enough. In the conclufion, they were most severely punished by fines and imprifonments. It was Sir, Francis Bacon's wife and prudent conduct in thefe profecutions, that engaged king James to entruft him chiefly in the management of the trials of the earl and countefs of Somerfet. After many examinations, and much unneceffary parade, Frances, countess of Somerfet, was brought to her trial, and pleaded guilty : upon which our author made a very learned fpeech. The next day, Robert, earl of Somerset, was brought to his trial; and Sir Francis, as attorney-general, opened the matter very fully, and with much perfpicuity; and though the earl defended himself with great art and skill, he was found guilty, Yet, neither the countefs, who confeffed her guilt, nor her husband, who was convicted upon evidence, fuffered; though all who had been their inftruments in this black and barbarous affair did: but the mercy extended to the former was in regard to her family, the noble houfe of Howard, the most eminent and diftinguished in the kingdom, and the inter'ceffion of the peers in her behalf; and that to the latter flowed from the king's tenderness to a man, who had been once fo high in his favour, and who is generally allowed to have been much lefs guilty than his wife. However, the pardoning them has been always accounted one of the greatest stains on king James's administration; and is a proof that ill-timed mercy in a prince is often an act of feverity to himself, and was more especially fo in this cafe; because the king had taken uncommon pains to make the justice of that fentence appear, which he afterwards declined to execute. It may not be amifs to obferve, that it was in this affair, that king James faid, fometime before the trial, he wished the curfe of God might fall on him and his pofterity, if he failed punishing the delinquents, provided they were found guilty. From hence fome people have fondly and ridiculously believed, that all the difafters which have almoft ever attended the unfortunate house of Stuart, proceeded from the breach of this folemn promife. It would be difficult to reconcile fo ftrange an opinion with the juftice of the Almighty. Sir Francis Bacon had no hand at all in procuring the earl of Somerset's pardon; to whom, as he had no ebligaNovember, 1761. tions, fo he conducted himself towards him in this matter with a laudable indifference, fhewing a warm, but decent, diligence in the difcharge of his duty; and thereby deservedly gained the approbation of the king his mafter, and the general applause of the whole nation, Sir Francis Bacon was now trusted and employed by the king, not only in the bufinefs of his profeffion, but in fo many affairs of another nature, and of fuperior confequence to the ftate, that he judged it would be for his own honour, and advantageous to his majesty's fervice, that he fhould be fworn of the privy-council. This, though unusual for a man in his station, was accomplished by the interceffion of his friend, Sir George Villiers; and he took his place at the board, on the ninth of June at Greenwich, where the court then was. So great was his credit at this time with the king, that his majesty depended chiefly upon his integrity and abilities, in the regulation of an affair that very nearly concerned himself, and was of great [confequence to the nation. This was the fettling a very important difference in point of jurifdiction between the courts of Chancery and King's-Bench. Sir Francis Bacon took uncommon pains in this business; and his opinion, it is apprehended, went the fartheit. Though the favourite promoted the intereft of his friend, as he certainly was in justice bound to do, with great warmth and fincerity; yet Sir Francis did not entirely rest upon his affiftance: on the contrary, when there was a profpect of the chancellor's place becoming vacant, he addreffed himself with much plainness and freedom to the king, reprefenting very strongly and fairly, though with modefty and decency, the nature and length of his fervices, and the feveral reasons he had to expect, that the king would think of him for keeper of the feals, as a matter honourable to the attorney-general, and not disadvantageous, he hoped, to his majesty's service. It is not eafy to conceive, how applications for favour can be conducted with dignity, or how a man can set forth his merits and fervices, explaining at the fame time his own fitness for any particular employment, and marking the inaptitude of others, without a mixture of meannefs on the one hand, and of envy and injuftice on the other. But the more difficult fuch a task appears, 4 C the Somerfet had enjoyed a greater meafure of power than Sir George Villiers had hitherto done; yet Sir Francis Bacon never paid any particular court to him; and therefore it is not unfair to conclude, that if he gave the former, befides the bare duties of his function, fome marks of particular friendship, they may very well be attributed to the affection he had for Villiers, and his regard for a man, who had shewn great willingness to serve him, and not to a mean fpirit, and fervile adulation of power. As it is not our design to conceal the truth from the reader, we fubjoin, that the enemies of the lord-chancellor Bacon have, in anfwer to this, alledged, that it is true, he did not court the friendship of Somerset, but he found his mistake, and that to rife at court, or gain the king's favour, no other way was fo fafe as an attachment to a favourite, and