JB/028/082/001

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SECT. Interpretation. 13

to conceive. When he speaks of "general constitutions",
he speaks to be understood; I fancy I am apt to
thinksuppose I understand him: but when he goes on and
talks of "the nature of things", I see him wrapped
in clouds, and I am sure he does not understand
himself.

Puerile conduct
of two Emperors
concerning ancient
Rescripts —
varnished by our
Author.

"The Emperor Macrinus", he goes on with informingcontinues our Author
us, ha"as his historian Capitolinas informs us," had
(continues our Author) "had once resolved to abolish
"these rescripts , and retain only the general
"edicts; he could not bear that the hasty and crude
"answers of such princes as Commodus and Caracalla
"should be reverenced as Laws. But Justinian thought
"otherwise , and he has preserved them all." HeOur Author
might have added, since he was in the way humour of
passing his judgement, might have added that both these Emperors
acted as if they had him for their Chancellor.
It was himworthy of him abolish all theseTo enquire whose
the largeness of his views all these rescripts were, instead of enquiring what
they were, and to abolish all of them in the
lump because some of them were by Commodus
and Caracalla: to think ofturn his thoughts to the reverence that might
be paid to them as the acts of the Emperor , instead
of the benefit that might accrue from them
to the subject as shutting up so many sources
of litigation, all this was perfectly of a piece with our Authors penetration, with the patriotism of his principles and with the depth and largeness of his views. But in hands like our Author's, the most ordinary point of history, decked out in false [and pass glittering ] the language of his colours , becomes a beacon to entice the judgement into a quicksand. The best thing these Emperors could
have done, was to extract draw off in the shape of "general

Identifier: | JB/028/082/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 28.
Date_1		Marginal Summary Numbering	not numbered
Box	028	Main Headings	comment on the commentaries
Folio number	082	Info in main headings field	[[info_in_main_headings_field::sect. [ ] interpretation]]
Image	001	Titles
Category	text sheet	Number of Pages	4
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering	f13 / d14 / f15 / d16
Penner	jeremy bentham	Watermarks	[[watermarks::[gr with crown motif] propatria [britannia motif]]]
Marginals	jeremy bentham	Paper Producer
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year
Notes public		ID Number	9347
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