The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-30
FAMOUS WORDS IN HISTORY.
The Sayings of Great Men which
Have Become Common Phrases OF
speech.
From Chambers Journal.

Have Become Common Phrases OF
speech.
From Chambers Journal
We have preserved 10 us many historical
sayings Of famous or well known person
ages. uttered in times Of action OF on some
important occasion. Most OF these serve
as landmarks Of history; some have pass
ed into proverbs: while others have sup
piled us with convenient phrases. used
| without regard TO their original motive
OF these last we have example from
ancient history Pyrrhus. King Of Epirus,
after long and obstinately contested en-
gagement, defeated the Romans in the
battle Of Heraclea. AS he viewed the bat
tie field. where a large number of his best
officers had fallen, he exclaimed:
Another such victory and We are IN
done'-a sentiment which has been echoed
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 interests of
the state. was interrupted by the king
with:
"LEtat, c'est moir'
"All is lost save honorg' was the an
nouncement, I'm a condensed form, of
| Francis l. in a letter to his mother after
/ the defeat of Pavia.
phrase which owes its birth to the
/ French revolution was that of Nine. Ro-
| land. As she was being led to execution
she passed a statue OF liberty, erected by
| the revolutionists. Looking at it intently
| she exclaimed:
90, liberty. how many crimes are COM
mitted in thy nameT
At the battle of Fontenoy occurred a
well known instance of politeness on the
part of the English and French guards,
which, 1t almost needless to say, could only
have happened in those ceremonious times.
The two battalions Of opposing guards
We're about to join in conflict, when the
English commander exclaimed:
Gentlemen of the French Guards, FIRE"
The French officer, not TO be outdone in
politeness. returned the salute and replied:
After you, gentlemen. The French
guards never fire first"
Upon which the English gentlemen think
ing further ceremony needless, fired with
such effect as to put nearly so of the
French gentlemen hors de combat. Some
what costly politeness for them.
Nelson has given us some historical
phrases. Each of his three great battles
has its own particular motto, inseparably
connected with IT.
Victory or Westminster Abbey!' was
his explanation before the battle of the
Nile. During the battle of Copenhagen.
three of the British line-of-battle ships be-
came disabled, and Sir Hyde Parker, fear
full for the issue, rendered doubly doubtful
by the unexpected and desperate resistance
of the Danes. made the signal TO leave off
action. Nelson, greatly excited, exclaim-
ed:
Keep my signal for close action flying
nail mine TO the mast"
Who does not know the memorial signal
to the fleet on the eve of the battle of Ira
falgar:
England expects every man to do his
duty"
Equally well known is CromwelTs ad-
vice to his troops as they were about to
cross a river to engage the enemy. Hav-
ing made a 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 something Cromwellian
in such a happy combination of piety and
practical advice.
Sir Robert Walpole vehemently opposed
the Spanish war in 1879. When he heard
the London bells ring upon the declaration
of war he remarked
"They may ring their bells now; before
long they will be wringing their hands"
1T is magnificent, but it is not war" was
said to be the exclamation of Cen Bosquet
on Witnessing the immortal charge of the
Light Brigade at Balaklava, although Bos-
quet denied that he ever used the express
sion. 70,
"Oh, for an hour of Dundee!' was the
cry of Gordon of Glenbucket, at the battle
of Sherffmuir when the Jacobites were
hard pressed by the royalist forces.
This wish has been echoed with the differ
ence of another name for that of the re-
doubtable viscount in many a battle
scene.
| The Emperor Nicholas was the author of
one of the most notorious phrases-per-
! haps the most notorious in a political
sense-whch the nineteeth century has
| heard In the beginning of 1858 he had sew
! eral conversations with the English am
| bassador Sir f. H. Seymour, in regard
| to the then probable dissolution of the
| Turkish empire. In one of these he said:
1--WE have on our hands a sick man, very
sick man. 1t will be a great mistake if he
should slip away from us before necessary
arrangements have been made"
To divide the spoil, he meant The re-
suit of his making these arrangements on
his own account is well 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 a sick old man.
who tried to appear healthy. though his
end was near"
II was Oliver, Napoleon Ills constitu-
tional minister, who plunged into the dis
astrous war of 1870 with light heart"
And though the phrase blood and iron"
is old as Quintilian, it was Bismarck
who made it a historical phrase for what
he regarded as the sole cure for Germany's
political troubles.
In conclusion a famous reply of Plato s
may be given. When asked if any saying
of his would be recorded he replied: Wait
I hnnn0na nd
will be many" Although true in the main.
it is not always the person who utters 1t
that makes the phrase famous. but some
times the occasion which calls it forth.
FOUND A SPRING OF WHISKY.