therefore he connected himself closely with the successor of Somerset, as the only method to ferve his own intereft. Amidft the praises of one party, and the detractions and calumnies of the other, it is always difficult to difcover the real truth of any diftinguished or public character. the more his excellency must shine,' who_his warrants for patents, and the grants was able to discharge it, with honour to of land. himself, without wrong to others, and with duty and benefit to the king his mafter. This did Sir Francis Bacon, at a time when the death of the then lord-chancellor was daily expected, and confequently, when he might afpire to that high dignity, without any breach of the friendship with which he had been honoured by that worthy perfon. It is true, the libellers of thofe times, or to speak the fame thing in milder words, the writers of fecret hiftory, report other wife: but, for the honour of his memory, the letter he wrote upon that occafion ftill remains to fet the affair in its true light. Impartiality, however, obliges us to own, that, in faying Sir Francis Bacon is not be blamed for this proceeding, we have spoken all we can in his favour. It is a remark of the ingenious editor of his works, that he was never promoted to any poft, without repeated and earnest applications. Sentiments of honour at court were not then regarded in so high a light, as at this time: but, to a man of strict severity, preferment thus obtain ed may almost be ftiled difgrace a little palliated and difguifed. Pofts of honour ought ever to be voluntary; they, properly, fhould always proceed from the free-will of the donor.---The lord chancellor recovered; and therefore Sir Francis Bacon applied himself to the duties of his office, and to fuch other employments as the king laid upon him. Various, indeed, they were, and thereby fpeak the vaft extent of his abilities: for, befides the business of his office, we find him frequently confulted in affairs of state, and of the revenue, particularly in thofe relating to Ireland, In all which he acted not as a bufy and forward man, fond of thrufting himfelf into every thing, but as an active and diligent fervant to his prince, and one who thought nothing a burden, nothing a hardship, that was in his power to perform for the benefit of the ftate, or as an inftance of his gratitude to the king his benefactor. He fhewed himself particularly careful in whatever related to the fortunes of Villiers; to whom, if we may judge from his letters, he did nothing officiously, but rendered him fuch fervices only, as fell properly in the way of the attorney-general: fuch as the preparing As Sir Francis Bacon began his office of attorney general, with a profecution for duelling, fo he ended it with another against one Mr. Markham, for fending a challenge to the lord d'Arcy; and he gained in this, as in every thing else, great reputation. Thus in the courfe of three years, whilft be held this poft, the rock on which many lawyers fplit, he behaved himself with fuch prudence and moderation, and transacted so many difficultand perplexed affairs withsuch evenness and integrity, that it does not appear his conduct was ever called in question; nor has malice itself dared to utter of him the leaft reproach. When this is confidered, we need the lefs wonder at his fo confidently expecting the high employment to which he was raised. It was a very natural elevation from the poft he was then in. The good old lord-chancellor defired to have him for his fucceffor; and indeed there was no one at that time fo fit for it as himself. The manner in which it was done, was every way noble : for the then lord-chancellor Egerton, who had Mag. had been raised to the peerage by the title of viscount Brackley, being worn out with age and infirmities, at a vifit the king paid him, refigned the feals into his majefty's hands, whofe tenderness at parting with fo ancient and faithful a fervant caused him to fhed tears. The king foon after delivered them to Sir Francis Bacon, with the title of lord-keeper, he being then in the 54th year · of his age. At the fame time his majefty gave him these three cautions: To feal nothing till after mature deliberation; to give righteous judgments between parties; and not to aim at extending the royal prerogative too far. Thefe were wife admonitions, worthy of a good prince. The lord-keeper Bacon went afterwards to vifit the lord Brackley, as well to acquit himself of the debt of perfonal gratitude, as to acquaint him with his majesty's gracious intentions of Thefe he did not live long enough to receive; but It is clear that Sir Francis Bacon [To be concluded in our next; with which An Account of the Cuftoms, Manners, and Ceremonies of the Inhabitants of the Kingdom of Kongo, on the Western Coaft of Africa; and of their Monarchs. THIS kingdom is of a very large ex tent, and exceeding populous. The towns and villages fwarm fo with inhabitants, that were not great numbers fold annually for flaves, the country could not fupport them. They are defcended from the ancient Ethiopians, and though few nations live in a more wretched manner, there is hardly one under heaven that entertains a more exalted idea both of themfelves and of their country, or is more hardened against all conviction to the contrary, either from reason, experience, or the most impartial comparison with other places in Europe or Africa. Neither, indeed, can they eafily be brought to think otherwife, when it is a fundamental article