Answer.—William Wallace was the youngest son of a knight of good family in southwestern Scotland. The place of his birth is uncertain, but the date was probably about the middle of the reign of Alexander III. When Edward offered pardon to the Scottish leaders, after the subjugation of Scotland and the surrender of Baliol, Wallace was excepted by name, being ordered to surrender unconditionally. This he refused to do, and for many years eluded the search of those who coveted the handsome price put upon his head. In 1305, however, he was seized and carried to London, and there, after a mock trial, on the 23d of August, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered, as a traitor. But his cause lived, and a year later Robert Bruce was crowned at Scone, King of independent Scotland. 2. The Crimean war lasted nearly two years, from 1854 to 1856.
“HOBSON’S CHOICE.”
Marshalltown, Iowa.
Please tell us the origin of the expression,“Hobson’s choice.”
F. W. Wilder.
Answer.—The Atlantic Monthly for December, 1883, contained the following: “The explanation of the proverbial saying about ‘Hobson’s choice’ is given by Steele in the Spectator, No. 509,” The passage referred to is this: “Tobias Hobson was the first man in England that let out hackney horses. * * * When a man came for a horse he was led into the stable where there was a great choice, but Hobson obliged him to take the horse which stood nearest to the stable door: so that every customer was alike well served, according to his chance, from whence it became a proverb, when what ought to be your election was forced upon you, to say, ‘Hobson’s choice.’”
CALIFORNIA.
Fonda, Iowa.