William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper

William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper PC KC FRS (c. 1665 – 10 October 1723) was an English politician who became the first Lord Chancellor of Great Britain. Educated at St Albans School, he was called to the bar in 1688.

God forbid that Judges upon their oath should make resolutions to enlarge jurisdiction.

Quotes

• There is no instance where men are so easily imposed upon, as at the time of their dying under the pretence of charity.
  • Attorney-General v. Barnes et uxor (1707), Gilbert Eq. Ca. 5; reported in James William Norton-Kyshe, The Dictionary of Legal Quotations (1904), p. 245-248.

• God forbid that Judges upon their oath should make resolutions to enlarge jurisdiction.
  • Reeves v. Buttler (1715), Gilbert, Eq. Ca. 196; reported in James William Norton-Kyshe, The Dictionary of Legal Quotations (1904), p. 137.

• I should have all manner of tenderness for the right of the College; they are nurseries of Religion and Learning, and therefore all donations for increase and augmentation of their revenue are to be liberally expounded.
  • Devit v. College of Dublin (1720). Gilbert Eq. Ca. 248; reported in James William Norton-Kyshe, The Dictionary of Legal Quotations (1904), p. 242.

• It is a general rule of Judgment, that a mischief should rather be admitted than an inconvenience.
  • Devit v. College of Dublin (1720), Gilbert Eq. Ca. 249; reported in James William Norton-Kyshe, Dictionary of Legal Quotations (1904), p. 176.

Quotes about Cowper

• He the robe of justice wore,
  Sully'd not, as heretofore,
  When the magistrate was sought
  With yearly gifts. Of what avail
  Are guilty hoards? for life is frail;
  And we are judg'd where favour is not bought.
  • Ambrose Philips, Ode: "On the Death of the Right Honourable William Earl Cowper" (1723), lines 137–142.