of humor hears this gay clash of keen words, and puts them down in dull print, and goes on to point out in his dull fashion that they do not sound affectionate, and are phrases by no means in common use among excellent married persons of average intellects, it is easy to see that the worst sort of mischief may readily be wrought.—W. J. Dawson, "The Makers of English Prose."
(1678)
IRRATIONAL LAWS
The law of imprisonment for debt, which
existed so long in England, the land of freedom,
whereby a creditor enforced payment
of debt by imprisoning his debtor for unlimited
periods, is perhaps the most irrational
that ever existed. The purposeless cruelty
of imprisonment for debt was demonstrated
in 1792, when a woman died in Devon jail,
after forty-five years' imprisonment, for a
debt of £19. And when the Thatched House
Society set to work to ransom honest
debtors by paying their debts, they, in twenty
years, released 12,590 at a cost of 45 shillings
per head. (Text.)—Croake James, "Curiosities
of Law and Lawyers."
(1679)
Irresolution—See Human Nature, Insecurity of.
IRRESPONSIBILITY
The spectacle of a $100,000,000 "trust"
unable to get hay for its horses on credit
was seen recently in Sault Ste. Marie, where
the Consolidated Lake Superior Company
went into liquidation. The liquidation resulted
from the failure of the directors of
this big concern to raise $5,000,000 to pay a
loan from the Speyer syndicate.
"Here is a corporation which was paying seven per cent dividends, and which began two or three years ago with a capital of $102,000,000, so destitute of liquid assets or working capital that it can not pay a loan of $5,000,000, for which its very existence was pawned. Nothing appears to be left.
Lake Superior Consolidated, like all the other trusts, was organized under the Connecticut corporation act, which, like that of West Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, and other States, was expressly drawn to relieve all concerned of responsibility. No one was responsible for anything in the prospectus. No one could be held, in the promotion or direction, for any statements, promises, or representations. The sidewalk vender is more responsible for the razors and remedies that he sells in the flare of his gasoline lamp than the promoters or directors of an American trust to which millions of dollars flow.—New York American.
(1680)
IRRETRIEVABLE, THE
The people of Florence sent their great
poet, Dante, into exile. He went into Ravenna,
there died, and there was buried.
After his death, Florence recognized how
great this exiled son of hers had been, and
begged his body from Ravenna, and could
not get it. Ravenna would not part with it.
Florence might have had it had she asked
Dante to come back.
(1681)
Irreverent Laughter—See Laughter, Perils of.
IRRIGATION
Long have I waited their coming, the men of the far-lying mist-hills
Gathered about their fires and under the kindly rains.
Not to the blazing sweep of Thy desert, O Lord, have they turned them;
Evermore back to the mist-hills, back to the rain-kissed plains.
Long through the ages I waited the children of men, but they came not;
Only God's silent centuries holding their watch sublime.
Gaunt and wrinkled and gray was the withering face of Thy desert:
All in Thine own good time; O Lord, in Thine own good time.
Lo! Thou hast spoken the word, and Thy children come bringing the waters
Loosed from their mountain keep in the thrall of each sentinel hill.
Lord, Thou hast made me young and fair at Thine own waters' healing,
Pleasing and fair to mankind in the flood of Thy bountiful will.
Wherefore in joy now Thy children come, flying exultant and eager;
Now is thine ancient earth remade by Thy powerful word.
Lord, unto Thee be the glory! Thine is the bloom of the desert.
Hasten, O men of the mist-hills! Welcome, ye sons of the Lord! (Text.)
—McCready Sykes, The Atlantic Monthly.
(1682)
Isolation, Fatal—See Resources, Exhausted.
Issue, A Consequential—See Consequences.
