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Daniel Defoe. (1660?–1731)

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Wherever God erects a house of prayer,
The Devil always builds a chapel there;1
And ’t will be found, upon examination,
The latter has the largest congregation.

The True-Born Englishman. Part i. Line 1.

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Great families of yesterday we show,
And lords, whose parents were the Lord knows who.

The True-Born Englishman. Part i. Line 1.

Tom Brown. (1663–1704)

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I do not love thee, Doctor Fell,
The reason why I cannot tell;
But this alone I know full well,
I do not love thee, Doctor Fell.2

Laconics.

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To treat a poor wretch with a bottle of Burgundy, and fill his snuff-box, is like giving a pair of laced ruffles to a man that has never a shirt on his back.3

Laconics.

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In the reign of Charles II. a certain worthy divine at Whitehall thus addressed himself to the auditory at the conclusion of his sermon: “In short, if you don’t live up to the precepts of the Gospel, but abandon yourselves to

Note 1.
See Burton, Quotation 80. [back]

Note 2.
A slightly different version is found in Brown’s Works collected and published after his death:—

Non amo te, Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare;
Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te
(I do not love thee, Sabidius, nor can I say why; this only I can say, I do not love thee).—Martial: Epigram i. 33.

Je ne vous aime pas, Hylas;
Je n’en saurois dire la cause,
Je sais seulement une chose;
C’est que je ne vous aime pas.
Bussy: Comte de Rabutin. (1618–1693.) [back]

Note 3.
Like sending them ruffles, when wanting a shirt.—Sorbienne (1610–1670).

Oliver Goldsmith: The Haunch of Venison. [back]