Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1882-04-20
WELL-KNOWN PHRASES.
Hew the Following are said to Have OriRI-
uufed.

"Do, re, me, ia, sol, la."-Guido, an
Italian OF the eleventh century has
been called the father of modern music.
1t was he who invented, or for the first
time systematically used, the lines of
the staff and the intervals or spaces,
and thus fixed the principles Of mod
ern notation and introduced the names
of the first six notes Of the scale, do,
re, me, ia, sol, la. Guido was "A monk
in the monastery of Pamposa, and,
while chanting with the choir a hymn,
he was struck with the regularly
ascending tones of the opening sylla-
bles, which lead to his invention of an
educational method by which, accord
ing to his own statement, pupil might
learn within five months What formerly
it would have taken him zen years to
acquire.
1.-The king is dead Long live the
king I"-The death OF Louis XIV. was
announced by the captain OF the body
guard from the window of the state de.
partment. Raising his truncheon above
his head, he broke it in the center, and
throwing the pieces among the crowd,
exclaimed in q loud voice: lie roi est
mort T. Then taking another staff, he
6ourished it in the air, as he sh outed
"Vive le roi I"
"What shadows We are and what
shadows We pursue. This quotation is
often supposed to have been derived
from the Bible. 1t is from an cleo
tioneering speech Of Edmund Burke
in 1850, referring to the death Of one of
his competitors for seat in pArlia-
ment
Agnostic.-A word OF late coinage.
It is composed of two Greek words, sig
pifying II don't know" or IL have
not sufficient evidence on the subject to
enable me to decide" An ngnostic is a
kind of know.nothing in religion he
neither Afiirms or denies. One author
defines such a person thus: An ag-
nostic is man who doesn't know
whether there is God or not doesn't
know whether he has soul or not
doesn't know whether there is future
life or not doesn't believe that any
one else knows moro about these mat
ters than he does and thinks il impos-
sible and a waste Of time TO try TO find
out"
"a Rowland for an Oliver. These
were two Of the most famous in the
list of ChArlemAgnc's twelve peers, and
their exploits are rendered 10 ridicu-
lously and equally e1travAgant by the
old romancerE, that from thence arose
that saying, amongst our plain and
sensible ancestors, OF giving one
Rowland for his Oliver" to signify
the matching one incredible lie with
another. Thomas WgJiirfon.
where the shoe pinches. ."-Plutarch
relates the story of Roman being di-
voTced from his wife. This person
being highly blamed by his friends.
who demanded Was she not chaste2
was she not fair ?-holding ont his shoe,
asked them whether IL was not new and
we'll made. Yet, added he, none OF
you can tell where il pinches me-"
&c Am I not a man an1 n brother p
From 4 medallion by Wedgwood (l76s),
representing q 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.
"Bravest Of the brave. A title con-
ferred upon the celebrated Marshal
Ney t1769, 1879 by the French troops
at Friedland (ls01 on account of his
fearless bravery. He was in command
of the right wing. which bore the brunt
of the battle and stormed the town.
Napoleon, as he watched him passing
unterriied through shower of balls,
exclaimed, "That man is lion = and
henceforth the army styled him "le
brave des braves"
Catching Tartar. .'-SignifyiDg the
encOuntering OF an opponen. of IN.
expected strength. The story of the
origin OF the expression is as follows
"In battle an IrishmAn called out to
his officer, Il have caught Tartar
Bring him here, them was the reply.
He won't LET me- reioined Pat. And as
the Turk carried of his captoF the say
ing passed into proverb.
"Before you can say Jack Robinson"
This current phrase Is derived from
humorous song by Hudson, a tobacco
mist, in Shoe lane. London. he was
q professional song writer and vocalist,
who used 10 bo engaged TO sing at sup