil's
administration. It rendered necessary much in
trigue and state dissimulation ; obliged him often
to adopt rigorous measures, of which, more peace-
VOL. i. k

130 THE LIFE OF
ful and refined ages have doubted the necessity,
and correctly reprobated the inhumanity.
Burleigh was born in 1 520 ; became a member
of Gray's Inn when he was twenty-one; and, in the
same year, he married his first wife, MaryCheeke,
by whom he had Thomas, the first Lord Exeter.
His second wife, Mildred Cooke, was a
woman of extraordinary mind and virtues. By
her he had his second son, Robert Cecil, after
wards Earl of Salisbury.
Burleigh was an especial favourite of Queen
Elizabeth. She protected him from the malice of
all his enemies ; supported him even against her
minion, Leicester, and her still greater favourite,
Essex ; condoled with him in his misfortunes, and
rejoiced at his triumphs. Many of her well-known
letters to him breathe the most friendly spirit.
He was, indeed, a man after her own heart ; —
cautious, faithful, talented, and courageous, who
could temporize and be gentle, or energetic
and severe, just as the occasions of state re
quired. Burleigh shares with his mistress Queen all the
odium of the death of Mary of Scotland. There
is every probability that he was the counsellor
to whom Mary owed her trial and condemna
tion. This unfortunate Queen expressed herself,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 131
during that mockery, decidedly to that effect ; —
openly charging him at Fotheringay with being
her enemy.*
Burleigh died surrounded and lamented by
his children. His sovereign shared their sorrow ;
and she manifested the truth of her declarations,
by carefully protecting and promoting his sons.
They were both ennobled, and their titles are
still possessed by their descendants, the Mar
quises of Salisbury and Exeter.
Burleigh was succeeded in his title and estate
by his eldest son, Thomas Cecil, who married
the daughter of Lord Latimer, and had issue
eight daughters, one of whom, Elizabeth, be
came the wife, first of Sir William Hatton, and
afterwards of Coke.f
* State Trials, vol. 1, p. 147.
t Of Sir William Hatton, Lady Coke's first husband, I have
few particulars. He was the nephew of Sir Christopher
Hatton, the Lord Keeper and Chancellor of Oxford, being
the son of his sister, Lady Newport. Sir Christopher died
a bachelor in November, 1592, when his great estates de
volved to his nephew, Sir William Newport, who thereupon
changed his name to Hatton. He was created Master of Arts
by the University of Oxford in July, 1592,(a) and must have
died soon after his marriage ; for his lady, Elizabeth Hatton,
was a widow in 1597, and in possession of his large estates.
(a) Wood's Fasti Oxoniensis, vol. 1, p. 141.
K 2

132 THE LIFE OF
In the treaty of marriage for Lady Hatton,
Coke was again opposed by his illustrious rival,
the great Bacon, who was supported by the zeal
ous advocacy of his warm-hearted friend, the Earl
of Essex. Coke was sustained in his suit by the
interest of the Cecils, and stood well with all the
members of the lady's family. Had it been other
wise, there is little doubt that Bacon, backed as he
was by the royal favourite, would have succeeded.
Birch has given two letters of Essex to the
parents of the lady, in favour of his friend ;*
and they are striking evidences of the zeal with
which he pleaded for his friends. Both are dated
on the eve of his embarkation on an expedition
from Sandwich, June 24, 1597. In the first to
Sir Thomas Cecil, he says :
' I write this letter from the sea-side, ready
to go abroad, and leave it with my secretary to
be delivered by him to you, whensoever he shall
know that my dear and worthy friend, Mr.
Francis Bacon, is suitor to my Lady Hatton,
your daughter. What his virtues and excellent
parts are, you are not ignorant ; what advan
tages you may give, both to yourself and to your
house, by having a son-in-law so qualified, and
so likely to rise in his profession, you may
* Memoirs, vol. l, p. 547.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 133
easily judge. Therefore, to warrant my moving
of you to incline favourably to his suit, I will
only add this, that if she were my sister, or
daughter, I protest I would as confidently resolve
to further it as I now persuade you. And,
though my love to him be exceedingly great,
yet is my judgment nothing partial, for he that
knows him as well as I do, cannot but be so
affected." The other letter was to the lady's mother,
Lady Thomas Cecil, daughter of Lord Latimer,
in which he told her :
" The end of my writing to your Ladyship,
now, is to do that office to my worthy and dear
friend, which if I had staid in England, I would
have done by speech, and that is to solicit your
Ladyship to favour his suit to my Lady Hatton,
your daughter, which I do in behalf of Mr.
Francis Bacon, whose virtues I know so much,
as you must hold him worthy of very good
fortune. If my judgment be anything, I do assure
your Ladyship I think you shall very happily
bestow your daughter ; and, if my faith be any
thing, I protest if I had one as near to me as she
is to you, I had rather match her with him than
with men of greater titles."
This contest was certainly one of the many
sources of animosity which subsisted betweea

134 THE LIFE OF
Coke and Bacon. The lady was not a common
prize ; she could not be an ordinary woman, for
whom two such great lawyers were rival suitors,
and to win whom they made such strenuous
exertions. Of the Lady Elizabeth Hatton, we shall find,
as we proceed, many disagreeable notices. She
was evidently a lady little suited to be the wife
of Coke. Of her exact age I can find no me
morials, but she was certainly very young, and
one of the court beauties, — gay, proud, high
spirited and clever.
She was the fourth daughter of Thomas Cecil,
first Earl cf Exeter, who was born in 1542; so
that, in all probability, she was barely of age
when, in 1 598, she became the wife of Coke.
No two persons could be more dissimilar in
their habits and tastes. Lady Hatton was an
admired courtier, delighting in festivals, plays,
court masques, and every variety of revelry ;
whilst Coke was a grave, elderly lawyer, and gave,
it appears, but few large entertainments, took
no pleasure in festivities, studied hard and
unceasingly, went to bed with the sun, and rose
at three o'clock in the morning.
Of their domestic affairs during the first years
of their marriage I have no account. They pro
bably travelled on in quiet apathy, uncomfortable,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 135
and silent ; — Coke employed in the courts, and
the lady enjoying dissipation, and ashamed of
her husband.
Yet, she could not be insensible to his well-
merited honours. In 1606, eight years after their
union, he became Lord Chief Justice of the Court
of Common Pleas, and soon after was removed
to the King's Bench. This, however, will ap
pear as we proceed in tracing the future years of
his life.
I have now to recur to other sources of rivalry
and complaint, between Coke and Bacon, which,
in order that the notices of Coke's domestic life
might not be interrupted, I omitted in their
proper place.
When Coke was promoted to be attorney-
general, Bacon became a candidate for the soli
citor-generalship ; and the Earl of Essex warmly
interested himself in his behalf. Cecil did the
same. But Sir Henry Hobart was preferred, — to
the great annoyance of Bacon, who suspected
Coke to be the source of the opposition to his
pretensions. He did not forget this, years af
terwards, when he wrote his well-known letter
to Coke, inserted in a future page: " I missed
the solicitor's place," are his words, " I rather
think by your means."
While the solicitor's place was yet vacant,

136 THE LIFE OF
Bacon wrote the following curious letter to the
Earl of Essex, which is now in the Lambeth
Library, folio 283.*
" My Lord,
" I thought it not amiss to inform your Lord
ship of that which I gather, partly by conjecture,
and partly by advertisement, of the late re
covered man, that is so much at your devotion,
of whom I have some cause to think that he
(perhaps Lord Keeper Puckering,) worketh
for the Huddler (Coke,) underhand. And, though
it may seem strange, considering how much it
importeth him to join straight with your Lord
ship, in regard both of his enemies and of his
ends, yet do I the less rest secure upon the conceit,
because he is a man likely to trust so much to his
art and finesse, (as he that is an excellent wherry-
man, who you know, looketh towards the bridge
when he pulleth towards Westminster,) that he
will hope to serve his turn and yet to preserve
your Lordship's good opinion.
" This I write to the end, that if your Lord
ship do see nothing to the contrary, you may
assure him more, or trust him less ; and chiefly
that your Lordship be pleased to sound again
* BacoR** Works, vol. 6, p. 8.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 137
whether they have not among them drawn out
the nail which your Lordship had driven in for
the negative of the Huddler, which if they have,
it will be necessary for your Lordship to reite
rate more forcibly your former reasons whereof,
there is such copia, as I think you may use
all the places of logic against them."
Bacon adds in a postcript : " I pray, Sir, let
not my jargon privilege my letter from burning ;
because it is not such but the light sheweth
through." Queen Elizabeth had, in truth, no great
opinion of Bacon's legal knowledge. She told
the Earl of Essex on this occasion what Essex
thus reported to Bacon, May 18, 1594.*
" She did acknowledge that you had a great
wit, and an excellent gift of speech, and much
other good learning ; but in law, she rather
thought you could make shew to the utmost of
your knowledge, than that you were deep."
This reason was not likely to be regarded by
Bacon as the real cause of his being neglected
by the court. He was dissatisfied and angry with
his rival, — who, in the mean time, regardless of
his enmity, was busily employed in the duties
of his profession. * Bacon's Works, vol. 6, p. 14.

138 THE LIFE OF
Thus, as attorney-general to Queen Elizabeth,
Coke conducted the trial of the Earls of Essex
and Southampton, in Westminster Hall, for
high treason. This took place on the 19th of
February, 1600, before the House of Lords ; and,
on the occasion, he conducted himself much as
king's counsel were in those days accustomed to
do, namely, with much energy, but with no ten
derness towards the prisoners. The speech of Coke
to the assembled peers was in his usual style ;
keeping close to the facts of the case, and in
dulging in few illustrations.
Lord Buckhurst sat as high steward, and to
him Coke addressed his opening sentence : —
" May it please your grace ; the lords and
judges, who are the fathers of the law, are
aware that the thought of treason to the Princess
is death by the law, and he that is guilty of
rebellion is guilty, by the laws of England,
of an intent to seek the destruction of the
Prince, and it is, therefore, adjudged to be trea
son. I will prove this unto your Lordship by
two several cases : First, if he raiseth power
and strength in a settled government, the law
will not suffer it, but it is construed as in case
of high treason. He that doth usurp upon it,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 139
the law doth intend that he hath purposed the
destruction of the Prince.
He that doth assemble power, if the King
doth command him upon his allegiance to dis
solve his company, and he continue it, without
any question it is high treason. He that doth
levy forces to take any town in the Prince's
dominion, it is likewise treason.
" But my Lord of Essex hath levied power
to take the Tower of London, and to surprise
the Queen's own court ; then this treason must
be higher than the highest ; and he that doth
fortify himself against the Prince's power must
needs be within the compass of treason."
Coke then proceeded to address Essex, " By
your favour, my Lord of Essex, I will now speak
a word unto you, for I know you can speak
well as any man ; that whereas you say the
law of nature compelled you to do this, which
in judgment you have, although most trea
cherously, attempted, I will, in a word, disprove
your own judgment, admitting you must make
that freely your argument.
" First, I will open the quality of your re
bellion ; secondly, the manner of it ; thirdly, I
will touch the circumstances : and, lastly, I will
observe the person.

140 THE LIFE OF
" The quality hath high treason, for which
I think I shall not need to say any more.
" For the manner of it — I hold it an un
natural act, for a subject to commit treason
against his sovereign : and, methinks, it cannot,
by any possibility, be denied but that this high
treason is, and must be, both against the law
of God, nature, and reason. Under your
grace's favour, my Lord, the manner of it being
of so high a nature as it is, must needs be high
treason, which was not only carried into their
hearts, but, for a continual remembrance, kept
in a black purse, which my Lord of Essex wore
on his breast next his skin.
" Let me note unto you, my good Lord, that
they being both born under the government
of this Princess, and so highly advanced by her
Majesty's favour, should have trembled to
think of such a rebellion as they have enter-
prized. " Doth not my Lord of Essex now enjoy his
earldom of Essex by the gift of Henry the eighth
to his father ? Was he not made master of her
Majesty's horse at twenty-two years of age ? —
one of her Majesty's council ? To be earl marshal
of England ?— General of her Majesty's forces in
Ireland? And, lastly, hath he not received

SIR EDWARD COKE. 141
divers gifts and sums of money, to his own use,
of her Majesty's gracious and princely bounty, to
the value of thirty thousand pounds ? Yet all
these were as cleverly forgotten as if they had
never been.
' ' Now shall I show you the person whom this
concerns? — Even her Majesty's sacred person,
against whom their attempts have been only
for the undertaking of God's cause, and exer
cising of justice with admirable mercy ; and,
although I cannot speak without reverent com
mendations of her Majesty's most honourable
justice, yet I think her overmuch clemency to
some persons, turneth to overmuch cruelty for
herself; for, although the rebellious attempt
were so exceeding heinous, yet out of her
princely mercy, no man was racked, tortured,
or pressed to speak any thing farther than of
their own accord and willing minds, for dis
charge of their consciences, they uttered, and
then to see the mercy of God that will have
the truth known is admirable beyond the con
ceit of man's capacity, for they being severally
examined, notwithstanding all agreed directly
without varying.
" But, when her Majesty sent a counsellor
of state, to have the Earl come before her, when
she heard of his rebellion, for no other end and

142 THE LIFE OF
purpose but for his admonishment, he refused
to come ; and, having a guilty conscience, and
suspecting his treasons were laid open, took
consultation to surprise the court and the Tower
of London all at one instant, and for this purpose
had appointed Blunt the custody of the gates :
Sir John Davis of the hall : Sir Charles Davers
of the presence, and himself of her Majesty's
person. " Whereupon, Blunt said, ' Ah ! what hu
mour shall we find them in at the court ?'
" This was not all, for the Earl he must call
a parliament, and he would decide matters, not
"making for his purpose ; but now in God's
most just judgment he of his earldom shall be
Robert the last, that of a kingdom thought to
be Robert the first.
" And my Lord did not any whit amuse him
self to give order, that if he and his accomplices
should miscarry in London, then the counsellors
which he had caused to be imprisoned in his
house should be slain.
' It was plain treason in him to stand out,
being by them charged to dissolve his company
upon his allegiance.
" What shall I need to stand upon farther
proofs ? It is so evident, and my Lord himself
will not deny but that he had a schedule con-

SIR EDWARD COKE. 143
taining in it divers of his friends' names, which
as I conjecture must needs contain some other
matter, for he durst not let it come to light, but
burnt it."
The Earl of Essex here became impatient.
" Will your Lordships," he demanded, " give
us our turns to speak ? for he playeth the
orator and abuseth your Lordships' ears, and us
with slanders ; but they are but fashions of
orators in corrupt states. Considering some
privileges which we might challenge, equal an
swers and equal hearing were indifferent : for,
unless it will please your Lordships that we
might answer to every particular, we shall soon
confound our own memories and give liberty
and advantage to our enemies, whereupon to
lay hold for lack of precise answer to each par
ticular question."
Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, against
whom Coke so earnestly pleaded, figured as one
of the chief personages of the reign of Elizabeth.
This royal favourite had the rare fortune to be at
once in possession of the warmest smiles of his
mistress queen, and the command of the popular
voice. His birth protected him from the suspicion
of being overproud of his elevation ; and, in truth,
he appeared on every occasion to act towards

144 THE LIFE OF
his sovereign with a freedom, an energy and
sometimes with an insolence, which shewed
that he was fully conscious of his own hereditary
and acquired claims.
That Queen Elizabeth was warmly attached
to him, is quite certain. He was endowed with
a handsome person ; had some accomplish
ments ; was brave, open hearted, and generous ;
advocated the cause of his friends at all hazards ;
and was not altogether an unsuccessful military
commander. Of his zeal for his friends, many instances
have been remembered. He pleaded on several
occasions for Sir Francis Bacon ; and once had
his ears boxed, by Queen Elizabeth., for the
angry obstinacy which he displayed when re
commending his friend, Sir George Carew, to
be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland;— a petulance
the more remarkable, since the Queen was in
favour of Sir Francis Knolles, uncle to Essex on
his mother's side.
His popular qualities endeared Essex to the
people of England. They regarded him as the
only courtier whom the smiles of Elizabeth did
not render a slave ; and his merits would, per
haps in their eyes, appear the greater, from
being contrasted with those of bis predecessor

SIR EDWARD COKE. 145
at court, the profligate Dudley, Earl of Lei
cester. Many of his errors were the errors of youth.
He came to court, at first very unwillingly, in
his seventeenth year, served there several years,
commanded in one or two< expeditions, was
Lord Deputy of Ireland, engaged in his treason
able sally into the city of London, was tried and
executed before he was more than thirty-four
years of age.
He had the advantage of having for his guar
dian the great Lord Burleigh by whom in 1578,
when he was only twelve years, he was sent
to Cambridge, and entered of Trinity College,
of which Coke's old friend, Dr. Whitgift, was
still the master. Burleigh steadily befriended
his ward ; and his death, in 1698, deprived Essex
of a warm influential friend who had served him
on many critical questions.
Essex, as already noticed, was the friend of
Sir Francis Bacon. He several times unsuc
cessfully recommended him to the Queen, for
vacant law offices — and, when he found all his
endeavours fruitless, actually presented him with
an estate.
The after conduct of Bacon towards the Earl
did not display a very grateful sense of his
patron's services, for he appeared against him
VOL. i. l

]46 THE LIFE OF
on his trial as one of the counsel with Coke
and Yelverton, and evidently by so doing an
noyed the unfortunate Essex, who told the court
he must produce Bacon as a witness of the
wrongs he had suffered, since it appears he had
written a letter for Essex to the Queen.
Bacon advised him to confess. " My Lord,
all you have said or can say in answer to
these matters are but shadows, and therefore
methinks it were your best course to confess
and not to justify." — " My Lord," he soon after
added, " I spent more hours to make you a
good subject, than upon any man in the world
besides. I dare warrant this letter of mine will
not blush."* Bacon here forgot the claims
which Essex had to his gratitude for many great
disinterested services. His brother counsellor
Yelverton, refused, when similarly situated, to
appear against even the infamous Car, Earl of
Somerset, and all posterity has applauded him
for the action.
With regard to the crime for which Essex
was beheaded, there is much doubt as to his in
tentions, and he probably had no very distinct
plans laid down for his own guidance. He
evidently considered himself injured, and fan-
* State Trials, vol. I, p, 197.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 147
cied his power with the citizens of London to
be much greater than it really was. He in
tended, by their assistance, to remove from the
Queen's councils, Cecil, Egerton, and several
others, by whom he fancied himself wronged,
and his views certainly extended no farther.
The reluctance of the Queen to sign his death-
warrant, betrayed her feelings of regard. Had
he intended her any personal injury, this re
luctance would probably not have been felt.
The disputed story of the ring, which Essex
held as the token which should ensure his safety
has some foundation. It was undoubtedly be
lieved to be authentic in the family of the
Countess of Nottingham, by whom the ring
was said to be detained. Her reported con
fession of the fact, on her death-bed, to Queen
Elizabeth is so far supported by the fact that
she died some few weeks before the Queen,
who only survived Essex about two years.*
He met his death on Tower Hill, February
25th 1600, with all the gallantry of a soldier,
and all the meekness of a Christian, mourned
by his friends, and pitied even by his enemies.
Had he not been flattered by the warmth of the
Queen's affection for him, and inflated by the
* Hume, Dr. Birch, Horace Walpole, and many other
writers less authentic, unite in giving credit to the story.
L 2

148 THE LIFE OF
multitude of favours he received from her, he
would probably have shone better as a soldier
or a courtier. Of his courage and good mili
tary conduct there was no doubt ; and, if he
was unfitted to direct a campaign against more
experienced officers, he had yet sufficient know
ledge of the art of war for the age of Elizabeth,
whose martial operations were almost exclusively
confined to naval exertions.
His son, Robert Devereux, who succeeded
him in the earldom of Essex, and by whose
death in 1646, the title became extinct, was nearly
as extraordinary a character as his father. He
volunteered as a soldier in the Low Countries ;
had considerable military talents ; served the
King against the Scotch ; was divorced from two
wives ;commanded the Parliamentarians against
Charles at Edgehill and many other places, and,
had he survived, Cromwell would perhaps
never have been commander-in-chief of the army.
The conduct of Essex in joining the parlia
ment against the King, might perhaps in some
measure be attributed to the base conduct of
the court in supporting the divorce of his first
Countess, who married immediately the fa
vourite Somerset, and who, with her husband,
was afterwards condemned for the murder of
Overbury.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 149
It is impossible to read the trials, in cases of
treason, which took place in that age, without
feelings of more than ordinary regret. The
pleadings of the King's counsel were in general
harsh, and often degenerated into unfeeling
abuse. The judges very seldom interfered to
protect the prisoner from the coarseness of their
attacks ; and even sometimes joined in the
invective. The accused were, in fact, very dis
proportionately supported ; the slightest proofs
were often deemed sufficient evidence of their
guilt, and they were not allowed the unfettered
assistance of counsel. This has long since
been remedied, for, by an act of the seventh of
William III, in 1695, prisoners accused of trea
son are allowed a greater means of defence than
other criminals formerly enjoyed, their counsel
being permitted to address the jury at any
length, and this favour is granted because the
law of England, in its humanity, deems it fit
and proper that the prisoner should, in such a
case, have every assistance against the weight
and influence of the crown. A different doc
trine was held in the days of Essex and South
ampton ; they had to defend themselves, and had
no counsel to address the peers on their behalf*
* State Trials, vol. I, p, 190.

150 THE LIFE OF
The rivalry and ill-will of Coke and Bacon
displayed itself again, and that very publicly,
long after Coke became attorney-general, in an
altercation in the Court of Exchequer. Bacon
was evidently sorely annoyed ; and, by his
own account, browbeaten by Coke. That he
gave his rival some cause of offence is pretty
certain, but unfortunately we have only his own
account of the fray, and that is contained
in this letter to Mr. Secretary Cecil,* dated
Gray's Inn, the 24th of April, 1601.
" It may please your honour,
" Because we live in an age where every
man's imperfections is but another's fable ; and
that there fell out an accident in the Exchequer,
which I know not how, nor how soon may be
traduced, though I dare trust rumour in it,
except it be malicious or extreme partial ; I am
bold now to possess your honour, as one that
ever I found careful of my advancement, and
yet more jealous of my wrongs, with the truth
of that which passed, deferring my farther re
quest until I may attend your honour, and so I
continue your honour's very humble and par
ticularly bounden,
" Francis Bacon."
* From the Hatfield Collection, 6 vol. Bacon's Works, 46.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 151
" A true remembrance of the abuse I re
ceived of Mr. Attorney-General, publicly in the
Exchequer, the first day of term, for the truth
whereof I refer myself to all that were pre
sent. " I moved to have a re- seizure of the lands
of George More, a relapsed recusant, a fugitive,
and a practising traitor, and shewed better
matter for the Queen against the discharge by
plea, which is ever with a salvo jure. And
this I did in as gentle and reasonable terms as
might be.
" Mr. Attorney kindled and said: ' Mr. Bacon,
if you have any tooth against me, pluck it out ;
for it will do you more hurt than all the teeth
in your head will do you good.' I answered
coldly, and in these words : ' Mr. Attorney, I
respect you ; I fear you not ; and the less you
speak of your own greatness, the more I will
think of it.'
" He replied : ' I think scorn to stand upon
terms of greatness towards you who are less than
little, less than the least;' and other strange
light terms he gave me, with that insulting
which cannot be expressed.
" Herewith stirred, yet I said no more than
this : ' Mr. Attorney, do not depress me so far,

152 THE LIFE OF
for I have been your better, and may be again
when it please the Queen.'
" With this he spake, neither I nor himself
could tell what, as if he had been born attorney-
general ; and, in the end, bade me not meddle
with the Queen's business, but with my own,
and that 1 was unsworn, &c. I told him, sworn
or unsworn, was all one to an honest man ;
and that I ever set my service first and myself
second, and wished to God he would do the
like. " Then he said it were good to clap a capias
ut legatum upon my back ; to which I only said,
he could not, and that he was at a fault, for he
hunted upon an old scent.
" He gave me a number of disgraceful words
besides, which I answered with silence, and
shewing that I was not moved with them."
The accusation of Essex and Southampton
was the last important trial in the reign
of Queen Elizabeth, that Coke conducted.
Many grave historians have asserted with some
shew of probability, that the end of this great
Queen was hastened by the trial and execution
of her favourite, Essex. It is certain she
survived his death little more than a twelve
month.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 153
To Coke, Elizabeth was always a tender and
generous mistress ; discerning his merits, ad
vocating his superior pretensions as a barrister,
and commanding his promotion to the best law
office then in the gift of the crown, even when
Essex was warmly pleading for his friend, the
great Bacon. Her favour followed him even
into private life, for, at the christening of one of
his children in 1600, she presented him with a
gilt bowl and cover, weighing forty-three ounces
and a half*
The gifts of Elizabeth were valuable from their
rarity ; she bestowed them as she did her titles
of honour, not without they were well deserved.
Money could not buy them, flattery was power
less. In the wise disposal of public rewards,
this Queen evinced a discernment never excelled
in any after age. She reigned in a period when
her country was contending for its very ex
istence against the most powerful monarchy of
the day, was surrounded with difficulties, beset
with papal intrigues and traitors, and yet by
a wise unerring choice of her ministers, officers
and judges, she set all her enemies at defiance,
and triumphed over every difficulty.
* Nichol's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. 8, p.p. 467,
568.

154 THE LIFE OF
King James, her successor, continued most
of her ministers, and amongst the rest,
Coke was retained in his office of attorney-
general.

SIR EDWARD COKE.

CHAPTER V.
1602—1606.
Coke knighted — Trial of Raleigh — His speech — Raleigh's
defence — His condemnation — Sir Henry Montague's speech
to him on judgment being passed — Notice of Raleigh — The
gunpowder plot — Trial of the conspirators — Coke's speech
to the judges — Notice of this plot and of the conspirators —
Many of its particulars doubted — Coke made Chief Justice
of the Common Pleas^Coke's emoluments when at the bar
— His fees of office.
It was not usual for the solicitor and attorney-
general of those days to receive the honour of
knighthood, when they obtained their appoint
ments. Coke was not made a knight until the
22nd of May, 1603. The King being then
at Greenwich, bestowed upon him this ho
nour.* * Nichol's Progresses of King James I.

156 THE LIFE OF
He had hardly received confirmation of his
office when a series of treasons, either real or
imaginary, gave him abundance of employment.
Thus, on the following 17th of November, he
conducted the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh at
Winchester, to which place the court was ad
journed on account of the plague being in
London. Raleigh was accused of high treason,
and defended himself with the highest talent
and self-possession. Coke appeared on this
trial with little advantage : his language was
coarse ; his observations brutal ; his temper
savage. He had to make up by the violence
of his demeanour for the poverty of his case,
and no master could have been more zealously
served than James I was in this instance by his
attorney-general. Coke acted as the zealous counsellor who
looked only to his client, and so far we may
plead for his over-anxious efforts. He procured
the prisoner's condemnation. But his master,
James, perpetrated a viler part. He reprieved
his prisoner for seventeen years ; he employed
him in his service ; and then brought him to
the scaffold for pretended crimes he had com
mitted against Spain, but under the wretched
plea of his former conviction.
It is disgusting to dWl upon these melan-

SIR EDWARD COKE. 157
choly instances of brutality. The truth is but
too apparent ; Raleigh was charged by the
Spanish ambassador ; Raleigh, the King's ser
vant, needed assistance, and then the King
abandoned him, for James was a Stuart, was of
a family known to a proverb, for deserting their
distressed friends and relations.
There is, perhaps, no reported case in which
the proofs against the prisoner were weaker than
in this trial of Sir Walter Raleigh. Never
was an accused person condemned on slighter
grounds. Yet Coke, in his address to the
court, with much gravity warned the jury : " I
perceive these honourable Lords and the rest
of this great assembly are come to hear what
hath been scattered upon the wrack of report.
We carry a just mind to condemn no man but
upon plain evidence."
The manner in which the judges then suffered
the counsel for the crown to harangue the pri
soner, is most revolting to our modern sense of a
fair trial. When Coke, in the course of his speech,
mentioned the King, he said: " I shall not
need, my Lords, to speak anything concerning
the King, nor the bounty and sweetness of his
nature ; whose thoughts are innocent, whose
words are full of wisdom and learning, and
whose works are full of honour. But to whom

158 THE LIFE OF
do you bear your malice," he continued, turning
to Raleigh ; " to the children ?"
" To whom speak you this ?" said Raleigh.
" You tell me words I never heard of."
" Oh do I, Sir ?" exclaimed Coke. " I will
prove you the notoriousest traitor that ever
came to the bar, after you have taken away
the King, you would alter religion, as you, Sir
Walter Raleigh, have followed them of the bye,
in imitation, for I will charge you with the
words." " Your words," retorted Raleigh, " cannot
condemn me, my innocency is my defence;
prove one of these things wherewith you have
charged me, and I will confess the whole in
dictment, and that I am the most horrible traitor
that ever lived, worthy to be crucified with a
thousand torments."
" Nay," replied the attorney-general; " I
will prove all : thou art a monster; thou hast an
English face and a Spanish heart. Now you
must have money, Aremberg was no sooner in
England, but thou incitest Cobham to go unto
him, and to deal with him for money to bestow
on discontented persons."
Raleigh. — Let me answer.
Coke. — Thou shalt not.
Raleigh. — It concerneth my life.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 159
Coke. — Oh ! do I touch you ?
Chief Justice Popham here observed: " Sir
Walter Raleigh, Mr. Attorney- General is but
yet in the general; but, when the King's counsel
have given all the evidence, you shall answer
every particular."
Coke then proceeded. " Will you dispose
of so good a King, lineally descended ? he came
of Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV.
Why then, must you set up another ? I think
you meant to make Arabella a titular Queen,
of whose title will I speak nothing. But, of this
I am sure, you intended to make her a stale
mate. You could mean her no good."*
Raleigh. — You tell me news, Mr. Attorney.
Coke. — Sir, I am the more large, because I
know with whom I deal, for we have to deal
to-day with a man of wit.
Such was the wretched altercation allowed at
this trial during Coke's address to the jury, an
address which he thus concluded: " You, my
masters of the jury, respect not the wickedness
and hatred of the man, respect his cause ; if he
be guilty, I know you will have care of it,
* When Sergeant Heale addressed the jury, he gravely
observed: '* As for the Lady Arabella, she, upon my con
science, hath no more title to the crown than I have, which
before God, I utterly renounce.

