The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-07-10
FAMOUS WORDS
The Sayings Of Great Men Which Have
Become Common Phreses Of
Speech.
From Kings, Generals, Statesmen and Wo-
men Have Come These Historic
Phrases.

ooue nave passed into proverbs; Wnlle
| others have supplied us with convenient
phrases, used without regard to their
original motive, says a writer in Cham
ber's Journal. OF these last we have
an example from ancient history. Pyrr-
hus, king of Epirus, after long and OBJ
stinately contested engagement, defeat
ed the Romans in the battle of Heraclea.
AS he viewed the battlefield, where a
large number of his best officers had
fallen, he exclaimed:
Another such victory and we are un-
done"-a sentiment which has been echo
ed more than once in modern wars.
One of the most famous historical mots
is that attributed to Louis XIV. when II
years of age. The president of the
French parliament, speaking of the in
terests of the state, was interrupted by
the king with:
''L'Etat, c'est moi!''
Cali is lost save honor" was the an
Francis I. in letter to his mother after
the defeat of Pavia.
A phrase which owes it's birth to the
French revolution was that of Nine. Ro-
land AS she was being led to execution
she passed statue of liberty, erected by
the revolutionists. Looking at it in
tently she exclaimed:
20, liberty, how many crimes are COM
mitted in thy name!''
At the battle Of Fontenoy occurred a
WQ11-knOWn inCfon Of bo
part of the English and French guards,
which, it is almost needless to say, could
only have happened in those ceremonious
times. The two battalions of opposing
guards were about to join in conflict,
when the English commander exclaimed:
"Gentlemen of the French Guards,
firew
The French officer, not to be outdone
in politeness returned the salute, and re-
| piled:
After you, gentlemen. The French
Guards never fire first
Upon which the English gentlemen,
thinking further ceremony needless,
fired with such effect as to put nearly
900 of the French gentlemen hors de
| combat. Somewhat costly politeness for
them.
Nelson has given us some historical
phrases. Each of his three great battles
has it's own particular motto, insepara-
bly, connected with it.
Victory or Westminster Abbeyv' was
his exclamation before the battle of the
Nile. During the battle of Copenhagen,
three of the British line-of-battle ships
became disabled, and Sir Hyde Parker,
fearful for the issue, rendered doubly
doubtful by the unexpected and desper-
ate resistance Of the Danes, made the
signal to leave off action. Nelson,
greatly excited, exclaimed:
Keep my signal for close action fly
| ing-nail mine to the mast"
Who does not know the memorial sig
nal to the fleet on the eve of the battle of
Trafalga:
England expects every man to do his
duty"
Equally we'll known is Cromwells ad-
vice to his troops as they were about to
cross river to engage an enemy. Hav-
| ing made speech as was his custom on
| such occasions he finished up with:
"Put your trust in God, but be sure to
see that your powder is dry"
There is surely nothing Cromwellian in
such happy combination of piety and
practical advice.
Sir Robert Walpole vehemently opposed
the Spanish war in 1889. When he heard
the London bells ring upon the declara-
ton of war he remarked:
''They may ring their bells now, but be-
fore long they will be wringing their
hands,"
cit is magnificent, but it is not war;
| was said to be the exclamation of Gen.
Bosquet on witnessing the immortal
charge on the light brigade at Balaklava,
although Bosquet denied that he ever
used the expression.
ooh, for an hour of Dundee" was the
cry of Gordon, of Glenbucket, at the bat
tie of Sheriffmuir when the Jacobites were
hard pressed by the royalist forces This
which has been echoed with the difference
of another name for that of the redoubta-
BILE Viscount in many battle scene.
The emperor Nicholas was the author of
one of the most notorious phrases-per-
haps the most notorious in a political
sense-which the Ninteenth century has
heard. In the beginning of 1853 he had
several conversations with the English
ambassador, Sir E. H. Seymour, in regard
to the then probable dissolution of the
Turkish empire. In one of these he said:
I'VE have on our hands sick man, very
sick man. 1t will be a great mistake if
| necessary arrangements have been made .
To divide the spoil, he meant The re-
suit of his making these arrangements on
his own account is we'll known The
phrase, however, was not altogether orig
inal. The ambassador of James II. at
Constantinople wrote that the Ottoman
empire had 1.-The body of sick old man,
who tried to appear healthy though his
end was near"
1t was Olivier, Napoleon ILLS constitu-
tional minister, who plunged into the dis
astrous war of 1870 with a light heart"
And though the phrase "blood and iron'
is as old as Quintilian, it was Bismarck
who made it historical phrase for what
he regarded as the sole cure of Germany's
political troubles.
In conclusion famous reply of Plato's
may be given. When asked if any saying
of his would be recorded he replied:
"Wait until we become famous and then
there will be many" Although true in
the main, it is not always the person who
| utters it that makes the phrase famous.
but sometimes the occasion which calls it
forth.
AN ARDENT LOVER.
A train on the Aroostook (Me.) railroad
was halted the other day by a young man