Evening star., 1897-06-05
FAMILIAR QUOTATIONS.

The Beach and the Bar Are RespOn-
sible for Many of Them.
FIom the LcEdon Law Times.
Lieut.. Col. Dalbiac, the conservative
member in the present house of commons
for Central Finsbury, has just presented
to the public an excellent Dictionary of
Quotations" on which he has been at work
for upward of five years. Reference to
chapter and verse for each quotation has
been given, and glance at the index of
authors will prove in a way that is at once
convincing and gratifying how largely the
members of the bar and of the judicial
bench have contributed to the authorship
of the famous phrases which have become
familiar in our mouths as household words.
Sir Edward Coke and Blackstone are
highly technical writer's, but Col. Dalbiac
has successfully laid both the Third In
stitutes and the Commentaries" under
contribution. To Coke we owe the familiar
expression. "a mans house is his CASTLE"
while Blackstone gives US the well-known
axiom, Man was formed for society"
Lord Bacon. who had chosen all knowl
edge for his province" is, as might be
anticipated, the author of many familiar
quotations. Here are few: "A crowd is
not company. and faces are but a gallery
of pictures. and talk but tinkling cymbal
what he knoweth." IA mans disposition
is never well known till he be crossed"
"Children sweeten labors. but they make
misfortunes more bitter; they increase the
cares of life, but they mitigate the remem-
brance of death" Discretion of speech is
more than eloquence." He that hath a
wife and children hath given hostages to
fortune. for they are impediments to great
enterprises. either of virtue mischief"
knowledge is power" ''Lookers-on many
times see more than the gamesters." 'One
foul sentence doth more hurt than many
foul examples" Praise is the reflection
of virtue" Reading maketh a full. man,
conference ready man, and writing an
exact man." Some books are to be tasted.
others are to be swallowed. and some few
are to be chewed and digested." THE
knowledge of man is as the waters, some
descending from above and some springfng
from beneath, the one informed by the
light of nature and the other inspired by
divine revelation 1.-The mold of a mans
future ~ 1.eu Is in his own hands The remedy
Is worse than the disease" There is
nothing makes a man suspect more than
to know little" Wives are young mems
mistresses. companions for middle age and
old mems nurses
John Selden is the author of the immortal
savings. "Old friends are best and "Syl-
tables govern the world,'' while Jeremy
Benthan. the eminent judicial writer OF
the present century, has given to US: 1T
is the greatest good to the greatest num-
Der which is the measure Of right and
wrong"
The saying when rogues fall out and
~ Eest men get lneir own fell from the
lips of Sir NJ. Hale. when sitting on the
judicial bench, and the saying, The great
er the truth, the greater the libel" was
first uttered by Lord Mansfield in his ca
pacity of chief justice of England.
Lord Brougham, speaking in the house
of commons, in 1923, first gave utterance.
to the saying. 1.-The schoolmaster is
abroad The full paragraph of the speech
runs thus: THE schoolmaster is abroad.
and ! trust more to him. armed with his
primer. than I do to the soldier in fun
military array for upholdng and extend-
ing the liberties of the country"
Fielding, whose unique knowledge OF
human nature was largely derived from
his eXperience as a police magistrate. has
cncircled our literature by the saving.
Love and scandal are the best sweeteners
of tea
Nor has the origination of well-known
sayings been confined, SO far as legal cir
cles are concerned, to those who have
passed away. Augustin Birren, @. c.. M.
p, occupies very conspicuous position in
the pages of Col. Dalbiac's Dictionary of
Quotations" To Mr.. Birren we owe the
sayings, "A great poet, like a great peak.
must sometimes be allowed to have his
head in the clouds;;'' THAT great dust heap
called history" and THE possession Of
great physical strength is no mean assist
ance to straightforward life."