160 the life of
for the preservation of the King, the continuance
of the authorized gospel, and the good of us all."
At this period of the trial, another altercation
took place, still more wretched and disgraceful
than the first. Raleigh now observed : —
" I do not hear yet that you have spoken one
word against me ; here is no treason of mine
done ; if my Lord Cobham be a traitor, what
is that tome?"
Coke. — All that he did was by thy insti
gation, thou viper : for I thou thee, thou
traitor."* Raleigh. — It becometh not a man of quality
and virtue to call me so ; but I take comfort in
it : it is all you can do."
Coke. — Havel angered you?"
Raleigh. — I am in no case to be angry.
Chief Justice Popham here again interfered ;
he was evidently ashamed of Coke's unrelenting
ferocity. " Sir Walter Raleigh," said the judge,
" Mr. Attorney speaketh out of the zeal of his
duty, for the service of the King, and you for
your life ; be patient on both sides."
* Shakspeare has been supposed to allude to the violence of
Coke's language in this trial, when in his " Twelfth Night,"
he makes Sir Toby Belch say to Sir Andrew Ague Cheek
whom he is persuading to challenge Viola, " If thou thou'st him
some thrice, it shall not be amiss."

SIR EDWARD COKE. 161
This rebuke for some time seemed to produce
its intended effect. They proceeded to read the
proofs, which merely consisted of Lord Cob-
ham's confession ; and the evidence of one Dyer,
who deposed to some words he had heard spoken
by a Portuguese in a merchant's house, at Lis
bon ; and upon this evidence Coke and Sergeant
Philips commented. At the conclusion of their
speeches, Raleigh remarked, " If truth be con
stant, and constancy be in truth, why hath he
forsworn that, that he hath said.* You have
not proved any one thing against me by direct
proofs, but all by circumstance."
Coke. — Have you done? the King must have
the last.
Raleigh. — Nay, Mr. Attorney, he which
speaketh for his life, must speak last. False
repetitions and mistakings must not mar my
cause ; you should speak, secundum allegata
et probata. I appeal to God and the King,
in this point, whether Cobham's accusation be
sufficient to condemn me ?
Coke. — The King's safety, and your clearing
cannot agree. I protest, before God, 1 never
knew a clearer case of treason.
* Cobham had retracted his confession.
VOL. I. M

162 THE LIFE OF
Here another noisy, disgraceful dispute took
place. Coke, being reprimanded by Lord Salis
bury, sat down, and was, with some difficulty,
persuaded to resume the prosecution of his
case. He exclaimed : " If I may not be patiently
heard, you will encourage traitors and dis
courage us. I am the King's sworn servant,
and must speak. If he be guilty, he is a traitor ;
if not, deliver him."
He then proceeded to recapitulate the evi
dence ; and upon being told by Raleigh : " You
do me wrong," he again burst forth with re
newed rage, " Thou art the most vile and
execrable traitor that ever lived."
" You speak" said Raleigh, " indiscreetly,
barbarously, and uncivilly."
" I want words," retorted Coke, " sufficient
to express thy viperous treason."
The wit of Raleigh never deserted him, even
in the most trying moments; it shone equally
here, as it did years afterwards, upon the scaffold.
Coke was no match for him in this quality. " I
think," rejoined Raleigh, " you indeed want
words, for you have spoken one thing half a
dozen times."
Coke grew still more angry. " Thou art an
odious fellow ; thy name is hateful to all the
realm of England for thy pride."

SIR EDWARD COKE. 163
" It will," replied Raleigh, " go near to
prove a measuring cast between you and me,
Mr. Attorney."
" Well," concluded Coke. " I will now make
it appear to the world, that there never lived a
viler viper, upon the face of the earth, than
thou." The judges took no notice of this renewed
squabble. Our astonishment at this apathy is not
diminished, when we reflect, that among the num
ber of the judges who were specially appointed
to try him, were the chief justices, Popham and
Anderson, judges Warburton and Gawdye, and
Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury. But our sur
prise, with regard to this memorable trial, is not
confined to any particular portion of it ; for
equally surprising is the commencement of the
prosecution — its miserable details — its successful
conclusion by the verdict of the jury — and the
suspension of the execution of the sentence for
seventeen years.
It is evident that the chief justice Popham
believed that Raleigh was an inf del ; for, when
he was addressing him, preparatory to passing
sentence, he observed, " You have been taxed
by the world with the defence of the most heath
enish and blasphemous opinions. You should
m 2

164 THE LIFE OF
do well before you go out of the world, to give
satisfaction therein, and not to die with these
imputations upon you."* Popham's opinion
need not surprise us. He presided that day over
a court in which very extraordinary things were
believed ; it was then thought equity to admit as
evidence a written confession of Lord Cobham's,
when Cobham was yet alive and in custody: it
was believed by that court to be just and lawful
to admit that confession, but not equally just to
allow of the retraction of that evidence by ano
ther written communication of him whose con
fession^ had been. The same court thought it
quite a sufficient reason for refusing personally to
examine either Cobham or his brother Brooke ;
which Raleigh eloquently and indignantly, de
manded, " Because," said the chief justice, " the
accuser may be drawn by practice, whilst he is
here in person."
The trial lasted, according to Stow,f from
morning until six o'clock in the evening. It
was a mere mockery of justice. The conviction
was extorted by clamour. Whatever was Raleigh's
guilt, the evidence adduced against him was
such as would in a petty larceny case, in our

* State Trials, vol. l, p. 221.
-t Annals, p. 830.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 165
age, have been laughed at for its absurdity ;
no counsel would offer it, no judge would al
low it.
When, seventeen years after his trial, Raleigh
was brought up, for the second time, prepara
tory to his execution, Sir Henry Montague, who
presided in the Court of King's Bench, Coke
having been removed nearly two years, ad
dressed Sir Walter Raleigh in a very feeling-
manner, but at the same time like a judge who
felt the iniquity of the case.
This speech has been sometimes erroneously
ascribed to Coke.
" I know that you have been valiant and
wise ; I doubt not but you retain both these
virtues, for nowr vou shall have occasion to use
them. Your faith hath heretofore been questioned,
but I am resolved, you are a good christian ;
for your book, which is an admirable work, doth
testify as much. I would give you counsel ;
.but I know you can apply unto yourself far
better than I am able to give you ; yet will I, with
the good neighbour in the gospel, who, finding
one on the way wounded and distressed, poured
oil into his wounds and relieved him, give
unto you the oil of comfort, though in respect
that I am a minister of the law, mixed with

166 THE LIFE OF
vinegar. Sorrow will not avail you in some
kind ; for, were you pained, sorrow would not
ease you ; were you afflicted, sorrow would not
avail you; were you tormented, sorrow would
not content you : and yet the sorrow for your
sins, would be an everlasting comfort to you.
" You must do as the valiant captain did,
who, perceiving himself in danger, said in de
fiance of death, ' Death thou expectest me, but
malgre thy spite, I expect thee.'
" Fear not death too much, nor fear not
death too little ; not too much lest you fail in
your hopes : not too little lest you die presump
tuously. " And here I must conclude with my prayers
to God for it, and that he would have mercy on
your soul."*
On the reality of the plot, for which Raleigh
was tried, there have been many strangely vary
ing opinions. It is confessed by all the con
tending historians that if there was such a
plot in existence, Arabella Stuart, in whose
favour it was said to have been concocted, was
entirely ignorant of its existence. She was
present, in the court at Winchester, when
* Howell's State Trials, vol. 2, p. 8 4.— Croke, Jam. 495.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 167
Raleigh had his trial, and then clearly exone
rated him. It is certain that even the court
of James I. had considerable doubts of his guilt,
for otherwise they would not have delayed the
execution of the sentence for so many years,
and James would hardly have afterwards em
ployed a man who had plotted to deprive him of
his throne.
If the accomplished Raleigh had engaged in
such a conspiracy, we might fairly conclude that
he would have sought assistance among the
talented and influential of the land, and not
have intrusted such persons^ as Brooke and
Cobham with secrets of such vital importance.
Coke himself is said, in after-life, to have con
fessed that he had treated his prisoner with
unnecessary harshness ; although I cannot im
mediately refer to my authority for this state
ment. Raleigh was a man of genius, of learning,
and a wit. Prince Henry, the eldest son of
James I, who died in his youthful days, used
to express his astonishment that his father
kept such a bird shut up in a cage. He had
a turn for military and naval affairs — was a
poet — an historian — a speculator in voyages
of discovery, and an alchymist.
A mind constituted like Raleigh's, of neces-

168 THE LIFE OF
sity was restless and enterprising. His humour,
no scenes, however serious, could destroy.
When upon his trial at Winchester, his cool
sarcasms and fund of wit, evidently annoyed,
and finally exasperated Coke. Shut up in the
Tower of London, he employed himself in
writing his very excellent history of the world,
in two folios, which few persons, even in our
literary age, have even glanced at, and still
fewer have fairly perused.* Even at the last,
when he was brought on to the scaffold, in
Palace- Yard, he appeared as full of wit, as light-
hearted, and as sarcastic as he was in his days
of freedom.
He was, in truth, a very extraordinary per
son ; brave, talented, and generous ; and yet he
appears not to have been a popular character.
He confesses as much in the preface to his
" History of the World," speaking of which he
says : — " To the world I present them, to which
I am nothing indebted ; neither have others
(fortune changing) sped much better in any
age. For prosperity and adversity have ever
more tied and untied vulgar affections. And as
we see it in experience, that dogs do always
bark at those they know not, and that it is their
* It comprehends the period from the creation to the con
quest of Macedouby the Romans.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 169
nature to accompany one another in these
clamours, so it is with the inconsiderate mul
titude, who wanting that virtue which we call
honesty in all men, and that gift of God which we
call charity, condemn without hearing, and wound
without offence given ; led thereunto by uncer
tain report only, which his Majesty truly
acknowledges to be the author of all lies.
' ' For myself, if I have in anything served my
country, and prized it before my private interest,
the general acceptation of this, can yield me
no other profit at this time, than doth a fair sun-
shining day to seamen after shipwreck ; and the
contrary, no other harm than an outrageous
tempest after the port is attained."
The high-spirited style in which, during this
long, pious, and able preface, he addressed his
readers, is very remarkable. Eleven years im
prisonment had not destroyed the ardent courage
of his youth.
" It may be laid to my charge," he says,
" that I use divers Hebrew words in my first
book, in which language others may think, and
myself acknowledge it, that I am altogether
ignorant. But it is true, that some of them I
find in Montanus. Of the rest, I have borrowed
the interpretation of some of my friends. But
say I had been beholden to neither, yet were it

170 THE LIFE OF
not to be wondered at, having had eleven years
leisure to attain the knowledge of that or any
other tongue. I know that it will be said by
many, that I might have been more pleasing to
the reader, if I had written the story of mine
own times, having been permitted to draw water
as near the well head as another. To this I
answer, that whoever, in writing a modern his
tory, shall follow truth too near the heels, it may,
perchance, strike out his teeth. There is no
mistress or guide that, hath led her followers
and servants into greater difficulties : he that
goes after her too far off, loseth her sight, and
loseth himself, and he that walks after her at a
middle distance, I know not whether to call that
kind of course temper or baseness."
" I forbear to style my readers, gentle, cour
teous, and friendly, thereby to beg their good
opinions, or to promise a second and third
volume (which also I do intend), if the first
receive grace, and good acceptance. For that
which is already done, may be thought enough,
and too much ; and it is certain, let us claw the
reader with never so many courteous phrases,
yet shall we be evermore thought fools that
write foolishly."
The continuation of his history to which he
thus alludes never made its appearance. He com-

SIR EDWARD COKE. 171
mitted the manuscript to the flames some time
before his death. In the last paragraph of this
volume he refers to it, when in speaking of the
reasons for his forbearance, he says, " it hath
pleased God to take that glorious Prince, Henry,
out of the world to whom they were directed,
besides many other discouragements persuading
my silence."
Chief Justice Montague's address to him,
when he was brought up in the sixty-eighth year
of his age to have execution awarded against
him, I have already noticed. His heroism on
the scaffold is yet matter of astonishment. If
anything would add to the contempt with which
I hold the character of James I, Raleigh's exe
cution would be its occasion. Cecil, Raleigh's
friend, was now dead ; Buckingham and James
had all the disgrace to themselves, and time has
not yet rendered their conduct, in this melan
choly affair, less the object of horror.
Coke appeared to much greater advantage in
the trial of the conspirators in the gunpowder
plot ; the two Winters, Guy Fawkes, Sir Eve-
rard Digby, and others, who were indicted on
the 27th January, 1605.
This case, perhaps the blackest that ever
came into a court of justice, was admirably ma
naged by Coke. He spoke at great length, but

172 THE LIFE OF
in an undefended cause. The prisoners were
speedily condemned and executed.*
Time has hardly rendered this plot less ap
palling. It was marked by circumstances of
atrocity, which are a disgrace to human nature.
It demonstrated that no zeal is so unpitying as
that of a bad religion — no crime too horrid, if
by such the glory of God is pretended to be
served. The case against the prisoners in this me
morable trial being opened by Sir Edward
Philips, Coke addressed the jury in a very able
speech, the longest I can find of all his recorded
addresses : —
" It appeareth to your Lordships," he said,
" and to the rest of this most honourable and
grave assembly, even by that which Mr. Ser
geant Philips hath already opened, that these
are the greatest treasons that ever were plotted
in England. But when this assembly shall
farther hear, and see discovered the root ,and
branches of the same, not hitherto published,
they will say indeed, that when these things
shall be related to posterity, they will be reputed
matters feigned, not done.
Therefore in this so great a cause, upon the
* Pari. Hist. vol. 5, p. 145. State Trials, vol. 1, p. 224.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 173
carriage and event whereof the eye of all
Christendom is at this day bent, I shall desire
that I may, with more patience, be somewhat
more copious, and not so succinct as my usual
manner hath been, and yet will I be no longer
than the very matter itself shall necessarily
require." " But, before I enter into the particular narra
tive of the case, I hold it fit to give satisfaction
to some, and those well affected amongst us,
who have not only marvelled, but grieved, that
no speedieu expedition hath been used in these
proceedings, considering the monstrousness
and continual horror of this so desperate a
case." Coke here alluded to the time which had
elapsed from the 4th of November, when the
plot was discovered, until the day of trial ; — a
period of nearly three months. The prisoners
had no cause to complain of the rapidity of their
prosecutors. " 1. It is," continued Coke, " ordo natures,
agreeable to the order of nature, that things of
great weight and magnitude, according to that
axiom of the poet,
" ' Tarda solet magnis rebus adesse fides.'
" And surely we may truly say, nunquam ante

1 74 THE LIFE OF
dies nostros talia acciderunt: neither hath the
eye of man seen, nor the ear of man heard the
like things to these.
"2. Veritas temporisfilia. Truth is the daughter
of time,- especially in this case, wherein by
timely and often examinations, First, matters of
the greatest moment have lately been found out.
secondly, some known offenders and those
capital, but lately apprehended. Thirdly, sundry
of the principal arch traitors before unknown,
now manifested as the Jesuits. Fourthly, here
tical, treasonable, and damnable books lately
found out, one of equivocation, and another
de officio Principis Christiani, of Francis Tres-
ham's. " 3. There have been already twenty and
three several days spent in examination."
"4. We should otherwise have hanged a
man unattainted, for Guy Fawrkes passed under
the name of John Johnson, so that if by that
name greater expedition had been used, and he
hanged, though we had not missed of the man,
yet the proceedings would not have been so or
derly or justifiable.
" 5. The King, out of his wisdom and great
moderation, was pleased to appoint this trial in
time of assembly of Parliament, for that it con
cerned especially those of the Parliament."

SIR EDWARD COKE, 175
" And now," continued Coke, " touching the
offences themselves, they are so exorbitant
and transcendant, and aggregated of so many
bloody and fearful crimes, as they cannot be
aggravated by any inference, argument, or cir
cumstance whatever, and that in three respects,"
" 1. Because this offence is Primes impres-
sionis, and therefore sine nomine, without any
name, which might be adwquatum, sufficient to
express it, given by any legist that ever made or
writ of any laws."
' ' For the highest treason that they could ima
gine, they called it Crimen lasts majestatis, the
violating of the majesty of the prince. But this
treason doth want an apt name, as tending, not
only to the hurt, but to the death of the king :
and not the death of the king only, but of his
whole kingdom : Non regis sed regni, that is, to
the destruction and dissolution of the frame and
fabric of this ancient, famous, and ever-flourish
ing monarchy, even the deletion of our whole
name and nation." And, therefore, hold not
thy tongue, O God, keep not still silence, &c.
Psalm 83. v. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
" 2. It is sine exemplo, beyond all examples,
whether in fact or fiction, even of the tragic
poets, who did beat their wits to represent the
most fearful and horrible murders."

176 THE LIFE OF
" 3. It is sine modo, without all measure, and
stint of iniquity, like a mathematical line, which
is divisibilis in semper divisibilia, infinitely divi
sible. " It is treason to imagine or intend the death
of the king, queen, or prince.
" For treason is like a tree, whose root is full
of poison, and lieth secret and hid within the
earth, resembling the imagination of the heart
of man, which is so secret as God only knoweth
it. " Now the wisdom of the law provideth for
the blasting and nipping both of the leaves,
blossoms, and buds, which proceed from this
root of treason ; either by words which are like
to leaves, or by some overt act, which may be
resembled to buds and blossoms, before it cometh
to such fruit and ripeness, as would bring utter
destruction and desolation upon the whole
state. " It is likewise treason to kill the lord chan
cellor, lord treasurer, or any justice of one bench
or the other, justices of assize, or any other
judge, mentioned in the statute of 25 Edward
III, sitting in their judicial places and exercising
their offices. And the reason is, for that every
judge, so sitting by the King's authority, repre
sented the majesty and person of the King, and,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 177
therefore, it is Crimen losses majestatis to kill him,
the King being always, in judgment of law, pre
sent in court.
" But in the High Court of Parliament, every
man by virtue of the King's authority, by writ
under the Great Seal, hath a judicial place ; and
so consequently the killing of every of them had
been a several treason and Crimen lessee majesta
tis. Besides that, to their treasons were added,
open rebellion, burglary, robbery, &c. ; so that
this offence is such as no man can express it,
no example pattern it, no measure contain it."
After carefully exonerating all foreign princes
from being implicated in this plot, Coke pro
ceeded to observe :
" As the powder treason is in itself prodigious
and unnatural, so it is in its conception and birth
most monstrous, as arising out of the dead ashes of
former treasons. For it had three roots, all
planted and watered by Jesuits and English
Roman Catholics, that is to say, in England, in
Flanders, and in Spain."
" In December, 1601, Henry Garnet, superior
of the English Jesuits, Robert Tesmond, a Jesuit,
Robert Catesby (who was well trained — having a
versatile talent and profoundly deceitful), toge
ther with Francis Tresham and others, in the
names, and for the behalf of all the English
VOL. I. N

178 THE LIFE OF
Roman Catholics, employed Thomas Winter to
travel into Spain, for the general good of the
Roman Catholic cause. By him, Garnet wrote
his letters to Father Cresswell, a Jesuit residing
in Spain, on that behalf. With Thomas Winter
doth Tesmond, alias Greeneway, the Jesuit, go
as an associate and confederate in the con
spiracy. " The message (which was principally com-
mitted unto the said Winter) was, that he should
make a proposition and request to the King of
Spain, in the behalf and names of the English
Catholics, that the King would send an army
hither into England, and that the forces of the
Catholics in England should be prepared to join
with him and do him service. And because that
in all attempts upon England, the greatest diffi
culty was ever found to be the transportation of
horses, the Catholics in England would assure
the King of Spain to have always in readiness
for his use and service 1500 or 2000 horses
against any occasion or enterprise.
" Concerning the place for landing the King
of Spain's army, it was resolved that if the
army were great, then Essex and Kent were
judged fittest ; but, if the army was small, and
trusted for succour in England, then Milford
Haven was thought more convenient."
In the midst of these negotiations, which pro-

SIR EDWARD COKE. 179
ceeded very slowly on the part of the Spanish
government, the fate of the Armada having
taught them a lesson, not likely to be speedily
forgotten, Queen Elizabeth died. Garnet then
sent Christopher Wright as his agent into Spain,
who soon after his arrival at that court, met
with Guy Fawkes, who had arrived there from
Flanders with a similar commission, to inform
the King of Spain that James I of England " was
like to proceed rigorously with the Catholics,
and to run the same course which the late
Queen did, and withal to entreat that it would
please him to send an army into England, to
land at Milford Haven, where the Roman Catho
lics would be ready to assist him. And these
several messages did Christopher Wright and
Guy Fawkes in the end intimate and propound
to the King of Spain. But the King then very
honourably answered them both, that he wTould
not in any wise further listen to any such
motion, as having before dispatched an embassy
into England to treat for peace.
" Therefore, this course by foreign princes
failing, they fell into the Gunpowder Plot. For
the persons offending— touching those of the
laity, it is by some given out, that they are such
men as admit just exception, either desperate in
estate, or base, or not settled in their wits, such
n 2

180 THE LIFE OF
as are without religion, without habitation, with
out credit, without means, without hope. But
(that no man though never so wicked may be
wronged) true it is, that they were gentlemen of
good houses, of excellent parts, however perni
ciously seduced, abased, corrupted, and Jesuist-
ed, of very competent fortunes and estates.
" Besides that, Percy was of the house of
Northumberland. Sir William Stanly who prin
cipally employed Fawkes into Spain, and John
Talbot of Grafton, both of great and honourable
families. " Concerning those of the spirituality, it is
likewise falsely said, that there is never a
religious man in this action. For I never yet
knew a treason without a Romish priest ; but
in this there are very many Jesuits, who are
known to have dealt, and passed through the
whole action ; three of them are Legiers and
Statesmen, as Henry Garnet, alias Walley, the
superintendant of the Jesuits ; Legier here in
England ; Father Cresswell, Legier Jesuit in
Spain ; Father Baldwin, Legier in Flanders,
as Parsons at Rome, &c. — So that the prin
cipal offenders are the seducing Jesuits : men
that use the reverence of religion, yea, even
the most sacred and blessed name of Jesus, as
a mantle to cover their impiety, blasphemy,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 181
treason, and rebellion, and all manner of wicked
ness." The oath which they solemnly and severally
took, as well for secresy as perseverance, and
constancy in the execution of the plot, is in
form as follows : " You shall swear by the
blessed Trinity and by the sacrament you now
purpose to receive, never to disclose, directly or
indirectly, by word or circumstance, the matter
that shall be proposed to you to keep secret,
nor desist from the execution thereof, until the
rest shall give you leave."
Coke laboured hard, and unfortunately for
the character of the Catholic priests of
that period, with ample materials, to blacken
them in the eyes of the world.
Concerning Thomas Bates, who was Catesby's
man, as he was brought into this treason by
his master, so he was confirmed when he
doubted of the lawfulness thereof by the doc
trines of the Jesuits. " For the manner it was
after this sort, Catesby noting that his man
observed him extraordinarily, as suspecting
somewhat of that which he Catesby went about,
called him to him at his lodging in Puddle
Wharf ; and, in the presence of Thomas Winter,
asked him what he thought the business was

182 THE LIFE OF
they went about, for that he of late had so
suspiciously and strongly marked them.
" Bates answered that he thought, they went
about some dangerous matter.
" Whereupon they asked him again, what
he thought the business might be, and he an
swered that he thought they intended some
dangerous matter about the Parliament House,
because he had been sent to procure a lodging
near unto that place.
" Then they make Bates take an oath to
be secret in the action ; they then told him
that it was true, that they were to execute a
great matter, namely to lay powder under the
Parliament House to blow it up.
" Then they also told him that he was to
receive the sacrament for the more assurance,
and thereupon he went to confession to the
said Tesmond, the Jesuit ; and, in his confession
told him, that he was to conceal a very dan
gerous piece of work, that his master, Catesby
and Thomas Winter had ; and said he much
feared the matter to be utterly unlawful, and
therefore therein desired the counsel of the
Jesuit, and revealed unto him the whole intent
and purpose of blowing up the Parliament
House upon the first day of the assembly; at

SIR EDWARD COKE. 183
which time, the King, the Queen, the Prince,
the Lords spiritual and temporal, the Judges,
the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, should
all have been there collected, and met to
gether." But the Jesuit being a confederate therein
before, resolved and encouraged him in the
action, and said that he should bs secret in
that which his master had imparted unto him,
for that it was a good cause. " Adding more
over, that it was not dangerous unto him, nor
any offence to conceal it ; and, therefore, the
Jesuit gave him absolution, and Bates received
the sacrament of him, in the company of his
master, Robert Catesby and Thomas Win
ter. " Also when Rookwood in the presence of
sundry of the traitors (having first received the
oath of secresy) had by Catesby imparted unto
him the plot of blowing up the King and State ;
the said Rookwood being greatly amazed thereat,
answered that it was a matter of conscience to
take away so much blood.
" But Catesby replied, that he was resolved,
and that by good authority (as coming from
the superior of the Jesuits) that in conscience
it might be done ; yea though it were with the

184 THE LIFE OF
destruction of many innocents, rather than the
action should quaile."
Coke then proceeded at some length to enu
merate those great persons, who would in all pro
bability have suffered in such a terrific explo
sion. " I tremble," he exclaimed, " even to think
of it ; miserable desolation ! no king, no queen,
no prince, no issue-male, no counsellers of
state, no nobility, no bishops, no judges. Bar
barous, and more than Scythian or Thracian
cruelty ! no mantle of holiness can cover it, no
pretence of religion can excuse it, no shadow
of good intention can extenuate it. God and
heaven condemn it, man and earth detest it,
the offenders themselves were ashamed of it,
wicked people exclaim against it, and the souls
of all true Christian subjects abhor it ; miserable
yet sudden, had their ends been, who should
have died in that fiery tempest, and storm of
gunpowder ; but more miserable had they been
which had escaped."
After enlarging upon similar topics in a very
able manner, Coke concluded his long and
elaborate address, with bestowing his prayers
for the speedy repentance of those very miser
able and benighted conspirators " in such

SIR EDWARD COKE. 185
language as this : — " True repentance is indeed
never too late ; but late repentance is seldom
found true ; which yet I pray the merciful Lord
to grant unto them, that having a sense of their
offences, they may make a true, and sincere
confession both for their souls' health, and for
the good and safety of the King and this state.
And for the rest that are not yet apprehended,
my prayer to God is, Ut aut convertantur ne
pereant, aut confundantur ne noceant ; that either
they may be converted, to the end they perish
not, or else confounded, that they hurt not."*
The general facts of this conspiracy are
known to all readers of English history, but I
shall insert some particular statements. An
official account came from the press by the
king's printer at the time of the discovery of
the plot, annexed to a copy of his Majesty's
Speech, delivered on the occasion It was
republished by Bishop Barlow in 1679, with
a preface of sixty pages. The following are
extracts : —
" The King being upon his return from
his hunting exercise at Royston upon occasion
of the drawing near of the Parliament, which
had been twice prorogued already, partly in
* State Trials, vol. 1, p. 235.
t The Gunpowder Treason, p. 27

186 THE LIFE OF
regard to the season of the year, and partly of
the term. — The Saturday of the week imme
diately preceding the King's return, which was
on a Thursday (being but ten days before the
parliament), the Lord Mounteagle, son and
heir to the Lord Morley, being in his own
lodgings ready to go to supper, at seven of the
clock at night, one of his footmen (whom he had
sent of an errand over the street,) was met by
an unknown man of a reasonable tall personage,
who delivered him a letter, charging him to
put it in my Lord, his master's hands ; which
my Lord had no sooner received, but that having
broken it up, and perceiving the same to be of
an unknown and somewhat illegible hand, and
without either date or subscription, did call
one of his men unto him, for helping him to
read it.
" But no sooner did he perceive the strange
contents thereof, although he was somewhat
perplexed what construction to make of it, (as
whether of a matter of consequence — or whe
ther some foohsh devised pasquil, by some of
his enemies to scare him from his attendance
at the parliament), yet he concluded not to
conceal it— whereupon, notwithstanding the late
ness and darkness of the night, in that season
of the year, he presently repaired to his Majesty's

SIR EDWARD COKE. 187
palace of Whitehall, and there delivered the
same to the Earl of Salisbury, his Majesty's
principal secretary."
The Earl of Salisbury communicated the
letter to the Lord Chamberlain, (the Earl of
Suffolk), the Lord Admiral, and the Earls of
Worcester, and Northampton, and " according
to their determination, did the said Earl of
Salisbury, repair to the King in his gallery upon
the Friday, being Allhallow day, in the after
noon, which was the day after his Majesty's
arrival." — where, without any other speech or
judgment, of the letter, but only relating simply
the form of the delivery thereof, he presented
it to his Majesty.
The following is a copy :
" My Lord, out of love I bear to some of
your friends, I have a care of your preservation.
Therefore, I would advise you, as you tender
your life, to devise some excuse to shift off your
attendance at this parliament, for God and man
have concurred to punish the wickedness of this
time. And think not slightly of this advertise
ment, but retire yourself into your country,
where you may expect the event in safety. For,
though there be no appearance of any stir,
yet I say they shall receive a terrible blow this
parliament, and yet they shall not see who

188 THE LIFE OF
hurts them. This counsel is not to be con
temned, because it may do you good, and can
do you no harm; for the danger is past, so
soon as you have burnt the letter, and I hope
God will give you the grace to make good use
of it, to whose holy protection I commend
you."* King James, it has been said, though errone
ously, was the first to express the opinion, that
the mysterious warnings of this letter, referred
to some intended explosion of gunpowder. It was,
however, resolved to search the vaults, under
the House of Parliament.
"The Lord Chamberlain, according to his cus
tom and office, was directed to make an inspection
both above and below, and consider what like
lihood or appearance of any such danger might
possibly be gathered by the sight of them. But
yet, as well for staying of idle rumours, as for
being the more able to discern any mystery,
the nearer that things were in readiness, his
journey thither was ordained to be deferred till
the afternoon, before the sitting down of the
parliament which was upon the Monday follow-

* This letter is supposed to have been written by Sir
Thomas Percy — one of the conspirators, and the intimate
friend of Mounteagle.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 189
ing. At which time, accompanied by the Lord
Mounteagle, he went to the Parliament House,
where, having viewed all the lower rooms, he
found in the vault under the Upper House,
great store and provisions of billets, faggots,
and coals : and inquiring of Whyneard, keeper
of the wardrobe, to what use he had put those
lower rooms and cellars, he answered, that
Thomas Percy had hired both the house and
part of the cellar and vault under the same, and
that the wood and coals therein wras the said
gentleman's own provision.
Whereupon the Lord Chamberlain, casting his
eye aside, perceived a fellow standing in a
corner there, calling himself the said Percy's
man, and keeper of the said house for him, but
¦indeed was Guido Fawkes, the owner of that
hand, which should have acted that monstrous
tragedy." Of this preparatory search the Lord Chamber
lain made his report to the King. " Noting
that Mounteagle had told him, that he no sooner
.heard Thomas Percy named to be the possessor
of that house, but considering his backwardness
in religion, and the old dearness in friendship
between himself and the said Percy, he did
greatly suspect the matter, and that the letter
should come from him.

