Dependable men, of rank and honour. The phrase was adapted later to ‘twelve good men and true’, indicating the twelve (originally all men, now both sexes) of a criminal jury.
Good men and true
What's the meaning of the phrase 'Good men and true'?
What's the origin of the phrase 'Good men and true'?
From Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, 1599:
DOGBERRY: Are you good men and true?
VERGES: Yea, or else it were pity but they should suffer salvation, body and soul.
The history of “Good men and true” in printed materials
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