But higher dignities now flowed fast upon him. In consequence of his extraordinary exertions during the prosecutions above mentioned, he was called to the de gree of a serjeant, on the 20th of June 1606 ; and on the last day of the same month, he was advanced to the situation of Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. This office Sir Edward filled, during several years, with abi lity and uprightness, and seemed desirous of retaining it; but, in consequence, it is believed, of some court in trigues, he was removed to the situation of Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Although, in this capacity, he evinced no great partiality for the unlimited prerogative of the crown ; yet such was the favour he enjoyed from the king, and the expectations which were formed of the great services he was capable of rendering to the state, that in the month of November 1613, he was sworn of his Majesty's Privy Council.
At this period, Bacon, the celebrated philosopher, was engaged in the pursuit of the same public honours, which the talents of Coke had already enabled him to attain. But the conduct of these two great rivals on the arena of public life was widely different. The upright mind of Coke disdained to employ any of those petty ar tifices, or to engage in any of those political intrigues, which are but too often resorted to as the most effectual means of advancement ; and, trusting to his learning and abilities alone for distinction, it was his boast to have ob tained the various offices, which he successively filled, without either begging or bribing." Bacon, on the ontrary, less impressed cr i th a sense of the true cligLitv of human nature, than his scientific attainments might have led us to presume, did not hesitate to stoop to any means, however base and unjustifiable, by which 1 e night raise himself to that station, which his genius and learning, had he relied solely upon them, would proba bly have procured for him in a more honourable manner. 'The avowed rival of Coke, he neglected no opportunity that occurred of attempting to diminish the respect which was universally paid to the talents and integrity of that great man, and to supplant him in the favour of those, in whom were the fountains of honour and re ward. It affords an humiliating instance of the weak ness of human nature, to behold genius and talents, which were calculated to grasp and embody the most important truths of science, thus prostituted to the meanest and most selfish purposes of personal elevation,—to see the mind of a Bacon exhausting and misapplying its ener gies on the paltry arts of political rivalry and court in trigue.
The pliant servility of Bacon prevailed over the in genuous and manly virtue of Coke. Having succeeded, at length, in gaining entirely the car of the king, he did not find much difficulty in procuring an opportunity of humbling his antagonist. In the course of the prose cutions which were carried on against the Earl and Countess of Somerset, and the other persons who were accessaries to the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, the conduct of the Chief Justice, which appears to have been able, upright, and honourable, was misrepresented to the king and the people ; the part which he took in the crown's cause of Commendants,. and in the discus
sion regarding the privileges of the Court of Chancery ; and, above all, his unbending demeanour towards the fa vourite, Villiers, contributed gradually to deprive him of the royal favour ; and the ultimate consequence was, that Sir Edward was suspended from the execution of his office, on the 30th of June The talents of this able man, however, were too ser viceable to the state to be long dispensed with ; and accordingly we find that, a short while thereafter, he was restored, in some measure, to the favour of the king, and re-instated in his place as a privy-counsellor. It would appear, too, that the animosity of Bacon against him had at length relaxed; probably because he consi dered the friendship of Sir Edward as a necessary means of furthering his own ambitious views of aggrandise ment.
From this period he was engaged in many important affairs of state, and the greatest deference was paid to his opinion upon every measure of policy which the crown proposed to adopt. In the year 1620, the king's affairs appeared to be in such a state of embarrassment, as absolutely required the calling of a parliament ; at least, this measure was strongly advised by the Lord Chancellor Bacon, after consulting with Sir Edward Coke. The conduct of Sir Edward, however, proved very different from what the court and the favourite, Buekingham, had expected ; and, instead of becoming a mere tool in the hands of the ministry, he shewed him self, upon every occasion, to be a steady and patriotic friend to the liberties of his country. In consequence of the freedom and boldness with which he opposed the ill gal pr•tel,sions of the crown in Parliament, he was, on toe 27t.: December 16`..".'1, committed to the 'Tower; while, at the acme tnne, his chambers in the Temple were broken open, and his papers taken out and deliver ed to certain persons to be examined. On the 6th of January, 1622, Sir Edward was charged before the council with having concealed some true examinations, in the great cause of the Earl of Somerset, and substi tuting false ones in their place. This charge, however, was not followed up by any proceedings against him. and does not. indeed, appear to have had any real foun dation ; for he was soon afterwards released from con fincment ; but the king thought proper, for the second time, to strike him off the list of privy counsellors. joined wards the close of the year 1623, we lind his name oined with several others, in a commission issued by the king relative to the affairs of Ireland ; but this might be con sidered rather as a species of honourable banishment, than as a mark of the royal favour and confidence ; and it does not appear that he ever left the kingdom.