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iffue is tendered in this manner, " And of this he puts 
himfelf upon the country,” thereby fubmitting himfelf to 
the judgment of his peers : but, if the traverfe lies upon 
the plaintiff, he tenders the iffue, or prays the judgment 
of the peers againft the defendant in another form ; thus, 
“And this he prays may be inquired of by the coun¬ 
try.” 
But, if either fide (as, for inftance, the defendant) 
pleads a fpecial negative plea, not traverfing or denying 
any thing that was before alleged, but difclofing fome 
new negative matter; as where the fuit is on a bond 
conditioned to perform an award, and the defendant 
pleads, negatively, that no award w'as made ; he tenders 
no iffue upon this plea, becaufe it does not yet appear 
whether the fa£l will be difputed, the plaintiff not hav¬ 
ing yet afferted the exiftence of any award : but when 
the plaintiff replies, and fets forth an aCtual fpecific 
award, if then the defendant traverfes the replication, 
and denies the making of any fuch award, he then, and 
not before, tenders an iffue to the plaintiff. For when 
in the courfe of pleading they come to a point which is 
affirmed on one fide and denied on the other, they are 
then faid to best iffue; all their debates being at laft 
contracted into a fingle point, which muff now be deter¬ 
mined either in favour of the plaintiff or of the defend¬ 
ant. See Issue, vol. xi. 
Pleadings were anciently pleaded and entered in 
French: afterwards, under ftat. 36 Ed. III. c. 15, pleaded 
in Englifh, and entered in Latin: but now, by 4 Geo. II. 
c. 26. and 6 Geo. II. c. 14. all proceedings are in En¬ 
glifh ; except only fuch terms or words of art as cannot 
conveniently or eafily be put into an Englifh drefs. 
At Athens, and even in France and England, it was pro¬ 
hibited to have any formed or prepared pleading, or to 
amufe the court with long artificial harangues. In impor¬ 
tant matters,, it was the fettled cuftom to begin the 
pleadings with a paffage in holy fcripture. It is but of 
late years that eloquence was admitted to the bar, where 
it has been much praClifed, and encouraged, and abufed. 
Among the Athenians, an equal time was allowed both 
parties to plead, which was meafured by a water hour- 
glafs; and, in order to fee juftice done in this refpeCl, 
there was an officer appointed to diflribute the water to 
each, whence he was called ephydor. 
PLEAS'ANCE, /. [plaifance, Fr.] Gaiety ; pleafant- 
ry; merriment. ObJ'olete. —Oh that men ffiould put an 
enemy into their mouths to deal aw r ay their brains ! that 
we ffiould with joy, pleafance. revel, and applaufe, tranf- 
form ourfelves into beafts ! ShaheJ'peare. 
The lovely pleafance and the lofty pride 
Cannot expreffed be by any art. Spenjer. 
PLEAS'ANT, arlj. [ plaifant , French.] Delightful; 
giving delight.—How good and how pleafunt it is for 
brethren to dwell in unity ! PJ'alms. 
The gods are juft, and of our pleafant vices 
Make inftruments to fcourge us. ShaheJ'peare's K. Lear. 
Grateful to the fenfes.—I ate no pleafant bread, neither 
came fleflt nor wine in my mouth. Dan. x. 3. 
Sweeter thy difcourfe is to my ear, 
Than fruits of palm-tree pleafanteft to third. Milton. 
Good-humoured; cheerful. — When this quality [plea- 
fantry] is confpicuous in a man who has, to accompany 
it, manly and virtuous fentiments, there cannot be any 
thing which can give fo pleading gratification, as the 
gaiety of fuch a perlon ; but, when it is alone, and ferves 
only to gild a crowd of ill qualities, there is no man fo 
much to be avoided as your pleaj'ant fellow. Spectator, N° 
462, 
In all thy humours, whether grave or mellow, 
Thou’rt fuch a touch}? telly pleaj'ant fellow. Addifon. 
Gay ; lively ; merry.—Let neither the power nor quality 
of the great, nor the wit of the pleafant, prevail with us 
P L E 
to flatter the vices, or applaud the prophanenefs, of wick* 
ed men. Rogers. Trifling; adapted rather to mirth than 
life.—They, who would prove their idea of infinite to be 
pofitive, feem to do it by a pleafant argument, taken 
from the negation of an end, which being negative, the 
negation of it is pofitive. Locke. 
