For angling-rod, he took a sturdy oak;
For line a cable, that in storm ne'er broke ;

His hook was baited with a dragon's tail,
And then on rock he stood to bob for whale.
From The Mock Romance, a rhapsody attached to The
Loves of Hero and Leander, published in London in
the years 1653 and 1677. Chambers's Book of Days.
Vol. i. p. 173.

In Chalmers's British Poets the following is ascribed to William King (1663–1712).

His angle-rod made of a sturdy oak;

His line a cable which in storms ne'er broke ;
His hook he baited with a dragon's tail,
And sat upon a rock, and bobbed for whale.

Upon a Giant's Angling.

As good as a play.

An exclamation of Charles II. when in Parliament attending the discussion of Lord Ross's Divorce Bill.

The king remained in the House of Peers while his speech was taken into consideration,—a common practice with him; for the debates amused his sated mind, and were sometimes, he used to say, as good as a comedy.

Macaulay, Review of the Life and Writings of
Sir William Temple.

When in doubt, win the trick.

Hoyle, Twenty-four Rules for Learners. Rule 12.

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 spiritstirring inspirations.

Randall's Life of Jefferson. Vol. iii. p. 585.

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.

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.

LL

Speech was given to man to conceal his thoughts.

Ils n'employent les paroles que pour déguiser leurs pensées.

Voltaire, Dialogue xiv. Le Chapon et la Poularde.

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.

Where Nature's end of language is declined,
And men talk only to conceal the mind.

Young, Love of Fame. Satire ii. Line 207.

The germ of this saying is to be found in Jeremy Taylor; South, Butler, Young, Lloyd, and Goldsmith have repeated it after him.

Beginning of the end.

Mr. 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 bon-mots, 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. Act v. Sc. i.

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.

Orthodoxy is my doxy, Heterodoxy is another man's doxy.

"I have heard frequent use," said the late Lord Sandwich, in a debate on the Test Laws, "of the words 'orthodoxy' and 'heterodoxy'; but I confess myself at a loss to know precisely what they mean." "Orthodoxy, my Lord," said Bishop Warburton, in a whisper,-" orthodoxy is my doxy, heterodoxy is another man's doxy."

No one is a hero to his valet.

This phrase is commonly attributed to Madame de Sévigné, but, on the authority of Madame Aisse, belongs to Madame Cornuel.

Lettres, édit. J. Ravenal. 1853.

Few men are admired by their servants.

Montaigne, Essais. Book iii. Ch. 11.

When Hermodotus in his poems described Antigonus as the son of Helios (the sun), “My valetde-chambre," said he, "is not aware of this."

Greatest happiness of the greatest number.

Priestley was the first (unless it was Beccaria)' who taught my lips to pronounce this sacred truth, - that the greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation. Vol. x. p. 142.

Bentham's Works.

Ridicule the test of truth.2

How comes it to pass, then, that we appear such cowards in reasoning, and are so afraid to stand the test of ridicule?

Shaftesbury, Characteristicks. A Letter concerning
Enthusiasm. Sec. 2.

Truth, 't is supposed, may bear all lights; and one of those principal lights or natural mediums by which things are to be viewed, in order to a thorough recognition, is ridicule itself.

Ibid. Essay on the Freedom of Wit and Humour. Sec. 1.

'T was the saying of an ancient sage, that humour was the only test of gravity; and gravity, of humour. For a subject which would not bear raillery was suspicious; and a jest which would not bear a serious examination was certainly false wit. Ibid. Sec. V.

1 The expression is used by Beccaria in the introduction to his Essay on Crimes and Punishments.

2 We have, oftener than once, endeavoured to attach some meaning to that aphorism, vulgarly imputed to Shaftesbury, which, however, we can find nowhere in his works, that ridicule is the test of truth. — Carlyle, Miscellanies. Voltaire.

3 Gorgias Leontinus, apud Arist. Rhetor, lib. 3. cap. 18.