Part 107 (2/2)

=Razor=, a barber who could ”think of nothing but old England.” He was the friend and neighbor of Quidnunc, the upholsterer, who was equally crazy about the political state of the nation, and the affairs of Europe in general.--Murphy, _The Upholsterer_ (1758).

_Razor_ (_To cut blocks with a_). Oliver Goldsmith said of Edward Burke, the statesman.

Too deep for his hearers, he went on refining, And thought of convincing, while they thought of dining: Tho' equal to all things, to all things unfit; Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit; For a patriot too cool; for a drudge disobedient; And too fond of the _right_ to pursue the _expedient_.

In short, 'twas his fate, unemployed or in place, sir, To eat mutton cold, and cut blocks with a razor.

_Retaliation_ (1774.)

=Read= (_Sir William_), a tailor, who set up for oculist, and was knighted by Queen Anne. This quack was employed both by Queen Anne and George I.

Sir William could not read. He professed to cure wens, wry-necks, and hare-lips (died 1715).

None shall their rise to merit owe-- That popish doctrine is exploded quite, Or Ralph had been no duke, and Read no knight.

_A Political Squib of the Period._

? The ”Ralph” refered[TN-118] to is Ralph Montagu, created viscount in 1682, and duke of Montagu in 1705 (died 1709).

=Ready-to-Halt=, a pilgrim that journeyed to the Celestial City on crutches. He joined Mr. Greatheart's party, and was carried to heaven in a chariot of fire.--Bunyan, _Pilgrim's Progress_, ii. (1684).

=Reason= (_The G.o.ddess of_), in the French Revolution, some say, was the wife of Momoro, the printer; but Lamartine says it was Mdlle. Malliard, an actress.

=Rebecca=, leader of the Rebeccates, a band of Welsh rioters, who, in 1843, made a raid upon toll-gates. The captain and his guard disguised themselves in female attire.

? This name arose from a gross perversion of a text of Scripture: ”And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, ... let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.” (_Gen._ xxiv. 60).

_Rebecca_, daughter of Isaac, the Jew; meek, modest, and high-minded.

She loves Ivanhoe, who has shown great kindness to her and to her father; and when Ivanhoe marries Rowena, both Rebecca and her father leave England for a foreign land.--Sir W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time, Richard I.).

_Rebecca_ (_Mistress_), the favorite waiting-maid of Mrs. Margaret Bertram, of Singleside.--Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).

=Record=, noted for his superlatives, ”most presumptuous,” ”most audacious,” ”most impatient,” as:

Oh, you will, most audacious.... Look at him, most inquisitive....

Under lock and key, most n.o.ble.... I will, most dignified.--S.

Birch, _The Adopted Child_.

=Recruiting Officer= (_The_), a comedy by G. Farquhar (1705). The ”recruiting officer” is Sergeant Kite, his superior officer is Captain Plume, and the recruit is Sylvia, who a.s.sumes the military dress of her brother and the name of Jack Wilful, _alias_ Pinch. Her father, Justice Balance, allows the name to pa.s.s the muster, and when the trick is discovered, to prevent scandal, the justice gives her in marriage to the captain.

=Red Book of Hergest= (_The_), a collection of children's tales in Welsh; so called from the name of the place where it was discovered. Each tale is called in Welsh a _Mabinogi_, and the entire collection is the _Mabinogion_ (from _nab_, ”a child”). The tales relate chiefly to Arthur and the early British kings. A translation in three vols., with notes, was published by Lady Charlotte Guest (1838-49).

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