Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1897-04-24
ETHICAL PHRASES.


ESSattSiIiSti'
An "un !rttcrcd press is one OF
the historical phrases of our Ian
guage, br' not every reader knows
that it We coined by the celebrated
Richard Dlinsloy Butler Sheridan.
When speaking on the liberty Of the
press, the orator thrilled The house
with the following sentence: GIVE
them, IL corrupt house of lords,
give them Il venal house of COM
mons, give them Il tyrannical
prince, give them Il trucking court,
and let me have but an unfettered
press, ] will defy them to cncruach
a hairs breadth upon the liberties
of England. y
The "IOul'th cstatc' il term that
is constantly APPLIED to the press.
Its origin is generally traced to Ma
Caulay, who in his ESSAY on Hal
lam S history, in 182S, writes, "Tho
gallery in which the reporters sit
has become IL fourth estate of the
realm. Eut Hazlitt, the famous
literary critic, had some five years
earlier written il his "Tuble Talk"
sentence that must have given the
idea to Lord Macaulay. Speaking
of Cobbett, Hazlitt says: He tillips
the ear Of the public with three
man beetle he is too much for any
single newspapcrantagonist, he lays
waste Il city orator or member of
parliament and bears hard upon the
government Itself. He is kind Of
fourth estate i'll tic politics of the
country.'
Looming in the future" was the
invention Of Lord Beaconsteld. In
June, 1852, then Mr.. Disraeli, he is
sued an election address TO his con-
stituentS, the electors of Bucking-
hamshire, in which the following
occurs: The times arc favorable to
such an undertaking. Juster notions
of taxation arc moro prevalent than
heretofore. Powerful agencies are
at work which have introduced new
phenomena into finance and altered
the complexion of the fiscal world,
and the possibility of greatly reliev-
ing the burdens of the country seems
to loom in the future
Men, not measures Is now Il
historic phrase. Il was first uttered
by Mr.. Canning in Il speech in 1901,
in opposition to the Arlington min
istry, when l.a said: Away with
the cant Of measures, not mcn'-tho
idle suppoHition that it is the har-
ness, and not the horses, that draws
the chariot along. No, sin; if tho
comparison must be made, if the
distinction must he taken, men are
everything, measures are compara-
lively nothing. speak of times OF
difficulty and danger, when systems
are shaken, when the presidents
and general rules of conduct fail
then it is that not to that or to this
measure--however prudently devils
to tho energy and character
of individuals, state must be i'll
debtel for its salvation"
A gigantic innovation" is IL
phrase that was originated by Mr..
in Il debate that took
place in July, 1850, on the action OF
the house Of lords in rejecting the
bill for the abolition OF paper du-
ties. 1T appears to me, said MIR.
"to the determination of
one moic'y of this house that there
shall be no debate upon the consti-
tutional principles which are involv-
Ell in this question, and | must say
that considering that gentlemen OPP
posite are upon this occasion the
partisans of IL gigantic Innovation
the most gigantic and the most dan.
gCrous that has been attempted in
our times--l may compliment them
upon the prudence they show in re
solving to he its silent partisans. -
Scraps.
ha ra .rl