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Show 2G8 .ATROCIOCS JUDGF.S. (A. D. 1669. oYerbearing dispo-- ition which distinguished him through life. He acquireJ an ascendancy among his companions in his native village by coaxing some an<l iutin1idating others, and m1.king those most oppo ·ed to each other believe that he favored both. At n1arbles and leap-frog he ·was known to tftke nnclne a<lvantages; and neyerihelcs "', he contrived, noty; ith'"' tan <ling ecret n1urmues, to be nckuow leugcJ a.· " rnas ter of the reYel;:;." \Vhilc . till young, he wa., put to the free . cbool at the town of ' 1hrew.·bury, which wa. then considerc<l a sort of 1neiropolis for ~orlh 'Val('S. IIerc he eontinucd for two or three yearb; lJut w ' hase no account how he d(·mranrd l1iiu:clf. At the <'nd of thi:S time his f~lther, though rc ~olve d to bind J1 im npprc:nticc to a shopkreper in \Vale~, sent hi1n for a short time to St. Pa tl's Sd10ol, in the city of London. The sight of the 1netropoli~ hnd a Ino;-;t c xtr~wnlinary r{fect upon the mind. of t hi ., ardent you th, and 0. ' Cee<li ugly disgusted him with the notion of returning into Dcnbigh ~hirc, to pns. his life in a sn1a1l proYincial town a~ a n1ClTP r. On the flr~t Sunday in every tern1 he saw 1 he judges and the se1jrnnts <'OlHC in grant! proce:~ion to St. Paul's Cathedral, and afterward · go to dine with the lord mayor- appearing little inl'er ior to this grrat ~overcign of th' city in power and splendor. IIe heard that son1e of the1n had been poor boys like him~ elf~ who had pu~hed thernsel ves on "'ithou t fortune or friend ; and though he was not so pr •sun1ptuous a to hope, like another \Vhittington, to rise to be lord 1nayor, be wa resolved that he would be lord chief ju. tice or lord chanedlor. Now it was that he acquired whatcYer scholar ·hip he erer posse . .,sed. Jeffreys applied ,vith considerable diligence to Greek and Latin, though occasionnlly i1oggcc1 for idleness and A. D. lt3Ul.J C EOH G E JEFFl~EYS. 260 insolence. lie at la·~ t ventured to cli~close his scheme of becoming a great lawyer to hi ... father, who violently oppo ed it, as 'vild an<l romantic and i tnpo:S: ible, ancl who inwardly dreaded that, fron1 inYohTing him in want and distrc . .:, it might lead to some fatal catastropltc. Ile wrote back to hi: son, pointing out the inability of the fam ily to give hin1 a university education, or to 1nnintain hin1 at the inn of' courL til l he should have a chance of getting into practice - hi.-; ulter want of connection~ in London, all(l the hop 'Ic s--ne:~ of hi.-; entering into a conte~t in nn oYer. tockecl profe. ~ion with ~o many who had the advantage of superior education, wc·altlJ, and patronage. Although 1 he aspi rant profe~. ed himself' unconvinced by these argumcnb, and .. :till tric<l to ~how the certainty of hi:-; uccc~~ at the bar, l:e 1nu:-'t have stood a cropeared apprentice behind a c~unter in }) "\nbigh, Ruthyn, or Flint, if it l1ad not been for his maternal grandmother, who was pleased to sec the blood of the I reland.:3 break on t, and who, having a n1all jointure, offerr(l to contribute a part of it for his support. rrhe uniYcr:;ity wa:- till L('yonu thcil· means; but it wa thourrht this n1irrht be better di, l)enscd with b i") if he should be for omc time at on · of the great school· ut' royal foundat ion, where he n1ight form aequaintance · aflcrwards to be tt "'cful to him. Th father reluctantly consented, in the hope 1 hat his son woulJ oon return to his ·obcr sen e~. and that the project would be abanuoncd with the goncrn.l concurrence of the family. ~1eanwhile young George was transferred to Westminster School, then under the rule of Uw celebrated Bu. by. There is r ason io fear that the zeal for improvement whieh he had exhibited at St. Paul's soon left him, and that he here began to acquire those hnbits of intrmpera.nce which after- |