Careful Words

method (n.)

Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Hamlet. Act ii. Sc. 2.

There is a method in man's wickedness,—

It grows up by degrees.

Beaumont And Fletcher: A King and No King. Act v. Sc. 4.

When love could teach a monarch to be wise,

And gospel-light first dawn'd from Bullen's eyes.

Too poor for a bribe, and too proud to importune;

He had not the method of making a fortune.

Thomas Gray (1716-1771): On his own Character.