Notes and Queries, Number 242, June 17, 1854: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.Various
History
Notes and Queries, Number 242, June 17, 1854: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.
Various
Questions and answers -- Periodicals
"All is ready. That awful pause, which takes place before the shock of
battle, reigns around; but ere it is broken by the clash of meeting
arms, and while yet the contending parties are at a little distance
from each other, a strange sound is heard over head. The time for the
visible manifestation of God's vengeance has arrived, his fury has come
up in his face, and He calls for a sword against Gog throughout all the
mountains. 'Tis this voice of the Lord that breaks the solemn
stillness, and startles the assembled hosts. The scene that follows
baffles description. Amid earthquakes and showers of fire, the
bewildered and maddened armies of the autocrat rush, sword in hand,
against each other, while the Israelites and their Anglo-Saxon friends
gaze on the spectacle with amazement and consternation. It does not
appear that they will even lift their hand against that foe which they
had come so far to meet. Their aid is not necessary to accomplish the
destruction of the image. The stone, cut without hands, shall fall on
its feet and break them to pieces; and then shall the iron, the clay,
the brass, the silver, and the gold, become like the chaff of the
summer threshing-floor, and the wind shall carry them away. The various
descriptions which we have of this battle, all intimate that God is the
only foe that shall contend with the autocrat at Armageddon. John terms
it, 'the battle of that great day of God Almighty;' and we believe the
principal instrument of their defeat will be mutual slaughter. The
carnage will be dreadful. Out of all the millions that came like a
cloud upon the land of Israel, only a scattered and shattered remnant
will return; the great mass will be left to 'cleanse the land,' and
fill the valley of Hamongog with graves."
I refrain from quoting the remarks made by Napoleon, at St. Helena,
respecting Russia, and the likelihood of her ultimately subjugating Western
Europe, as your readers must be familiar with them from the writings of
O'Meara and others.
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia.
* * * * *
DERIVATION OF THE WORD "BIGOT."
At p. 80. of Mr. Trench's admirable little volume _On the Study of Words_,
an etymology is assigned to the word _bigot_, which is, I think, clearly
erroneous:
"Two explanations of it are current," writes Mr. Trench, "one of which
traces it up to the early Normans, while they yet retained their
northern tongue, and to their often adjuration by the name of God; with
sometimes a reference to a famous scene in French history, in which
Rollo, Duke of Normandy, played a conspicuous part: the other puts it
in connexion with _beguines_, called often in Latin _beguttæ_, a name
by which certain communities of pietist women were known in the Middle
Ages."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account