of their belief, that the rest of the world was the work of angels; but that the kingdom of Kongo was the handywork of the Almighty himself, and therefore must have the highest advantages and prerogatives above all others; their monarchs must be the moft opulent, wife, and powerful; and their fubjects the noblest, richest, most ingenious, and happiest peoTell them of the ple in the univerfe. magnificence of fome of the European or Afiatie courts, their immenfe revenues, the grandeur of their palaces and edifices, the riches and happiness of their subjects, the vast progrefs they have made in the arts and sciences, commerce, manufactories, and other advantages, to which the Kongoefe are wholly ftrangers; they will coolly answer, that all this must come vaftly short of the dignity and fplendor of the kings and kingdom of Kongo: that there can be but one Kongo in the world, to the happiness of whofe monarch and people, all the reft were to contribute, and to whofe treasury the fea and rivers pay their conftant tribute of Zimbis, (the hells which are their current coin) whilft other princes must condescend to enrich themfelves, by digging through rocks and mountains, to come at the excrements of the earth; for fo they ftile gold and filver. Accordingly they imagine the nations that come to traffic among them are forced to that fervile employment by their poverty, and the badnefs of their country, rather than induced to it by their luxury or avarice; whilft themfelves, with the utmost ease and content, can indulge their natural indolence and floth, though attended with the most pinching hunger and 4 C2 mifery, without giving them any other assistance than that of the lafh, whenever they find them lazy or negligent. In like manner, thofe who live in villages or hamlets have also learned from them to grub and cultivate the lands, to plough and fow, and weave coarfe ftuffs for their own ufe. But even thefe ufually commit the moft labo out the least ambition of excelling one another in any one branch under their care; and this not for want of natural capacity, for both those burghers and peasants who are more converfant with the Portuguese, have fince difcovered a very fertile genius and readiness to imitate them in feveral curious works; from which it is supposed the credit and profits they gain by it will fpur them on to ftill farther improvements, But though it be generally esteemed fo much beneath their dignity to apply to any ufeful work, yet they think it no dif grace to beg or steal; in both which arts they are perfectly well verfed, and practise them to the highest degree of excellence. mifery, rather than difgrace the dignity of their blood by any kind of induftry, which, how laudable and beneficial foever, is look ed upon by them as a leffer degree of flavery. Hence it is, that they are neither afhamed or afraid of their extreme indigence or poverty, though it obliges them to go almost naked, without covering on their heads, or shoes to their feet, exposed to therious part to their wives and slaves, withfcorching beams of a vertical fun from above, and the burning fands and ftones beneath. With the fame eafe and content they can take their repofe on the bare ground, either in their wretched huts, expofed to all winds and weathers; or, if need require it, in the open air, without any inconvenience: if they contract any diftemper by it, patience and natural, ftrength are their only remedies. This is the caufe why they fupport nature with fuch a fmall quantity of grain or pulfe, as their wives can fow and reap; or, when that fails, with fome fruits, roots, and other fpontaneous vegetables, rather than debafe their nobility, by joining their hands to the plough or fpade. And on the fame account they neglect the breeding of cattle of any kind, how profitable foever they might prove to them, and alledge, that it is too much below their dignity to take the care of beats upon them. Was their country properly cultivated, it might produce fufficient to maintain its inhabitants; but fo little ufe as they make of it, and as the women are prodigiously fruitful, it is no wonder that they are forced to have recourfe to the odious method of felling laves, a practice fo contrary and deroga tory to the nature of a human being. It must, however, be owned, that fince the coming of the Portuguese among them, which has been ever fince the year 1482, their example hath drove many out of their fantastic pride, and fhameful floth, into fome kind of laudable industry. The burghers, for instance, who had till then an irreconcileable averfion to all forts of labour, and used to spend their whole time in finging, dancing, fmoking, and other idle diverfions, have been fince excited to apply their thoughts to fome ufeful works; fuch as weaving of nets, and other coarfe Rul's, fawing of boards, feveral branches of carpentry, and other trades. But it must not be fuppofed, that they did any more in it than fet their flaves to work, and make a gain of their labour, They are mistrustful, jealous, envious, and treacherous; and where they once take a diftaste or affront, will spare no pains, nor ftick at any base means to be avenged of their enemy. They are brought up without the leaft natural affection either to their nearest relations, or even between their parents and children, husbands and wives; infomuch, that a father will fell a fon or daughter, or perhaps both, for a piece of cloth, a collar or girdle of coral, or beads, and often for a bottle