C O K 



7S8 



COL 



greatly distinguished himself by the strenuous support 

 ' which he gave to til questions favourable to the liberty of 

 the subject, and the privilege* of the commons. He took 

 a most active part in all the important discussions which 

 occupied the attention of this parliament, and had the 

 principal share in proposing and framing the famous 

 1'tiition of Right*. On the 5th of June of the same 

 year, he vindicated the right of the House of Commons 

 to proceed against any subject, how exalted soever he 

 might be, and expressly denounced the Duke of Buck- 

 ingham as the " grievance of grievances," and the great 

 cause of all the calamities of the country. 



But the active and useful life of this distinguished 

 statesman was now drawing towards a conclusion. Af- 

 ter the dissolution of this parliament, on the 28th of 

 March 1628-9, he retired to his house at Stoke- Fogey's 

 in Buckinghamshire, where he spent the remainder of 

 hi* days in a state of seclusion from public life. He 

 died there, on the 3d of September 163 t, in the eighty, 

 sixth year of hi* age. 



The person of Sir Edward Coke was well proportion, 

 ed, his features regular, his countenance grave, and his 

 manner dignified. In his dress he was always neat, with- 

 out foppery or ostentation ; and it was a saying of his, 

 " that the cleanness of a man's clothes ought to put him 

 in mind of keeping all clean within." His mind was ac- 

 tive, vigorous, and penetrating ; his memory retentive, 

 and his judgment solid. Strength and conciseness form- 

 ed the general characteristics of his legal pleadings ; but 

 in his writings and set speeches he adopted rather a dif- 

 fuse style ; which may have proceeded partly from the 

 redundancy of his learning, and partly from the quaint 

 manner of the time* in which he lived. He appears to 

 have possessed all the qualities which are requisite to 

 form a great lawyer ; and no man ever studied the laws 

 and customs of his country with greater zeal, assiduity, 

 and success, or displayed more acutencss in tracing the 

 principles upon which they are founded. As a judge, 

 he enjoyed the highest character for talents, learning, 

 and integrity ; and there are few men whose lives have 

 been more entirely and sincerely devoted to the service 

 of their country, and to the maintenance of its constitu- 

 tion. As a servant of the crown, he was zealous and 

 faithful ; and while he supported the just prerogative of 

 the executive, he did not hesitate to oppose any attempts 

 to stretch it beyond the legal and constitutional bounds. 



During the course of his public life, he experienced 

 many change* of fortune ; but in every situation he pre- 

 served the same composure of mind and consistency of 

 conduct : thus verifying the prediction of King James, 

 who is reported to have said of him, " that which ever 

 way he was thrown, he would fall upon his feet." When 

 removed from his office of chief-justice, there is reason 

 to believe, that he might have retained his situation 

 had he shewn sufficient compliance with the wishes of 

 the court j but when such an overture was made to him, 

 his answer was, " that as a judge ought not to take, 

 neither ought he to give a bribe," nobly preferring 

 the loss of office and emolument to the prostitution of 

 hi* talents. He is said, indeed, to have valued him- 

 elf chiefly upon having obtained all his steps of pre- 

 ferment, " without employing either prayer* or pence." 

 Toward* the latter part of his life, although connect- 

 ed by various tie* with the persons in power, he de- 

 voted himself zealously and steadily to the service of 

 the people, and exerted his talents, upon every occasion, 

 in the defence of their rights and liberties, against the 

 arbitrary encroachments of the crown. 



Sir Edward was twice married. Hi firit wife was 



Bridget, daughter aud co-heiress of John Paxton, Esq. 

 with whom he acquired a considerable fortune, and by 

 whom he had *even sons and three da-.ighter*. By lii 

 second wife, Elizabeth, daughter to Thomas, Earl of 

 Exeter, he had two daugi. 



Although he was constantly engaged in the active 

 business of life, he yet found leisure to compile several 

 laborious and highly valuable works, illustrative of the 

 laws and constitution of his country. These an-, 



1. His Reports of Cases and Matters in Law; in 

 thirteen parts : Of which eleven were published by him- 

 self, the other two having appeared after his death. 

 These report* are *o highly esteemed, that they are 

 generally cited without the author's name. 



2. A " Book of. Entries, containing perfect and ap- 

 proved precedent* of Counts, Declarations," &c. Ful. 

 1614. 



3. His ' Institutes," in four parts ; the first of which 

 contains a comment upon Littleton's treatise of tenures ; 

 the second, a comment upon magnet charta, and several 

 other ancient acts of parliament ; the third, a treatise 

 of the plea* of the crown ; and the fourth, an account 

 of the several courts of the kingdom. 



4. " A Treatise of Bail and Mainprizc." London, 

 1637, 4to. 



5. " Reading on the Stat. of Fines." London, 1GG2, 

 Ito. 



6. " Complete Copyholder." London, 164-0, ito. 

 See Biographia Jiri/annica, vol. ii. (;) 

 COLBERT, JOHN BAI'TISTE, Marquis Sagnelai, aa 



eminent statesman of France, whose family was originally 

 from Scotland, was born at Rlieims, in 1619- H. 

 played, at a very early age, an uncommon partiality for 

 commercial and financial speculations. He read with 

 avidity all the ablest works on these favourite subjects, 

 and made a tour through the provinces of France, 

 with a view of acquiring an accurate knowledge of 

 the state of its manufactures and its trade. His distin- 

 guished talents as a financier procured him the favour of 

 the Cardinal Mazarine, who honoured him with his 

 unlimited confidence, entrusted to his management the 

 most important concerns, and during his last illness, not 

 only appointed him one of the executors to his will, but 

 recommended him to his sovereign, as a person entitled, 

 by his worth and qualifications, to the highest offices in 

 the state. In compliance with the recommendation of 

 his distinguished minister, Louis XIV. appointed Col- 

 bert intendant of the finances. His exertions, in this 

 important situation, were highly judicious and beneficial. 

 By abolishing those useless place;, which had been creat- 

 ed, not for public utility, but to favour individuals, by 

 restoring order in the receipts and payments of the ex- 

 chequer, and by a rigid regard to economy, he material- 

 ly improved the treasury, while he diminished the load 

 of taxes which hig predecessors had imposed upon the 

 people. He effected another equally important, and 

 more difficult reformation, by establishing a court of 

 justice to examine and decide on all financial concerns. 

 By mean* of this court he recovered many alienations of 

 the revenue, and suppressed many unjustly acquired an- 

 nuities, the original of which he caused to be repaid. 

 Nor was he was less active as *uperintendant of the pub- 

 lic buildings, to which situation he was appointed in 

 1664. Ambitious to give to the palaces and buildings 

 of Paris a splendour suitable to the grandeur of the 

 French monarchy, he invited from all the countries of 

 Europe architects, sculptors, and other artists of distin- 

 guished eminence, whom he employed on the most libe- 

 ral term*, in their embellishment. His principal atten. 

 4 



