Bacon's Essays, and Wisdom of the AncientsBacon, Francis
Philosophy
Bacon's Essays, and Wisdom of the Ancients
Bacon, Francis
Bacon, Francis, 1561-1626; English essays -- Early modern, 1500-1700; Mythology, Classical
Thirdly, for that that concerns clerks and ministers. The place of
justice is a hallowed place; and, therefore, not only the bench,
but the foot-pace and precincts, and purprise thereof, ought to be
preserved without scandal and corruption; for, certainly, “Grapes (as
the Scripture saith) will not be gathered of thorns or thistles;”[570]
neither can justice yield her fruit with sweetness amongst the briers
and brambles of catching and polling[571] clerks and ministers. The
attendance of courts is subject to four bad instruments: first, certain
persons that are sowers of suits, which make the court swell, and
the country pine: the second sort is of those that engage courts in
quarrels of jurisdiction, and are not truly “amici curiæ,”[572] but
“parasiti curiæ,”[573] in puffing a court up beyond her bounds for
their own scraps and advantage: the third sort is of those that may be
accounted the left hands of courts; persons that are full of nimble
and sinister tricks and shifts, whereby they pervert the plain and
direct courses of courts, and bring justice into oblique lines and
labyrinths: and the fourth is the poller and exacter of fees; which
justifies the common resemblance of the courts of justice to the bush,
whereunto while the sheep flies for defence in weather, he is sure to
lose part of his fleece. On the other side, an ancient clerk, skilful
in precedents, wary in proceeding, and understanding in the business of
the court, is an excellent finger of a court, and doth many times point
the way to the judge himself.
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