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Page:William Petty - Economic Writings (1899) vol 1.djvu/46

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xxxviii
Introduction.

by all good men that had the happinesse to knowe him[1]," And Anthony à-Wood, professing to give only "an exact history of all the bishops and writers who have had their education in the most antient and famous University of Oxford," goes out of his way to append to a sketch of Edward Grant, the classicist, an account of this man who owed his education to no university. The account begins with these enthusiastic words, "Now that I am got into the name of Grant I cannot without the guilt of concealment but let you know some things of the most ingenious person, considering his education and employment, that his time hath produced.... The said John Graunt was an ingenious and studious person, generally beloved, was a faithful friend, a great peace-maker, and one that had often been chosen for his prudence and justness an arbitrator. But above all his excellent working head was much commended, and rather for this reason, that it was for the public good of learning, which is very rare in a trader or mechanic."

  1. Brief Lives, i. 273.