There was nothing to warn Bacon that the work which he believed he was doing so well would be interrupted.
We look in vain for any threatenings of the storm.

What the men of his time thought and felt about Bacon it is not easy to ascertain.
Appearances are faint and contradictory; he himself, though scornful of judges who sought to be "popular," believed that he "came in with the favour of the general;" that he "had a little popular reputation, which followeth me whether I will or no." No one for years had discharged the duties of his office with greater efficiency.

Scarcely a trace remains of any suspicion, previous to the attack upon him, of the justice of his decisions; no instance was alleged that, in fact, impure motives had controlled the strength and lucidity of an intellect which loved to be true and right for the mere pleasure of being so.

Nor was there anything in Bacon's political position to make him specially obnoxious above all others of the King's Council.

He maintained the highest doctrines of prerogative; but they were current doctrines, both at the Council board and on the bench; and they were not discredited nor extinguished by his fall.