"But, my lord, some trial may be fitting,' answered Balveny. 6 "To what purpose?' answered Douglas. I have taken them red-hand; my authority will stretch to instant execution. Yet stay: have we not some Jedwood men in our troop?' "Plenty of Turnbulls, Rutherfords, Ainslies, and so forth,' said Balveny. "Call me an inquest of these together; they are all good men and true, save a little shifting for their living. Do you see to the execution of these felons, while I hold a court in the great hall, and we'll try whether the jury or the provost-marshal shall do their work first: we will have Jedwood justice - hang in haste, and try at leisure."" He that invented the "maiden" first hanselled it. - Scotch. This was the Regent Morton, who was the first man beheaded by an instrument of his own invention, called the "maiden." His enemies thought it was Sport To see the engineer hoist by his own petard;" 66 and even those who pitied him felt that no law was juster than that the artificers of death should perish by their own art."1 1 Nec lex est justior ulla Quam necis artifices arte perire sua. If he has no gear to tine, he has shins to pine. — Scotch. That is, if he has not wealth to lose, or means to pay a fine, he must be clapped in the stocks or in fetters. “He that has no money must pay with his skin" (German). "Where there is no money there is no forgiveness of sins" (German). 1 Wer kein Geld hat, mussmit der Haut bezahlen. 2 Wo kein Geld ist, da ist auch keine Vergebung der Sünden. WEALTH.-POVERTY. PLENTY. WANT. Happy is the son whose father went to the devil. On the other hand, the Portuguese say, "Alas for the son whose father goes to heaven!" the presumption being that a man does not go that way whilst amassing great wealth; for "He that is afraid of the devil does not grow rich" (Italian)." "To do so one has only to turn one's back on God" (French). Audley, a noted lawyer and usurer in the reigns of James I. and Charles I., was asked what might be the value of his newlyobtained office in the Court of Wards. He replied, "It may be worth some thousands of pounds to him who after his death would instantly go to heaven; twice as much to him who would go to purgatory; and nobody knows how much to him who would adventure to go to hell." Audley's biographer hints that he did adventure that way for the four hundred thousand pounds he left behind him at his departure. "The river does not 1 Guay do filho que o pai vai a paraiso. 2 Chi ha paura del diavolo non fa roba. 3 Il ne faut que tourner le dos à Dieu pour devenir riche. become swollen with clear water" (Italian). According to a Latin proverb, quoted with approval by St. Jerome, “A rich man is either a rogue or a rogue's heir." "To be rich, one must have a relation at home with the devil" (Italian).3 "Gold goes to the Moor;" that is, to the man without a conscience (Portuguese).4 "The poets feign," says Bacon, "that when Plutus, which is riches, is sent from Jupiter, he limps and goes slowly; but when he is sent from Pluto he runs and is swift of foot: meaning that riches gotten by good means and just labor pace slowly, but when they come by the death of others (as by the course of inheritance, testaments, and the like), they come tumbling upon a man. But it might be applied likewise to Pluto, taking him for the devil; for when riches come from the devil (as by fraud and oppression and unjust means) they come upon speed. The ways to enrich are many, and most of them foul." "He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent" (Proverbs xxviii. 22). "Who would be rich in a year gets hanged in half a year" (Spanish).5 Plenty makes dainty." As the sow fills the draught sours. Hunger is the best sauce. 1 Il fiume non s'ingrossa d'acqua chiara. 2 Dives aut iniquus aut iniqui hæres. 3 Por esser riceo bisogna avere un parente a casa al diavolo. 4 Vaise o ouro ao mouro. ¿Quien en un año quiere ser rico, al medio le ahorcan. 6 Abondance engendre fàcherie. 66 66 Hunger makes raw beans sweet (German). Hunger is the best cook" (German). "The full stomach loatheth the honeycomb, but to the hungry every bitter thing is sweet" (Proverbs). "Brackish water is sweet in a dry land" (Portuguese).1 A hungry horse makes a clean manger. A hungry man sees far. 2 "A hungry man discovers more than a hundred lawyers" (Spanish). Want sharpens industry and invention. "He thinks of everything who wants bread" (French). "A poor man is all schemes" (Spanish).4 66 Largitor artium, ingeniique magister "It is "Poverty and hunger have many learned disciples " Need makes the old wife trot.8 1 Agoa salobra na terra seca he doce. 2 Mas descubre un hambriento que cien letrados. 3 De tout s'avise à qui pain faut. 4 Hombre pobre todo es trazas. 5 Armuth und Hunger haben viel gelehrte Jünger. 6 Armuth ist der sechste Sinn. 7 Armuth ist listig, sie fängt auch einen Fuchs. 8 The same in Italian, Bisogna fa trottar la vecchia; and in French, Besoin fait vicille trotter. |