| OCR Text |
Show 270 ATROCIOUS JUDGES. [A. D. 1662. :wards proYcd so fatal to him. Ilis father hearing of these had all his fears revived, unrl when the boy wa. at Acton during the holidays, again tried in Yain to induce him to becmne a tradesman. But finding all di ~s ua. ion UJHtvailing, the old gentleman withdrew his oppo:-3ition, giving him a gentle pat on the back, accornpanied by these word,.,-" Ah, George, George, I fear thou 'rilt die with thy \:5hocs aud tockings on ! " Yet the wayward youth, while at \V e.'tlnin ·tcr, had fit" of ap1Jlication, and carried away from thence a sufficient . tock of lear11ing to prevent hirn from appearing in after-life grossly deficient when any que tion of gramtnar arose. lie wa:; fond of reminding the world of tlte great n1ast :.r under whom he had studied. I-Iis confidence in his own powers was o great, that, without conforming to ordinary rule~, he expected to overcome every obstacle. Being now in the neighborhood of ""\V estminster I-Iall, his ambition to be a great lawyer was infhuned by seeing the grand proces"'ions on the fir~t day of tenn, and by occa~ ionally peeping into the court when an importnnt trial wa.:> going forward. 'Vhen he wa ~ actually lord chancellor, he used to relate that, while a boy at 1Ve tmin ter School, he had a drean1, in whic:1 a g ip:y read his fortune, foretelling "tbat he 'hould be the chief cholur there, and shoulJ aftenvarJs enrich him. elf by study and industry, and that he should come to be the second n1an in the kino-Jom but iu conclusion 0 ' should fall into c1i ... grace and 1ni ... ery." lie was now sixteen, an age after which it was not usual to remain at school in tho. e days. A family council was called at ..A .. c ton, and. as George still sanguinely adhered to ihe law, it was settled that, the uni ver.::;i ty being quite beyond their A. D. 1663.] GEORGE JEFFltEYS. 271 reach, he should imn1ediately be ntered at an inn of court ; that, to support him there, his grandmother should allow him forty pounds a y ·ar, and that his father should add ten pounds a year for decent clothing. On the 19th of l\Iay, 1 GG3, to his great joy, he wa admitted a member of the Inner Temple. IIe got a small and gloomy chamber, in which, with much energy, he began hi legal studie . lie not only had a llntural boldne . of elo· quence, but an excellent head for lavl'. \Vith steadine s of application he would have greatly excelled L ord ICeeper Guilford, and in the rna. tery of thi .... cience would haYe rivalled Lord IIale and Lord Nottingham. But he could not long resist the temptation of bad company. IIaving laid in a very slender stock for a cou11. el or a j uclg , he for"ook Littleton and Plowden, " moot" and r eading /' for the t<n·ern, where was his chief delight. IIe een1 to have e 'caped the ruinou~ and irreclaimable vice or gan1ing, but to lmv l fallen iuto all others to 'Which reckless tetnplar~ were prone. N cvertllclesc:, he had ever a keen eye to hi.· own intere~L; and in these scenes of dissipation he as -iduously cu]tintted the acquaintance of young attorney ., and their clerks, who n1ight afterwards be useful to him. 'Vhen they met over a. bowl of punch at tho Devil tavern, or smne worse place, he charmed tbe1n with songs and jokes, and took care to bring out before them, opportunely, any scrap of law ,vhieh he had picked up, to impress them with the notion that, when he put on his gown and applied to bu ine::;~, he shoulu be able to win all the causes in which he might be retained. IIe was exceedingly popular, and he had n1any invitations t'O dinner; which, to make his way in the world, he thought it better to accept than to waste his time over the midnight oil in acquiring knowledge which it might never be known that he possessed. |
