Excerpt from The Table Talk of John Selden
Nothing can be more interesting than this little book, containing a lively picture of the opinions and conversation of one of the most eminent scholars and most distinguished patriots England has produced, living at a period the most eventful of our history: there are few volumes of its size so pregnant with sense, combined with the most profound learning: it is impossible to open it, without finding some important fact or discussion, something practically useful and applicable to the business of life: it may he said of it, as of that exquisite little manual, lord Bacon"s Essays, "after the twentieth perusal one seldom fails to remark in it something overlooked before."
Dr, Wilkins, the editor of Selden"s works, has attempted to discredit the authenticity of the "Table Talk," upon the ground of its containing many things unworthy of a man of Selden"s erudition, and at variance with his principles and practice: but this objection is far from conclusive, and the compilation has such a complete and unaffected air of genuineness, that we have no hesitation in giving credit to the assertion of Richard Milward, Selden"s amanuensis, who says that it was faithfully committed to writing, from time to time, during the long period of twenty years, in which he enjoyed the opportunity of daily hearing his discourse, and of recording the excellent things that usually fell from him: he appeals to the executors and friends of Selden, that such was the usual manner of his patron"s conversation; and this dedicatory appeal to them is no slight testimonial of the veracity of his assertion.
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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге The Table Talk of John Selden (Classic Reprint) (Samuel Harvey Reynolds)