PLEAS'ANT, a townffiip of the United States, in 
Clarke county, Ohio. Population 328.—A townfhip of 
Fairfield county, Ohio. Population 988.—A townffiip 
of Brown county, Ohio. Population 1246. 
PLEASANT GRO'VE, a poll village of the United 
States, in Lunenburg county, Virginia.—Alfo a pod 
village of Orange county, North Carolina; and of Green¬ 
ville diftriCl, South Carolina. 
PLEASANTMOU'NT, orMouNT-PLEASANT, a town 
in Wafhington county, containing 1165, and another in 
Weftmoreland, containing 1780, inhabitants; both in the 
fame date.—A town in Jefferion-county, Ohio, containing 
846 inhabitants.—A townffiip in Madifon-county, with 
328 inhabitants. See Mount Pleasant. 
PLEASANT POI'NT, a north-eafterly head-land in 
Merry Meeting bay, diftriCl of Maine, and in Lincoln 
county. 
PLEASANT POI'NT, the eaftern boundary of the 
mouth of Hawk’s or Sandwich river, in the harbour of 
ChebuCto, on the fouthern coall of Nova Scotia. 
PLEASANT POI'NT, a fertile and agreeably-fituated 
point of land, on the vveftern bank of the Paffamaquoddy- 
river, about fifteen miles from the mouth of the river, 
and four above Moofe ifland. On this point refide the. 
remains of the Paflamaquoddy tribe of Indians, confiding 
of about 400 in number, and thought to be on the de¬ 
cline. They have a Roman-catholic pried, and a refpeCl- 
able chapel has been ereCled at the expenfe of the date. 
Unacquainted with agriculture, their fummer-empioy- 
ment is that of fifhing, and fhooting porpoifes, the oil of 
which they extraCr, and fell to the Americans for the ufe 
of lamps; and in winter they occupy themfelves in 
hunting. 
PLEASANT RIV'ER, a river of United America, in 
the diftriCl of Maine, which runs into the fea, and forms 
a bay at its mouth, to which it gives name. Lat. 44, 35. N. 
Ion. 67. 40. W. 
PLEASANT VAL'LEY, a fiouriffiing village of the 
United States, in Dutchefs county. New York. It has 
confiderable manufactures. — Alfo a village in Effex 
county, New York ; and a townffiip of Fairfax county, 
Virginia. 
PLEAS'ANTLY, adv. In fuch a manner as to give 
delight.—In fun dry of his fonges, he [lord Vaux] fhovv- 
eth the counterfait a&ion very lively and pleafanthj. Put- 
tenham's Art of Engli/h Poefie.— Gaily; merrily; in 
good humour.—King James was wont pleafanthj to fay, 
that the duke of Buckingham had given him a fecretary 
who could neither write nor read. Clarendon —Lightly ; 
ludicroufly.— Euftathius is of opinion that Ulyfles ipeaks 
pleafantly to Elpenor. Broome. 
PLEAS'ANTNESS, f. Delightfulnefs; date of being 
pleafant.—Doth not the pleajantnefs of this place carry 
in itfelf fufficient reward ? Sidney. —Gaiety; cheerfulnefs; 
merriment.—It was refrefliing, but compofed, like the 
pleaj'anlnejs of youth tempered with the gravity of age. 
South. 
PLEAS'ANTRY, f. Gaiety; merriment.—The harfh- 
nels of reafoning is not a little fofter.ed and fmoothed by 
the infufions of mirth and pleafantry. Addifon. —Sprightly 
faying; lively talk.—The grave abound in pleaj'anlries , 
the dull in repartees and points of wit. Addifon's Spett. 
PLEAS'ANTS, a townfhip of the United States, in 
Franklin county, Ohio. 
To PLEASE, v. a. [placeo, Lat. plaire, Fr.] To delight; 
to gratify; to humour.—Whether it were a whiffling 
wind, or a pleaflng fall of water. Wifdom xvii. 18. 
Thou can’ll not be fo pleas'd at liberty 
As I ffiall be to find thou dar’d be free. Dryden. 
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