fess that no man had more occasion that I had to use the expression which was Lord Bacon's father's ordinary word, 'You must give me time.' I always thought it better to allow myself to doubt before I decided, than to expose myself to the misery of doubting
judgments had led to rehearings and appeals, than it was postponed when much and anxious and long consideration was taken to form an impregnable original decree. The business of the court was also so much increased in some periods of my chancellor-
SIR WILLIAM GRANT.
whether I had decided rightly and justly. It is true that too much delay before decision is a great evil. But in many instances delay leads eventually to prevent delay: that is, the delay which enables just decision to be made accelerates the enjoyment of the fruits of the suit; and I have some reason to hope that in a great many cases final decision would have been much longer postponed if doubts as to the soundness of original
ship that I never could be confident that counsel had fully informed me of the facts or of the law of many of the cases. There may be found not a few instances in which most satisfactory judgments were pro nounced which were founded upon facts or instruments with which none of the counsel who argued the cases were acquainted, though such facts and instruments formed part of the evidence in the case."
