Volume 99 — MR. PUNCH'S DICTIONARY OF PHRASES.

PARLIAMENTARY.

"My right honourable and learned friend;" i.e., "A professional politician, devoid alike of principle and capacity."

"I pass from that matter;" i.e., "Find it somewhat embarrassing."

"I don't know where my honourable friend gets his facts from;" i.e., "He should try and get out of his inveterate habit of lying."

"A monument of antiquated Norman tyranny," or, "A relic of early English fraud and ignorance;" i.e., "A statute which I and my Party wish to repeal."

"The most precious constitutional legacy of those who fought and bled," &c., &c.; i.e., Ditto ditto impugned by the opposite Party.

LEGAL.

"I am instructed, my Lord, that this is, in fact, the case;" i.e., "I see that, as usual, you have got upon a false scent; but as this suits the book of my client, the solicitor (whose nod at this moment may mean anything, and, therefore, why not approval?), I encourage the mistake."

LECTURER AT A BATTLE PANORAMA.

"It is a well-known historical fact that—;" i.e., "You needn't believe a word of it."

"A bank of heavy clouds lowers in the horizon;" i.e., "The black paint has been laid on thick."

"The plain stretches far away;" i.e., "About five yards."