190 THE LIFE OF
" The said Lord Chamberlain also told the
King, that he did not wonder a little at the extra
ordinary great provision of wood and coal in that
house, where Thomas Percy had so seldom oc
casion to remain, as likewise, it gave him in his
mind, that his man looked like a very tall and
desperate fellow.
" This report could not but increase the
King's former apprehension and jealousy ;
whereupon he insisted that the house was
narrowly to be searched, and that those billets
and coals should be searched to the bottom, it
being most suspicious that they were laid there
only for covering of the powder.
" Of the same mind also were all the coun
sellors then present. But upon the fashion of
making of the search, was it long debated; for
upon one side they were all so jealous of the
King's safety, that they all agreed that there
could not be too much caution used for pre
venting his danger. And yet upon the other
part, they were all extreme loth and dainty,
that in case this letter should prove to be
nothing but the evaporation of an idle brain ;
then a curious search being made, and nothing
found, should not only turn to the general
scandal of the King and the state, as being so
suspicious of every light and frivolous toy,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 191
but likewise lay an ill favoured imputation upon
the Earl of Northumberland, one of his Majesties
greatest subjects, and councillors ; this Thomas
Percy being his kinsman, and most confident
familiar. " It was at last concluded, that nothing
should be left unsearched in those houses, and
yet for the better colour and stay of rumour,
in case nothing was found, it was thought
meet, that upon pretence of Whyneard's missing
some of the King's stuff or hangings, which he
had in keeping, all those rooms should be
narrowly examined for them.
" And to this purpose was Sir Thomas
Knevet employed (a gentleman of his Majesty's
privy chamber) being a justice of the peace
in Westminster, and one of whose ancient
fidelity both the late queen and our now
sovereign had large proof, who according to the
trust committed to him, went about the mid
night next after, to the Parliament House,
accompanied by such a small number as was
fit for that errand ; but before his entry into
the house, finding Thomas Percy's alleged man
standing without the doors, his clothes and
boots on, at so dead a time of the night, he
resolved to apprehend him, as he did ; and
therefore went forward to the searching of the

192 THE LIFE OF
house : where, after he had caused to be over
turned some of the billets and coals—he first
found one of the small barrels of gunpowder
and afterwards all the rest, to the number of
thirty-six barrels, great and small. And therefore,
searching the fellow, whom he had taken, found
three matches, and all other instruments fit for
blowing up the powder ready ; which made him
instantly confess his own guiltiness, declaring
also unto them, that if he had happened to be
within the House, when they took him, as he
was immediately before (at the ending of his
work) he would have blown them and himself
up — House and all.
" Thus, after Sir Thomas had caused the
wretch to be surely bound and well guarded by
the company he had brought with him, he him
self returned back to the King's palace, and
gave warning of his success to the Lord Cham
berlain and Earl of Salisbury, who immediately
warning the rest of the Council, w7ho lay in the
House, as soon as they could get themselves
ready, came with their fellow-councillors to the
King's bed-chamber, being at that time near four
of the clock in the morning.
" And at the first entry of the King's chamber
door, the Lord Chamberlain being not any longer
able to conceal his joy for the preventing of so

SIR EDWARD COKE. 193
great a danger, told the King, in a confused
haste, that all was found and discovered, and
the traitor in hands and fast bound.
" Then order being first taken for sending for
the rest of the council that lay in the town, the
prisoner himself was brought into the House,
where, in respect of the strangeness of the acci
dent, no man was stayed from the sight, or
speaking with him. And, within a while after,
the council did examine him ; who, seeming to
put on a Roman resolution, did, both to the
council, and to every other that spake with him
that day, appear so constant and settled upon
his grounds, as we thought we had all found
some new Mutius Sceevola born in England.
" For, notwithstanding the horror of the fact,
the guilt of his conscience, the sudden surpris
ing, the terror which should have been strucken
in him by coming into the presence of so grave
a council, and the restless and confused questions
that every man all that day did vex him with,
yet was his countenance so far from being de
jected that he often smiled in a scornful manner,
not only avowing the fact, but repenting with
the said Scsevola, his failing in the execution
thereof, whereof he said, the Devil, and not God,
was the discoverer ; answering quickly to every
man's objection, scoffing at any idle questions
vol. i. o

194 THE LIFE OF
which were propounded unto him, and jesting
with such as he thought had no authority to
examine him. All that day could the council
get nothing out of him touching his accomplices,
refusing to answer to any such questions, as he
thought might discover the plot, and laying all
the blame upon himself, whereunto he said he
was moved only for religion and conscience
sake, denying the King to be his lawful sove
reign, or the anointed of God, in respect he
was an heretic ; and giving himself no other
name than John Johnson, servant to Thomas
Percy ; but the next morning, being carried to
the Tower, he did not there remain above two
or three days, being twice or thrice in that space
re-examined, and the rack only offered and
shown unto him, when the masque of his Roman
fortitude did visibly begin to wear and slide off
his face, and then did he begin to confess part of
the truth, and thereafter to open the whole
matter, as doth appear by the following confes
sion, which is entitled, " A true copy of the
declaration of Guido Fawkes taken before eleven
privy councillors."
' I confess that a practice in general was first
broken unto me, against his Majesty, for relief
of the catholic cause, and not invented or pro
pounded by myself.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 195
" And this was first propounded /unto me
about Easter last was twelvemonths, beyond the
seas in the Low Countries, by Thomas Winter,
who came thereupon with me into England, and
there we imparted our purpose to three other gen
tlemen more, namely, Robert Catesby, Thomas
Percy, and John Wright, who all five consulting
together of the means how to execute the same,
and taking a vow among ourselves for secresy ;
Catesby propounded to have it performed by
gunpowder, and by making a mine under the
Upper House of Parliament ; which place we
made choice of, the rather because religion hav
ing been unjustly suppressed there, it was fittest
that justice and punishment should be executed
there. This being resolved amongst us, Thomas
Percy hired a house at Westminster for that
purpose, near adjoining to the Parliament House,
and there we began to make our mine, about the
11th of December, 1604.
" The five that first entered into the work,
were Thomas Percy,* Robert Catesby, Thomas
Winter, John Wright, and myself; and soon
after we took another unto us — Christopher

* Thomas Percy was one of the Band of Gentlemen Pen
sioners. Stowe's Chronicle.
o2

196 THE LIFE OF
Wright, having sworn him also, and taken the
sacrament for secresy. When we came to the
very foundation of the wall of the house, which
was about three yards thick, and found it a
matter of great difficulty, we took unto us
another gentleman, Robert Winter, in like man
ner, with oath and sacrament as aforesaid.
" It was about Christmas when we brought
our mine under the wall, and, about Candlemas,
we had wrought the wall about half through ;
and, whilst they were in working, I stood as sen
tinel to descry any man that came near, whereof
I gave them warning, and so they ceased until
I gave notice again to proceed ; all seven lay in
the house, and had shot and powder, being re
solved to die in that place before we should yield
or be taken.
" As they were working upon the wall, they
heard a rushing in a cellar of removing of coals,
whereupon we feared we had been discovered,
and they sent me to go to the cellar, who find
ing that the coals were selling and the cellar was
to be let, viewing the commodity thereof for our
purpose, Percy went and hired the same for
yearly rent.
' We had before this provided and brought
into the house, twenty barrels of gunpowder,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 197
which we removed into the cellar, and covered
the same with billets and faggots, which were
provided for that purpose.
" About Easter, the Parliament being pro
rogued until October next, we dispersed our
selves, and I retired into the Low Countries, by
advice and direction of the rest, as well to ac
quaint others with the particulars of the plot, as
also least by my longer stay, I might have grown
suspicious, and so have come in question.
" In the meantime, Percy, having the key of
the cellar, laid in more powder and wood unto
it. " I returned about the beginning of Septem
ber last, and then receiving the key again of
Percy, we brought in more powder and billets to
cover the same again, and so I went for some
time into the country, till the 30th of October.
" It was further resolved amongst us, that
the same day that this act should have been
performed, some other of our confederates should
have surprised the person of the Lady Elizabeth,
the King's eldest daughter, who was kept in
Warwickshire, at the Lord Harrington's house,
and presently have proclaimed her Queen, hav
ing a project of a proclamation ready for the
purpose, wherein we made no mention of alter
ing of religion ; nor would we have avowed the

198 THE LIFE OF
deed to be ours until we should have had power
enough to make our party good, and then we
would have avowed both.
" Concerning the Duke Charles, the King's
second son, we had sundry consultations how to
seize on his person ; but because we found no
means how to compass it, (the Duke being kept
near London where we had not forces enough,)
we resolved to serve our turn with the Lady
Elizabeth." Such was the cool, unruffled, and proud con-
fession of Guido Fawkes. He evidently gloried
in the crime ; regarding it as an action praise
worthy, religious, and one which God would
approve. That a few innocent Catholics might
perish in the explosion, was not thought to be a
circumstance that counterbalanced the advan
tages to be derived to their religion, by the de
struction of the Royal Family, and the flower of
the English senate. The reader almost trembles,
even at this distance of time, when he reflects
how nearly the plot was carried into execution ;
on what a single chance rested the safety of the
three estates of England.
The seizure of Fawkes, of course, put the con
spirators into confusion. Bishop Barlow gives
the confession of Thomas Winter, and in that
confession he tells us that " on Sunday, at

SIR EDWARD COKE. 199
night, in came one to my chamber, and told me
that a letter had been given to my Lord Mount
eagle to this effect, that he wished his Lordship's
absence from the Parliament, because a blow
would then be given ; which letter he presently
carried to my Lord of Salisbury.
" On the morrow, I went to White Webbs (a
house near Hatfield Chace), and told it to Mr.
Catesby, assuring him withal, that the matter
was disclosed, and wishing him in any case to
forsake his country. He told me he would see
further as yet, and resolved to send Mr. Fawkes
to try the uttermost, protesting, if the part be
longed to himself, he would try the same ad
venture. " On Wednesday, Mr. Fawkes went and re
turned at night, of which we were very glad.
" Thursday, I came to London; and Friday,
Mr. Catesby, Mr. Tresham and I, met at Barnet,
where wre questioned how this letter should be
sent to my Lord Mounteagle, but could not con
ceive, for Mr. Tresham forswore it, whom we
only suspected.
" On Saturday night, I met Mr. Tresham
again in Lincoln's Inn Walks, wherein he told
me such speeches that my Lord of Salisbury
should use to the King, that I gave it lost
the second time; and repeated the same to Mr.
Catesby, who hereupon was resolved to be gone,

200 THE LIFE OF
but stayed to have Mr. Percy come up, whose
consent therein we wanted.
" On Sunday, Mr. Percy being dealt with to
that end, would needs abide the uttermost
trial. This suspicion put us all in such confu
sion, that Mr. Catesby resolved to go down into
the country, on the Monday that Mr. Percy
went to Sion (House ?), and Mr. Percy resolved
to follow the same night or early the next
morning. About five of the clock, being Tuesday, came
the younger Wright to my chamber, and told me
that a nobleman called, (the Lord Mounteagle),
saying arise, and come along to Essex House ;
for I am going to call upon my Lord of Nor
thumberland saying, withal, the matter is dis
covered. " ' Go back, Mr. Wright,' said I, ' and learn
what you can, about Essex house gate ;' shortly
he returned, and said, ' surely, all is lost ; for
Lepton is got on horseback at Essex House door,
and, as he parted, he askedif their Lordships would
have any more with him ; and being answered,
no, is rode fast up Fleet Street as he can ride.
" ' Go you then,' said I to Mr. Percy, ' for sure,
it is for him they seek, and bid him be gone ; I
will stay and see the uttermost.'
" Then I went to the court-gates, and found

SIR EDWARD COKE. 201
them straightly guarded, so as nobody could
enter. From thence, I went down towards the
Parliament house, and in the middle of King
street, found the guard standing that would not
let me pass — and as I returned, I heard one say,
there is a treason discovered, in which the
King and the Lords should have been blown
up. So then I was fully satisfied, that all was
known, and went to the stable, where my gelding
stood, and rode into the country.
"Mr. Catesby had appointed our meeting at
Dunchurch, but I could not overtake them,
until I came to my brothers, which was on Wed
nesday night.
" On Thursday, we took our armour, at my
Lord Windsor's, and went that night, to one
Stephen Littleton's house, where the next day
(being Friday), as I was early abroad, to discover,
my man came to me, and said that a heavy
mischance had severed all the company ; for
that, Mr. Catesby, Mr. Rookwood, and Mr.
Grant were burned with gunpowder;* upon
hearing which the rest dispersed.
" Mr. Littleton wished me to fly — and so
would he. — I told him, ' I would first see the
* By the explosion of powder which had been carelessly
placed to dry before a fire.

202 THE LIFE OF
body of my friend and bury him, whatsoever
befel me.'
" When I came, I found Mr. Catesby reason
ably well, Mr. Percy, both the Wrights, Mr.
Rookwood and Mr. Grant. I asked them what
they resolved to do ; they answered, ' We mean
here to die' — I said again, ' I would take such
part as they did.'
"About eleven of the clock, came the company
to beset the house (the sheriff of Worcestershire,
Mr. Richard Walsh, and his followers), and, as I
walked into the court, I was shot into the
shoulder, which lost me the use of my arm. With
the next shot was the elder Wright struck dead ;
after him the younger Mr. Wright, and fourthly,
Ambroise Rookwood.
"'Then,' said Mr. Catesby to me (standing
before the door they were to enter) , ' stand by
me, Tom, and we will die together' — ' Sir,' said
I, ' I have lost the use of my right arm, and I fear
that will cause me to be taken.'
" So as we stood close together, Mr. Catesby,
Mr. Percy and myself ; the two were shot (as far
as I would guess with one bullet), and then the
company entered upon me, hurt me in the
belly with a pike, and gave me other wounds,
until one came behind, and caught hold of
both my arms,"

SIR EDWARD COKE. 203
Such was the discovery — such were the pro
ceedings of the conspirators in this astonishing
plot. It was not the conspiracy of a few
broken tradesmen, or ruined thieves — destitute
of character — and without the means of sub
sistence ; but it was the calm determination of
four or five gentlemen of rank and fortune. —
Catesby was the richest of the band ; he con
tributed £1500 to the purposes of the con
spiracy. Percy was of the house of Northum
berland. Sir Everard Digby was young (only
24 at his execution), was married, — rich, a
courtier, and even owed his knighthood to
James I.
The papers which Digby left behind him,
breathe sentiments of benevolence, and betray a
feeling of honour, totally irreconcileable with
so detestable a crime. His principal anxiety,
when in the Tower, was that he should not
betray any of his confederates. He says : —
" Yesterday I was before Mr. Attorney (Coke)
and my Lord Chief Justice, who asked me if I
had taken the sacrament to keep secret the
plot, as others did. I said that I had not, be
cause I would avoid the question of at whose
hands it were.
" They told me that five had taken it of

204 THE LIFE OF
Gerrard, and that he knew of the plot ; which I
said was more than I knew.
" Now for my intention, let me tell you, that
if I thought there had been the least sin in the
plot, I would not have been of it for all the
world : and no other cause drew me to hazard
my fortune, and life, but zeal to God's re
ligion."* In his last hours, he wrote a long letter of
advice to his two sons, full of the most excellent
paternal advice. They were both knighted
when they attained the age of manhood ; one
was Sir Kenelm Digby, the celebrated philo
sopher, and the other Sir John Digby.
The catholic clergy long denied that this plot
emanated from the professors of their religion ;
they called it Cecil's plot, and attributed the
whole of this dark affair to his contrivance.
The absurdity of such an assertion needs no re
futation ; the persons who engaged in the de
signs, told their own story ; the very inventors
acknowledged the authorship ; not one of the
principals was spared ; no one was ever even
suspected of wilfully betraying them. That the
catholic clergy were concerned in it, is certain.
* Bishop Barlow's Gunpowder Treason, 241.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 205
Garnett, the chief of the English Jesuits, on the
scaffold, acknowledged the justice of his pu
nishment. The courtiers of that day readily and ser
vilely attributed to the King, on the perusal of
Mounteagle's letter, the sagacious discovery of a
threatened danger by gunpowder ; and some of
them, justly deeming it rather too remarkable,
that the King should make so very fortunate
and so complete a guess, even went the length
of attributing it to the direct influence of the
Holy Ghost. They saw that to allege something
miraculous was necessary to preserve the King
from suspicion.
King James was perhaps the most experienced
monarch in mysterious plots, and incomprehen
sible conspiracies, that ever sat on a throne. In
Scotland, he figured as the chief personage in that,
known to all historians, as the " Raidof Ruthven;"
and afterwards in the, to this day disputed,
" Gowrie conspiracy." The same description
of adventures followed him into England. He
was hardly seated on the English throne, when the
gunpowder plot was announced. That of Raleigh,
still disputed, only just preceded it, and remains
the greatest plot of his reign. A long expe
rience, therefore, must have made James fami
liar with treasons, and ready in their detection.

206 THE LIFE OF
He seemed at home in an examination of a
suspected traitor ; delighted in controversy ;
was an adept at an argument ; was naturally
timid and suspicious ; had the good fortune to
be served by some of the ablest of ministers ;
and yet was ruled by the most profligate and
weakest of favourites.
There is no doubt but that Cecil knew a plot
was in progress, before the anonymous letter to
Lord Mounteagle. He acknowledges as much in
a letter to Cornwallis. Dr. Welwood * boldly
asserts, when speaking of King James " The
only uncontroverted treason that happened in
his reign, was the gunpowder plot ; and yet the
letter to Lord Mounteagle, that pretended to dis
cover it, was but a contrivance of his own, the
conspiracy being discovered to him before, by
Henry IV of France ; through the means of M.
de Rosny, afterwards Due of Sully," — then the
French ambassador in England.
The claim of James to the credit of discovering
the gunpowder proceedings, from the bare perusal
of the anonymous letter to Mounteagle, are still
more completely disproved by the letter of Cecil,
Earl of Salisbury, dated November 9, 1605,

* Memoirs, p. 20.

"O^t-

SIR EDWARD COKE. 207
giving an account of the transaction ; in which
he says :*
" I imparted the lettre to the Earl of Suffolke,
Lord Chamberlaine, to the end I might receave
his opinione. Whereupon perusing the words
of the letter, and observing the writing : * that
the blow should come, without knowledge who had
hurt them," we both concieved, that it could
not be more proper than the tyme of Parliament
nor by any other way like to be attempted, than
with gunpowder, whilst the King was sitting in
the assembly. Of which the Lord Chamberlain
(shewed) the more probability, because there
was a great vault, under the said chamber, which
was never used for anything but for some wood
and cole, belonging to the keeper of the old
palace. From which consideration, after we had
imparted the same to the Lord admiral, the
Earle of Worcester, and the Earle of Northamp
ton, and some others, we all thought fit to
forbear to impart it to the King, untill some
three or four days before the session.
" At which tyme, we shewed His Majestie
the lettre, rather as a thing we would not
conceal (because it was of such a nature) than

* Had. M.S. 1875—88.

208 THE LIFE OF.
any waye persuading him, to give any further
credit to it, untill the place had been visited.
" Whereupon His Majestie (whoe hath a
naturall habite to condemn all false feares, and a
judgement so strong, as never to doubt anything,
which is not well warranted by reason) concurred
oneley thus farre with us, that seeing such a
matter was possible, that should be donne,
which might prevent all danger, or ells nothing
at all."
To return, however, to the trial of the con
spirators. On the 28th of March 1606, Sir
Edward Coke spoke long and ably for the crown,
in the case of Henry Garnett, who was even
tually condemned, and executed as a conspirator
in the plot. Of the guilt of this person, the
superior of the English Jesuits, there could be
no doubt. All speeches appeared superfluous,
yet the addresses of Coke, and the commission
ers, appointed by the town, were of no ordinary
length.* Coke thus described the prisoner to
the jury :
" The principal person offending here at the
bar, is as you have heard, a person of many
names, Garnett, Wally, d'Arcy, Roberts, Farmer,

* State Trials, vol. i, p. 240.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 209
Phillips. He is by country an Englishman, by
birth a gentleman, by education a scholar ; —
afterwards a corrector of the common law print
with Mr. Tottle the printer, and now is to be
corrected by the law. He hath many gifts, and
endowments of nature : — by art learned ; a good
linguist ; and by. profession a Jesuit and a su
perior. Indeed, he is superior to all his
predecessors in devilish treason ; a doctor of
Jesuits; that is, a doctor offiveD'sas — dissi
mulation ; deposing of princes ; disposing of
kingdoms ; daunting, and deterring of subjects ;
and destruction."
The conspiracy was not more remarkable for
the atrocity of the object, than for the energy
and perseverance, in spite of many obstructions,
and untoward events, with which it was con
ducted. Coke, in the course of his speech, thus
alluded to this remarkable fact :
" This treason being long since plotted, the
Providence of God did continually from time to
time divert and put off the executing thereof, by
unexpected puttings off the times of assembly in
Parliament. For the Parliament began the 19th
of March, in the first yearof His Majesty's reign,
and continued till the seventeenth of July fol
lowing, before which time the conspirators could
not be ready ; from thence it was prorogued until
vol. i. F

210 THE LIFE OF
the seventh of February, against which time,
they could not make the mine ready, in respect
that they could not dig there ; for that the com
missioners of the union sat near the place, and
the wall was thick, and therefore they could not
be provided before the seventh of February, and
on that day the Parliament was prorogued until
the fifth of October. After this, they found
another course and altered the place, from the
mine to the cellar."*
This was the last important trial, on which
Coke appeared as pleader. His career at the
bar was rapidly drawing to a conclusion ; for,
on the thirteenth of June 1606, he was ap
pointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common
Pleas. It is difficult, at this distance of time, to
ascertain the emoluments of Coke, while a bar
rister. Sir Thomas Moore is said to have had
a first rate practice ; yet his son-in-law and bio
grapher, Roper, tells us he made but four hun
dred pounds per annum.
In Coke's time the dissolution of religious
houses, and the increase of commercial wealth,
by setting the lands of one class at liberty, and
by adding to the riches of the great bulk or

* State Trials, vol. 1, pag. 249.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 211
middle ranks of the community, had greatly
increased the practice and fees of the bar
risters. Bacon made six thousand pounds per
annum, when Attorney- General ; and it was
said by Daines Barrington to have been, in
his day, the common tradition of West
minster Hall, that the emoluments of Coke in
the same office were equal to those of a modern
Attorney-General.* The fees usually paid to a barrister, were much
smaller than they are now. Even in 1688, at the
great trial of the seven bishops, the highest fees
were only twenty pounds, and all the counsel's
fees together did not amount to two hundred
and fifty. In 1476, the fees seem to have been
very small indeed, if we may credit an entry
in the churchwarden's book of St. Margaret's
Westminster, by which it appears that they
paid one Mr. Roger Fylpott, learned in the law,
for his counsel, three shillings and eight pence,
with four pence for his dinner !
The annual value of the Attorney-Generalship
to Coke, including its official fees, was about
seven thousand pounds. The salaries of the
law officers of the crown, were then very small.

* Observations on the Statutes, p. 451.
p 2

212 THE LIFE OF
Sir Francis Bacon, (Coke's successor) received
for his salary as
Attorney General . . £81 6 8
Sir Henry Yelverton, Solicitor General 70 0 0
Sergeant Montague . . . 41 6 10
Sergeant Carew . . . 41 6 10
Sergeant Davy . . . 41 6 10
Henry Martin, Advocate for J
Ecclesiastical causes.* »

20 0 0

* Abstract of the present state of his Majesty's revenue,
616, p. 41.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 213

CHAPTER VI.
1606—1614.
Coke's upright character as a judge — Ceremony of his investiture
— Is previously made a king's sergeant — His introduction
into the Court of Common Pleas — Bacon's letter to him —
The case of Marmaduke Langdale — Opposes the court —
Refuses to give his opinions — Opposes the Court of High
Commission — History of this court — Coke nominated a
commissioner — Refuses to sit — Conference in consequence —
Archbishop Bancroft's speech to him — The Court of Com
mon Pleas , and the High Commission Court come into
contact in the case of chancery — Coke summoned before
the Privy Council — Coke succeeds in his opposition — Is
made Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench — The
real cause of his promotion — The case of Edward Peacham
— the King desirous of ascertaining Coke's opinion- — Bacon
demands it — Coke finally baffles him — King James writes
his opinion — Coke made High Steward of Cambridge.
I now enter upon a period crowded with
incidents, and these highly honourable to the

214 THE LIFE OF
subject of my biography; for the unsullied inde
pendence of his judicial career, the fortitude
and energy with which he maintained the dignity
of the court, and the fearless manner in which
he struggled, even with the crown, for the inde
pendency of the judges, cannot but extort our
unqualified approbation. His integrity was never
impeached ; no suitor ever complained of his
delaying justice ; he was never even suspected
of bribery ; he left the courts unattended by any
accusations of that kind. His crimes, if they
were crimes, were committed against the high
and mighty of the land — against those who made
him Chief Justice, and who had the power to
unmake him. The tears of the widow, the exe
crations of the impoverished orphan, were not
the requiem of Coke's judicial career. His
charges to the juries, forming our estimate from
the few which have been reported, were not
remarkable for their elegance, but they abound
in sound legal lore. That he made few mistakes
as a judge, is proved by the silence of his ene
mies. He was, probably, generally correct in
his law ; not very eloquent ; and, occasionally, too
little refined in his expressions. His temper was
never of the very best, and we have no right to
conclude that it improved when he no longer

SIR EDWARD COKE. 215
practised before his superiors in rank. He was
in fact irritable and domineering.
He was made a sergeant on the twentieth of
June, 1606, preparatory to his being elevated to
the chief justiceship of the Common Pleas. This
formal promotion proceeded merely from the
rule, that all judges shall be previously sergeants;
for, in former days, the office of sergeant was
not deemed worth the expenses which attended
the assumption of the coif*
In his case, the appointment was made with
great haste, and the ceremony of investiture was
not delayed for the preservation of the usual
formalitiesf . The forms attending the writ of a
sergeant's appointment is thus given by Judge
DyerL At the stated day, the sergeant elect,
with the benchers, readers, and others of the
inn of court to which he belongs, the warden of
the Fleet, and others, appear before the two
chief justices, and all the justices of the courts
of King's Bench and Common Pleas, who choose
to attend at Sergeant's Inn, where the Chief
Justice of the King's Bench addresses him, and
he then shortly opens a fictitious case, and to
* Pari. Rot. 5 Henry V. Cotton. Abb. 558. 2 Inst. 214.
t Croke, vol. 3, p. 3. 4.
+ Reports, 72 a, 10 Rep. Preface.

216 THE LIFE OF
this a defence is made by an ancient sergeant.
The writ of appointment being previously pre
pared, is then delivered to him ; his coif of white
silk and a scarlet hood put upon him ; and being
further arrayed in a gown, parti-coloured, of
blue and brown, the ceremony is ended.
Afterwards, still attended by the benchers, &c.
of his inn, he proceeds to Westminster Hall,
into the Court of Common Pleas, where his plea,
the defence to it, and his writ, being all read, he
delivers a mottoed gold ring to each of the
judges, and takes his seat. He afterwards
gives an entertainment to the law officers, his
friends, &c. at Sergeant's Inn.*
In the time of Fortescue, the feast lasted
seven days, and cost at least four hundred marks.
and the gold rings for the judges fifty pounds.
It was then ordered that no sergeant was to put
off his coif, even in the King's presence ; and
also, that none but sergeants should plead in the
Court of Common Pleas. This, however, has
been altered by a recent regulationf.
The oath of a sergeant binds him well and
truly to serve the King's people, as one of the
sergeants of the law, — that he will truly counsel,
* Croke, vol. 3. p. 3, 4.
+ Fortescue dc Laud. Leg. p. 50.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 217
and not delay causes, but will give due attend
ance, &c*
On the rings given by Coke were inscribed,
" Lex est tutissima cassis" — The law is the safest
helmet ; — a motto which has been thought very
well to apply to his future fortunes.
This custom of giving rings is of very old
standing. Chancellor Fortescue, who wrote
about 1465, tells us, that all sergeants, at their
appointment, " shall give rings of gold to the
value of forty pounds at the least, and your
Chancellor wTell remembereth, that at the time
he received this state and degree, the rings
which he then gave stood him in fifty pounds. "f
He also mentions to which officers of state these
rings were given, and their regulated value,
namely twenty-six shillings for every duke,
lord chancellor, or archbishop present at the
solemnity. These were the most valuable rings,
others of less value were to be allotted to the
judges, &c. ; lastly, barons of Parliament, abbots,
&c, were to receive rings of the value of a
mark. Dugdale gives us an account of the sergeant's
feast in 1555, and of the charges of one Nicholas
* Coke's 2nd Institute, p. 214.
t Laud. Leg. c. 59.

218 THE LIFE OF
Deering, their goldsmith, who contracted to
supply them with rings. At this feast, the rings
made for the King and Queen, Philip and Mary,
cost each three pounds eight shillings and
eight-pence, " besides fashion." The judges were
careful, it seems, to have the rings of full value,
for when the seventeen sergeants were made in the
Michaelmas Term of 1669, the rings which they
presented were found by the judges to be want
ing in weight. In consequence, Chief Justice
Keyling, the first time Sergeant Powis came into
court, told him, " that he had something to say
to him. viz. that the rings which he and the
rest of the sergeants had given, weighed but
eighteen shillings each, whereas they ought to
have weighed twenty shillings a-piece ; and that
he spoke thus, not expecting a recompense, but
that it might not be drawn into a precedent, and
that the young gentlemen there might take
notice of it."*
Judge Croke thus describes the ceremony of
inducting Coke into his office of Chief Justice
of the Court of Common Pleas.
" He was sworn in Chancery as sergeant, and
afterwards went presently into the Treasury of
the Common Bench (Pleas), and there, by Pop-
* Modern Reports, vol. i, p. 9.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 219
ham, Chief Justice, his party robes were put on,
and he forthwith, the same day, was brought to
the bar as sergeant, and presently after, his writ
read and count pleaded, he was created Chief
Justice, and sate the same day, and afterwards
rose, and put off his partie robes, and put on
his robes as a judge, and the second day after
he went to Westminster, with all the Society of
the Inner Temple attending upon him."*
Upon the promotion of Coke to the Common
Pleas, Sir Henry Hobart succeeded him as Attor
ney-general, and the great Francis Bacon fol
lowed Hobart in the Solicitor's place.
It was the misfortune of Coke, that through
all his lengthened career, Bacon was his most
unceasing, as well as his most gifted rival. It
has already been noticed, that Bacon had long
before this time endeavoured to obtain the Soli
citor generalship ; but Coke had supplanted him,
and Bacon, naturally enough, felthighly indignant.
This indignation was not of a transient nature.
Time did not seem to allay it ; for, after some
years, judging by a curious letter still extant,
his sense of the injuries he had received seemed
as acute as ever.
This letter was addressed to Sir Edward Coke,
* Croke Jac. 125,

220 THE LIFE OF
and although without a date, was evidently
written about the period that Coke was elevated
to the bench.
" Mr. Attorney, — I thought it best, once for
all, to let you know in plainness what I find of
you, and what you shall find of me. You take
to yourself a liberty to disgrace and disable my
law, my experience, my discretion. What it
pleaseth you, I pray, think of me ; I am one
that knows both my own wants and other men's,
and it may be, perchance, that mine mend while
others stand at a stay.
" And surely, I may not endure in public to
be wronged, without repelling the same to the
best advantage, to right myself.
" You are great, and therefore have the more
enviers, which would be glad to have you paid
at another's cost.
" Since the time I missed the Solicitor's place
(the rather I think by your means), I cannot
expect that you and I shall ever serve as Attor
ney and Solicitor-general together ; but either to
serve with another, upon your remove, or to
step into some other course, so as I am more
free than ever I was from any occasion of un
worthy conforming myself to you, more than
general good manners, or your particular good

SIR EDWARD COKE. 221
usage shall provoke ; and if you had not been
short-sighted in your own fortune (as I think)
you might have had use of me ; but that side is
passed. " I write not this to shew my friends what a
brave letter I have written to Mr. Attorney. I
have none of those humours ; but that I have
written, is to a good end, that is, to a more
decent carriage of my master's service, and to
our particular better understanding one of ano
ther. " This letter, if it shall be answered by you,
in deed, and not in word, I suppose it will not
be worse for us both ; else it is but a few lines
lost, which, for a much smaller matter, I would
have adventured.
" So this being to yourself, I, for my part,
rest, &c."*
1 can find no traces of any reply to this
curious, half angry, half conciliatory letter. It
is clearly the language of a man afraid of his
opponent, yet deprecating the existence of such
fear, whilst he wished to intimate a willingness
to hold out the right hand of friendship. Of a
conciliatory feeling in Coke towards Bacon, I
* Bacon's Works, vol. iv, p. 570.

