Die in the last ditch. To William of Orange may be ascribed this saying. When Buckingham urged the inevitable destruction which hung over the United Provinces, and asked him whether he did not see that the Commonwealth was ruined, "There is one certain means," replied the prince, "by which I can be sure never to see my country's ruin, I will die in the last ditch." — Hume, History of England. 1672. A Rowland for an Oliver. These were two of the most famous in the list of Charlemagne's twelve peers; and their exploits are rendered so ridiculously and equally extravagant by the old romancers, that from thence arose that saying, amongst our plain and sensible ancestors, of giving one a "Rowland for his Oliver," to signify the matching one incredible lie with another. - Thomas Warburton. All is lost save honour. It was from the imperial camp near Pavia, that All the brothers were valiant, and all the sisters virtuous. From the inscription on the Tomb of the Duchess of Newcastle in Westminster Abbey. Defend me from my friends. The French Ana assign to Maréchal Villars taking leave of Louis XIV. this aphorism, "Defend me from my friends; I can defend myself from my enemies." But of all plagues, good Heaven, thy wrath can send, Save, save, oh save me from the candid friend! Canning, The New Morality. The King is dead! Long live the King! The death of Louis XIV. was announced by the captain of the body-guard from the window of the state apartment. Raising his truncheon above his head, he broke it in the centre, and, throwing the pieces among the crowd, exclaimed in a loud voice, Le Roi est mort! then, taking another staff, he flourished it in the air as he shouted, Vive le Roi! God always favours the heaviest battalions. Deos fortioribus adesse. - Tacitus, Hist. Book iv. 17. Fortes Fortuna adjuvat.—Terence, Phor. i. iv. 26. Dieu est d'ordinaire pour les gros escadrons contre les petits. Bussy Rabutin, Lettres, iv. 91. Oct. 18, 1677. Le nombre des sages sera toujours petit. Il est We have changed all that. Molière, Le Médecin malgré Lui, ii. 6. A happy accident. Mad. de Staël, L'Allemagne. Ch. xvi. Fiat Justitia ruat Cœlum. This phrase, used by Lord Mansfield in the case of King vs. Wilkes, Burrow's Reports, vol. iv., 2562 (A. D.) 1768, is found in Ward's Simple Cobbler of Aggawam in America. (First printed in 1647.) Speech was given to man to conceal his thoughts. Ils n'employent les paroles que pour déguiser leurs pensées. Chapon et la Poularde. 1763. When Harel wished to put a joke or witticism into circulation, he was in the habit of connecting it with some celebrated name, on the chance of reclaiming it if it took. Thus he assigned to Talleyrand in the Nain Jaune the phrase, "Speech was given to man to disguise his thoughts." Fournier, L'Esprit dans l'Histoire. See Young, ante, p. 283, for the germ of this saying. Hobson's choice. Tobias Hobson was the first man in England that let out hackney horses. When a man came for a horse, he was led into the stable, where there was a great choice, but he obliged him to take the horse which stood next to the stable door; so that every customer was alike well served according to his chance, from whence it became a proverb, when what ought to be your election was forced upon you, to say "Hobson's choice."-Spectator. No. 509. Eclipse first, the rest nowhere. Declared by Captain O'Kelley at Epsom, May 3, 1769. — Annals of Sporting. Vol. ii. p. 271. When in doubt, win the trick. Hoyle, Twenty-four Rules for Learners. Rule 12. Put your trust in God, my boys, and keep your powder dry. Colonel Blacker, Oliver's Advice. 1834. There is a well-authenticated anecdote of Cromwell. On a certain occasion, when his troops were about crossing a river to attack the enemy, he concluded an address, couched in the usual fanatic terms in use among them, with these words: "Put your trust in God; but mind to keep your powder dry."- Hayes's Ballads of Ireland. Vol. i. p. 191. Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. From an inscription on the cannon near which the ashes of President John Bradshaw were lodged, on the top of a high hill near Martha Bay in Jamaica. — Stiles's History of the Three Judges of King Charles I. This supposititious epitaph was found among the papers of Mr. Jefferson, and in his handwriting. It was supposed to be one of Dr. Franklin's spirit-stirring inspirations. — Randall's Life of Jefferson. Vol. iii. p. 585. Am I not a man and a brother? From a medallion by Wedgwood (1768), representing a negro in chains, with one knee on the ground, and both hands lifted up to heaven. This was adopted as a characteristic seal by the Anti-slavery Society of London. Architecture is frozen music. Since it (Architecture) is music in space, as it This phrase is generally ascribed to Mad. de Nation of shopkeepers. From an oration purporting to have been delivered by Samuel Adams at the State House in Philadelphia, August 1, 1776. Philadelphia, printed, London, reprinted for E. Johnson, No. 4, Ludgate Hill. MDCCLXXVI.1 To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers may at first sight appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. - Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations. Vol. ii. Book iv. Ch. vii. Part 3. 1775. And what is true of a shopkeeper is true of a shopkeeping nation.-Tucker, Dean of Glouces ter. Tract. 1766. Beginning of the end. Fournier asserts, on the written authority of Talleyrand's brother, that the only breviary used by the ex-bishop was L'Improvisateur Français, a compilation of anecdotes and bonmots, in twenty-one duodecimo volumes. Whenever a good thing was wandering about in search of a parent, he adopted it; amongst others, "C'est le commencement de la fin." To shew our simple skill, That is the true beginning of our end. Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream. Emerald Isle. This expression was first used in a song called Erin, to her own Tune, by Dr. William Dren1754-1820. nan. 1 No such American edition has ever been seen, but at least four copies are known of the London issue. A German translation of this oration was printed in 1778, perhaps at Berne; the place of publication is not given. Wells's Life of Adams. |