of wine or brandy. Labat, from Cavazzi, tells us among other inftances, of this brutish unnaturalnefs, that the latter being one day in his convent of St. Salvador, a private man came into the church belonging to it, and made fuch loud and doleful lamentations, as drew the whole convent thither. At first, they imagined fome dreadful mifchance to have befallen the poor wretch; but, upon farther inquiry, were informed by him, that the extreme mifery he laboured under had reduced him to the utmost despair; that he had fold all his brethren, and one fifter he had, and next to them his wives and children, and laft of all his father and mother, and that he had not one foul left of his family to make a penny of. The good fathers, ftrangely furprifed at this declaration, endeavoured, in vain, to convince him what an unnatural monster monster he was, and how juftly deferving of a worse fate than that he complained of. He coolly told them, that he had done nothing but what had been conftantly practifed in that country, and there could be no crime in reducing them to the flavish condition to which he himself had run the risk of being reduced by them. This man had no right to fell his relations in this manner; but when the flave merchants come to the coaft, the natives often kidnap them, and fend them away by force against their wills, in which they are affifted by the inhuman wretches who traffic for them. Before the Portuguese introduced the gofpel, the religion of this country was, and ftill is among the unconverted, who are very numerous, a monstrous compound of idolatry and fuperftition. They acknowledge a Supreme Being, who, they believe has committed all fublunary things to the care and government of a great number of Demons; fome to preside over the air, fome over the fea, others over fire, winds, storms, rains, lightnings, droughts, heat, and cold, lakes, rivers, men, beasts, fowls, fishes, trees, fruits, and other products, healthy and fickly feafons, fertility and barrennefs, and in a word on all the bleffings and curfes to which this world, and all its inhabitants, are subjected, according to their blind votaries, care or neglect rendering thofe fubaltern deities more or lefs propitious. To the good Demons, they pray to be kind towards them, and fend them what they prefide over; to the evil Demons they likewife pray, not to vifit them with the bad things they have power over. Hence proceeds that immenfe multitude of idols, (for they have liberty to worship the Demons under what fhape they will) altars, priests, and fuperftitious rites, which are still in vogue in those parts of the kingdom where the gofpel hath not yet been received; and even where it is, many of them are still retained by those who nevertheless make open profeffion of Chriftianity. The fame villainy which the priests of Whidah practise on the Whidanese, the priefts of Kongo do on the Kongoefe; that is, each makes their religion fubfervient to their own interefts; each keeps the people in the grofeft ignorance; both alike greedy harpies, and the moft intolerable rafcals under the fun. If any thing, they have greater influence in Kongo: for they are in a manner adored there. They have one priest fuperior in power and dignity to the whole tribe. He is ftiled the Shalome, and may be called the Pope of Kongo, He has the firft fruits: no perfon dares come near his houfe under the feverest penalties, without his permiffion, because there he pretends to keep the facred fire, which he diftributes among them at a very high rate. He likewife keeps his fovereign tribunal, not only for religious, but likewife for civil matters; for the difpatch of which he appoints a certain number of fubftitutes, or delegates, over whom he prefides in chief. This gives him great power: no governor can be appointed, unlefs approved by the Shalome, who is paid pretty well by the governors for his friendfhip and protection. These hardly dare undertake any thing, without first securing the Shalome's approbation by prefents; but when once a right understanding is fixed between them, they become fuch an effectual fupport to one another, that they fleece and tyrannize, each in his particular province, without any oppofition or danger; by which means the civil officer feldom fails of repaying himself with intereft the prodigious extortions which he is obliged to pay to the Shalome. The inhabitants pay fuch a regard to this grand Impoftor, that it is unlawful to have any commerce with their wives, during his abfence from the ufual place of his refidence; and fome women, in order to get rid of their husbands, go and accuse them of incontinence during this period. But this office is attended with one inconvenience, the effect of their great fuperftition, that the Shalome never muft die a natural death: fo that when his life is in the utmost danger, through fickness or old age, his fucceffor is chofen, who immediately ftrangles, or otherwife difpatches him, and is immediately after installed into his new dignity. The manner of electing the Shalome authors are not clear about. Every petty prieft in his station is as tyrannical as this chief, The royal family of Kongo, all the maritime provinces, and many others, are, and have been long, Chriftians. The king and princes have endeavoured to extirpate this idolatry out of their dominions, and place the Chriftian religion inftead of it. But the natives are fo bigotted to the priests, that all attempts to reformation would be attend ed |