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he was influenced by the Pléiade philosophers, led by Ronsard. They acquainted Bacon with the various traditions such as the Egyptian mysteries, Gnosticism and the Knights Templars. The Pléiade opened Bacon's mind to the secrets and history of the Western mystery tradition, thus influencing his later plans and work. Bacon's subsequent political career in the Elizabethan Parliament and under James I seems a mere sideshow to the vast philosophical undertaking he had set himself. Even so, he repre- sented many constituencies, notably the foremost seat of Middlesex, and later, simultaneously, St Albans, Ipswich and Cambridge. Francis Bacon is the only person in history to have been a member of the House of Lords and the House of Commons at the same time. In Parliament he served on no less than 29 com- mittees and was regarded as one of the most eloquent orators ever to have stood before the House of Commons. Yet Bacon saw that omnipotent government was not the answer: "The truth can never be reached by listening to the voice of authority," he wrote. He opposed subsidies for business and government-granted monopolies. In 1589 Bacon moved that a subsidy bill (a taxation bill) to give monies to the Queen be extra- ordinary; in other words, be meant for war only. The amendment was passed, establishing the base for the eventual ascendancy of Parliament over the Crown. In 1593, under the threat of imprisonment by Elizabeth, Bacon again spoke against the Crown's encroachment on the right of the House of Commons to set taxation levels. Bacon believed the amount requested would press heavily on the poor and that many would not be able to pay it. Bacon won against the Crown, and secured freedom of speech for the English in their own Parliament and the right of the Commons to set the amount of supply to the Crown. This set the tone for future democracies that adopted the Westminster system of government. Bacon spoke against feudal privileges and opposed the enclo- sure of common lands by landowners. He also proposed to alter the language of the laws to make them accessible to the common man. Bacon, himself trained as a lawyer, said in Parliament: Laws are made to guard the rights of the people, not to feed lawyers. Francis Bacon fought in Parliament for union with the Scots to increase England's strength against threats from the continent. This eventuated under James I and finally put an end to threats of instability to the north of England. Bacon also pushed for expansion of colonisation in America, notably Newfoundland and Virginia, and donated much time and money to establishing those colonies. He was respected by all mainly for his virtue, but held in jealousy by his enemies, like the hunchback Robert Cecil who knew the secret of Bacon's birth and desired to keep him down. Under James I, Bacon was knighted in 1603, appointed Solicitor-General in 1606, and achieved the post of Attorney- General in 1613. In 1618 he became Lord Chancellor of England—the highest government post in the land next to the Crown. THE FALL FROM GRACE In 1621, Francis Bacon fell from public office after being framed by Edward Coke, his parliamentary colleague and nemesis from Elizabethan times. Coke, the Leader of the House of Commons, was determined to find evidence to indict Bacon and bring about his downfall. Others were involved in the conspiracy, including the cleric Dean Williams who coveted Bacon's post as Lord Chancellor. In 1621 Dean Williams had an audience with the King, where he advised James I to make Bacon a scapegoat to divert attention from James's abuses of monopoly patents. Shortly thereafter in Parliament, Coke, a friend of Williams, charged that the Lord Chancellor was suspected of bribery and corruption—for accepting considerable monetary bribes in exchange for favourable verdicts in court. It was alleged that Bacon had made hundreds of thousands of pounds in this manner. Initially considering the charges to be a joke, Francis Bacon soon realised the seriousness of the situation. He started vigorous preparations for his defence. On 24 April, however, the Lord Chancellor admitted guilt to the charges, although he had never seen these charges and didn't know how many there were. On 3 May the House of Lords pro- nounced its verdict. Bacon was ordered to pay a huge fine, was stripped of office and was sentenced to the ——————-__ Tower of London. Francis Bacon was bound by oath to obey his monarch, and James I had ordered him to confess to the charges in order to protect himself (the King) and James's favourite courtier, Buckingham, from their abuse of the monopoly patents. This fact was discov- ered in Dean Williams' private papers, uncovered many years afterwards by Bushell, Francis Bacon's confidential secre- tary. It should also be remembered that the charges never went to trial; nothing was ever proved against Bacon.* James I pardoned his sentence that year, and Bacon returned to his country estate, Gorhambury, to complete his secret literary work. BACON'S DEATH’ The accepted history is that Bacon died on Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day, 1626, after coming down with a chill, but there are so many inconsistencies in the story that 56 + NEXUS JUNE - JULY 1997