next year (1597), he _pub._ the first edition of his _Essays_, ten in
number, combined with _Sacred Meditations_ and the _Colours of Good and
Evil_. By 1601 Essex had lost the Queen's favour, and had raised his
rebellion, and B. was one of those appointed to investigate the charges
against him, and examine witnesses, in connection with which he showed an
ungrateful and indecent eagerness in pressing the case against his former
friend and benefactor, who was executed on Feb. 25, 1601. This act B.
endeavoured to justify in _A Declaration of the Practices and Treasons,
etc., of ... the Earl of Essex, etc._ His circumstances had for some time
been bad, and he had been arrested for debt: he had, however, received a
gift of a fine of £1200 on one of Essex's accomplices. The accession of
James VI. in 1603 gave a favourable turn to his fortunes: he was
knighted, and endeavoured to set himself right with the new powers by
writing his _Apologie_ (defence) of his proceedings in the case of Essex,
who had favoured the succession of James. In the first Parliament of the
new king he sat for St. Alban's, and was appointed a Commissioner for
Union with Scotland. In 1605 he _pub._ _The Advancement of Learning_,
dedicated, with fulsome flattery, to the king. The following year he
married Alice Barnham, the _dau._ of a London merchant, and in 1607 he
was made Solicitor-General, and wrote _Cogita et Visa_, a first sketch of
the _Novum Organum_, followed in 1609 by _The Wisdom of the Ancients_.
Meanwhile (in 1608), he had entered upon the Clerkship of the Star
Chamber, and was in the enjoyment of a large income; but old debts and
present extravagance kept him embarrassed, and he endeavoured to obtain
further promotion and wealth by supporting the king in his arbitrary
policy. In 1613 he became Attorney-General, and in this capacity
prosecuted Somerset in 1616. The year 1618 saw him Lord Keeper, and the
next Lord Chancellor and Baron Verulam, a title which, in 1621, he
exchanged for that of Viscount St. Albans. Meanwhile he had written the
_New Atlantis_, a political romance, and in 1620 he presented to the king