HONEST LAWYER. 127 



what is more rare, a man of probity 

 and honour, to whom many of the 

 neighbouring gentry committed the ma- 

 nagement of their affairs, and whose 

 general practice did not descend to take 

 part in those disputes that, arising from 

 the frailties, the vices, or the misfortunes 

 of mankind, give employment to the 

 talents and virtues of the greater part 

 of the practitioners in what is termed 

 Common Law. 



He was also a man of an equable temper, 

 not easily provoked, of a kind and friendly 

 disposition, devoted to his family, and a 

 most lenient master. He had, I remem- 

 ber, an excellent library, in which I used 

 to spend my time, out of, and frequently 

 in, office-hours ; for there was more 

 attraction for me in the perusal of our 

 English classics, particularly Dryden and 

 Pope, than in studying the dry disqui- 

 sitions of Hale, Coke, or Blackstone. 



But my progress, whether slow or 