222 THE LIFE OF
can find few or no traces. He seemed to have
an ill opinion of his legal knowledge, and
had an equally mean estimate of his philosophy,
of which last branch of knowledge, however,
he was totally unqualified to be a judge.
The judicial conduct of Coke was, from the
first, excellent ; ever perfectly upright, and fear
lessly independent, although he lived in days
when the judges held their places merely at
the pleasure of the crown, and were, almost as
a matter of course, expected to be high prero
gative lawyers.
He had but just acquired promotion, when
the Lords of the Council having called the
judges before them, to answer for their decision
in the case of Marmaduke Langdale,* Coke
said to them, on behalf of his brethren,
" We do hope, that where the judges of this
realm have been more often called before your
Lordships, than in former times they have been,
which is much observed, and gives much em
boldening to the vulgar, that, after this day, we
shall not so often, upon such complaints, your
Lordships being truly informed of our proceed
ings, hereafter be called before you."

12 Reports, 50.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 223
It had long been the custom of the court to
consult the judges upon causes, which were
afterwards to be submitted to their decision. To
this practice, at once illegal and disgraceful,
Coke declined to accede.
He was first consulted on the 20th of Sep
tember, 1610, by the law officers of the crown,
upon the power of the King to issue proclama
tions which should have the same force of law,
as an act of Parliament. The result cannot be
better given than in his own words."*
" I was sent for to attend the Lord Chancel
lor (Lord Ellesmere), Lord Treasurer, Lord
Privy Seal, and the Chancellor of the Duchy
of Lancaster, the Attorney and Solicitor-Gene
ral, and the Recorder.
" Two questions were then put to me by the
Lord Treasurer. The one, ' If the King, by his
proclamation, may forbid new buildings, in and
about London,' &c. The other, ' If the King
may prohibit the making of starch from wheat.'
And the Lord Treasurer said, these were pre
ferred to the King as grievances by the House
of Commons, as against the law and justice.
And the King hath answered, that he will confer
with his Privy Council and his judges, and then
* 12 Reports, 74.

224 THE LIFE OF
he will do right to them. To which I answered,
first, that these questions were of great import
ance, and secondly, that they concerned the
answer of the King to the body, viz. to the
commons of the House of Parliament ; thirdly,
that I did not hear of these questions until this
morning, at nine of the clock ; for the griev
ances were preferred and the answers made
while I wras on my circuit ; and, lastly, that both
the proclamations which were now shewed were
promulgated in the fifth year of the present
King, after my time of being attorney-general;
and for these reasons I did humbly desire them,
that I might have conference with my brethren
the judges, about the answer of the King, and
then to make an advised answer, according to
law and reason.
" To which the Lord Chancellor said, that
every precedent must have first a commence
ment, and that he would advise the judges to
maintain the power and prerogative of the King,
and in cases in which there is no authority and
precedent, to leave it to the King to order it
according to his wisdom and the good of his
subjects, for otherwise the King would be no
more than the Duke of Venice ; and that the
King was so much restrained in his prerogative,
that it is to be feared, that the bonds would be

SIR EDWARD COKE. 225
broken ; and the Lord Privy Seal said, that the
physician was not always bound to a precedent,
but to apply his remedy according to the quality
of the disease ; and all concluded it should be
necessary at that time to confirm the King's pre
rogative with our opinions, although that there
were not any former precedent or atuhority in
law, for every precedent ought to have a com
mencement. " To which I answered, that true it is that
every precedent hath a commencement, but
where authority and precedent are wanting,
there is need of great consideration before any
anything of novelty is established, and to pro
vide that this be not against the law of the land ;
for, I said, the King cannot change any part of
the common law, nor create any offence by his
proclamation, which was not an offence before,
without Parliament ; but at this time I only
desire to have a time for consideration and con
ference with my brothers, for deliberandum est
diu quod statuendum est semel. To which the
solicitor said, that divers sentences were given
in the Star Chamber, upon the proclamation
against the building, and that I myself had
given sentence in divers cases against the said
proclamation ; to which I answered, that prece
dents were to be seen, and consideration to be
VOL. i. Q

226 THE LIFE OF
had of this upon conference with my brethren
for that ' melius est recurrere quam male currere,'
(better it is to recede than to persevere in evil).
And that the indictment includes ' contra leges et
statuta;' but I never heard an indictment to con
clude ' contra regium proclamationem.' And at
last, my motion was allowed ; and the Lords ap
pointed the two Chief Justices, Chief Baron, and
Baron Altham, to have consideration of it."
The report of these great judges gave no sa
tisfaction to the court. The Lords of the Council
seem to have anticipated, in some degree, their
decision, by the pains some of them took to warn
them of the necessity of deciding in favour of
the King's prerogative.
In Michaelmas Term, 1611, Coke behaved
with great firmness with regard to the Court of
High Commission, of which he and his brother
judges, without their consent, were nominated
members. This Court originated from an Act
of Parliament, in the reign of Elizabeth;* by
which, on the abolition of all spiritual foreign
jurisdictions in England, the King was em
powered to appoint certain clerical and lay com
missioners, to examine, punish, and reform, any
spiritual or ecclesiastical errors, heresies, and
* 1 Eliz. c. 1, sec. 16.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 227
schisms, which they might discover throughout
the kingdom.
The legislature conferred no extraordinary
powers on these commissioners. No person
was to be convicted of heresy, unless by the
testimony of two credible witnesses, who were
to be brought face to face with the accused
party ; and they were not to adjudge anything
as heresy which is sanctioned by Scripture :
moreover, they were not authorized to summon
a witness ; the Act did not even empower them
to administer an oath.
Thus constituted, the High Court of Commis
sioners acted at first with great caution, mild
ness, and discretion ; confining their examina
tions and punishments entirely to heresies, and
other ecclesiastical cases. They gradually, how
ever, during the long reign of Elizabeth, began
to acquire power, and to interfere in cases of a
temporal nature, entirely foreign to their legal
jurisdiction ; their decrees became perfectly
arbitrary ; were not subject to the revision of
any superior court ; and finally, they became ex
ceedingly tyrannical and unpopular.
Sir Edward Coke regarded this court with
feelings of great jealousy. He saw that it more
and more infringed upon the right of the subject
to a trial by his equals, and that it interfered
q2

228 THE LIFE OF
in cases belonging exclusively to the courts at
Westminster. When, therefore, the court no
minated him, and some of his brother judges, to
be High Commissioners, he boldly and manfully
refused the disgrace of being concerned in this
arbitrary court, for reasons which he himself
gives us.*
" Upon Thursday in this Term, a High Com
mission in cases ecclesiastical, was published in
the great chamber of the Archbishop, in which
I, with the Chief Justice, Chief Baron, Justice
Williams, Justice Croke, Baron Altham, and
Baron Bromley, were named Commissioners ;
together with all the Lords of the Council, divers
Bishops, the Attorney and Solicitor (General),
and divers Deans and Doctors of the Canon and
Civil Law ; and I was commanded to sit, by
force of the said Commission ; which I refused
for these causes : —
' 1 . That I, nor any of my brethren of the
Common Pleas, were acquainted with the Com
mission, but the Judges of the King's Bench
were. " 2. That I did not know what was contained
in the new commission. And that no judge can
execute any commission with a good conscience,
* 12 Report, S7.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 229
without knowledge ; and that always the gravity
of the judges hath been to know their commis
sion ; for, tantum sibi est permissum, quantum com -
missum, and if the commission be against law,
they ought not to sit by virtue of it.
" 3. That there was not any necessity that
I should sit, who understand nothing of it, so
long as the other judges were there, the advice
of whom had been had, in the new commis
sion. " 4. That I have endeavoured to inform my
self of it, and have sent to the Rolls to have
a copy of it, but it was not enrolled.
" 5. None can sit by force of any commis
sion, until he have taken the oath of supremacy,
according to the statute of the 1st of Elizabeth.
" And for this, if they will read the commis
sion so that we may hear it, and have a copy to
advise upon it, then I will either sit or show
cause to the contrary.
" But the Lord Treasurer would, for divers
reasons, persuade me to sit ; which I utterly
denied. " And to this the Chief Justice, Chief Baron,
and some others of the judges, seemed to incline,
upon which the Lord Treasurer conferred, in
private, with the Archbishop Abbott, who said
to him, that he had appointed divers causes of

230 THE LIFE OF
heresy, incest, and enormous crimes, to be heard
upon this day, and for that reason he would pro
ceed ; but at the last, he was content that the com
mission should be solemnly read, and so it was,
and it filled three great skins of parchment,
and contained divers points against the laws and
statutes of England. And when this was read,
all the judges rejoiced that they did not sit
by force of it ; and then the Lords of the Coun
cil, viz. the Archbishop, the Lord Treasurer,
the Lord Privy Seal, the Lord Admiral, the Lord
Chamberlain, the Earl of Shrewsbury, the Earl
of Worcester, with the Bishops, took the oath
of supremacy and allegiance ; and then w7e, as
commissioners, were required to take the oath,
which I refused until I had considered of it.
But as the subjects of the King I and the
judges also took the oath of supremacy and
allegiance. " Then the Lord Archbishop made an oration
in commendation of the care and providence of
the King, for the peace and quiet of the church ;
also he commended the commissioners ; also the
necessity of the commission to proceed summa
rily in these days, wherein sins of detestable
nature, and factions and schisms did abound,
and protested he should proceed sincerely by
force of it : and then he caused to be called, a

SIR EDWARD COKE. 231
most blasphemous heretic, and after him another,
who was brought thither by his appointment to
show, to the Lords and the auditory, the neces
sity of that commission.
" And afterwards the Archbishop came to the
Chief Justice and to me, and promised us that
we should have a copy of the commission, and
then we should observe the diversity between
the old commission and this.
" And all the time the long commission was
reading, the oath taking, and the oration made,
I stood, and would not sit as I was required by
the Archbishop and the Lords, and so by my
example did all the rest of the Judges.
" And the Archbishop said, that the King
had commanded him to sit by virtue of this new
commission, in some open place, and at certain
days ; and for that cause he had appointed the
great chamber at Lambeth in winter, and the Hall
in the summer, and every Thursday in the Term
time, at two of the clock in the afternoon ; and
in the forenoon he would have a sermon for the
better informing of the commissioners of their
duty in the true and sincere execution of their
office." This periodical address of Archbishop Ab
bott was evidently proposed in the true spirit of
Christianity, being in his eyes the most charit-

232 THE LIFE OF
able mode of reconciling the High Court of
Commissioners and the Courts of Westminster,
with whom, in the two previous terms, it had
been strongly at variance. The courts came into
contact in Easter Term, concerning the case of
Sir William Chancey.* The High Court of
Commissioners had committed him to the cus
tody of the warden of the Fleet prison, at the
suit of his lady " for adultery, and for expelling
her his company ; and for cohabitation with
another woman, without allowing his wife any
competent maintenance." Sir William, by habeas
corpus, was brought into the Court of Common
Picas, by the gaoler.
As the high commissioners had no power to
commit their prisoner, the court at first were
inclined to discharge him out of custody, but
they afterwards resolved to set him free on bail,
until the next term.
This bold and fearless proceeding evidently
annoyed the King ; he therefore resolved to bring
the twelve judges and the high commissioners
to a conference, and, in consequence, as Coke
informs us, " upon Thursday before the term of
Holy Trinity, all the justices of England, where
was also Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, and
* 12 Report, 82.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 233
with him two bishops and divers civilians, where
the Archbishop did complain of prohibitions to
the high commissioners out of the Common
Pleas, and the delivery of prisoners committed
by them by habeas corpus, and principally of Sir
William Chancey, where I defended our pro
ceedings." This he did at great length, learnedly and un
answerably, to the great mortification of the
court, who, perceiving that the judges of the
Court of Common Pleas were the life and soul
of the opposition, determined to summon the
judges of each court, and examine them sepa
rately. " Afterwards," continues Coke, " in this very
term the Privy Council sent for the justices of
the Common Pleas only, and there the reasons
and causes of the said resolution were largely
debated, and opposition was made, as much as
might be, by Egerton, Lord Chancellor.
" But the Justices of the Common Pleas
remained constant in their former opinion.
" And afterwards the Council sent for the
Chief Justice of the King's Bench (Fleming),
and Justices Williams and Cook ; Tanfield, Chief
Baron, Snig, Altham, and Bromley, who were
not acquainted with the reasons and causes of
the rule of the Common Pleas, neither did they

234 THE LIFE OF
know for what cause they came before the
Council, and yet, after hearing the Lord Chan
cellor affirm, that the high commissioners have
always, by the act of the first of Elizabeth, im
posed fines and imprisonment for exorbitant
crimes (without any conference with us) , were of
sudden opinion with us, without any conference
among themselves, and without hearing the
matter debated.
" And after, at another day this very term,
the said Judges of the King's Bench, Barons of
the Exchequer, and Justices Fenner and Yelver
ton, who were omitted before, and are the Jus
tices of the Common Pleas, were commanded to
attend the Privy Council, when we of the Com
mon Pleas were commanded to retire, for that,
as the Lord Treasurer said, we had contested
with the King, and, in our absence, the King
and the Prince sat with the Council, and then
the Justices of the King's Bench and the Barons
of the Exchequer were seriatim with the Council,
and the King demanded their opinions in certain
points concerning the High Commission, with
which they were not acquainted before, which
were not related to us.
" In all which it appears they were not unani
mously agreed, and after two hours and a half,
we, the Justices of the Common Pleas, Coke,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 235
Walmsley, Warberton, and Foster, were com
manded to come before the King, the Prince,
and the Council, when the King declared, that
by the advice of the Council, and by the advice
of the Justices of the King's Bench and the
Barons of the Exchequer, he will reform the
High Commission in divers points, and reduce
it to certain spiritual causes.
" And the Lord Treasurer said, that the prin
cipal feather was plucked from the High Com
missioners, and nothing but stumps remaining,
and that then they should not meddle with
matters of importance, but withpettit crimes."*
It is most probable that the King, seeing the
decided, fearless opinion of the Judges of the
Court of Common Pleas, with regard to the
illegality of this High Court of Ecclesiastical
Commissioners, made no farther attempts to
induce Sir Edward Coke to sit in it as a judge ;
for I have not met with any farther notice of
such an endeavour.
This obnoxious court gradually became more
unpopular, until, by the act of the 16th of
Charles the First, it was finally abolished; being,
as the second section declares, a court by which
* The power of this court is examined at great length by
Sir Edward Coke, 4 Institute, c. 74.

236 THE LIFE OF
the King's subjects sustained " great and insuf
ferable wrongs and oppressions." James the
Second unsuccessfully proposed to rerive this
court. The attempt was one of the many causes
which finally hurled him from his throne.
In several minor instances, Sir Edward Coke
shewed his love of the supremacy of the law, in
cases where his judgments gave little satisfaction
to the ruling powers. This did not, for certain
court reasons, prevent, at first, his promotion ;
for on the death of Chief Justice Fleming, Coke
was, on the twenty-fifth of October, 1613, made
Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench, or,
as it was usually called, Chief Justice of Eng
land. On the fourth of the following No
vember, he was sworn of his Majesty's Privy
Council. His old rival. Bacon, then Solicitor-General,
did not let him attain these honours unopposed.
On the death of Fleming, he addressed the King
a letter, in which he strongly recommends his
Majesty to elevate the attorney -general, Hobart,
to the place, and thus make room for the vacant
attorneyship.* Bacon, however, speedily came
to another opinion ; for, in the next page of his
works, and following the letter in which he had
* Bacon's Works, vol. vi, p. 72.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 237
thus advised the King, there is a curious paper,
entitled, ' ' Reasons why it should be exceedingly
much for his Majesty's service to remove the
Lord Coke from the place he now holdeth (Chief
Justice of the Common Pleas) to be Chief Jus
tice of England, and the Attorney (Sir Henry
Hobart) to succeed him, and the Solicitor (Sir
Francis Bacon) the Attorney."
In recommendation of this arrangement, many
urgent reasons were adduced.
" First, it will strengthen the King's causes
greatly, among the judges, for both my Lord
Coke will think himself near a privy-counsel
lor's place, and thereupon turn obsequious, and
the attorney-general, a new man, and a grave
person, in a judge's place, will come in well to
the other, and hold him hard to it, not without
emulation between them, who shall please the
King best.
" Secondly, the Attorney-general (Hobart ap
pointed July 4, 1606) sorteth not so well with
his present place, being a man timid and scru
pulous, both in Parliament and in other business,
and, in a word, one that was made fit for the late
Lord Treasurer's bent*, which was to do little
with much formality and protestation ; whereas
* Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury.

238 THE LIFE OF
the now Solicitor-general (Bacon), going more
roundly to work, and being of a quicker and
mere earnest temper, and more effected in that
he dealeth in, is like to recover that strength to
the King's prerogative, which it hath had in
times past, and which is due to it.
" And for that purpose, there must be brought
in to be Solicitor, some man of courage and
speech, and a grounded lawyer ; which done, his
Majesty will speedily find a marvellous change
in his business.
" For it is to no purpose for the judges to
stand well disposed, except the King's counsel,
which is the active And moving part, put the
judges well to it ; for in a weapon, what is a
back without an edge ?
" Thirdly, the King shall continue, and add
reputation to, the Attorney's and Solicitor's
place, by this orderly advancement of them,
which two places are the champion's places for
his right and prerogative, and being stripped of
their rights, expectations, and successions to
great places, will wax vile, and then his Majes
ty's prerogative goeth dowm the wind.
" Besides, the removal of my Lord Coke to a
place of less profit, though it be with his will,
yet will it be thought, abroad, a kind of dis
cipline to him, for opposing himself in the King's

SIR EDWARD COKE. 239
causes, the example whereof will contain others
in more awe."
Such were the reasons offered, to induce King
James to make Coke Chief Justice of the Court
of King's Bench. His abilities, his industry, his
profound legal knowledge, were hardly dwelt
upon. They were, it appears, a secondary con
sideration. The great object, the only ques
tion debated was, would it make him more of a
prerogative lawyer than before ?
The experiment was certainly tried, but its
failure was complete. Coke, amid all his obliga
tions to the Court, did not! lose his independ
ence, or forget his duty to his country. Lord
Bacon, in his Apothegms, 98, tells an anecdote
which shows, that Coke himself thought, that for
this promotion, he was indebted to the manage
ment of his rival. We must not forget that it is
Bacon who is the historian.
" When Sir Francis Bacon was made the
King's Attorney, Sir Edward Coke was put up
from being Lord Chief Justice of the Common
Pleas to be Lord Chief Justice of the King's
Bench, which is a place of greater honour, but
of less profit, and withal was made Privy Coun
cillor. " After a few days, the Lord Coke, meeting
with the King's Attorney, said to him, ' Mr.

240 THE LIFE OF
Attorney, this is all your doing ; it is you that
have made this stir." Mr. Attorney answered :
' Ah, my Lord, your Lordship all this while
hath grown in breadth ; you must needs now
grow in height, or else you would be a mons
ter.' "
Coke was hardly seated in the Court of King's
Bench, when, in the Case of Peacham, he again
appeared in opposition to the law officers of the
crown. The infamous trial of Edmund Peacham, the
unfortunate Somersetshire clergyman, occurred
in 1614. In this, Coke's conduct appeared to
great advantage, when compared with that of
the Court of James I. The prosecution of this
person, its conduct, its conclusion, attach in
delible disgrace to the age which saw a pedant
King of England and the great Lord Bacon his
attorney-general. Edmund Peacham was a minister of the es
tablished church, in the county of Somerset.
In a search among his papers, the officers of the
crown found in his study a sermon never preached
— never perhaps, intended to be preached.*
This sermon, the court construed to amount
to high treason ; although there was a consider-
* Croke Car. 125,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 241
able difference of opinion among the judges on
the point. Its nature will be seen from the copy
of the questions put to Peacham, in the Tower ;
and to obtain answers, they scrupled not to
torture, though ineffectually, this venerable old
man, then more than sixty years of age. Bacon
drew up the interrogatories ; and they will be
found in the fifth volume of his Works, p. 336,
entitled as follows :
" Interrogatories upon which Peacham is to
be examined. —
" 1. Who procured you, moved you, or ad
vised you to put in writing these traitorous
slanders, which you have set down against his
Majesty's government, or any of them ?
" 2. Who gave you any advertisement, or
intelligence, touching these particulars which
are contained in your writings, as touching the
sale of the crown lands, the deceit of the King's
officers, the greatness of the King's gifts, his
keeping divided courts, and the rest ; and who
hath conferred with you, or discoursed with you
concerning these points ?
" 3. Whom have you made privy and ac
quainted with the said writings, or any part of
them ? And who hath been your helpers or con
federates therein ?
" 4. What use meant you to make of the
VOL I. R

242 THE LIFE OF
said writings ? Was it by preaching them in
sermon, or by publishing them in treatise ? If
in sermon, at what time, and in what place,
meant you to have preached them ? If by trea
tise, to whom did you intend to dedicate, or ex
hibit, or deliver such treatise ?
" 5. What was the reason, and to what end
did you first set down in scattered papers, and
after knit up in form of a treatise or sermon,
such a mass of treasonable slanders against the
King, his posterity, and the whole state ?
" 6. What moved you to write, the King
might be stricken with death on the sudden, or
within eight days, as Ananias or Nabal ? Do
you know of any conspiracy or danger to his
person, or have you heard of any such at
tempt ?
" 7. You have confessed that these things
were applied to the King, and that after the
example of preachers and chroniclers, kings' in
firmities are to be laid open ; this sheweth
plainly your use must be to publish them : show
to whom and in what manner ?
" 8. What was the true time when you wrote
the said writings, or any part of them? and
what was the last time you looked upon them,
or perused them before they were found or
taken ?
" 9. What moved you to make doubt whether

SIR EDWARD COKE. 243
the people will rise against the King for taxes or
oppressions ? Do you know, or have you heard
of any likelihood or purpose of any tumults or
commotions ?
10. What moved you to write, that getting
of the crown land again would cost blood, and
bring men to say : ' This is the heir, let us kil
him V Do you know, or have you heard, of any
conspiracy or danger to the Prince, for doubt of
calling back the crown lands ?
" 11. What moved you to prove that all the
King's officers might be put to the sword ? Do
you know, or have you heard, if any petition
is intended to be made against the King's coun
cil and officers, or any rising of people against
them? " 12. What moved you to say in your writing
that our King, before his coming to the kingdom,
promised mercy and judgment, but we find
neither? What promise do you mean of, and
wherein hath the King broken the same pro
mise ? "
To the copy of these questions, at once illegal
and arbitrary, is appended, in the hand-writing
of Secretary Winwood, the following conclusion
— at once laconic and appalling : —
r 2

244 THE LIFE OF
" Upon these Interrogatories, Peacham this
day was examined before torture — in torture —
between torture, and after torture. Notwith
standing, nothing could be drawn from him, he
still persisting in his obstinate and insensible
denials, and former answers."
To this paper, which is dated the 19th of
January, 1614, is annexed the signatures of
Bacon, Winwood, H. Montague, Yelverton, and
four others.
Peacham remained in the Tower of London
until the beginning of July 1615, when he was
sent down for trial, at Taunton Assizes. Pre
viously, however, on the 10th of March 1614, he
was again examined by his inquisitors, with the
same ill-success as before. Bacon remarked, in
a letter to the King, written two days after
wards : —
" I send your Majesty enclosed a copy of our
last examination of Peacham, taken the tenth of
this present, whereby your Majesty may perceive
that this miscreant wretch goeth back from all,
and denieth his hand and all.
" No doubt, being fully of belief that he shall
go presently down to his trial, he meant now to
repeat his part, which he proposed to play in the
country, which was to deny all."

SIR EDWARD COKE. 245
Poor Peacham was tried, according to a MS.
letter of Mr. Chamberlain, given in the sixth
volume of Bacon's Works, p. 79, on the 7th of
August 1615. " He defended himself very sim
ply, but obstinately, and doggedly enough. But
his offence w7as so foul and scandalous that he
was condemned of high treason ; yet not hitherto
executed, nor perhaps shall be if he have the
grace to submit himself, and show some re
morse." He survived, it appears, only a few months
after his conviction, dying in Taunton jail, in
March 1616; where, according to the same au
thority, he " left behind him a most wicked and
desperate writing, worse than that he was con
victed for."
The government of that day were evidently
conscious that the case of Peacham was misera
bly weak. They had many doubts if the paper
really amounted to treason ; and they found it
necessary to proceed with caution. Bacon un
dertook to ascertain, during the progress of
the examinations, the private opinion of the
judges ; — but here he found many objections
started, especially on the part of Coke, who
saw the iniquity of a judge advising on a case
he might, perhaps, himself have to try.
The progress of this consultation, and the

246 THE LIFE OF
difficulties of the attempt, may be seen from
Bacon's letters to the King. On the 31st of
January 1614, he told his master: *
" For Peacham's case, I have since my last
letter been with my Lord Coke twice ; once
before Mr. Secretary's going down to your
Majesty, and once since, which was yesterday,
at the former of wdiich times I delivered him
Peacham's papers ; and at this latter, the prece
dents, which I had with care gathered and se
lected. " At the former, I told him that he knew my
errand, which stood upon two points, the one to
inform him of the particular case of Peacham's
treasons, for I never give it other word to him ;
the other, to receive his opinion to myself, and
in secret, according to my commission from his
Majesty. " At the former time, he fell upon the same
allegation which he had begun at the council
table, that judges were not to give opinions by
fractions, but entirely according to the vote,
whereupon they should settle upon conference ;
and that this auricular taking of opinions, single
and apart, was new and dangerous, and other
words more vehement than I repeat.
* Bacon's Works, vol. 6, p. 3;S.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 247
" I replied, in civil and plain terms, that I
wished his Lordship, in my love to him, to
think better of it : for that this — that his Lord
ship was pleased to put into great words — seemed
to me and my fellows, when we spake of it
among ourselves, a reasonable and familiar mat
ter for a King to consult with his judges, either
assembled or selected, or one by one.
" And then, to give him a little outlet to save
his first opinion, wherewith he is most commonly
in love, I added, that judges sometimes might
make a suit to be spared for their opinion, till
they had spoken with their brethren ; but if the
King, upon his own princely judgment, for
reason of state, should think it fit to have it
otherwise and should so demand it, there was
no declining ; nay, that it touched upon a viola
tion of their oaths, which was to counsel the
King, without distinction, wmether it were jointly
or severally.
" Thereupon, I put him the case of the privy
council, as if your Majesty should be pleased to
command any of them to deliver their opinion
apart and in private ; whether it were a good
answer to deny it, otherwise than if it were pro
pounded at the table.
" To this he said, the cases were not alike,
because this concerned life.

