d both acted as
parliamentary reporters, Sheridan stated that no less than twenty-three
graduates of universities were then engaged as reporters of the
proceedings of the house.

The close connexion which for centuries has existed between men of law
and men of letters is illustrated on the one hand by a long succession
of eminent lawyers who have added to the lustre of professional honors
the no less bright distinctions of literary achievements or friendships,
and on the other hand by the long line of able writers who either
enrolled themselves amongst the students of the law, or resided in the
Inns of Court, or cherished with assiduous care the friendly regard of
famous judges. Indeed, since the days of Chancellor de Bury, who wrote
the 'Philobiblon,' there have been few Chancellors to whom literature is
not in some way indebted; and the few Keepers of the Seal who neither
cared for letters nor cultivated the society of students, are amongst
the judges whose names most Englishmen would gladly erase from the
history of their country. Jeffreys and Macclesfield represent the
unlettered Chancellors; More and Bacon the lettered. Fortescue's 'De
Laudibus' is a book for every reader. To Chancellor Warham, Erasmus--a
scholar not given to distribute praise carelessly--dedicated his 'St.
Jerom,' with cordial eulogy. Wolsey was a patron of letters. More may be
said to have revived, if he did not create, the literary taste of his
contemporaries, and to have transplanted the novel to English soil.
Equally diligent as a writer and a collector of books, Gardyner spent
his happiest moments at his desk, or over the folios of the magnificent
library which was destroyed by Wyat's insurgents. Christopher Hatton was
a dramatic author. To one person who can describe with any approach to
accuracy Edward Hyde's conduct in the Court of Chancery, there are
twenty who have studied Clarendon's 'Rebellion.' At the present date
Hale's books are better known than his judgments, though his conduct
towards the witches of Bury St. Edmunds conferred an unenviable fame on
his judicial career. By timely assistance rendered to Burnet, Lord
Nottingham did something to atone for his brutality towards Milton,
whom, at an earlier period of his career, he had declared worthy of a
felon's death, for having been Cromwell's Latin secretary. Lord Keeper
North wrote upon 'Music;' and to his brother Roger literature is
indebted for the best biographies composed by an