Excerpt from Pleasantries of English Courts and Lawyers Well planned and well written, the story of the Great Seal would be a rare story. It calls up the dead of eight silent centuries, placing before the mind much of that which is most beautiful and noble, and not a little of that which is most to be deplored in the growth of England's greatness. The poet's song and the soldier's fame give music and brightness to the atmosphere that covers and surrounds the mystic emblem of sovereign will. For seven-and-twenty generations fair women and brave men have submitted meekly to its influence and bowed before it reverentially. More than a mere symbol of the ruler's power, it has been honored as the power itself by the flatteries of pliant courtiers, the prayers of wretched supplicants, the hopes of ambition, and the fears of cowardice. For twice four hundred years it has witnessed the most stirring scenes, held parley with the most famous personages, and been an actor in the grandest episodes of history. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com 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.

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