248 THE LIFE OF
" To which I replied, that questions of state
might concern thousands of lives, and many
things more precious than the life of a particu
lar person ; as war, and peace, and the like.
" To conclude, his Lordship, tanquam exitum
quesrens, desired me for the time to leave with
him the papers, without pressing him to consent
to deliver a private opinion till he had perused
them. " I said I would ; and the more wdllingly, be
cause I thought his Lordship, upon due con
sideration of the papers, would find the case to
be so clear a case of treason, as he would make
no difficulty to deliver his opinion in private.
And so I was persuaded of the rest of the judges
of the King's Bench, wdio likewise, as I partly
understood, made no scruple to deliver their own
opinion in private ; whereunto he said, which
I noted well, that his brethren were wise men,
and that they might make a show as if they
would give an opinion as was required, but the
end would be, that it would come to this — they
would say they doubted of it and so pray advice
with the rest.
" But to this I answered, that I was sorry to
hear him say so much, lest if it come to pass,
some that loved him not, might make a con
struction, that that which he had foretold he had
wrought.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 249
" The latter meeting is yet of more import
ance ; for then coming armed with divers prece
dents, I thought to set in with the best strength
I could, and said, that before I descended to the
record, I would break the case to him thus ; that
it was true we were to proceed upon the ancient
statute of King Edward the Third, because other
temporary statutes were gone, and therefore it
must be said in the indictment, " Imaginatus est
et compassavit mortem et finalem destructionem
Domini Regis ;' then must the particular trea
sons follow in this manner, namely, ' Et quod
ad perimplendum nefandum propositum suum
composuit et conscripsit quendam detestabilum
et venenosum libellum, sive scriptum in quo
inter alia proditoria continetur,' etc.
And then the principal passages of treason,
taken forth of the papers, are to be entered in
hcsc verba, and with a conclusion in the end,
' Ad intentionem quod ligeus populus et veri
subditi Domini Regis cordialem suum amorem
a Domino Rege retraherent, et ipsum diminum
regem relinquerent, et guerram et insurrectio-
nem, contra eum levarent etfacerent,' etc.
" I have in this form followed the ancient
style of the indictments for brevity's sake, though,
when we come to the business itself, we shall

250 THE LIFE OF
enlarge it, according to the use of the later
times. " This I represented to him, being a thing he
is well acquainted with, that he might perceive
the platform of that was intended, without any
mistaking or obscurity.
" But then I fell into the matter itself to lock
him in as much as I could, namely
" That there be four means or manners,
whereby the death of the King is compassed
and imagined.
" The first by some particular fact or plot.
" The second by disabling his title; as by
affirming that he is not lawful king ; or that
another ought to be king, or that he is an
usurper, or a bastard, or the like.
" The third by subjecting his title to the
Pope ; and thereby making him of an absolute
king, a conditional one.
" The fourth by disabling his regiment, and
making him. appear to be incapable or indign to
reign. " These things I relate to your Majesty in
sum, as is fit ; which, when I opened to my
Lord, I did insist a little more upon, with more
efficacy, and edge, and authority of law, and
record than I can now express.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 251
" Then I pleaded Peacham's treason within
the last division, agreeable to divers precedents
whereof I had the records ready, and concluded
that your Majesty's safety, and life, and autho
rity was thus by law ensconsed and quartered ;
and that it was in vain to fortify on three of the
sides, and so leave you open on the fourth.
"It is true he heard me in a grave fashion,
more than accustomed, and took a pen and took
notes of my divisions, and when we read the
precedents and records, would say, this you
mean falleth within your first or second division.
In the end, I expressly demanded his opinion as
that whereto both he and I where enjoined, but
he desired me to leave the precedents with him,
that he might advise upon them. I told him
the rest of my fellows would dispatch their part,
and I should be behind with mine, which I per
suaded myself your Majesty would impute rather
to his backwardness than my negligence. He
said, as soon as I should understand that the
rest were ready, he would not be long after with
his opinion."
On the 10th of February following, Bacon
again, when writing to the King, adverted to the
case of Peacham.
" For-Peacham's, the rest of my fellows are
ready to make their report to your Majesty at

252 THE LIFE OF
such time and in such manner as your Majesty
shall require it.
" Myself yesterday took the Lord Coke aside,
after the rest were gone, and told him all the
rest were ready, and I was now to require his
Lordship's opinion according to my commission.
He said I should have it, and repeated that twice
or thrice, as thinking he had gone too far in
that kind of negative, to deliver any opinion
apart before, and said he would tell it me within
a very short time, though he were not that
instant ready."
Three days after this, Coke delivered his opi
nion to Bacon in writing, which the Attorney-
general immediately forwarded to the King.
In this, however, he evidently disappointed
Bacon. The written opinion of Coke little
suited the purpose of the government. Bacon
indirectly confesses this, when he told his
Master, February 14, 1614:*
" I send your Majesty enclosed my Lord
Coke's answers. I will not call them rescripts,
much less oracles.
" They are of his own hand, and offered to
me as they are in writing, though I am glad of
it for my own discharge. I thought it my duty,
* 5 Bacon's Works, 353.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 253
as soon as I received them, instantly to send
them to your Majesty, and forbear for the pre
sent to speak farther of them."
Such was the termination of this miserable
case. Coke evidently saw it in its true colours ;
the charge and evidence were equally trumpery,
and of this Bacon was fully aware. Yet no
means were left untried to ensure the convic
tion of an aged country clergyman whose abilities
do not appear to have been above mediocrity,
whose habitation was in an obscure village, and
whose means were equally confined.
Against this person, however, all the energies
of the government were employed. Crown law
yers examined, privy councillors tortured him ;
all the judges of the land prejudged him, except
Sir Edward Coke — who nobly stood aloof from
his dastardly brother judges ; and even the King
wrote a long paper on the case, with his own
hand.* King James, in this paper, argued the case
against poor Peacham as zealously as an old
Bailey advocate ; and with much farcical gravity
he tells us, but not without great horror, that
Peacham kept not these papers in a secret and
* 5 Bacon's Works, 357- Sir David Dalrymple's Memo
rials, p. 86.

254 THE LrFE OF
safe facon (manner) , but in an open house and
lidless cask !"
That farther he had the hardihood to confess,
" that in the end he meant to preach it ! !" But
though he professed, he intended " first to have
taken all the bitterness out of it," yet, in his
royal eyes, such an excuse was absurd, " for
there is no other stuff in or through it all but
bitterness, which being taken out, it must be a
quintessence of an alchimy-spirit without a
body." " And then, to what end would he have
published such a ghost or shadow without sub
stance ? cui bono ? and to what end did he so farce
(stuff) it first with venom, only to scrape it out
again?" The King very sagely adds, "It had
been hard making that sermon to have tasted
well that was once so spiced."
The contemplation of the bare possibility of
Peacham being found not guilty by his jury,
overwhelmed the King with a fearful agony.
The case in his eyes was of transcendent impor
tance to the crown and empire at large. " But
if judges will needs trust better the bare nega
tive of an infamous delinquent"  ¦" caring
more for' the safety of such a monster, than the
preservation of a crown in all ages following,
whereupon depend the lives of many millions ;
happy, then are all desperate and seditious

SIR EDWARD COKE. 255
knaves, but the fortune of the crown is more
than miserable — QuodDeus avertat !"
On the 23rd of June 1614, the University of
Cambridge elected Coke their high steward, an
appointment which reflected equal credit upon
Coke, and the university of which he was a
member.* Whether in those days high stewards went
through the ceremony of an installation — or if
they did, of the proceedings at that of Coke —
I have no account. He paid little attention to
this description of ceremony ; for we have seen
that when he was made Chief Justice of the Com
mon Pleas, he managed to escape the trouble
and pantomime then practised.
* The following Copy of the Grace for his election I am
enabled to give through the favour of Dr. Wordsworth,
Master of Trinity College. (Nov. 17, 1835.)
Conceditur 23d June 1614. Cum seneschalli munus per
spontaneam cessionem honoratissimi domini domini Thomae
Howard, Com. Suffolcise Cancellarii vestri nuper electi vacum.
sit. Placet vobis ut honormus vir dominus Edvardus Cooke
Miles supremus Anglise Justiciarius & Reg. Mag. a consiliis
sanctioribus suffragiis vestris dictum officium sub Uteris vestris
patentibus habeat, &c. &c.

256 THE LIFE OF

CHAPTER VII.
1614—1616.
Benevolences — Coke contributes to them — Presides at the
trial of the murderers of Overbury — Weston — Ann Turner
—Sir John Elvis— Sir Robert Monson — The Earl and
Countess of Somerset — Roger Coke's account of the detec
tion of the plot — King James' fears — The plots which
attended him — Coke's address — The declining health of the
Lord Chancellor — Bacon intrigues to be his successor —
Contest between the Courts of King's Bench and Chancery
— Coke consulted by the King.
Although openly and fearlessly opposing
himself to the court of James, when it at
tempted to exercise an undue and overbearing
interference with the judges, yet Coke was never
backward in contributing to the exigences of the
state, or the wants of the King. Thus, in 1614,
he gave two thousand pounds as his portion of a
" benevolence " to the crown, and it appears that
the alacrity and liberality with which he con-

SIR EDWARD COKE. 257
tributed, were very distinguishable from the con
duct of the other judges, who paid their con
tributions very unwillingly.*
Never were taxes more burlesqued by their
name, than these vexatious and obnoxious bene
volences, or forced gifts, which of necessity fell
heavy upon the open hearted and the generous,
but left almost untouched the sordid and the
mean. These " benevolences" originated in the
reign of Edward IV ; but speedily becoming un
popular, they were formally abandoned by
Richard Ill.f Being, however, often resumed,
they were at length abolished by an act of
Charles II, to whom they were granted for the last
time, with the express provision, that this grant
should not be regarded as a precedent : " These
benevolences being often extorted without a
free and voluntary consent."]: " Benevolences"
were, in fact, as misnamed as the French " beds
of justice," which were well described by a lively
Frenchman, as places were justice sleeps.
From this period, until 1615, when Coke pre
sided at the trial of the Overbury murderers, he
was occupied in the peaceful and dignified dis-
* Nicholl's Progresses of James I, vol. 3, p. 7.
t Stowe's Chronicles.
I 13 Charles II, 64.
VOL. I. S

258 the life of
charge of his duties. This murder is one of the
black stains upon the reign of James which
time will never efface. I shall not lead the reader
through the filthy details of these trials. Wes
ton, the Earl of Somerset's agent, was tried on
the 19th of October 1615, at the Guildhall in
London. He was condemned for administering
poison to Overbury, and was executed at Ty
burn. On the 7th of November following, Mrs. Ann
Turner was tried for aiding and abetting Weston
in the murder. Turner was the agent of the
Countess of Somerset ; — the abandoned servant
of a profligate mistress. Coke here suffered his
feelings to carry him far beyond the bounds of
decency, when he told her, that " she had the
seven deadly sins ; for she was a whore, a
bawd, a sorcerer, a witch, a Papist, a felon, and
a murderer."* Unfortunate indeed was the con
dition of any poor deserted female, who in
those days was charged with either sorcery or
witchcraft : her doom was sealed. It is revolt
ing to read of such ferocious ignorance falling
from the lips of a Chief Justice of England, even
in a case so bad as that of Ann Turner ; one in
which there was no doubt of the murderer's
* State Trials, vol. 1, p. 324.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 259
guilt, for she, as well as Weston, confessed
upon the scaffold the justice of their sentence.
Sir John Elvis, governor of the Tower, was
tried and condemned on the 1 6th of November
for participating in the same crime. His
execution speedily followed. However atrocious
may have been the conduct of the prisoners,
however clear their guilt, the government so
managed the trials, as to render the whole pro
ceeding full of mystery, real or affected — mys
tery which all posterior researches have failed
to clear away. Of the whole band of conspira
tors, the case of Sir William Monson seemed
the most inexplicable. He wTas arraigned before
Sir Edward Coke, on the 4th of December 1615,
and pleaded not guilty ; at the same time, de
siring the presence of Sir Robert Cotton, then
Lord Treasurer, who, according to Monson's
professions, had the power of proving his inno
cence. Cotton did not come : he sent, however, a
letter, which Coke read to the court, in which
he said : " I have heard that Sir Thomas Mon
son thinks I can clear him ; but I know nothing
of him, to accuse or excuse him ; but I hope he
is not guilty of so foul a crime."
" You hear," said Coke after reading this
s2

260 THE LIFE OF
letter, " you hear he will neither accuse nor ex
cuse you."
" I do not," replied Monson, " accuse my
Lord Treasurer — but I desire to have an answer
to my two questions."
" You shall hear more of that when the time
serveth," rejoined Coke, who eventually stopped
the proceedings with this remarkable speech : —
" I see a great assembly in this court, and,
although it has been often shown to you, yet it
cannot be said too often, how much the city is
bound to God, and to the King his deputy on
earth, and my master, for their great deliverance
and exact justice. God is always just ; and for
the King, though they were ever so high in
place, or so dear to him, though his own crea
tures, yet his justice is dearer to him, for which
we are upon our knees to give him thanks, and
also for so mild a proceeding in so great an
affair ; for, neither the great man's house in the
Tower, nor his lady's house, (meaning those of
the Earl and Countess of Essex), nor the pri
soner's house, (to my knowledge) have been
searched ; neither hath this prisoner been com
mitted to the custody of the sheriff, but to an
alderman, a man who of all others might be
most kind to him (Alderman Anderson, a con-

SIR EDWARD COKE. 261
nection of Monson's). I never knew the like fa
vour, nor do I like it so well, but do declare it as
a gentle proceeding from the King. For other
things, I dare not discover secrets, but although
there was no house searched, yet such letters
were produced, which make our deliverance as
great as any that happened to the children of
Israel."* In the same trial, Coke was reported to have
let fall some other mysterious observations, still
more perplexing, which served to raise vague
reports, and suspicions, of the death of Prince
Henry by poison. It was said that the Chief
Justice had intimated that Overbury was con
cerned in this crime,f an<i lnat he was poisoned
by way of punishment for this and other mis
deeds. Monson was not again brought to trial,
but was speedily liberated ; — and Coke was even
rebuked for being too rapid and zealous in his
proceedings. If the conduct of King James, in this melan
choly transaction, was free from reproach — if he
acted throughout as an innocent spectator of
the trials of Overbury's murderers — his ill for-

* State Trials, vol. 1, 330.
t Prince Henry, the son of James I, died the year before
Overbury was murdered.

262 THE LIFE OF
tune and bad management were equally deplora
ble. He certainly succeeded in mystifying what
ought to have been clear and public, and ma
naged to involve his own honour in suspicion.
The chief criminals in the murder, the Earl and
Countess of Somerset, were the last tried. It is
perhaps impossible in England's annals to pro
duce a female character more thoroughly de
graded than that of Frances Countess of Somerset ;
who, when she was tried and condemned on the
24th of May, 1616, was the disgraced, divorced
wife of Lord Essex ; had murdered Overbury,
because he opposed her marriage with Somerset,
had led a life of the most unblushing profligacy ;
and yet was not twenty-six years of age. So
merset, her husband, was a far less detestable
character. He had been long the King's fa
vourite, but had no claims to the respect of
his country. His countess pleaded guilty, but
Somerset stood his trial, and was readily con
demned ; and it is certain both were equally
guilty. King James, by an eager desire to in
duce him to plead guilty, by threats and inuen-
does, managed to rouse a suspicion, that even
these two profligates were mere tools in the
hands of the crown. Their pardon still farther
confirmed the public suspicion, and made many
persons believe, that Weston, and the other

SIR EDWARD COKE. 263
agents of the Somersets, were sacrificed to save
the lives of far greater criminals.* Time has
not cleared up the difficulties which enshroud
the case ; no additional information has been
elicited, no facts have been produced, no hidden
papers discovered, to implicate or exonerate any
other persons ; and the suspicions and vague
surmises of the historians of the age have there
fore supplied imperfectly the want of authentic
information. Roger Coke, the grandson of Sir
Edward, gives some curious particulars of the
apprehension of the favourite, Somerset, which
I will give in his own words :f —
" Sir Thomas Overbury's murder had been
about twenty months concealed, when, about the
middle of the month of August (1615), the
matter was brought to light, but the manner
was variously reported.
" Some said, that Sir Thomas Overbury's
servant gave notice of it to Sir Edward Coke ;
others, that my Lord of Canterbury had got
* The Earl and Countess of Somerset, being pardoned by
the King, were released from the Tower in January, 1621. The
Countess died in obscurity, August 23, 1632, leaving a daugh
ter Ann, who married Lord William Russell, afterwards Duke
of Bedford. Somerset died in July, 1645.
* " A Detection of the Court and State of England," p, 82.
Roger Coke is not, as regards dates, a very accurate historian.

264 THE LIFE OF
knowledge of it, and made it known to Sir Ralph
Winwood, one of the secretaries of state, and
that, by searching in a certain place, he should
find a trunk, wherein were certain papers, which
would disclose the whole business, which Sir
Ralph did, and found it so.
" The King at that time was gone to hunt at
Royston, and Somerset with him ; and, when the -
King had been there about a week, he designed
the next day to proceed to Newmarket, and
Somerset to return to London ; when Sir Ralph
Winwood came to Royston, and acquainted the
King with what he had discovered about Sir
Thomas Overbury's murder. The King was
surprised herewith, and posted away a messenger
to Sir Edward Coke, to apprehend the Earl. I
speak this with confidence, because I had it
from one of Sir Edward Coke's sons.
" Sir Edward Coke lay then at the Temple,
and measured out his time at regular hours, two
whereof were, to go to bed at nine o'clock, and
rise again at three. At this time Sir Edward's
son and some others were in Sir Edward's lodg
ings, but not in bed, when the messenger, about
one in the morning, knocked at the door, where
the son saw and knew him ; says he, I come
from the King, and must immediately speak
with your father.' ' If you come from ten kings,'

SIR EDWARD COKE. 265
he answered, ' you shall not ; for I know my
father's disposition to be such, that if he be dis
turbed in his sleep, he will not be fit for any
business ; but if you will do as we do, you shall
be welcome, and about two hours hence my
father will rise, and you may then do as you
please,' to which he assented.
" At three, Sir Edward Coke rang a little
bell, to give notice to his servant to come to him;
and then the messenger went to him, and gave
him the King's letter, and Sir Edward immedi
ately made a warrant to apprehend Somerset,
and sent to the King that he would wait upon
him that day. The messenger went back post
to Royston, and arrived there about ten o'clock
in the morning ; the King had a loathsome way
of lolling his arms about his favourite's necks,
and kissing them ; and in this posture the mes
senger found the King with Somerset, saying,
' When shall I see thee again ?' — Somerset then
designing for London — when he was arrested by
Sir Edward Coke's warrant. Somerset exclaim
ed, that never such an affront was offered to a
peer of England in the presence of the King.
' Nay, man,' said the King, ' if Coke send for
me, I must go,' and when he was gone, ' Now
the devil go with thee,' said the King, ' for I
will never see thv face more.'

266 THE LIFE OF
" About three in the afternoon, the Chief
Justice came to Royston, and so soon as he had
seen the King, the King told him that he was
acquainted with the most wicked murder by
Somerset and his wife upon Sir Thomas Over
bury, that was ever perpetrated, and that they
had made him a pimp to carry on their lewdness
and murder, and therefore commanded the Chief
Justice, with all the scrutiny possible, to search
into the bottom of the conspiracy, and to spare
no man, how great soever, concluding, ' God's
curse be upon you and your's, if you spare any
of them, and God's curse be upon me and mine
if I pardon any of them.' "
That Somerset was in possession of some im
portant secret, that the King dreaded he would
divulge, is very apparent. Every endeavour was
made to induce him and the Countess to plead
guilty ; every assurance was offered that their
lives would be spared if they comphed with the
King's wish.
Until the Earl's trial was over, the King was
full of anxiety. Somerset was repeatedly warned
not to accuse or " tax" the King.
There is in Bacon's works* a copy of a paper
indorsed, " Memorials touching the course to be
* Vol. vi, p. 96.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 267
had in my Lord of Somerset's arraignment/"
which betrays the King's fears.
" It were good, after he is come into the hall,
so that he may perceive he must go to trial, and
shall be retired into the place appointed till the
court call for him. Then the lieutenant should
tell him roundly, that if in his speeches he shall
tax the King, that the justice of England is,
that he shall be taken away, and that the evi
dence shall go on without him, and then all the
people will cry, away with him, and then it shall
not be in the King's will to save his life, the
people will be so set on fire."
Whatever was the nature or importance of
these secrets, Sir Edward Coke had evidently
no knowledge of them. He laboured industri
ously to discover every thing that related to this
dark affair. Bacon tells us, in a copy of an
intended speech, " Sir Edward Coke, a person
best practised in legal examinations, took a great
deal of indefatigable pains in it, without inter
mission ; having, as I have heard him say, taken
three hundred examinations in this business."
Yet it is evident that Coke had some suspicion,
for he acted with great caution. Bacon adds,
" It is true that my Lord Chief Justice, in the
dawning and opening of the light, finding that

268 THE LIFE OF
the matter touched upon these great persons,
very discreetly became suitor to the King to
have greater persons than his own rank joined
with him ; whereupon your Lordship, my Lord
High Steward (the Lord Ellesmere), to whom
the King commonly resorteth in arduis, and my
Lord Steward of the King's house, and my Lord
Zouch, were joined with him."*
With the trial of Overbury's murderers, ceased
the long- continued adventures of James the
First, in plots and mysterious conspiracies.
His family misfortunes began at a very early
age. A dark plot attended him in his very cradle;
for the murder of his father, Darnley, made him
King of Scotland when he was hardly twelve
* During the trial of these murderers, it appeared, that
when plotting the murder, the Countess of Somerset and Mrs.
Turner were used to consult a certain conjurer of Lambeth,
Dr. Foreman, who is thus described by Sir A. Weldon, in his
" Court of James the First," p. 1 10. — "A very silly fellow,
yet had wit enough to cheat ladies and other women, by pre
tending skill in telling their fortunes, as whether they should
bury their husbands, and what second husband they should
have, &c.  But before he would tell any thing, they must
write their names in his Alphabetical Book, with their own
handwriting. I well remember, there was much mirth
made in court, upon the shewing this book, for it was reported,
that the first leaf my Lord Coke lighted upon, he found his
own wife's name."

SIR EDWARD COKE. 269
months old ; a murder, too, in which his mother
has been supposed to have participated.
He was barely fourteen years of age when he
adopted for his favourites, Lennox and Arran,
the latter the worst of profligates. He was not
twenty when, by the public voice, both these
favourites were banished from Scotland ; and he
w*as not quite of age when his mother, Mary
Queen of Scots, was beheaded at Fotheringay.
The following year occurred the conspiracy,
known in Scottish history as the Raid of Ruth-
ven ; in which, being decoyed to Ruthven Castle,
James fell into the hands of the confederated
nobles, who were resolved, at all hazards, to get
him out of the power of his minions.
His behaviour, in this day of trial, was worthy
of an overgrowTn school-boy ; he expostulated,
threatened, and finally blubbered like a child.
The contempt with which the successful con
spirators regarded their King, is easily discerni
ble from the fierce exclamation of the tutor of
Glamis : ' ' No matter — better children weep than
bearded men."
Twelve years after the Raid of Ruthven, oc
curred the yet unexplained Gowrie conspiracy.
Again, when hunting, James was decoyed away
from his attendants by two amiable and accom
plished brothers, the Lords Ruthven, the eldest

270 THE LIFE OF
being Earl of Gowrie. Time has not rendered
the romance of that day more explicable. James
himself published an account of it, full of im
probabilities, which few believe. The story, in
all its details, is truly characteristic. The silly
tale employed to draw the King to Gowrie's
house at Perth ; the easy manner in which, after
dinner, James was led away from his companions
through one or two rooms, and some long pas
sages, into the Earl's study; and there, in
stead of a criminal ready to be examined, his
finding a man in complete armour ; the conse
quent fright of James ; his inquiry of Ruthven, if
that was the prisoner, and Ruthven's reply,
after snatching a dagger from the man, " Re
member how unjustly my father suffered by
your command ; you are now my prisoner, sub
mit to my disposal without resistance or outcry,
or this dagger shall instantly avenge his blood ;"
the attempt to bind the King's hands, and the
scuffle which ensued in the endeavour-; the oath
taken by the King, not to make any noise while
Ruthven departed to send away the King's
attendants, and the omission of any attempt to
kill him ; — his final success in informing his
friends from the window, as they were departing,
of his danger, and the contest which ensued,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 271
ending in his rescue, and the death of the two
Ruthvens ; all this completes a story which never
could have happened in any other country but
Scotland, and not in that gallant country to
any king except James I.
Such was the Gowrie conspiracy which termi
nated, in his thirty-fourth year, the mystic
Scotch adventures of James I. A fresh series,
however, awaited him on his arrival, three years
afterwards, in England.
On the very year of his accession, the still
disputed plot of Raleigh, Grey, and Cobham,
afforded him the first specimen of the entertain
ment he was likely to meet with in England.
Two years afterwards, he narrowly escaped
destruction by the gunpowder conspirators ; an
escape which is still annually commemorated in
England ; as the 5th of August was long, in
Scotland, a day of rejoicing at his escape from
the plot of Gowrie.
Prince Henry, his eldest son, died in 1612,
with some suspicion of being poisoned ; and the
next year Overbury's murder, and the dark plot
by which it was managed, concluded the tragic
adventures in the horrible and mysterious,
which haunted the King thus far in life.
James came of a family with whom misfortune
was hereditary ; and his posterity succeeded in

272 THE LIFE OF
preserving this characteristic of his house. His
son, Charles I, died on the scaffold ; and his
grandson, James, lost the crown of England and
Scotland. Ill fortune may account for much ;
but the series is too continued to be all thus
derived ; and after making every allowance
for fortune's persevering frowns, it must be con
ceded that James, and others of the house of
Stuart, had few claims to our pity ; for their
reverses generally sprang from their own vices
or follies ; and although I am little inclined to
adopt the dark suspicions of contemporary his
torians, there can be little doubt that in the
case of James I, his meagre talents, and still
more slender virtues, did not redeem his ma
nifold defects and vices.
The prosecution of Overbury's murderers na
turally excited, at that time, much warm discus
sion ; many were the rumours and whisperings of
the public. The court was evidently annoyed at
them, and vigilant to detect their propagators ;
therefore, the King readily took advantage of
some indiscreet words of Sir John Hollis, Sir
John Wentworth, and Mr. Lumsden, to pro
secute them, in the Court of Star Chamber, for
traducing the public justice. These gentlemen
were all the friends of Somerset, and had thus

SIR EDWARD COKE.

273

zealously but indiscreetly acted, from an impres
sion of the Earl's innocence.*
In this trial, Bacon, as Attorney-General, con
ducted the prosecution. Sir Edward Coke, as
one of the Chief Judges, delivered the opinion
of the court.
The prisoners, having thought fit to impugn
the opinion of Coke, in his conduct of the
trial of Overbury's murderers, Bacon in his
opening address took occasion to say, speaking
of a paper for the King delivered by Lumsden,
" in which writing he doth falsify and pervert
all that was done on the first day at the arraign
ment of Weston, turning the pike and point of
his imputations principally upon my Lord Chief
Justice of England, whose name (thus occurring)
I cannot pass by ; and yet I cannot skill to
flatter, but this I will say of him, and I would
say as much to after ages if I should write a
story, that never man's person and his place
were better met in business than my Lord Coke,
and my Lord Chief Justice, in the cause of
Overbury." The prisoners defended themselves very mo
destly and eloquently. They had, no doubt, been
indiscreet, but their crime was of a very mild
* State Trials, vol 1, p. 32 2.
VOL. I. T

274 THE LIFE OF
nature, even in those high prerogative days.
They were speedily declared guilty ; principally
of delivering a petition to the King, and of ask
ing Weston, at the place of his execution, some
questions as to the justice of his sentence.
Upon this, Coke delivered the sentence of the
court. I will give his speech, pretty much at
length, since it is a fair specimen of his few
judicial addresses which have been preserved.
" He would say of this business, and his deal
ing therein, as Abimelech said of himself:
' Thou knowest, Lord, what I have done in
simplicity of heart, and cleanness of hands,' and
therefore would boldly affirm, that there were
none brought into question of this great business
of poison, but such as in his soul and conscience
were apparently guilty.
" He had found some records of poisoning,
which he would show, as namely, in the trea
sury, 31st Edward III ; for the King had two
treasuries, — the one of records, the other of gold
and silver : where a woman committed adultery,
and afterwards poisoned her husband.
" And in the 21st of Edward I. — Solomon de
Rock was poisoned by a monk, who afterwards
prayed to be delivered over to the censure of the
Church ; but this favour he wTas denied, since
it is a wrong done to the State to poison a
judge.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 275
" And it is to be observed, that in the first
case, that poison and adultery went together ;
and in the second case, poison and popery.
" From the time of Edward III down to the
22nd of Henry VIII (which was a long period) ,
no mention is made in our Records of poisoning
any man ; then, however, a statute was made
that those who did poison anybody, should be
boiled to death, and were first to be put into the
water at the feet.
" In this business I will tell no news, but
I am not yet at the root. God forbid that those
kind of offences should be unsearched and un
punished, wheresoever they are found.
" There are divers sorts of poisoning, by some
of which a man shall die a month, or a quarter
of a year afterwards, ut sic se sentiat mori, and
yet shall not know in what manner he is poi
soned ; thus, one Squire, a priest, should have
killed Queen Elizabeth by poisoning her saddle.
" This kind of poisoning came first from
popery. " In the case of the murderer Weston, he
would not confess the crime because the indict
ment was, that he poisoned Sir Thomas Overbury
with arsenic, rosaker, and mercury sublimate ;
whereas, indeed, it was not known what poison
killed him.
t 2

276 THE LIFE OF
" In this case, the poor man conceived a
scruple, that if we did not know with which of
the poisons Overbury was killed, that he was
not guilty of the offence laid in the indictment ;
and he therefore said he was not guilty of the
offence. ' ' Now, ut obstruator est iniqui, that the mouth
of the wicked man may be fully stopped, after
that it was fully resolved unto him, that the
manner of killing laid in the indictment, was not
the point of the indictment, but the matter of
killing — as if the indictment be that a man was
killed by a sword, whereas indeed he was killed
with a dagger, yet the party is guilty, because
the killing of a man is the point of the indict
ment — then he confessed the fact.
" And for this, gentlemen, Mr. Lumsden, a
Scottish gentleman, of a nation that he loved
well (and to his Majesty, both Scotch and Eng
lish were equally dear, Scoti fy Angli nulla dis-
crimine fyc —
" He that infuseth into his Majesty's ears the
least falsehood concerning his judges is like him
that infuseth never so little copper into coin :
they both commit a kind of treason. And a
little to divert from this business— you, Mr.
Lumsden, were a pander to the Earl of Somerset,
and were his favourer in deed, but his follower in
evil.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 277
" Affiictio dat intellectum — let your affliction
now give you sense, and a feeling of your sins —
your service of a pander is apparently to be
shown you by a letter under my Lord of Somer
set's own hand, and your answer to it.
" Let it then enter your heart and soul to
assure yourself that there is now no safety, pro
tection, or assurance, but under a religious faith
in Jesus Christ ; and that Radix Justities est
pietas — the foundation and root of justice is
piety. " I confess I had a great suspicion out of
whose quiver the murder came first ; but because
I had no certain proofs ; I would never question
them. " This resolution of Weston's to be mute was
very great. When he was persuaded by the
Bishops of London and Ely to plead, he would
not, and after being promised, that if he would
speak he should have a Popish priest, he there
unto answered : ' have I refused the Godly per
suasions of the Bishops of London and Ely, and
shall I answer to a Popish priest ? '
" And for your professions, Mr. Lumsden,
that you will not be an accuser, this is a con
temptuous answer, for this is not to be an ac
cuser, being examined of another to discover
him ; but your refusal in this kind to answer, is

278 THE LIFE OF
a manifest contempt, and for the like offence a
great lady of the land lieth now in the Tower,
and that only for refusing to answer when ex
amined. " As for Sir John Hollis, his fault of question
ing and counselling is very great, the same being
made after a verdict.
" Sir John said, that it hath been a custom to
ask questions at those times, and that he did
usually go to executions.
" For my own part, I say that ever since
I was a scholar, and had read those verses of
Ovid, Et lupus et vulpes instant morientibus —
Et quaecunque minor nobilitate fera est*
I did never like it, and therefore I marvel much
at the custom of Sir John.
" Sir John answers here at the bar, and saith
if anything be determined against him, he did
humbly submit himself thereto ; by which term
determining, he meant I think as if we did give
our censures by conspiracy.
" For my own part, I have talked with no
other, nor I think did any one of us speak with
another before we came here together.
* Trist. 3, 5.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 279
" Peradventure, he thinks as some have
thought, that all this business is but a con
spiracy against the Earl of Somerset.
" He saith he hath been, since the Prince's
death, but as a fish out of the water.
" I know not what he means by a fish out of
the water. I have heard that ' Clericus in op-
pido, tanquam piscis in arido,' a clerk in the
town is like a fish upon dry land. He is a
justice of the peace, a commissioner of oyer and
terminer, a man of fair hands, fifteen hundred
per annum at the least. This money is enough to
be a privy councillor ; and yet Sir John is like
a fish out of the water.
" I know he hath travelled many countries,
speaks many languages, hath seen many cus
toms, and knows much of foreign nations ; yet
a little knowledge of the common law of this
land, would have been better for him than all
these ; it would have kept him from asking ques
tions, and counselling in scandal of religion and
justice, two of the main pillars of the kingdom,
and that too in cold blood.
" Evidence is above eloquence, the party
himself acknowledged that he died justly, and
those that saw him, say he died penitently.
" To conclude, as it was sometimes said of
Rome, et ques tantafuit Romam tibi causa videndi.

