The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1891-08-13
Origin Of Popular Phrases.

hFAD ~ : HERRING. This phrase may be
traced to the fart that the herring is an extreme
" delicate ti>h. Whenever 1t is taken out
of the water, even though it seems to have no
hurt, it gives squeak and Immediately cX-
pire>. ANA though 1t Ne thrown instantly back
into the wat er it never recoyers.
GONE WHERE TIE wUoD-BINE TwINETH.
1t is very common III the New England States
to see the trough, or spout" which leads the
water from the caves, entwned in he caspers
Of the Wood-hiHe. J. Fisk, Jr., gave the above
phrase III answer to question concerning
certain sum OF money. He wished to convey
the idea that i had cone up the spout.
LET SLIP TIE DOGS Or WAR. In Shakes
peare's play, "Julius Cesar" act III, scene I.
twenty-five lines from the end. occurs the
above expression. Antony is soiloquizing as
to the outcome OF the murder OF Caesar. And
CI>ar'> spirit shall in these confines
cry havoc and let slip the dogs Of war"
iioBSoN ; CHOICE. Tobias lIobSon was the
first man in England who let out hackney
horses. v hen man came for a horse he was
let into the stable where there was great
choice, hut be Obliged him TO take the horse
which stood noNG To the stable door, so that
every customer was alike well served, accord
ing to his chance. Hence it became proyerb,
WHEN what ought to be your election Was
Forced upon YOU, to say, ''IIobson's choice
BY HE SKIN on MY rEElH.-lt is found in
job XIX. 30: "My bone clcayeth to my skin
and to my ilt>h; and | escaped with the skin
of my teeth"
10 POINT MORAL. ETC.
lie left name at which the world grew pale.
To point a moral or aIorn d tale
Written hy samuel johnson, in speaking of
Charles Nil of Sweden, in The Vanity of
Human Wi>hee.'
is generally quoted as one of Butlon's; but 1t
appears that the words thus attributed to Buff
ton are not Hution'S at all, but a perVersion of
| one of hlH phrases, which occurs in his ''DS-
| eertatlon sur ie STYLE" His words are, lie
| style est de phomme,' and not lie style, c'est
| phomme"
THE PEN MIGfrIEK THAN THE SWoRD.-
| Bulwer's famous saying. which he puts into
the mouth of "Richelieu," that "the pen is
| mightier than the sword" is not original, at
| written by Oliver tromwell have recently been
| found among the family papers of the descend
| ant of one of his captains with the device Of
sword crossing pen upon them, and the
legend, Ten to one the feather beats the iron"
| Don't CROWD THE MOURNEKS. This eX-
| preston originated with one Mier prisoner IN
| Mexico. The captured Texans oyerpowered
| their guard at Rancho Salado and escaped, but
| were afterwards captured and compelled them
| to draw lots. A number of beans were placed
| in IA hat, every tenth bean being a black one
| The man who drew black bean was to be eX-
| ecuted next morning. one of the unf0rtu-
mates, who had drawn a black bean, was lost
| led accidentally by a fellow captive who was
crowding up to try his luck. The jostled party,
whose fate was already sealed, laughingy re-
| marked: ''Go slow, don't crowd the mourners,
| bows"
THOUGiI lost 10 SIGHT. 10 MEMRY DEAR.
| This line has frequently been quoted and in
almost every instance it is added that its au-
thorship is unknown. A correspondent in an
| issue of the st. Louis Globe of 1873 asserts
| that an author named Ruchvcn JENKINS wrote
the following in l10l anL published it in the
Greenwich Magazine;
Sweet heart, good by the lutterng sail
Is spread 10 Haft me far from thee
And soon before the fav' ring gale
NV ship shall bound upon the sea
Pcrchancn all desolate and fororn
These eyes shall miss thee many a wear,
But unforgotten every charm,
Though lost to sight to mem'ry dear.
Sweet heart, good by one last embrace,
| o. cruel fate, true souls to sever:
| Yet in this hearts most sacred place
| Thou, thou alone shall dwell forever!
| And still shall recollection trace
| In fancy mirrors every year,
Each smile, each tear from that face
Though lost 10 sight, to memry dear.
WHOM THE GOrs LOVE DIE YOUNG-Ouot.
ed by Byron in his Don Juan, canto 6, 412; but
the ancient author is Accius Plautius Marcus
the greatest of Roman comic poets. He was
born in Umbria about 254 b. G.. His history is
profoundly obscure. and. according to Cicero
he died lS4 B. G.. twenty of his comedies are
still eXtant, out of tWenty-one enumerat by
Vacco and are scarcely less popular among
the moderns than they were during his life
time.
He TEMpERs THE WIND TO THE SIIORN
LAMB.-This passage originally occurs In
Sterne's "Sentimental Journey" ;" in the touch
ing episode of ''Poor Maria and her Goat, ,
near Moulins, France.
"They say that Believes. the Alliance candidate