Albans. It
was near St. Albans that Bacon had built himself a splendid
house, laid out a beautiful garden, and planted fine trees, and
there he kept as great state as the King himself.
He had now reached his highest power. He had published his great
work called the Novum Organum or New Instrument in which he
taught men a new way of wisdom. He was the greatest judge in the
land and a peer of the realm. He had married too, but he never
had any children, and we know little of his home life.
It seemed as if at last he had all he could wish for, as if his
life would end in a blaze of glory. But instead of that in a few
short weeks after he became Viscount St. Albans, he was a
disgraced and fallen man.
He had always loved splendor and pomp, he had always spent more
than he could afford. Now he was accused of taking bribes, that
is, he was accused of taking money from people and, instead of
judging fairly, of judging in favor of those who had given him
most money. He was accused, in fact, of selling justice.
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