Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	appear_v	former_a	great_a	179	4	2.1249	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77900	The life and death of Sir Matthew Hale, Knt. late Lord Chief Justice of England. Containing many pious and moral rules for humane conversation. : Also, many remarkable sayings and worthy actions of the said lord chief justice. : And many other things worth the readers perusal. / Written originally by Dr. Gilbert Burnet, now Bishop of Salisbury.	Burnet, Gilbert, 1643-1715.	1700 (1700)	Wing B5829A; ESTC R175615	23,651	17

took nothing on Trust but pursued his Enquiries as far as they could go and as he was humble enough to confess his Ignorance and submit to Mysteries which he could not comprehend so he was not easily imposed on by any shews of Reason or the Bugbears of vulgar Opinions He brought all his Knowledge as much to Scientifical Principles as he possibly could which made him neglect the Study of Tongues for the bent of his Mind lay another way Discoursing once of this to some they said They looked on the Common Law as a Study that could not be brought into a Scheme nor formed into a Rational Science by reason of the Indigestedness of it and the Multipliciry of the Cases in it which rendred it very hard to be understood or reduced into a Method But he said He was not of their Mind and so quickly after he drew with his own Hand a Scheme of the whole Order and Parts of it in a large Sheet of Paper to the great Satisfaction of those to whom he sent it Upon this Hint some pressed him to Compile a Body of the English Law It could hardly ever be done by a Man who knew it better and would with more Judgment and Industry have put it into Method But he said As it was a Great and Noble Design which would be of vast Advantage to the Nation so it was too much for a private Man to undertake It was not to be Entred upon but by the Command of a Prince and with the Communicated Endeavours of some of the most Eminent of the Profession He had great vivacity in his Fancy as may appear by his Inclination to Poetry and the lively Illustrations and many tender Strains in his Contemplations but he look'd on Eloquence and Wit as things to be used very chastly in serious Matters which should come under a severer Inquiry Therefore he was both when at the Bar and on the Bench a great Enemy to all Eloquence or Rhetorick in Pleading He said If the Judge or Jury had a right Understanding it signified nothing but a waste of Time and loss of Words and if they were weak and easily wrought on it was a more decent way of corrupting them by bribing their Fancies and biassing their Affections and wondred much at that affectation of the French Lawyers in imitating the Roman Orators in their Pleadings For the Oratory of the Romans was occasion'd by their popular Government and the Factions of the City so that those who intended to excell in the Pleading of Causes were trained up in the Schools of the Rhetors till they became ready and expert in that luscious way of Discourse It is true the Composures of such a Man as Tully was who mixed an extraordinary Quickness an exact Judgment and a just Decorum with his skill in Rhetorick do still entertain the Readers of them with great Pleasure But at the same time it must be acknowledged that there is not that chastity of Style that closeness of Reasoning nor that justness of Figures in his Orations that is in his other Writings so that a great deal was said by him rather because he knew it would be acceptable to hsi Auditors than that it was approved of by himself and all who read them will acknowledge they are better pleased with them as Essays of Wit and Style than as Pleadings by which such a Judge as ours was would not be much wrought on And if there are such Grounds to censure the performances of the greatest Master in Eloquence we may easily infer what nauseous Discourses the other Orators made since in Oratory as well as in Poetry none can do Indifferently So our Judge wondred to find the French that live under a Monarchy so fond of imitating that which was an ill Effect of the Popular Government of Rome He therefore pleaded himself always in few Words and home to the Point And when he was a Judge he held those that Pleaded before him to be the main Hinge of the Business and cut them short when they made Excursions about Circumstances of no Moment by which he saved much time and made the chief Difficulties be well Stated and Cleared He had a Soul enlarged and raised above that mean Appetite of loving Money which is generally the Root of all Evil. He did not take the Profits that he might have had by his Practice for in common Cases when those who came to ask this Council gave him a Piece he used to give back the half and so made Ten Shillings his Fee in ordinary Matters that did not require much Time or Study If he saw a Cause was Unjust he for a great while would not meddle further in it but to give his Advice that it was so If the Parties after that would go on they were to seek another Councellor for he would assist none in Acts of Injustice If he found the Cause doubtful or weak in point of Law he always advised his Clients to agree their Business Yet afterwards he abated much of the Scrupulosity he had about Causes that appeared at first view Injust upon this occasion There were two Causes brought to him which by the ignorance of the Party or their Attorney were so ill represented to him that they seem'd to be very bad but he enquiring more narrowly into them found they were really very good and just so after this he slackned much of his former Strictness of refusing to meddle in Causes upon the ill Circumstances that appear'd in them at first In his pleading he abhorred those too common Faults of misreciting Evidences quoting Presidents or Books falsty or asserting things Confidently by which ignorant Juries or weak Judges are too often wrought on He pleaded with the same Sincerity that he used in the other parts of his Life and used to say it was as great a Dishonour as a Man was capable of that for a little Money he was to be hired to sav or do otherwise than as he thought All this he ascribed to the unmeasurable Desire of heaping up Wealth which corrupted the Souls of some that seem'd to be otherwise born and made for great Things When he was a Practitioner Differences were often refer'd to him which he setled but would accept of no Reward for his Pains tho' offer'd by both Parties together after the Agreement was made for he said in those Cases he was made a Judge and a Judge ought to take no Money If they told him he lost much of his Time in considering their Business and so ought to be acknowledged for it his answer was as one that heard it told me Can I spend my Time better than to make People friends must I have no time allowed me to do Good in He laid aside the Tenth Fenny of all he got for the Poor and took great care to be well informed of proper Objects for his Charities And after he was a Judge many of the Perquisites of his Place as his Dividend