Prendre du temps, Fr. To take time in executing a thing.
Prendre son temps, Fr. To do a thing with perfect convenience to one’s self.
Prendre la parole, Fr. To speak first.
Prendre sa revanche, Fr. To make up for any past loss or disadvantage. We familiarly say, to take one’s revenge.
Prendre à partie, Fr. An expression peculiar to the French, in judicial matters, which signifies to attack a judge, for having prevaricated and taken the part of one side against another, without any regard to justice. It likewise means to impute misconduct or criminality, and to make a person responsible for it.
Se Prendre de vin, Fr. To get drunk. Excess of drinking was so little known among the French officers and soldiers, that the greatest disgrace was affixed to the habit. It is recorded, that when marshal Richelieu had determined to storm a place in the Mediterranean, he gave out the following order—“any soldier who shall appear the least intoxicated, shall be excluded from the honor and glory of mounting the assault to-morrow morning.” Every man was at his post, and not a single instance of intoxication occurred. Such was the esprit de corps and the amour propre which prevailed in all ranks, that the dread of corporeal punishment had less effect than the being deprived of an opportunity to shew courage and resolution.
Vaisseau PRENEUR, Fr. A term peculiarly applicable to a ship that has taken a prize.
PREPARATIFS de guerre, Fr. Warlike preparations. A French writer, under this article, very judiciously observes, that the necessary arrangements which must be made before an army takes the field, and sometimes before an open declaration of war takes place, ought to be managed with extreme caution and great secrecy; although it is impossible to prevent the neighboring powers from being totally ignorant of what is going forward. It is recorded that Henry the IVth of France, having conceived a vast military project, kept it a profound secret for several years, and made the necessary preparations with extreme caution, before he put it into execution.
When Louis the XIVth resolved to invade Italy, in 1663, he dispatched commissaries, purveyors, &c. the preceding year, under various pretences, to buy up corn, to secure forage for his cavalry, and to provide every thing that might be wanted in the train of artillery; and in 1667, when he formed the plan of entering Belgium in person, he arranged all matters relative to the interior government of France during his absence, examined into the state of the finances, filled his treasury with money, augmented, by insensible degrees, the different regiments of his army, and by means of these and other sage precautions, secured the conquest of his object. In fact, well digested plans and cautious arrangements previous to the execution of a military project, however apparently tedious, are the sure forerunners of a prompt and decisive victory. It was a maxim among the Romans, and it is still one among the Turks, De faire de grosses et courtes guerres. To make war upon a scale previously vast and heavy, that its issue may be ultimately short and effectual.
PREPARATIVE, having the power of preparing, qualifying, or fitting. This word is used in a military sense to give notice of any thing about to be done. Hence