280 THE LIFE OF
I might now very w7ell say of the going of Sir
John Hollis to Tyburn, with a little alteration of
the words. ' Et ques tanta fuit Tyburn tibi causa
videndi. '
" For the censure, I agree with that which had
been proposed, and the acknowledgment of Mr.
Lumsden should also be in the Court of Com
mon Pleas and the Exchequer, because the jus
tice of all courts may be wronged with slanderous
petitions. " I move that information may be made
against the other gentlemen, that were asking
such questions as these were, and that they
might receive their due punishment ; for if such
be not punished, these gentlemen will think that
they have wrong.
" I would wish gentlemen to take heed how
they fall into discourses of these businesses,
when they be at their chambers ; for in the pro
ceeding of these great businesses and affairs, if
a man speak irreverently of the justice thereof,
the bird that hath wings will reveal it."*
Coke then sentenced the prisoners to various
fines and imprisonments.
While these state trials were proceeding, the
great Chancellor Egerton was fast declining.
" State Trials, vol, i, p. 2.36.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 281
Bacon announced this melancholy truth in a
letter to the King on the 12th of February, 1615,*
in which he said, " Your worthy Chancellor, I
fear, goeth his last day. God hath hitherto
used to weed out such servants as grew not fit
for your Majesty ; but now he hath gathered to
himself one of the choicer plants, a true sage
or salvia out of the garden ; but your Majesty's
service must not be mortal."
Bacon then proceeded to apply for the place
for himself; advised the King not to confer the
office upon any of the judges, " Because the
Chancellor's place, after it went to the law, was
ever conferred upon some of the learned coun
sel, and never upon a judge ; for Audely was
raised from King's sergeant, my father from
Attorney of the Wards, Bromley from Solicitor,
Puckering from Queen's Serjeant, Egerton from
Master of the Rolls, having newly left the At
torney's place."
Bacon, notwithstanding, was rather fearful that
the King might think of either Sir Edward Coke
or Sir Henry Hobart, the Chief Justice of the
Common Pleas, to succeed to the high office ; he
therefore warned his Majesty, that if " you take
my Lord Coke, this will follow, first your
* Bacon's Works, vol. v. p. 371.

282 THE LIFE OF
Majesty shall put an overruling nature into an
overruling place, which may breed an extreme ;
next, you shall blunt his industries in matters of
finances, which seemeth to aim at another place ;
and lastly, popular men are no surd mounters
for your Majesty's saddle.
" If you take my Lord Hobart, you shall
have a judge at the upper end of your council
board, and another at the lower end, whereby
your Majesty shall find your prerogative pent ;
for though there should be emulation between
them, yet as legists they will agree in mag
nifying that wherein they are best. He is no
statesman, but an economist wholly for himself,
so your Majesty, more than an outward show,
will find little help from him in the business."
And lastly, Bacon thought it well to raise an
objection against the learned Dr. Abbot, Arch
bishop of Canterbury, receiving the appointment.
" If," he continued, "you take my Lord of
Canterbury, I will say no more, but the Chan
cellor's place requires a whole man, and to have
both jurisdictions spiritual and temporal, in that
height is fit but for a king."
The exertions of Bacon were finally success
ful. The Lord Chancellor Ellesmere, although
he rallied at that time, died in the following
year, and Bacon was appointed to succeed him.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 283
It was about this time that the dissensions
arose between the Courts of King's Bench and
Chancery, regarding the superior jurisdiction
claimed over the former by the latter, even to
the power of reversing its judgments — a power
which Coke strenuously opposed, and which,
after much strenuous discussion, was finally dis
posed of by an order from the King, July 14,
1616, in which he confirmed to the Court of
Chancery all the powers that it had before
claimed and exercised.*
While the dispute was carrying on — a dispute
which Coke managed on the part of his court
with great ability — Bacon wrote to the King,
giving him an account of the contest,f and what
he has so clearly narrated, it would be super
fluous to give in other words.
" It is necessary that I let your Majesty know
the ground of the difference between the two
courts, that your Majesty may the better under
stand the narration.
" There was a statute made the 27th Edw. Ill,
c. 1, which no doubt in the principal intention
thereof was ordained against those that sued to
Rome, wherein there are words, somewhat

* Appendix to Chancery Cases, vol. i, p. 26.
t Bacon's Works, vol. iv, p. 611.

284 THE LIFE OF
general, against any that questioneth or im-
peacheth any judgment given in the King's
courts, or in any other courts.
' ' Upon these doubtful words ; (other courts)
the controversy groweth.
" For the sounder interpretation taketh them
to be meant of those courts, which, though lo
cally, they were not held at Rome, or where the
Pope's chair was, but here within the realm, yet
in their jurisdiction had their dependence upon
the Court of Rome, as were the court of the
legate here, and the court of the archbishop and
bishop, which were there but subordinate judg
ment-seats to that high tribunal of Rome.
" And for this construction the opposition of
the words, if they be well observed, between the
King's courts and other courts, maketh very
much, for it importeth as if these other courts
were not the King's courts.
" Also the main scope of the statute, fortifi-
eth the same, and lastly, the practice of many
ages. " The other interpretation, which cleaveth to
the letter, expoundeth the King's courts to be
the courts of law only, and other courts to be
courts of equity, as the Chancery, Exchequer
Chamber, Dutchy, &c, though this also flieth,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 285
indeed, from the letter, for that all these are
the King's courts.
" There is also another statute, which is but
a simple prohibition, and not with the penalty of
a premunire (as the other is) , that after judg
ment given in the King's courts, the parties
shall be in peace, except the judgment be in
error or attaint, which is, in legal form, a re
versal. " And of this, also, I hold the sounder inter
pretation to be, to settle possessions against dis
turbances, and not to take away remedy in equity
where those judgments are obtained ex rigore
juris, and against good conscience.
" But upon these two statutes there hath been
a late conceit in some, that if a judgment pass at
the common law against any, that he may not
after sue for relief in Chancery, and if he doth,
both he and his council and his solicitors, yea,
and the judge in equity himself, are within the
danger of those statutes.
" Here your Majesty hath the true state of
the question, which I was necessarily to open
to you, first, because your Majesty calleth for
this relation not as news, but as business — now
to the historic part.
"It is the course of the King's Bench, that
they give in charge to a grand jury offences of

286 THE LIFE OF
all natures, to be presented within Middlesex,
where the said court is, and the manner is to
enumerate them, as it were, in articles.
" This was done by Justice Coke the Wed
nesday before the term ended, and that article
(if any man, after a judgment given had drawn
the said judgment to a new examination in any
other court) was by him especially given in
charge, which had not used to be given in charge
before. "It is true, that it was not solemnly dwelt
upon, but as it were thrown in among the rest.
" The last day of the term, and that which
all men condemn, the supposed last day of my
Lord Chancellor's life, there wrere two indict
ments preferred of premunire, for sueing in
Chancery after judgment in common law ; the
one by Richard Granville, the other by William
Allen; the former against Courtney, the party in
Chancery ; Gibb, the Chancellor, and Dewerst,
the clerk ; the latter against Alderman Bowles
and Humphry Smith, parties in Chancery ; Ser
geant More, the counsellor ; Elias Wood, soli
citor in the cause ; and Sir John Tindal, Master
in Chancery, and an Assessor to my Lord
Chancellor. " For the cases themselves, it were too long
to trouble your Majesty with them, but this I

SIR EDWARD COKE. 287
will say, that if they were set on, that preferred
them, they were the worst marksmen that ever
were that set them on."
" For there could not have been chosen two
such causes for the honour and advantage of the
Chancery, for the justness of the decrees, and
for the foulness and scandal both of fact and
person, in those that impeach the decrees.
" The grand jury, consisting, as it seemeth,
of very substantial and Intelligent persons ; would
not find the bills notwithstanding they were cla
moured by the parties and twice sent back by
the court ; and, in conclusion, resolutely, seven
teen of nineteen found an ignoramus, wherein I
think for that time, that ignoramus was wiser
than those who knew too much."
The case, which was the immediate cause of
bringing the courts into contact, was a trial in
the King's Bench, in which the defendant pre
vailed upon the chief witness for the plaintiff, to
absent himself on the trial, on condition of the
defendant agreeing to indemnify him from the
punishment of the court.
One of the defendant's agents readily under
took this, and, taking the witness to a tavern,
and calling for a pot of sack, left the room as
soon as the man had raised it to his mouth.
When the cause came on, and the witness

288 THE LIFE OF
was called, the court was informed that he could
not come, and the agent deposed "that he left him
in such a situation, that if he continued in it, but
for a quarter of an hour, he was a dead man."
The loss of this man's testimony was followed
by that of the cause.*
To be relieved from this verdict, application
was made to the Court of Chancery, and that
raised the question of the respective jurisdiction
of the two courts.
Coke bowed to the decision of the King in
this long-disputed case with great reluctance, and
evidently maintained his opinion to the last ; for
in his third institute, p. 125, he considers the
King's Privy Seal order as being " obtained by
the importunity of the then Lord Chancellor,
who was vehemently afraid."
In his time, up to the period of the King's
order in council, the Court of King's Bench de
cidedly opposed all interference with its judg
ments on the part of the Court of Chancery.
In the case of Heath v. Ridley,f they pro
ceeded to judgment in spite of an injunction
from the Court of Chancery ; and in another
case, that of Courtney v. Glanvil, they bailed

* Wilson's Life of James, p. 704.
f Croke, Jac. 335.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 289
and afterwards discharged, a person who had
been committed by the Chancery for disobedi
ence, the Chancery Court having interfered after
a judgment at law ;* and, in a third case, that
of the King v. Dr. Gouge,f Coke was equally
decided in his opinion, Judge Dodderidge ener
getically supporting him.
Sir Edward's Coke's view of the case was
sustained by numerous precedents. In the reign
of Edward the Fourth, Chief Justice Hussey
declared himself of the same opinion. { And it
was one of the charges urged by Sir Thomas
More, then Lord Chancellor, against Cardinal
Wolsey, that he had entertained causes in Chan
cery already decided by law.§
Four similar cases occurred in the reign of
Elizabeth, in the Chancellorship s of Sir Nicholas
Bacon, Sir Thomas Bromley, and Lord Ellesmere;
in the last case, all the judges concurring in
their decision in favour of the Court of King's
Bench. ||
Whatever, however, was the law previously to
* Croke, Jac. 343.
f Bulstrode, vol. iii, p. 115.
X 22 Edw. IV, 37.
§ Parliamentary Hist. vol. iii, p. 48. It was the twentieth
charge. II March's Reports, 183.
VOL. I. (J

290 THE LIFE OF
the decision of the great Lord Ellesmere, there
is no doubt of the power now possessed by the
Court of Chancery to reverse the proceedings of
a court of common law, although this right was,
long after the decision of King James, the sub
ject of very contradictory decisions.
Thus, soon after Coke's death, the Court of
King's Bench decided, that a court of equity
could not relieve, after a judgment at law ;* and
in 1555, the same decision was given in the case
of Morel v. Douglas.f And again, in 1558, the
same question was mooted, but not decided, j In
1668, the same point wTas raised ;§ also in King
v. WelbyJ in the times of Chief Justice Keyling
and Sir Matthew Hale ; and finally, in 1695,
Lord Chief Baron Atkyns published a work upon
the exorbitant powers exercised by the Court of
Chancery, which was the last attempt made to
withstand the powTer of that court's interference,
as well before judgment, as after: a power which
they have since uninterruptedly exercised.
It was during the progress of his controversy
with Chancellor Egerton, that Coke was directed
* Hardres' Reports, 23. f Ibid. 123.
X Kebble's Reports, vol. ii, p. 402, 661, 787. 1 Modern,
59- § Coke's Institute, 124.
|| Sir T. Raymond's Rep. 2?7.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 291
by the King to consult with his brother judges
on a question which had arisen, as to whether an
English subject murdering an Englishman in a
foreign country, could be punished for it by the
law of England.
It was on this case that on the 25th of Feb
ruary, 1617, he addressed the following letter to
the King, written in his usual elaborate style : —
" Most gracious Sovereign :
" I think it now my duty to inform your Ma
jesty of the motives that induced the Lord Chan
cellor and the judges to resolve that a murder, or
felony, committed by an Englishman upon ano
ther in a foreign country, shall be punished be
fore the Constable and Marshall of England.
" First, in the book case, in the 13th year of
King Henry the Fourth, in whose reign the sta
tute wras made, it is expressly said, one liegeman
was killed in Scotland by another liegeman, and
the wife of him that was killed did sue an appeal
of murder in the Constables Court of England."
" Stanford,*an author without exception, saith
thus :
" By the statute of Henry IV. cap. 14, if any
* Judge Stanford, born August 22, 1509, was of Gray's Inn.
In 1554, Justice of the Common Pleas. Died, August 28, 1558.
He is the most ancient writer on the Pleas of the Crown.
u 2

292 THE LIFE OF
subject kill another subject in a foreign king
dom, the wife of him that is slain may have an
appeal in England before the Constable and Mar
shall, which is a case in terminis terminantibus.
And when the wife, if the party slain have any,
shall have an appeal there ; if he hath no wife,
his next heir shall have it.
" If any fact be committed out of the king
dom, upon the high seas, the Lord Admiral shall
determine. If in a foreign kingdom, the cogni
zance belongeth to the Constable, where the ju
risdiction pertaineth to him.
" And these authorities being seen by Brom
ley, Chancellor, and the two chief Justices, they
clearly resolved the case, as before I have certi
fied your Majesty.
" I humbly desire I may be so happy as to
kiss your Majesty's hands, and to my exceeding
comfort to see your sacred person ; and I shall
ever rest your Majesty's most faithful and loyal
subject. "Edward Coke."

SIR EDWARD COKE. 293

CHAPTER VIII.
1616—1617.
The Case of Commendams — Bacon's letter to Sir Edward Coke
. — The letter of the Judges to the King — The Judges sum
moned before the King in council — The King's speech to
them — Coke's reply — The King's rejoinder — Bacon's opinion
— Coke's reply — The Chancellor puts a question to the
Judges, which Coke alone refuses to answer — Again sum
moned before the council — The report of the council to the
King — Coke again summoned before them — The sentence of
the Privy Council upon him — Desired to revise his reports —
Suspended from his office — Again appeared before the Privy
Council— Letter of Buckingham to Bacon — The King him
self enters into the examination of Coke's reports — Coke
again summoned before the Privy Council — The Chancellor's
reports to the King of the examination — The examination
suspended — Letter of Coke to Buckingham.
The question involving the clashing jurisdic
tions of the courts of law and equity had hardly
been settled, when the great case of Commen
dams occurred, in which Coke displayed all his

294 THE LIFE OF
wonted integrity, and uncompromising opposi
tion to the orders of mere sovereign power.
This great question arose from an argument
raised by Sergeant Chibborn, in the Court of
Common Pleas, when speaking in a private cause
against the policy of commendams in general.*
In his arguments he maintained that the trans
lation of bishops was against the common law,
and that, with regard to commendams, the King
had no power to grant them, except in cases of
necessity, for the keeping of hospitality, which
necessity could never happen, since no man was
obliged to keep hospitality beyond his means.
This erroneous, though bold line of argument,
was reported to the King by Dr. Bilson, Bishop
of Winchester, as being contrary to the King's
prerogative, and, in consequence, the Attorney
General, Bacon, informed the judges that it was
his Majesty's pleasure they should not proceed
to argue this case until they had first consulted
his Majesty, and for this purpose he held it ne
cessary that they should put off the day appointed
for the argument.
" It is the King's express pleasure," said
Bacon on the twenty-fifth of April 1616, when

* In Colt and Glover v. Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry.
Hobart's Rep. 193.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 295
addressing Sir Edward Coke, and the rest of the
judges, " that because his Majesty's time would
not serve to have conference with your lordships
and the judges, touching his cause of Commen
dams, at his last being in town, in regard of
his Majesty's other more weighty occasions,
and for that his Majesty holdeth it necessary
upon the report, which my Lord of Winchester,
who was present at the last argument by his
Majesty's royal commandments, made to his
Majesty, that his Majesty be first consulted with,
ere there be any farther proceeding by argument
by any of the judges, or otherwise ; therefore
that the day appointed for the further proceeding
by argument of the judges, in that case, be put
off till his Majesty's farther pleasure be known
upon consulting him, and to that end your lord
ship forthwith signify his commandment to the
rest of the judges, whereof your lordship may
not fail."*
But these reverend judges, upon consultation,
unanimously agreed not to be diverted from their
regular course by this royal mandate ; and, ac
cordingly, they proceeded to argue and determine
the cause, justifying what they had done in the
following noble letter to the King :
* Bacon's Works, vol. 6, p. 94.

296 THE LIFE OF
" Most dreaded and gracious Sovereign,
" It may please your most excellent Majesty
to be advertised that this letter, here inclosed,
was delivered unto me, your Chief Justice, on
Thursday last in the afternoon, by a servant of
your Majesty's Attorney-General ; and letters of
like effect were on the day following sent from
him by his servants to us, your Majesty's justices
of every the courts at Westminster.
" We are, and ever will be, with all faithful and
true hearts, according to our bounden duties, to
serve and obey your Majesty, and think our
selves most happy to spend our times and abili
ties to do your Majesty true and faithful service,
in this present case mentioned in this letter.
" What information hath been made out unto
you, whereon your Attorney doth ground his
letter, from the report of the Bishop of Winches
ter, we know not ; this we know, that the true
substance of the cause summarily is this, that it
consisteth principally upon the construction of
two acts of parliament, the one of the twenty-
fifth year of King Edward the Third, and the
other of the twenty-fifth year of King Henry
the Eighth, whereof your Majesty's Judges,
upon their oaths, and according to their
best knowledge and learning, are bound to deli-

SIR EDWARD COKE. 297
ver their true understanding faithfully and up
rightly ; and the case being between two for pri
vate interest, and inheritance earnestly called on
for justice and expedition.
" We hold it, therefore, our duty to inform
your Majesty, that our oath is in these express
words : that, in case any letter came unto us,
contrary to law, that we do nothing by such
letters, but certify your Majesty thereof, and go
forth to do the law, notwithstanding the same
letters. " We have advisedly considered of the said
letter of Mr. Attorney, and, with one consent, do
hold the same to be contrary to law, and such as
we could not yield to by our oaths, assuredly
persuading ourselves that your Majesty being
truly informed that it standeth not with your
royal and just pleasure to give way to them.
" And therefore knowing your Majesty's zeal
to justice to be most renowned, therefore we have,
according to our oaths and duties at the very
day prefixed, the last Term, proceeded and there
of certified your Majesty, and shall ever pray to
the Almighty for your Majesty, in all honour,
health, and happiness, long to reign over us.*"
To this firm and temperate address, signed by
* Act of Council, Bacon's Works, vol. 5, p. 424.

298 THE LIFE OF
Edward Coke, Henry Hobart, Laurence Tanfield,
and the nine Puisne Judges, the King replied by
a letter, in which he told them that the reason
they assigned with regard to their oaths were
very weak, and again desired them not to pro
ceed in the cause until his return to London.
When, soon afterwards, the King came to
town, the judges were summoned to his presence,
before the council table at Whitehall, June 6,
1616, where his Majesty, like a true Stuart,
entered at some length into the matters contained
in the judges' letter, declared that he approved
neither of its matter nor manner of expression ;
condemned them for their remissness in suffering
counsellors at the bar to deal in impertinent
discussions about his prerogative, and told
them they ought to have checked such sallies,
nor suffered such insolence upon the crown.
With regard to their own business, he thought
fit to acquaint them, that deferring their dis
cussions and hearings upon necessary reasons,
neither delayed nor denied justice : it was rather
a pause of necessary prudence, " as it was always
proper and adviseable to consult the King when
the crown is concerned ;" and farther, he told
them that it was wide of the case to say, that
it was a point of private contest between subject
and subject ; for the Bishop, who was defendant,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 299
pleaded for a commendam only in virtue of the
royal prerogative. Finally, the King asserted
that neither of the parties required expedition,
and told these learned and reverend judges, that
their letter to him was " couched indecently, and
failed in the form."
Upon this, they all kneeled, confessed them
selves in error, and solicited pardon. But with
regard to the facts of the case, -Coke manfully
stood his ground on behalf of his brethren,
contending that his Majesty's command for
staying the proceedings wTas a delay of justice,
against the law, and contrary to their oaths ;
moreover, that as they intended to manage the
proceedings, the King's prerogative would not
have been concerned.
The King told them, in reply, that for judges
of the law to pronounce whether his prerogative
was concerned or not, was very preposterous
management ; and his Majesty then required
Lord Ellesmere, the Chancellor, to declare whe
ther he, that is, the King, or the judges best
understood the law, and the oath of a judge.
Ellesmere had no anxiety to set his opinion
above that of the common law judges ; he there
fore referred the matter to the King's Counsel.
The Attorney-General, the great Bacon, had
no such diffidence to deter him in this case ; he

300 THE LIFE OF
declared boldly for the King's view of the ques
tion, and demanded of the judges "whether this
refusal of theirs to make a stay, was not nearer to
a breach of their oaths ? " for they were sworn
to counsel the King ; therefore, not to give him
counsel until the business was over, was in effect.
not to give it at all.
Coke knew that no counsel was justified in
holding this language to any judge of the courts
of Westminster ; he knew that the privy council
had no jurisdiction to stay any proceeding in the
court of King's Bench, and he therefore told
Bacon, that he had far exceeded his authority,
for it is the duty of counsel to plead before the
judges, and not against them.
Bacon replied with equal energy ; he told the
judges that the King's council were obliged by
their oaths, and by their offices, to plead, not only
against the greatest subjects, but against anybody
of subjects, were they courts, judges, or even
the commons assembled in parliament, and more
over, he considered, that by making this chal
lenge, the judges had highly outraged their cha
racter. Bacon then appealed to the King, with
whom Coke declined to contend.
The Chancellor having decided that the King
was right, the council then put the following
questions to the judges :

SIR EDWARD COKE. 301
" In a case were the King believed his prero
gative or interest concerned, and requires the
judges to attend him for their advice, whether in
such a case they ought not to stay proceed
ings till his Majesty had consulted them?"
All the judges immediately said, " Yes," ex
cept Coke, who told the council, " when the
case happened, he should do that which should
be fit for a judge to do."*
There can be but one opinion of the single-
handed courage of Coke in this transaction, or
of the iniquity of this examination. It was
equally disgraceful to Bacon, and to the pedant
his master ; for Bacon knew better things, and
should have scorned to lend himself to so dis
graceful an attack upon the judges of the land.
Bacon knew that every judge, by his oath,
promised to "deny no man common right," f
their very commissions directing them to do
justice according to the laws and customs of
England. He knew, too, that several judges before
his time had been fined for acting against the
law, even when supported by a warrant from the
King. The King's prerogative, therefore, could
not justify a judge for delaying justice, when
* Bacon's Works, vol. 5, p. 433.
f 18 Edward III, s- 4.

302 THE LIFE OF
the King's express warrant could not. The
judges were illegally summoned before the King,
sitting in his own cause ; for at worst, theirs was
but an error in judgment, a failure for which
they could not be punished,* even if they had
declared the King's prerogative void, or an act of
parliament against law. Coke had seven years
previously, in Dr. Bonham's case, declared that
they had the power, f and many years after
wards the great Lord Holt applauded him for
his decision. | A judge is not, even in the most
extreme case, accountable in matters of which
he has jurisdiction, for any mistakes or errors of
judgment. §
Unfortunately for the independence of the
judges of those days, they held their places at
the pleasure of the crown. They had to please
not only the King, but the King's favourites ;
and it was not until the passing of the act of the
first year of the reign of George the Third, that
they were rendered, by that King's noble recom
mendation, for ever independent of the frowns of
the court. By its enactments, they now hold
their places for life, and can only be removed

* Plowden, IS, A. 9- Coke 68. Carter 19.
t Reports, vol, 8. p. 1 18. J 12 Modern Reports, p. 987-
§ 1 Salkeld, S97.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 303
upon an address from both houses of parlia
ment. Coke was at the mercy of the court ; he had
no act of parliament to appeal to against the
demands of a favourite, or the injustice of the
King. Villiers, afterwards Duke of Buckingham,
the reigning favourite, was resolved upon his
removal. He was therefore again summoned
before the Privy Council on the 26th July, 1616.
The following letter from the council to the King
well explains the nature of the charges against
him, and the answers he made.*
" May it please your Majesty,
" The Lord Chief Justice presenting himself
at the Board, your Solicitor signifieth that he was
by your commandment to charge him for certain
acts and speeches wherein your Majesty was
much unsatisfied, which were in number three :
1 , an act done ; 2, speeches in high contempt
uttered in the seat of justice ; 3, uncomely and
undutiful carriage in the presence of your Ma
jesty, the Privy Council, and the judges.
" Concerning the first, which was the act, it
was done when he was in a place of trust, and
concealed a statute of twelve thousand pounds,
taken of Sir Christopher Hatton, to the use of
* M.S. of the Rev. T. Baker, Biog. Britt.

304 THE LIFE OF
Sir Edward Coke, when he was your Majesty's
Attorney General, not to pay a debt of good
value, due unto your Majesty, nor to accept of a
discharge for the same : and, for the better
strengthening of the statute, there was likewise
a bond taken of six thousand pounds with sure
ties to the same effect. So that Sir Christopher
Hatton lay charged under the penalty of eighteen
thousand pounds, not to pay the debt, nor agree
to any surrender, discharge, or release, and no
ways to assent thereto ; that this offence was
aggravated by the denial and protestation made
of late by the Lord Chief Justice, that he was
not privy to the condition of the defeazance,
whereas the statute was taken to himself by
indenture, whereof Sir Christopher Hatton's part
was found, but the other was not found.
" That he was privy to the penning of it, in
serted words with his own hands, and that Mr.
Walter and Mr. Bridgeman, his own counsel,
were witnesses thereunto.
" The second, words spoken in the King's
Bench, the last day of Hilary Term last, in a
case of Glanvil v. Allen, whereof the solicitor
made a narrative relation, and charged the Lord
Chief Justice to have given too much heart and
encouragement to that cause, and that he had
too constantly directed the jury, turning them

SIR EDWARD COKE. 305
thrice from the bar, that if they set their hand
to a bill after judgment, he would foreclose them
the court. And farther, in another cause the
same day, said that the common law of England
would be overthrown, and the light of the law
would be obscured. And that all this was con
firmed by good witnesses. The third and last
point, was his indecent behaviour before your
Majesty, your council, and your judges. And
that consisted of two points : first the exception
he took at your learned counsel in your presence,
for speaking at your commandment ; the second.
that your Majesty having opened yourself in the
case of commendams, and satisfied the judges
that your Majesty 'sendingCfor them had no in
tent to delay justice, and the question being put
to the rest of the judges, whether they did hold
it a delay of justice, that your Majesty had sent
a message in the case ; or if your Majesty should
send hereafter a like case, wherein your Majesty's
prerogative were concerned, the rest of the
judges submitting themselves, he only dissented
from all the rest.
" This being the effect of your solicitor's
charge, your Lord Chief Justice made answer,
that he would, by their Lordship's favour, begin
with the last ; and said for part of the challenge
and taking exception at your Majesty's counsel
VOL. I. x

306 THE LIFE OF
learned, speaking in the case by your Majesty's
commandment, he acknowledged it for an error
and submitted himself.
" To the part that upon the question asked of
the judges, touching stay of proceedings, he de
nied, when all the rest did yield; his answer was
that the question yielded many particulars which
suddenly occurred to his mind, and caused him
to make his answer, that when the time should
be, he would do that which should become an
honest and a just judge.
" For the bond, he saith, that that assurance
was in hammering a year and a half ; they were
Elephanti Libelli, and now twelve years being
past, it was no great marvel if his memory was
short, especially since, about that time, he was
employed, first in the great service of the Priests,
Treason and Cobham, and the next year in the
Powder Treason, and that if any things had
slipped in the multitude of business, that these
services blot out his errors ; secondly, ab impos-
sibili, which was, that the debt remaining at the
time was thirty-three thousand pounds, and that
young Mr. Hatton's means were very mean, and
not above 100 marks a year ; and as soon as it
came to the possibihty, when he first heard of
Sir Robert Rich's offer, he then submitted it be
fore such time as he remembered the statute or
defeazance. Thirdly, cui bono, he said he had

SIR EDWARD COKE. 307
never any profit by it ; but the presentation to a
benefice, and all the rest was his wife's ; fourthly,
that the crown was content with the establish
ment, and he did but take a bond to continue it,
and throughout all this he did submit himself to
your Majesty, and the board, saying, actus non
facit reum nisi mens sit rea.
" For his speech in the King's Bench, &c,
he saith that whatsoever was done was bv
the common consent ; and for those speeches
many of them were spoken, and he knew by
whom they were spoken, but not by himself, and
then offered four considerations : 1. That the
court, unto which, nevertheless, he did except,
was ad informandum non ad convincendum. 2. They
were witnesses but on one side. 3. That the in
terrogatories might be drawn too short. 4. That
it was concerning words spoken four months ago,
which being spoken among many, may be di
versely reported. And therefore he produced a
paper, written by himself, containing as he saith
the true passage of the day, (which paper we
present unto your Majesty herewithal) being, as
he saith, set down by himself the day after, sedato
animo. And touching these words, that the com
mon law would be overthrown, and the judges
have but little to do at the assizes, because the
light of the common law would be obscured, he
x 2

308 THE LIFE OF
confesseth to the words, but saith they were not
spoken the same day, but at another time in the
case of Sir Anthony Mildmays, and added that
he would not maintain a difference between the
two courts, nor bring it into question. Yet if
iL were an error, he may say erravimus cum pari
bus, and therefore alleged the examples. First,
the article against Cardinal Wolsey, 20 Henry
VIII, wherein the same words were used, viz :
that such proceedings in the chancery tended to
the subversion of the common law ;* secondly,
the book intitled the Doctor and Student ; thirdly,
an opinion of the judges in Throgmorton's case,
in Queen Elizabeth's time. And added also
further, that for the time to come, no man should
ever make any opposition, so that the judges
having received your Majesty's commandment
by the Attorney- General, that no bill of that
nature should be hereafter received, he and his
brethren have caused the same to be entered as
an order in the same court, which shall be ob
served, which being the effect of his answer,
we have thought to add withal that before us, as
well in speech as in action, he behaved himself
modestly and submissively, "f
Such was the report of the council to the King
* Article 20. f Biog. Britt.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 309
with regard to the legal proceedings and errors
in judgment of this great lawyer, whom they
examined without authority, and whom the
King afterwards condemned without justice.
Four days afterwards, viz: on the 30th of
June, Sir Edward Coke was again summoned to
the council chamber, where he was informed that
his Majesty was by no means satisfied with his
excuses, although out of regard to his former
services, he was not disposed to deal with him
heavily, and therefore the King had decreed,
1. That he be sequestered the council chamber
until his Majesty's pleasure be farther known.
2. That he forbear to ride his summer circuit as
justice of assize. 3. That during the vacation,
while he had time to live privately, and dispose
himself at home, he take into consideration and
review his book of reports, wherein, as his Ma
jesty is informed, be many extravagant and ex
orbitant opinions, set down and published for
positive and good law.
And if in reviewing and reading thereof, he
find anything fit to be altered and amended, the
correction is left to his discretion. Amongst
other things; the King was not well pleased with
the title of the book wherein he entitled himself
Lord Chief Justice of England, whereas he could
challenge no more than Lord Chief Justice of

310 THE LIFE OF
the King's Bench. And having corrected what
in his discretion he found meet in these reports,
his Majesty's pleasure was, that he should bring
the same privately before himself, that he might
consider thereof, as in his princely judgment
should be found expedient.
Coke submitted himself, with all humility, to
this scandalous sentence, and the Privy Coun
cillors who disgraced themselves by condemning
a work they did not understand, gave him
some hope of recovering his Majesty's favour
upon his improved behaviour ! In conclusion,
as he was about quitting the council, the Lord
Treasurer, the Earl of Suffolk, told him he had
yet another cause of complaint against him, viz :
his suffering his coachman to ride bare headed
before him ; this he desired might be forborne in
future. To this kick at the fallen lion, Coke
replied that his coachman did it for his own ease,
and not by his order.
This revision of the reports of Sir Edward
Coke for some time occupied the attention not
only of their author, but of the King, his fa
vourite Villiers, the Chancellor Egerton, the
judges, and Bacon, then Attorney-General.
They had however, no chance with Coke in such
an investigation. He easily out-argued them all,
for he revelled amidst precedents ; being com-

SIR EDWARD COKE. 311
pletely at home amongst law cases and acts of
parliament. In the early part of October, in the same year,
Bacon and Egerton reported to the King* that
Sir Edward Coke had appeared before the coun
cil " in order that he should enter into a view
and retraction of such novelties and errors, and
offensive conceits, as were dispersed in his re
ports; that he had had good time to do it, and
we doubted not but he had used good endeavour
in it."
Upon this occasion, it appears that Coke
delivered to the council a paper, containing
the result of his voyage of discovery amongst
his own reports, in search of blunders. This
review gave little satisfaction to either Egerton
or Bacon, for it did not contain any ac
knowledgments of errors " on those three
heads which we principally respected, which
were the rights uid liberties of the church, your
prerogative, and the jurisdiction of other your
courts, my Lord, has scarcely fallen upon any,
except it be the Prince's Case, which also yet
seemeth to stand but upon the grammatical of
French and Latin.
" My Lord did dso give his promise, which
your Lordship shall find at the end of his writ-
* Bacon's Vorks, vol- vi, p. 121.

