FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   >>  
have been acquired from time to time. The chief of these new establishments is St. Luke's Hospital for Lunatics."--_Sunday Paper._ * * * * * [Illustration: _Farmer._ "SO YOU WANT A JOB OF WORK, EH?" _Applicant._ "I SAID A JOB. I NEVER SAID A JOB O' WORK."] * * * * * MAGNANIMOUS MOTTOES. A writer in _The Evening Standard_ calls attention to the latest ornamentation of the fine old Elizabethan Hall of Gray's Inn, in the shape of the arms of Lord BIRKENHEAD, who as a past Treasurer of the Inn is entitled to this armorial distinction in his lifetime. But, he goes on, "it was not so much the arms as their motto which attracted me--the motto of a man who began his brilliant career as plain Mr. F. E. SMITH. Now the Latin for 'smith,' as an artisan, is _faber_ (artificer or fabricator in the primal sense); so, with a fine democratic courage, Lord BIRKENHEAD has chosen as his family motto: '_Faber meae Fortunae_' (Architect of my own Fortune)." We agree; but it must not be supposed that Lord BIRKENHEAD has an entire monopoly of this frank spirit. Other eminent men who have recently been ennobled or decorated have shown a similar frankness. Thus it may not be known that Lord RIDDELL has adopted a motto which reveals the comparatively modest beginnings of his greatness. Lord RIDDELL was, and we believe still is, the proprietor of _The News of the World_. Now the Latin for news or newness is _novitas_ (novelty or unfamiliarity in the primal sense); so with a noble democratic courage he has chosen as his family motto: "_Saeculorum vetustati praestat novitas mundi_" (The news of the world surpasses the antiquity of the ages). It is rather a long motto, but it is eminently Ciceronian in its cadence. Then there is the case of Lord NORTHCLIFFE, who began his brilliant career as simple Mr. HARMSWORTH. Now the Latin for "harm" is _damnum_ (loss or sacrifice in the primal sense), and for "worth" _dignus_. So, with a fine loyalty to his antecedents, Lord NORTHCLIFFE has adopted the heroic and pleasantly alliterative motto: "_Per damna ad dignitatem_" (Through sacrifices to worthiness). Even more ingenious is the motto chosen by Lord BEAVERBROOK, who began his coruscating career as a native of New Brunswick. Now the Latin for "beaver" is _castor_ (not to be confounded with the small wheels attached to the legs of arm-chairs), and in Greek mythology
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   >>  



Top keywords:

career

 

BIRKENHEAD

 

primal

 

chosen

 
adopted
 

RIDDELL

 

novitas

 

NORTHCLIFFE

 

brilliant

 

democratic


courage

 

family

 

antiquity

 
surpasses
 
cadence
 
eminently
 

Ciceronian

 

praestat

 

Saeculorum

 

beginnings


greatness

 

modest

 

comparatively

 
reveals
 

proprietor

 

novelty

 
unfamiliarity
 
simple
 

acquired

 
newness

vetustati
 

native

 
Brunswick
 

beaver

 
coruscating
 

BEAVERBROOK

 

ingenious

 
castor
 

confounded

 

chairs


mythology

 
wheels
 

attached

 

worthiness

 
dignus
 

loyalty

 

sacrifice

 

damnum

 
antecedents
 

heroic