Probably it really did not much matter; but the trial was getting out of its course and inclining in favour of the prisoner, till Bacon--Mr.Spedding thinks, out of his regular turn--stepped forward and retrieved matters.

This is Mr.Spedding's account of what Bacon said and did: "By this time the argument had drifted so far away from the point that it must have been difficult for a listener to remember what it was that the prisoners were charged with, or how much of the charge had been proved.

And Coke, who was all this time the sole speaker on behalf of the Crown, was still following each fresh topic that rose before him, without the sign of an intention or the intimation of a wish to return to the main question and reform the broken ranks of his evidence.

Luckily he seems to have been now at a loss what point to take next, and the pause gave Bacon an opportunity of rising.

It can hardly have been in pursuance of previous arrangements; for though it was customary in those days to distribute the evidence into parts and to assign several parts to several counsel, there had been no appearance as yet of any part being concluded.