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FRANCIS BACON,

LORD VERULAM, VISCOUNT ST: ALBAN,

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THIS illustrious man, who has been beautifully called the "Chancellor of Human Nature," was the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, lord keeper of the great seal in the reign of queen Elizabeth. Sir Nicholas was a man of great talents, profoundly skilled in the law, and of spotless integrity. His leading maxim-"Let us stay a little, that we may have done the sooner ;" and his mottoMediocra firma, 'firm in the middle state,' shew the caution and equanimity of his temper. was a man of great modesty, and of uncommon corpulence, and when the queen visited him at the house which he built at Redgrave, she told him that his house was too little for him: Not so, Madam,' said he, but your Majesty has made me too great for my house.' After having held the great seal above twenty years, he died suddenly in the following remarkable manner he was under the hands of his barber, and the weather being sultry, the lord keeper ordered a window to be opened before which he sat. He soon after fell asleep, in the current of fresh air that was blowing strong upon him. When he awoke, he found himself in a feverish state, and asked the servant "Why he suffered him to sleep so exposed?" The fellow replied that he durst not

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