312 THE LIFE OF
ing, thus far in a kind of common-place, or the
ses, that it was sin for a man to go against his
own conscience, though erroneous, unless his
conscience be first informed and satisfied.''
The Lord Chancellor then intimated to Sir
Edward Coke the King's pleasure that he should
still forbear his sitting at Westminster, but that
he was not restrained from any private exercise
of his place of Chief Justice.
This report produced a letter from the favourite,
Villiers, to Bacon, dated at Theobalds, October
3, 1616, in which, speaking of the Reports, he
said, "for three reasons his Majesty doth mis-
like them," and adding his desire that Bacon
again would confer with the Chancellor on this,
to King James, very vexatious affair. The
King was against any delay in turning Coke
out of his Chief Justiceship. " lie thinketh it,"
continued Villiers, " too long and uncertain a
delay to keep the bench so l#ng void from a
Chief Justice."
This kind of expeditious proceeding did not
accord with the equitable notions of either Eger
ton or Bacon. They therefore told the King on
the 6th of October, 1616,* that if Coke was
again called to further expltin the errors found
* Bacon's Works, vol vi, p. 124.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 313
in his Reports, they foresaw the consumption
of " length of time, not so much for your learned
council to be prepared, for that is almost done
already, but because he himself, no doubt, will
crave time of advice, to peruse his own books,
and to see whether the collections be true, and
that he be justly charged, and then to produce
his proofs that those things which he shall be
charged with were not conceits and singularities
of his own; but the acts of court and other like
things, tending to excusation or extenuation,
wherein we do not see how the time of divers
days, if not of weeks, can be denied him."
And they further informed his Majesty, " that
the absence of a Chief Justice, though it should
be for a whole term, as it hath been often upon
sickness, can be no hindrance to common jus
tice ; for the business of the King's Bench may
be dispatched by the rest of the judges, his voice
in the star chamber may be supplied by any
other judge that my Lord Chancellor shall call,
and the trials by nisi prius may be supplied by
commission." Upon this opinion, James resolved to still
farther examine Coke before the Privy Council,
and cause him to take into consideration those
several points in his reports which most annoyed
the court.

314 THE LIFE OF
There is, in the Harleian manuscripts, a paper
addressed to Sir Francis Bacon, which contains
the King's sentiments and reasons for coming to
this resolution, as well as a tacit confession, that
hitherto, neither the King nor his Privy Council
had made any satisfactory progress in the im
provement of the disrelished reports. Their
great author, in his replies, evidently scorned the
ignorance of his critics.
In this paper, probably written about the 10th
of October, 1616, the King commenced by laying
down certain rules for the further progress of
this affair, and to this end told his servants "that
although the discharging and removing of his
Majesty's officers and servants, as well as the
choice and advancement of men to place, be no
council chamber matters, but belong to his Majes
ty's princely will and secret judgment, yet his Ma
jesty will do his council this honour, that in his
resolutions of that kind his council shall know
them first before others, and shall know them,
accompanied by their causes, making, as it were,
a private manifesto, or revealing of himself to
them without parables.
' Then to have the report of the Lords,
touching the business of the Lord Coke, and the
last order of the Council read.
* No. 7006.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 315
" That being done, his Majesty further, wil-
leth to declare, that he might, upon the same
three grounds, in the order mentioned of deceit,
contempt, and slander of his government, very
justly have proceeded then, not only to have
put him from his place of Lord Chief Justice,
but to have brought him in question in the Star
Chamber, which would have been his utter
overthrow; but then his Majesty was pleased
for that time only to put him off from the coun
cil table, and from the public exercise of his
place of Chief Justice, and to take farther time
to deliberate.
" That in his Majesty's deliberation, besides
the present occasion, he had in some things looked
back to the Lord Coke's former carriage, and in
some things looked forward to make some far
ther trial of him.
" That for things past, his Majesty had noted
in him a perpetual turbulent carriage, first to-
towards the liberties of the Church and estate
ecclesiastical, towards his prerogative royal and
the branches thereof, and likewise towards all
the settled jurisdictions of all his other courts,
the High Commission, the Star Chamber, the
Chancery, the Provincial Councils, the Admi
ralty, the Duchy, the Court of Requests, the
Commission of Inquiry, the new boroughs in

316 THK LIFE OF
Ireland ; in all which he had raised troubles, and
new questions, and lastly in that which might
concern the safety of his royal person, by his
exposition of the laws in cases of high treason.
" That beside the actions themselves, his
Majesty, in his princely wisdom, hath made two
special observations of him, the one that he
having in his nature not one part of those things
which are popular in men, being neither civil
nor affable, nor magnificent, he hath made him
self popular, by design only, in pulling down
government. The other, that whereas his Ma
jesty might have expected a change in him,
when he made him his own by taking him to be
of his council ; it made no change at all, but to
the worse ; he holding on all this former channel,
and running separate courses from the rest of
the Council, and rather busying himself in cast
ing fears before his Council concerning what
they should not do, than joining his advice what
they should do.
" That his Majesty, desirous yet to make a
further trial of him, had given him the summer
vacation to reform his reports, wherein there be
many dangerous conceits of his own, uttered for
law, to the prejudice of his crown, parliaments,
and subjects, and to see whether by this he
would in any pavt redeem his fault : but that his

SIR EDWARD COKE. 317
Majesty hath failed of the redemption he de
sired, but hath met with another kind of
redemption from him which he little expected ;
for as to the reports, after three months' time
and consideration, he hath offered his Majesty
only five animadversions, being rather a scorn
than a satisfaction to his Majesty ; whereof one
was, that in the prince's case he hath found out
the French statute, which was Fitz-Aisne",
whereas the Latin was Primogenitus ; and so the
Prince is Duke of Cornwall in French, and not
Duke of Cornwall in Latin ; and another was,
that he had sent Montagu to be Chief Justice,
in Henry the Eighth's time, when it should have
been in Edward the Sixth's, and such other
stuff; not falling upon any of those things
which he could not but know were offensive.
" That hereupon his Majesty thought good to
refresh his memory, and out of many cases,
which his Majesty caused to be collated, to
require his answer to five, being all such as
were expatiations of his own, and no judgments ;
whereunto he returned such an answer as did
neither justify himself or elude the matter ; so, as
his Majesty seeth plainly, antiquum obtinet."
On the seventeenth of October the Lord
Chancellor, with the Attorney-General Bacon,
and others of the Council, summoned Sir Ed-

318 THE LIFE OF
ward Coke before them, and delivered to him
in writing the cases in his Reports, to which the
King objected ; and on the twenty-first, four
days afterwards, Coke delivered in his answers,
which were on the following day transmitted to
the King by the Chancellor, with the following
letter, dated from York House, October 22,
1616, both copied from the originals by Ste
phens : — *
" To the King's Most Excellent Majesty,—
" According to your Majesty's directions
signified unto me by Mr. Solicitor, I called the
Lord Chief Justice before me on Thursday, the
1 7th inst, in the presence of Mr. Attorney, and
others of your learned council. I did let him
know your Majesty's acceptance of the few
animadversions which, upon review of his own
labours, he had sent, though fewer than you
expected, and his excuses fewer than you ex
pected, as namely in the Prince's case, the want
of the original in French, as though if the ori
ginal had been primogenitus in Latin, then he had
not in that committed any error.
" I told him, farther, that because his books
were many, and the cases, as he saith therein,
* Bacon's Works, vol. vi, p. 397.

SIR EDW'ARD COKE. 319
five hundred, your Majesty, out of your gracious
favour, was pleased that his memory should be
refreshed ; and that he should be put in mind of
some passages, dispersed in his books, which
your Majesty, being made acquainted with, doth
as yet distaste, until you hear his explanation
and judgment concerning the same ; and that
out of many, some few should be selected, and
that at this time he should not be pressed with
more, and these few not to be special and prin
cipal points of the cases, which were judged,
but things delivered by discourse, and as it
were by expatiation, which might have been
spared and foreborn without prejudice to the
judgment in the principal cases.
" Of this sort Mr. Attorney and Mr. Solicitor
made choice of five specially, which were read
distinctly to the . Lord Chief Justice ; he heard
them with good attention and took notes thereof
in writing ; and lest there might be any mis
taking either in the declaring thereof to him, or
in his misconceiving of the same, it was thought
good to deliver unto him a true copy, upon con
sideration whereof, and upon advised delibera
tion, he did yesterday in the afternoon return
unto me in the presence of all your learned
Council a copy of the five points before men
tioned, and his answer at large to the same,

320 THE LIFE OF
which I make bold herewith to present to your
Majesty, who can best discern and judge of this
little which is done, and what may be expected
of the multiplicity of other cases of the like sort,
if they shall be brought to further examination.
" All that I have done in this hath been by
your Majesty's commandment and direction, in
presence of all your learned council, and by the
special assistance and advice of your attorney
and solicitor.
" I know that obedience is better than sacri
fice, for otherwise I would have been an humble
suitor to your Majesty to have been spared, in
all service, concerning the Lord Chief Justice.
I thank God, I forget not the fifth petition,
' Dimitte nobis debita nostra sicat,' etc. ; but
writhal I have learned this distinction ; there is,
first, ' Remisio vindictse ; 2. Remisio poena? ;
3. Remisio judicii ;' the two first I am past, and
have freely and clearly remitted. But the last,
which is of judgment and discretion, I trust I
may in Christianity, and with good conscience,
retain, and not to trust too far, &c.
" I must beseech your Majesty's favour to
excuse me for all that I have before written, but
specially for this last needless passage, wherein
I fear your Majesty will not allow me to play the
divine, without learning and out of season, and

SIR EDWARD COKE. 321
so with my continual prayers to God to preserve
your Majesty with long, healthful, and happy
life, and all earthly and heavenly felicity, I rest
your Majesty's humble and faithful subject and
servant, " T. Ellesmere, Cane.
Accompanying this letter was the paper of
questions propounded to Coke by the Privy
Council, and his answers, which were as fol
low: —
" Questions demanded of the Lord Chief
Justice of the King's Bench by his Majesty's
commandment. " 1. In the case of the Isle of Ely, whether his
Lordship thinks that the resolution there spoken
of to be law, that a general taxation upon a town
to pay so much towards the repair of the sea
banks, is not warranted to be done by the com
missioners of sewers ; but that the same must
be upon every particular person, according to
the quantity of his land, and by number of acres
and perches, and according to the portion and
according to the profit which every person hath
there. Lib. 10.
" 2. In Darcy's case, whether his Lordship's
judgment be as he reporteth it to be resolved;
that the dispensation or license of Queen Eliza-
VOL. i. y

322

THE LIFE OF

beth to Darcy to have the sole importation of
cards, notwithstanding the statute of 3 Edward
IV, is against law. Lib. 11.
" 3. In Godfrey's case, what he means by
this passage, Some courts cannot imprison, fine
and amerce, as ecclesiastical courts, before the
ordinary, archdeacon, &c. or other commission
ers, and such like, which proceed according to
the canon or civil law. Lib. 11 .
"4. In Dr. Bonham's case, what he means
by this passage, that in many cases the common
law shall control acts of Parliament, and some
times judge them to be merely void ; for when
an act of Parliament is against common right
and reason, the law shall control it and adjudge
it void. Lib. 8.
" 5. In Bagge's case, to explain himself where
he saith, thaKto the Court of King's Bench
belongs authority not only to correct errors in
judicial proceedings, but other errors and mis
demeanors extra judicial, tending to the breach
of the peace, oppression of subjects, or to the
raising, of faction, controversies, debate, or to
any manner of misgovernment, so no wrong or
injury can be done, but that this shall be re
formed or punished by due course of law. Lib.
11." To all these questions, Sir Edward Coke learn-

SIR EDWARD COKE. 323
edly and elaborately replied, and that so suc
cessfully, that no attempt was made by Bacon
to rejoin, nor did any of the other law officers
venture to hazard a reply. They were angry,
and silent.
The very attempt, however, to decry the legal
knowledge of Coke, shows the spirit with which
they were actuated, and the extremities to which
they were reduced for an accusation ; since,
whatever inclination they might have to degrade
him, it is quite clear, to every modern lawyer,
that, to attack Coke on his law, was, of all
attempts, the least likely to be attended
with success ; and Bacon, whatever were his
other claims to pre-eminence, had no power here
to contend successfully with Coke. We are quite
justified, therefore, in the conclusion, that if a
stronger ground of complaint could have been
discovered, Bacon would not have readily made
his onset in a legal argument.
Coke's replies may be seen at length in the
report of the Chancellor Ellesmere to the King :
but they are much too long to be inserted in this
work : they were, however, unsatisfactory to the
court, quite complete.*
Sir Edward Coke having thus answered the
* Bacon's Works, vol. vi, p. 397.
Y2

324 THE LIFE OF
five objected cases of the judges, the matter
appears to have rested for nearly a twelve-month,
after which it would seem, from the following
letter of Coke to Buckingham, and the letter in
consequence to the judges, that some steps were
taken to prosecute the examination. There is
no date to either of these letters, but, as Stephens
conjectured, they were probably written in either
October or November, 1617 : —
" To the Right Honourable his singular good
Lord, the Earl of Buckingham, of his Majes
ty's Privy Council.
" May it please your Lordship,
" Above a year past, Jin my late Lord Chan
cellor's time, information was given to his
Majesty, that I having published eleven works
or books of reports, containing above six
hundred cases, one with another, had written
many things against his Majesty's prerogative ;
and I being by his gracious favour called there
unto, all the exceptions that could be taken
to so many cases in so many books, fell to five,
and the most of them, too, were in passages of
general words, all which I offered to explain in
such sort, as no shadow should remain against
his Majesty's prerogative, as in truth there did
not ; which, whether it were related to his

SIR EDWARD COKE. 325
Majesty, I know7 not, but thereupon the matter
hath slept all this time, and now the matter,
after this ever blessed marriage, is renewed, and
two judges are called by my Lord Keeper to the
former that were named,
" My humble suit to your Lordship is, that if
his Majesty shall not be satisfied with my former
offer, viz. by advice of the judges to explain and
publish, as is aforesaid, those five points, so as
no shadow may remain against his prerogative,
that then all the judges of England may be
called thereunto.
" Secondly, that they may certify also what
cases I have published for his Majesty's prero
gative and benefit, for the good of the church,
the quieting of men's inheritances, and good of
the commonwealth, for which purpose I have
drawn a minute of a letter to the judges, which
I assure myself your Lordship will judge rea
sonably ; and so reposing myself on your Lord
ship's protection, I shall ever remain, &c.
" Edward Coke."
The following is a copy of the above referred
to minute.
" To all the Judges of England, and the
Barons of the Exchequer.
" Whereas in the time of the late Lord Chan-

326 THE LIFE OF
cellor, intimation was given unto us, that divers
cases were published in Sir Edward Coke's
Reports, tending to the prejudice of our prero
gative royal ; whereupon we, caring for nothing
more, as by our kingly office we are bounden,
than the preservation of our prerogative royal,
referred the same, and thereupon, as we are
informed, the said Edward Coke being called
thereunto, the objections were reduced to five
only, and most of them consisting in general
terms, all which Sir Edward Coke offered, as we
are informed, to explain and publish, so as no
shadow might remain against our prerogative.
" And whereas of late two other judges are
called to the others formerly named. Now our
pleasure and intention being to be informed
of the whole truth, and that right be done
to all. do think it fit that all the judges of
England and barons of the Exchequer, who have
the principal care of our prerogative and benefit,
do assemble together concerning the discussions
of that which as aforesaid was formerly referred,
and also what cases Sir Edward Coke hath
published to the maintenance of our prerogative
and benefit, for the safety and increase of the
revenues of the church, and for the quieting
of mens' inheritances, and the general good of
the commonwealth; in all which we require

SIR EDWARD COKE. 327
your advice, and careful considerations, and
that before you make any certificate to us, you
confer with the said Sir Edward, so that all things
may be the better cleared."
Notwithstanding this appeal of Coke to have
the prosecution of the examination expedited,
nothing was done. The court had attained its
object — he was suspended from his office, and
the King was not solicitous to have the sus-
petsion removed, and a judge of Coke's stub
born integrity again in the Court of King's
Bench. The judges were not pressed for their
report ; and they did not voluntarily proceed
in so ungracious a task.

328 THE LIFE OF

CHAPTER IX.

1616.

The real causes of Coke's suspension from the Court of Khg's
Bench — The case of the chief clerkship of the Pleas — leso-
lution to discharge him — Bacon's letter to the King encbsing
a form for the purpose — Warrant for his successor — 3acon
advises the King as to Montague — Further notices of the
review of Coke's reports — Copy of Coke's supeisedeas
— Coke's behaviour on the occasion — The opinion1 of his
legal contemporaries — The letters of Mr. Chamberlain —
The Queen befriends him — Sir Henry Montague appointed
his successor — Bacon's letter to Buckingham — Speech of
the Chancellor to Sir Henry Montague when he waj sworn
to his place — Incomes of the judges in the time of Coke —
Notice of Robert Cecil first Earl of Salisbury — Of Villiers
Duke of Buckingham.
Thus ended the judicial career of th< great
Edward Coke, the glory of the English cdnmon
law ; for his suspension was never retioved,

SIR EDWARD COKE. 329
nor his repentance sufficient for the court. To
King James, and to his son, Charles the First,
his liberal principles were equally unsatis
factory. The reasons assigned for his suspension were
perfectly puerile, not one of them being suf
ficiently important to disqualify even a petty
juryman. They did not involve a single charge
affecting his integrity as a judge. The real
cause of his removal must be sought for in
other reasons, still more disgraceful to the
court. Sir John Roper, the first lord Teynham, had
agreed to resign the office of chief clerk of the
Pleas in the Court of King's Bench, a place
worth four thousand pounds per annum, to two
trustees, for the benefit of the royal favourite,
the infamous Carr Earl of Somerset. In this
arrangement Coke, as chief justice, had given
his requisite consent. Somerset however, was
disgraced, before this plan could be carried
into effect, and Villiers Duke of Buckingham
had succeeded him, as the royal favourite.
In favour of this nobleman, Sir Francis Bacon,
the attorney-general, proposed the same arrange
ment as for Somerset, and, upon mentioning it
to Coke, the chief justice replied, "lam too
old and cannot struggle." This reply the

330 THE LIFE OF
court naturally enough understood to imply
his assent to the transfer ; and Bacon, who
evidently had his doubts of Coke's acquiescence,
could not refrain his joy, at some words to the
same effect, that were accidentally droptby Coke.
He wrote immediately to Villiers, on the twenty-
second of January 1615, the following letter: —
" Sending to the King upon occasion, I could
not fail to salute you by my letter, which that
it may be more than two lines, I add this for
news, that as I was sitting by my lord chief
justice, upon the commission for indicting of
the great person, one of the judges asked him,
whether Roper were dead ; he said, for that
for his part, he knew not ; another of the judges
answered, it should concern you, my Lord, to
know it ; wherefore, he turned his speech to me
and said, ' No, Mr. Attorney, I will not wrestle
now in my latter times.' ' My Lord,' said I, ' you
speak like a wise man.' 'Well,' said he,' they have
had no luck with it that have had it.' — ' I said
again those days be passed.' Here you have the
dialogue to make you merry — but in sadness I
was glad to perceive he meant not to con
test." To such miserable conclusions, from slight
accidental expressions of Coke, was Bacon
reduced, in order to make a case for his client.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 331
When, however, Lord Teynham did actually re
sign the clerkship, Sir Edward Coke denied
the promise, and proposed that the revenues
of the place should be applied to the increase
of the small salaries then paid to the judges.*
There is no doubt the court regarded this
as the greatest of all Coke's crimes ; for it was
immediately determined to remove him, and
to appoint a more subservient successor.! This
step being resolved upon, the attorney-general
received directions for preparing the form of
discharge for Coke, and the appointment of a
successor. Consequently, on the thirteenth of
November 1616, Bacon thus addressed the
King :
" I send your Majesty a form of discharge for
my Lord Coke, from his place of chief justice of
your bench.
" I send also a warrant to the Lord Chan
cellor, for making a writ for a new chief justice,
leaving a blank for the name, to be supplied by
your Majesty's presence, for I never received
your Majesty's express pleasure in it.
" If your Majesty resolve on Montague
* Bacon's Works, vol 4, p. 657.
t Roger Coke's detection, p. 90— he calls, however, Lord
Teynham by mistake, Lord Thanet.

332 THE LIFE OF
(then recorder of London) as I conceive and
wish, it is very material as these times are,
that your Majesty have some care that the
recorder succeeding be a temperate, and dis
creet man, and assured to your Majesty's ser
vice. " If your Majesty, without too much harsh
ness, can continue the place within your own
servants, it is best ; if not, the man upon whom
the choice is like to fall, which is Coventry,*
I hold doubtful for your service ; not but that he
is a well learned and an honest man, but that he
hath, as it were, been bred up by my Lord Coke,
and seasoned in his ways." Bacon had had too
much trouble with Coke, not to have a lively
anxiety to avoid all transactions with any men
actuated by his independent principles.
It would appear, by one of Bacon's letters,
written only eight days afterwards, November
21, 1616, that a commission was actually pre
pared, empowering the judges to review Sir
Edward Coke's reports ; but I am not aware that
this commission, though certainly issued, was
ever acted upon. " I had prepared it before I
had received your Majesty's pleasure, " said
Bacon, when addressing the King, " but I was
* Thomas Coventry, Esq. afterwards Lord Keeper.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 333
glad to see it was in your mind as well as in my
hands. " In the nomination which your Majesty made
of the judges to whom it should be directed, your
Majesty could not name the Lord Chief Justice
that now is, (Montague) because he was not then
declared ; but you could not leave him out now
without discountenance."
About a twelvemonth subsequently, Oct. 1 1 th,
1617; Bacon thus wrote to Buckingham :*
" The accounts of the summer circuits, as
well as that of the Lent circuit, shall be ready
against his Majesty's coming. They [meaning
the commissioned judges] will also be ready with
some account of their labours concerning Sir
Edward Coke's reports, wherein I told them his
Majesty's meaning was not to disgrace the per
son, but to rectify the work, having in his con
templation rather posterity than the present."
This is the last notice I can find of the pro
ceedings of this very idle court of review. The
grave judges, who were appointed as commis
sioners, must have been disgusted with their
task ; no doubt they avail themselves of every
plea that would postpone so disagreeable an in
vestigation. The objections to Coke's reports,
* Bacon's Works, vol. vi, p. 174.

334 THE LIFE OF
raised by Bacon and the other law officers of the
crown, were trumpery in the extreme ; and
Coke's brother lawyers, who knew the depth of
his researches, and the industry with which he
explored every theme he undertook, could have
no other feelings than those of dislike to such an
employment. Coke had long before this received his dis
missal from the court of King's Bench. The
supersedeas suspending him from his office was
dated on the 16th of November, 1616, and it
thus tersely expressed the royal pleasure :
" For certain causes now moving us, we will
that you shall be no longer our chief justice to
hold the pleas before us, and we command you,
that you no longer interfere in that office, and
by virtue of this presence, we at once remove
and exonerate you from this office."*
This warrant, there is no doubt, had been for
some time expected by Sir Edward Coke. He
knew the power of removal possessed by the King,
was fully aware of his displeasure, and that he
had taken no steps to avert his indignation. He
had, therefore, in preparing himself for the
worst, nobly resolved to lose his seat on the
bench rather than part with his integrity.
* Harleian MSS.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 335
His enemies endeavoured to show that he was
confounded with the loss of his place : for there
is in the Birch Manuscripts a letter, dated No
vember 19, 1616, from Mr. John Castle, in which
he says — *
" A thunderbolt has fallen upon my Lord
Coke in the King's Bench, which has overthrown
him from the roots. The supersedeas was car
ried to him, the last week, by Sir George Cop-
pin, who at the presenting of it saw that mag
nanimity, and supposed greatness of spirit, to fall
into a very narrow room, for he received it with
dejection and tears."
It is entirely upon this letter, that the talented
author of the " Curiosities of Literature" founds
his remarks. " When," says Mr. Disraeli,*
" Coke was once himself in disgrace, his high
spirit sank, without a particle of magnanimity to
dignify the fall. His big words, and tyrannical
courses, when he could no longer exult, ' that
he was upon his wings again,' sunk with him as
he presented himself, on his knees, to the coun
cil table. His disgrace was a thunderbolt which
overthrew the haughty lawyer to the roots.
When the supersedeas was carried to him by
* No. 4176—64.
t Curiosities of Literature, 2nd series, vol. 1, p. 320.

