This nickname was given to Henry Clay, who was born in the neighborhood of a place in Hanover County, Va., known as the Slashes (a local term for a low, swampy country), where there was a mill, to which he was often sent on errands when a boy.
86. What was the origin of “Honeymoon”?
The term “honeymoon” is of Teutonic origin, and is said to be derived from a luxurious drink prepared with honey by the ancients. It was the custom to drink of diluted honey for thirty days, or a moon’s age, after a wedding feast.
87. What was the origin of the expression “Printer’s Devil”?
Aldus Manutius (1449–1515), the celebrated Venetian printer and publisher, had a small black slave whom the superstitious believed to be an emissary of Satan. To satisfy the curious, one day he said publicly in church, “I, Aldus Manutius, printer to the Holy Church, have this day made public exposure of the printer’s devil. All who think he is not flesh and blood, come and pinch him.” Hence in Venice arose the somewhat curious sobriquet of the “printer’s devil.”
88. Who were the “Seven Sleepers”?
According to a very widely diffused legend of early Christianity, seven noble youths of Ephesus, in the time of the Decian persecution, who fled to a certain cavern for refuge, and were pursued, discovered, and walled in for a cruel death, were made to fall asleep, and in that state were miraculously kept for almost two centuries. Their names are said to have been Maximian, Malchus, Martinian, Denis, John, Serapion, and Constantine. The legend, in speaking of their death, said, following the usual form, that they had fallen asleep in the Lord. The vulgar took occasion thence to say that these holy martyrs were not dead; that they had been hid in the cavern, where they had fallen asleep; and that they at last awoke, to the great astonishment of the spectators. Such is the origin of the legend of the Seven Sleepers. At Ephesus the spot is still shown where this pretended miracle took place. As a dog had accompanied these seven martyrs into their retreat, he has been made to share the celebrity of his masters, and is fabled to have remained standing all the time they slept, without eating or drinking, being wholly occupied with guarding their persons. The Church has consecrated the 27th of June to their memory. The Koran relates the tale of the Seven Sleepers, and declares that out of respect for them the sun altered his course twice a day that he might shine into the cavern.
89. Who were the “Seven Wise Men of Greece”?
These men, who lived in the sixth century B. C., were distinguished for their practical sagacity and their wise maxims or principles of life. Their names are variously given, but those most generally admitted to the honor are Solon, Chilo, Pittacus, Bias, Periander (in place of whom some give Epimenides), Cleobulus, and Thales. They were the authors of the celebrated mottoes inscribed in later days in the Delphian temple: Know thyself (Solon); Consider the end (Chilo); Know thy opportunity (Pittacus); Most men are bad (Bias); Nothing is impossible to industry (Periander); Avoid excess (Cleobulus); Suretyship is the precursor of ruin (Thales).
90. Who were the “Seven Champions of Christendom”?