336 THE LIFE OF
Sir George Coppin, that gentleman was surpris
ed, on presenting it, to see that lofty spirit sink
into a very narrow room, for Coke received it
with dejection and tears." The writer from whom
I have copied these words, adds, " O tremor et
suspiria non cadunt in fortem et constantem."
The same writer encloses a punning distich :
Jus condire cocus potuit ; sed condere jura,
Non potuit, potuit condere jura cocus.
Six years afterwards," continues Mr. D'Israeli,
" Coke was sent to the Tower, and then they
punned against him in English. An unpublished
letter of the day has this curious anecdote. The
room in which he lodged in the Tower had for
merly been a kitchen ; on his entrance, the Lord
Chief Justice read upon the door, ' This room
wants a Cook.' They twitched the lion in the
toils which held him. Shenstone had some rea
son in thanking heaven that his name was not
susceptible of a pun."
This time, however, Coke was upon his wings,
for when Lord Arundel was sent by the King to
the prisoner, to inform him that he would be
allowed " eight of the best learned in the law to
advise him for his cause, " our great lawyer
thanked the King, " but he knew himself to be

SIR EDWARD COKE. 337
accounted to have as much skill in the law as
any man in England, and therefore needed no
such help, nor feared to be judged by the law."
Coke might well be moved to tears at finding
disgrace undeservedly brought upon him in his
old age, and with no other intent than to obtain
a successor who would pander to the wishes of
the royal favourite, promote the despotism of
the crown, and not oppose its inroads upon the
liberty of the people.
The grief of Coke, if it did shew itself, could
not be for himself. The tears of one who did his
duty as conscientiously as Coke did, need not be
very copious, when at last he was unjustly de
prived of his office — an office of whose uncertain
tenure he was well assured, since he lived in
days when the deprivation of a judge was by no
means a rare occurrence.
Thus in 1627, Sir Randolph Carew, Chief
Justice of the King's Bench, was discharged
from his place " for some cause of displeasure
conceived against him ; but for what," says
Judge Croke, " was not generally known.'* His
real crime was objecting to the illegal and arbi
trary imposition of ship-money. In 1635, Sir
Robert Heath, Chief Justice of the common
* Croke Car 5-2, Rushworth, vol. i, 420.
VOL. I. z

338 THE LIFE OF
pleas, shared the same fate, and again returned
to the bar, where, by special command of his
Majesty, he practised as a junior sergeant.
The common feeling of the professional con
temporaries of Coke upon his disgrace, was pro
bably expressed by Sir George Croke, who, in
noticing his removal from the court of King's
Bench, describes him as " a prudent, grave, and
learned man in the common laws of this realm,
and of a pious and virtuous life."*
After all the endeavours of Coke's enemies to
shew that he was confounded and dispirited by
the loss of his place, the letters of other contem
porary authorities prove that this was certainly
an unfounded assertion. Thus Mr. Cham
berlain, in a letter to Sir Dudley Carleton, dated
October 26, 1616, observes :
" Lord Coke hath been called twice or thrice
this term before the Lord Chancellor, and the
King's learned council, to give a reason for
divers things delivered in his reports.
" The objections, at first, were eight and
twenty, which either were so weak in themselves,
or so well answered, that they are now reduced
to five, wherein they are not sufficiently satisfied,
but have referred his answers over to the King.
* Croke, Car. 375.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 339
" It is not the least part of his humiliations to
'be convented in this point before such judges as
Sergeant Crew, Sergeant Montague, and Ser
geant Finch, the Attorney-General, (Bacon) and
the Sohcitor, (Yelverton) whereof the greater
part, except the solicitor, are held no great men
in law ; and withal to find such coarse usage as
not once to be offered to sit down, and so un-
respective and uncivil carriage from the Lord
Chancellor's men, that not one of them did move
a hat, or make any other sign of regard to him ;
whereof the Queen taking notice, his Majesty
has since sent word that he would have him well
used."* The Queen appears, at this time, to have
favoured Sir Edward Coke very materially,
probably through the influence of his lady.
On the 9th of November, 1616, Mr. Cham
berlain told Sir Dudley Carleton, " the Lord
Coke hangs still in suspense, yet the Queen is
said to stand firm for him, and to have been
very earnest in his behalf, as likewise the
Prince."f Her noble exertions, we have seen,
* Nichol's Progresses of James, vol. iii. 194. Birch MSS.
4173. f Nichol's Progresses of James, vol. iii, p. 226.
z 2

340 THE LIFE OF
prevailed not, and Sir Edward Coke being sus
pended from his office, Mr. Chamberlain told
his friends on the fourteenth of the same month,
" the Lord Coke is now quite off the hooks, and
order given to send him a supersedeas from exe
cuting his place.
" The common speech is that four P's have
overthrown and put him down ; that is, Pride,
Prohibitions, Premunire, and Prerogative."*
In retailing this popular gossip, Chamberlain
had evidently no ill feeling towards the late
Chief Justice ; for, on the following 23rd of No
vember, when addressing his correspondent, he
thus remarks upon his displacement :
" If Sir Edward Coke could bear his misfor
tunes constantly, it were no disgrace to him, for
he goes away with a general applause and good
opinion. And the King himself, when he told his
resolution at the council table to remove him,
yet gave this character, that he thought him no
ways corrupt, but a good justice — with so many
other good words, as if he meant to hang him
with a silken halter.
" Hitherto he bears himself well, but especially
towards his lady, without any complaint of her
* Ibid, vol. iii, p. 226. Birch MSS. 4173.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 341
demeanour towards him ; though her own friends
are grieved at it, and her father sent to him to
know all the truth, and to show him how much
he disallowed her courses, having divided herself
from him, and disfurnished his house in Hol-
born, and at Stoke, of whatsoever was in them,
and carried all the moveables and plate she
could come by, God knows where, and retiring
herself into obscure places, both in town and
country. " He gave a good answer likewise to the new
Chief Justice, who sending to him to buy his
collar of S.S. he said he would not part with it,
but leave it unto his posterity, that they might
one day know that they had a Chief Justice to
their ancestor.
"He is now retired to his daughter Sad-
lers, in Hertfordshire,* and from thence, it is
thought, into Norfolk.
" He hath dealt bountifully with his servants ;
and such as had places under him ; he hath
willed them to set down truly what they gained,
and he will make it good to them, if they be
willing to tarry and continue about him."f
* Ann Coke, married to Ralph, son and heir of Sir Thomas
Sadler. * Nichol's Progresses of James, vol. iii, p. 228. Birch MS.
73.

342 THK LIFE OF
According to a succeeding letter of Mr. Gar-
rards, Coke was still at Mr. Sadlers on the 7th
of December following, and had been with the
King, at Newmarket, twice.
There were certainly many minor causes for
the King's anger towards Coke, some of which
have been lost to us, for I find occasional
allusions to unrecorded disputes. Thus, Lord
Bacon tells us, in his Apothegms, No 8,
that Sir Edward Coke being vehement against
the two provincial councils of Wales and the
North, said to the King, " There was nothing
there but a kind of confusion and hotch-pot of
justice ; one while they were a star chamber, an
other while a King's Bench, another a Common
Pleas, another a commission of Oyer and Ter
miner." His Majesty answered : " Why, Sir Ed
ward, they be like houses which I visit on a pro
gress, where I have not, nor can have, such dis
tinct rooms of state as I have here at Whitehall,
or Hampton Court."*
Coke was suspended from his office on the
30th of July, 1616, and Sir Henry Montague
succeeded him on the 15th of the following No
vember. But the court was made wise by ex
perience. Before Montague was appointed, they
* Paeon's Works, vol. ii, 402.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 343
obliged him to sign the desired agreement with
regard to Lord Teynham's place ; and he was
hardly sworn into his office, before the deputies
of Villiers were regularly admitted, and then
Bacon, in writing to the royal favourite, thus
describes his own good management.*
' ' I did cast within myself, that if your Lord
ship's deputies had come in by Sir Edward Coke,
who was tied (that is under an agreement with
Somerset) it would have been subject to some
clamour from Somerset, and some question what
was forfeited — by Somerset's attainder being but
a felony to the King, but now they coming in,
from a new Chief Justice, all is without question
or scruple." This letter is dated November 29,
1616, only fourteen days after Montague's ap
pointment. It is evident that Coke, by sacrificing his prin
ciples, might have retained his place. Lady
Elizabeth Hatton told Bishop Hackett that Coke
was offered his place again on the King's Bench,
if he would agree to bind himself with a golden
chain ; but, adds the Bishop, " he stood upon a
rule made by his own wisdom, that a judge must
not pay a bribe, or take a bribe. "f
* Bacon's Works, vol.v, 457.
f Life of Lord Keeper Williams, vol. ii, p. 120.

344 THE LIFE OF
When, on the 18th of November, 1616, the
Lord Chancellor Ellesmere addressed Sir Henry
Montague,Coke's successor, upon his being sworn
in chief justice, he took occasion to say all that
he indirectly could against his predecessor ; —
managing the charge with very considerable inge
nuity, as well as the greatest gravity. He told
him that his was a rare case; "For you are
called to a place vacant not by death or cession,
but by a motion and deposing of him that held
the place before you.
" It is dangerous, in a monarchy, for a man,
holding a high and eminent place, to be ambi
tiously popular ; — take heed of it.
" In hearing of causes, you are to hear with
patience, for patience is a great part of a judge ;
better hear with patience, prolixity, and imperti
nent discourse of lawyers and advocates, than
rashly, for default of the lawyer, to ruin the
client's cause : in the one, you lose but a little
time, by the other, the client loseth his right,
which can hardly be repaired.
" Remember your worthy grandfather, Sir
Edward Montague ; when he sat chief justice in
the Common Pleas, you shall not find that he
said vauntingly that he would make Latitats
Latitare ,• when he did sit Chief Justice in this
place, he contained himself within the word of

SIR EDWARD COKE. 345
the writ to be the chief Justice, as the King
called him, '¦ ad placita coram nobis tenenda,"
but did not arrogate or aspire to the high title of
' Capitalis Justicia Anglise,' or 'Capitalis Justici-
arius Anglise,' an office and title which Hugh de
Burgh, and some fewT others, held in the times
of the Baron's wars, and whilst the fury thereof
was not well ceased. He devised not any new
construction of laws, against commissioners and
judges of sewers, nor to draw them into the
danger of Premunire, and, whilst they were in
this court disputing of tricks, and moot points
concerning taxes, and making new gutters or
walls, to suffer a great part of the realm to be
surrounded and overflown, for the winds nor the
sea could not be stayed with such new construc
tions and moot points. He never strained the
statute of the 27th Edward III, c. 1, to reach to
the Chancery, and to bring that court and the
ministers thereof, and the subjects that sought
justice there, to be in danger of premunire, an
absurd and an inapt new construction of that old
statute. You know whose word it is ; and how
vain it hath appeared, upon full examination
thereof, you do know very well.
" He never made teste Edwardo Montague, to
jostle with teste me ipso, but knew that the King's

346 THE LIFE OF
writ teste me ipso was his warrant to sit in this
place. " He doubted not but if the King, by his writ
under his great seal, commanded the judges that
they should not proceed Rege inconsulto, then
they were dutifully to obey, and to consult with
the King, not in this court, but in another, that
is, the court of chancery.
" He challenged not powers from this court
to correct all misdemeanours, as well extra-judi
cial as judicial, nor to have power to judge sta
tutes and acts of parliament void, if they consi
dered them to be against common right and
reason, but left the parliament and the King to
judge what was common right and reason. I
speak not of impossibilities or direct repugnances.
Remember also the removing and putting down
your late predecessor, and by whom, which I
often remember unto you, that it is the great
King of Great Britain, whose great wisdom, and
royal virtue, and religious care for the weal of
his subjects, and for the due administration of
justice can never be forgotten."*
Thus ended the chief justiceship of Sir Edward
Coke ; his crimes, as enlarged upon by the
* Moor's Reports, 826.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 347
Chancellor, were of a nature much too important
in the eyes of King James, to admit of forgive
ness ; since he was independent of the frowns of
royalty, and would not sell the justice of his
court, even to obtain the King's approbation.
The silence of Coke's enemies with regard to
his conduct as a judge, betrays the truth of the
case — that calumny could urge nothing against
him. That he made mistakes in the adminis
tration of the law is certain, but they wrere of
minor importance. Thus, as before noticed, he
claimed more for his court in the dispute with
the court of chancery, than was legally its due ;
but such errors were never before or since deemed
justifiable reasons for removing a judge from his
office. He descended, therefore, from the Bench
with the approbation of all good men ; with a
conscience void of offence ; and that he had no
Self-reproaches to disturb him, is evident from
the tenor of his parting address in his last in
stitute, which was found among his papers at
his decease in manuscript. It was probably one
of his last written papers. In this, he eloquently
and earnestly implores all justices, and judges of
the land to " fear not to do right to all, and to
deliver their opinions justly according to law."
Such were the last expressed feelings of Sir
Edward Coke in his professional capacity ; such

348 THE LIFE OF
the motives by which his legal decrees were
governed ; they were such as no good man can
fail to applaud ; but, unfortunately for him, they
were not the principles of the Court of James the
First. The income derived by the judges in the
time of Sir Edward Coke, arose principally from
the fees of their office. The salaries were
small. In the account of " fees and salaries pay
able out of his Majesty's Exchequer," in the
reign of King James, I find the salaries of the
judges thus stated :
" To Sir Edward Coke, knight, lord chief
justice of England, for his fee at £224 19s. 9rf.
by the year, and £33 6s. 8d. by the year for his
circuits— £258 6s. bd.
" To Sir John Doddrige, knight, one of the
justices of that bench, for his fee at £154 19s. 8d.
by the year, and £33 6s. 8d. by the year for
his circuits. .... £188 6 8
To Sir John Croke, knight, for
the like . . 188 6 8
To Sir Robert Houghton,
knight. . . . 188 6 8
Besides their yearly allowance for their diets
on the circuits.
The salary of the chief judge of the common
pleas was considerably inferior, but the Puisne

SIR EDWARD COKE. 349
judges were paid as well as those of the king's
bench. Thus Sir Henry Hobart, chief justice, re
ceived £194 19s. 9d.
Warburton, Winch, and Nichols, the Puisne
judges, each received £188 6s. 8d.
The barons and chief baron of the court of
exchequer, were not paid so much as the
other judges. Thus Sir Lawrence Tanfield
received for his fee &c. as lord chief baron,
£188 6s. 8d.
The Puisne barons, Snigg, Altham and
Bromley, each received £133. 6s. 8d*
These salaries, however inadequate to the
importance of the office, were large in pro
portion to what the earlier lawyers received ; for,
according to Dugdale, chief justice Markham,
in the reign of Edward I had a salary of
only one hundred and seventy marks, and
even in the reign of Henry VIII the salary
was only increased to thirty pounds per annum.
Though the salaries of the judges were small,
they were not very hardly dealt with in regard
to long sittings. Sir John Fortescue, who was
chief justice to Henry VI. tells us in his De
Laudibus Legibus Angliw, cap. 51 : " The justices
* Plumian Library.

350 THE LIFE OF
of England sit not in the King's courts above
three hours in a day, that is to say from viii of
the clock in the forenoon until xi. complete ;
for in the afternoon these courts are not held or
kept." In Lord keeper Guilford's time, the chief
justiceship of the court of common pleas was
worth about four thousand pounds per annum ;*
the increase arising from fees : and the altered
value of money being taken into considera
tion, that was probably about the amount re
ceived by Sir Edward Coke, for his chief justice
ship of the king's bench.
It was then usual to allow the judges a sum
of money for their diet and travelling expenses
when on circuit. This, however, did not amount
to much : it is thus stated, in the same abstract
of the revenue to which I have just referred,
that to Sir Peter Warburton, knight, one of
the justices of assize in the county of Norfolk,
was paid yearly for his fee £12. 6s. 8d. — and
the same amount to Sir James Altham.
During the ten years that Sir Edward Coke
presided over the courts of common pleas and
king's bench, Robert Cecil, the first Earl of
Salisbury, was prime minister of England. To
* Life, by North, vol. 1, p. 18S.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 351
him, Coke owed his chief-justiceship, and many
other great and important favours. His patron
age was alike powerful and unwavering, and,
after Coke's marriage with his niece, was of
course not less ardent than before.
This minister was bred as it were for celebrity,
— having for his father the great Lord Burleigh,
and for his mother, Burleigh's second wife,
Mildred Cooke, the most talented and learned
woman of her age. Cecil therefore had all that
example and precept could furnish on the part
of his parents. Yet nature on her part was
sparing of her gifts, at least as regarded personal
advantages, for he was deplorably crooked, and
had a weak and sickly constitution. But
by his mental powers he was admirably
fitted to be prime minister to such a monarch
as James I. Bred in the school of Burleigh, he
was cool, cautious, and insinuating ; he regarded
war as an unqualified horror, and reserved to
himself the arts of negociation, and of secret
dealings, as the field of his glory. He was
watchful, calculating, and an adept at dissimu
lation ; he could argue with the most learned,
perplex the most forward and the most eloquent ;
he steadily kept his attention on the manufactures
and trade of England ; and, on some occasions, he
seemed willing rather to sacrifice the glory of his

352 THE LIFE OF
country than that the reign of peace should be
broken. James naturally loved such a minister, raised
him to the peerage, granted him honours and
estates in abundance, and attended him in
his last hours with the most friendly kindness.
They had been friends long before James as
cended the throne of England ; had even
held a secret correspondence while Cecil was
Elizabeth's minister ; and to him James mainly
attributed his peaceful accession to the English
crown. Political considerations, therefore, in
duced James to continue and protect Cecil as
his first minister.
Cecil was born in 1550, the same year as Coke ;
but bis constitution was never equal to that of
his friend : he died in 1612 ; Coke surviving him
two and twenty years.
When Coke was deprived of his office, there
is no record of any assistance rendered by
Cecil, to prevent such a flagrant injustice. He
was not the man to interfere for another, when
it might have endangered his own place. He
was sorry for his friend, but silent probably
lest Buckingham, should make him the next
martyr to his interests.
His conduct in this case was cowardly, and
disgraceful ; he knew a worthier course than this.

SIR EDWARD COKE.

353

His proceedings, also, with regard to Raleigh,
in having disgracefully suffered him to remain so
long in prison * have been justly censured. Yet
at Raleigh's trial, as one of the commissioners,
he acted openly and nobly ; — acknowledging to
the court, that Raleigh had been not only his
friend, but the friend of his father Burleigh,
and that although the prisoner was not
a privy councillor, yet he had often been
called to consultations. And when the too
passionate address of Coke had prejudiced the
court against Raleigh, Cecil manfully spoke
out : — addressing the prisoner he said : — " Ex
cepting your faults (I call them no worse),
by God, I am your friend ! — the heat and pas
sion in you, and the Attorney's zeal in the
King's service, make me speak this." As Coke be
came more ferocious, Cecil became more earnest
for the prisoner, and he at length, indignantly
exclaimed, " Be not so impatient, good Mr.
Attorney, but give him leave to speak." And
it was this which made Coke sit down in court,
and for some time refuse to proceed.
It is more than probable, that the hearts
of all the commissioners were with Raleigh.
* At his death, Raleigh, had been nine years in the Tower.
VOL. I. A A

354 THE LIFE OF
Cecil could not but feel the iniquity of pro
ducing as evidence, the confession of Lord
Cobham, a living witness who had since re
tracted his charge. Yet the whole court ap
peared confused and deceived, by the ignorance
and cowardice of the judges, Popham, Anderson,
Gawdie, and Warburton, who decided that
Raleigh's request for the production of Cobham
need not be granted. Warburton 's reasons were
weak, and against all rules of evidence. " 1
marvel Sir Walter that you, being of such ex
perience and wit, should stand on this point,
for so many horse stealers may escape if they
may not be condemned without witnesses.
My Lord Cobham hath perhaps been laboured
withal, and to save you his old friend, it may
may be that he will deny all that he hath
said."* Of Cecil's speeches in parliament, we have
few reports, and such as have come down to us,
are not very eloquent ; but they were business
like, and full of good sense. The affairs which he
had to conduct were by no means so difficult
and intricate as those which fell to the lot of
his far more able successor. Some of his plans
for raising the public revenue were absurd and
* State Trials, vol 1, p. 212.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 355
paltry : thus the scheme for procuring money
by creating the order of baronets, was of
Cecil's propounding.
That he prostrated his dignity before Somer
set and Buckingham is very certain ; but then
he only followed the example of some of the
greatest men of the age ; and it must be re
membered, that he lived in days when such
lamentable scenes were neither remarkable nor
held to be uncommonly disgraceful.
Thus compromising in his conduct, Cecil was
Content to share in the odium of many measures,
of which he was not the author. His was not
the age of bold and open systems of govern
ment, but of trifling measures and of paltry
expedients. He left behind him a son and successor,
William, second Earl of Salisbury ; — who, after
the Commons had voted the House of Lords
useless, was elected of their number for Lynn,
and was one of the three degenerate lords
who took their seats in 1649, as members of the
lower house.*

* Lord Howard of Eskricke for Carlisle, and the Earl of
Pembroke for the county of Berks, were the only others of the
gallant nobles of England, who thus disgraced their order.
The commons were evidently flattered by their presence, and
A A 2

356 THE LIFE OF
To Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, Sir Edward
Coke owed the loss of his place, as Charles I.
owed to the same statesman the civil troubles
of his reign.
The character of this royal favourite of two
kings has not been sketched by a single favour
ing hand. He was an instance of that sudden ele
vation, to which in those days the public were too
well accustomed. He was proud, haughty, and
overbearing ; had some talents, and great zeal.
The very fact of his being a royal favourite,
insured his unpopularity ; for of all who were thus
elevated, Essex, perhaps, was the only one who
retained the favour of the people, without losing
the smile of the court. But Essex was composed
of different materials. He was warm-hearted,
open, generous, and brave ; stood by his friends
with energy, and left them not in the hour of
their adversity — was affable to his inferiors,
and even ventured to quarrel with his
mistress Queen, whenever he thought her.
wrong, Buckingham had none of these good qualities ;
— he was the handsome, jovial, boon companion,
whom James selected for his good looks, and
voted them members of all the committees on which they
had before sat as peers. Pari. Hist. vol. 19, p. 107,

SIR EDW'ARD COKE. 357
promoted for his subserviency. Charles re
tained him for the same good qualities : he was
willing to assist his master to govern without a
parliament, and was zealous and faithful ; more
over he had, fortunately for England, talents by no
means equal to the post he attempted to fill. His
schemes, therefore, for raising a revenue, which
was the chief difficulty that the King had to
encounter, were foolish and contemptible.
Wiser heads might have employed the prero
gative of the King in a much more profitable
manner ; for if that prerogative gave the King
the right to grant monopolies in trade and
manufactures, it gave the crown a complete
power over the entire foreign and home trade
of the kingdom. If the King could grant exclusive
privilege to, and exact duties from, one person, he
of course could do so from many. Loans, and a
national debt, were then, it is true, unknown ;
the forced advances made by the subject, under
that name, could not be deemed such, since they
were never intended to be repaid. The mode of
raising a revenue by borrowing of the subject,
was a refinement of an age much farther advanced
in the art of government, than that in which
Buckingham was Prime Minister of England.
Buckingham had not, when he found the
public odium attached to his name, the courage

358 THE LIFE OF
to resign his post, and to advise the King to
choose other more popular advisers. Twice he
tried the experiment of assembling a parliament,
and twice the Commons thus assembled im
peached him ; and to save him from their
vengeance, as often was the parliament dis,-
missed. The hand of the assassin Felton saved
him probably from the scaffold; for had he
lived to see the days of the long parliament,
there is little doubt but that he would have
shared the same fate as Strafford and Laud,
who with the same poUtical principles, had
much greater, talents, and more singleness of pur
pose, than their equally ill-fated predecessor.
It is very probable that Villiers had the same
leaning towards popery, which distinguished the
house of Stuart. His conduct towards the
French protestants at the siege of Rochelle,
was at once suspicious and impolitic.
His death appears to have been the act of a
mere political enthusiast, in which he had no
companion, and no farther object than the
ridding the world of a man he regarded as the
curse of his country.
Felton was no doubt a maniac : his actions
betrayed that he was one of those wild vision
aries, who consider themselves born to be
avengers of their country's wrongs. He had no

*!<!<!<!<!<! <W

SIR EDWARD COKE. 359
personal animosity against his victim ; nothing
to expect but the gallows, as a reward for his
exploit ; he made no attempt to escape, and at
once confessed his crime.
We have seen, in our own time, a prime mi
nister of England fall before the hand of the
murderer — another mono-maniac, who conducted
himself much as Felton did ; acknowledged the
crime ; quietly awaited the capture after the
murder ; and defended himself on the plea that he
had been injured by the neglect of some of the
menbers of the government of England, and
that he had no other means of drawing the at
tention of the government to his case.
Fdton and Bellingham I believe to have been
insane, and yet both died justly on the scaffold ;
— for if the plea of insanity were allowed only
in very extreme cases of confirmed mania, it
would perhaps be productive of much good : we
might then hear of fewer cases like the above. A
madman generally knows when he has done
wrong ; and, unless raving, he can always be res
trained by the fear of punishment.
The Jiistory of Buckingham is in a great
degree interwoven with that of Sir Edward
Coke. He sometimes stood his friend, but was
much of ener the advocate of his rival Bacon.
By his brother's marriage with Frances Coke, he
became interested in Coke's welfare, and he never

360 THE LIFE OF
afterwards appears to have deserted him. He owed
Coke some recompense for depriving him of his
place ; for it was certainly owing to Coke's stub
bornness in the case of the sinecures for which
the King's former favourite had the reversion,
that made Buckingham resolute to deprive him
of his chief justiceship. To please his friend,
James I. would have degraded every judge in
Westminster Hall.
Buckingham was long the object of the angry
jealousy of the Commons. They attributed to Mm
the stubbornness with which the King treeted
all attacks made upon his privileges, and the
repeated readiness with which he dissolved the
parliament, whenever Buckingham was in dan
ger. James appeared on all occasions as care
ful of Buckingham's honour, as of his own.
Thus on the 14th of March 1625, the Charcellor
of the Exchequer brought down a message from
the King to the house, in these words :
" That his Majesty hath taken notice of a
seditious speech uttered in the house, by
Mr. Clement Coke ;* the words were to this
effect, " That it were better to die by an
enemy, than suffer at home. " Jet his
Majesty in his wisdom has forborne to take any
course therein, or to send to the house about it,
* Son of Edward Coke.

SIR EDWARD COKE. 361
not doubting but the house would in due time
correct such an insolence. But his Majesty
has found, that his patience hath wrought to an
ill effect, and hath emboldened one since, to do
a strange act, in a strange way and unusual ;
that is Dr. Turner, who on Saturday last, without
any ground of knowledge in himself, or proof
tendered to the house, made an inquiry of
sundry articles against the Duke of Buckingham
as he pretended ; but indeed against the honour
and government of the King and his late
father. " This his Majesty saith is such an example,
that he can by no means suffer, though it were to
make inquiry into the meanest of his subjects,
much less unto one so near unto himself, and
doth wonder at the foolish impudence of any
man, that can think he should be drawn out of
any end, to offer such a sacrifice, much unworthy
the greatness of a king, and master of such a
servant : and therefore his Majesty can no longer
use his wonted patience, but desireth the justice
of the house against the delinquents, not doubt
ing but such course will be taken, that he shall
not be constrained to use his regal authority,
to right himself against these two persons."*
* Pari. Hist, vol 6, p. 433.

362 THE LIFE OF
The indignation of Charles, for the insult
offered to his friend Buckingham, was certainly
well excited by the way in which these queries
were propounded to the house, by the doctor.
The King and Buckingham were evidently
united in the disgrace. The following is a specie
men :
" Whether the unreasonable, exorbitant,
and immense gifts of money and lands, on the
Duke and his relations, be not the cause of
impairing the King's revenue, and impoverishing
the crown ?
" Whether the multiplicity of offices, con
ferred upon the Duke, and others depending
upon him, whereof they are not capable, be
not the cause of the evil government of the
kingdom ?
" Whether recusants in general, by a kind
of connivancy, be not borne out and increased,
by reason the Duke's mother and father-in-law
are known papists ?
" Whether the sale of offices, honours, and
places of judicature, with ecclesiastical livings
and promotions, a scandal and hurt to the king
dom, be not through the Duke ?"
Such were the galling questions put to the
house by Dr. Turner, and such was the indig
nant message it drew forth from the King. The

SIR EDWARD COKE. 363
Commons immediately proceeded to debate upon
this message, adjourned the question, and again
resumed, after some days, the discussion, — in
which Littleton, Wentworth, Selden, and Noy
argued in support of Dr. Turner. No one of any
consideration answered them : the Duke had evi
dently few friends there. The question was soon
neglected and forgotten. The house granted the
King a supply of money, and in the same breath
impeached the Duke. Charles consequently
summoned them before him, and very warmly
warned them to beware how they meddled with
subjects which were not within their pro
vince. " Remember, " said the angry King,
" that parliaments, are altogether in my power,
for their calling, sitting, and dissolution ;
therefore as I find the fruits of them good or
evil, they are to continue, or not to be.
" Mr. Coke told you, it was better to be
eaten up by a foreign, enemy, than to be des
troyed at home : indeed, I think, it more honour
for a King to be invaded, and almost destroyed
by a foreign enemy, than to be despised by his
own subjects."* * Pari. History, vol- 6, p. 451.

364 THE LIFE OF
Such were the efforts of the King to protect
Buckingham from the anger of the Commons ;
efforts which were required almost to the dying
hour of his favourite. He fell in August 1628 ;
leaving to Laud and Wentworth, the task of
ruling England, by expedients, which succeeded
for twelve years, and then brought both them
selves and their master to an untimely end.
Had Buckingham remained a private gentle
man, he would probably have fulfilled its duties
with credit and advantage. When raised out of
his natural sphere with unusual rapidity, he
acted with faithfulness to his master ; but nature
never intended him for a statesman. He blun
dered on, in all the confidence of ignorance ;
imagined that his retention of power was an
event of importance to the King. He fancied that
he had a genius for everything ; directed naval
operations ; commanded military expeditions ;
was the demi-god of the courtiers, who puffed him
up with vanity ; was humane, and warm in his
attachments ; promoted and enriched his
relations ; was of devoted loyalty ; and finally
died as he was about to proceed abroad in the
service of his King.
Villiers was only thirty six years of age
when he was murdered in the house at

SIR EDWARD COKE. 365
Portsmouth, a portion of which still subsists.*
In Felton's hat was found a paper wmich he had
sewn within the lining, bearing evident marks
of being the effusion of a brain over excited by
political enthusiasm. The original is in the pos
session of Mr. Upcott, late of the London Insti
tution, and it differs considerably from that given
by Clarendon, and others, I subjoin it on the
authority of Mr. Bray ley .f
" That man is cowardly, base, and deserveth
not the name of a gentleman or souldier, that is
not willinge to sacrifice his life for the honour
of his God, his Kinge, and his countrie.
" Let no man commend me for doeinge of
it, but rather discommend themselves as the
cause of it ; for if God had not taken away or
harts for or sinnes, he woulde not have gone so
longe unpunished. " Io. Felton."
Felton appears to have set about the murder

* It is, according to Mr. Brayley, the house, No. 10,
at the upper end of the High Street.
t Graphic Illustrator, 241.

366 THE LIFE OF
with the cool cunning which characterizes men
in his frame of mind ; for having, according to
Sir Henry Wotton, purchased a common two
penny butcher's knife, in a cutler's shop on
Tower Hill, he sewed the sheathe to the lining
of his pocket, " that he might, at any one
moment, draw forth the blade with one hand-^
for he had maimed the other."
He arrived at Portsmouth, and found Buck
ingham surrounded by all the bustle of pre
paration, hurrying on the expedition for the
relief of Rochelle.
"At Portsmouth," says Wotton "on Saturday,
23rd of August, he passed without any suspicion,
in such a time of so many pretenders to em
ployment, into an inner chamber, where the
Duke was at breakfast (the last of his repasts
in this world) accompanied by men of quality
and action. And there, a little before the
Duke's rising from the table, he went and
stood, expecting till he should pass through
a kind of lobby, between that room and the
next, where divers were attending him.
Towards which passage as I conceive,
somewhat darker than the chamber which
he left, while the Duke came with Sir Thomas
Fryer close at his arm, in the very moment as

SIR EDWARD COKE. 367
the said knight withdrew himself from the
Duke, this assassin gave him with a back blowT
a deep wound into his left side, leaving the
knife in his body, which the Duke himself
pulling out, on a sudden effusion of spirits,
he sunk under the table in the next room and
immediately expired."*
Felton, in his examination before the privy
councillors, showed great firmness ; and, when
threatened with the rack by the Earl of Dorset,
expressed his willingness to suffer anything
the King might think fit to inflict upon him :
" Yet, this," added he, " must I tell you, by
the way, that if I be put upon the rack, I
will accuse you my Lord Dorset, and none but
yourself."f This firmness made the council pause.
Charles thought that the rack might extort a
confession, implicating some suspected con
federates ; but, upon consulting the twelve
judges, they unanimously declared that, by
the law of England, the torture was not allowable
in any case.
* The Ellis correspondence, vol. S, p. 267. First series.
t Reliquae Wotton. 112 Edelnn 1651 , Bayley's Illustrator
242.

368 THE LIFE OF
Buckingham's monument is in the east
end of Portsmouth church. According to
the inscription, it was erected, three years
after his decease, by his sister Susan, Countess
of Denbigh.

END OF VOL. I .

LONDON:
SCHULZE AND CO., 13, POLAND STUE18T.