[Ads-l] kakistocracy
Amy West
medievalist at W-STS.COM
Sun Nov 17 22:36:39 UTC 2024
On 11/16/24 00:00, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2024 19:30:33 +0000
> From: "Shapiro, Fred"<fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> Subject: Re: kakistocracy
>
> The Oxford English Dictionary's first citation for the word "kakistocracy" is dated 1829. Here is a much earlier usage, probably as far back as can be found. This is also a quite wonderful passage with a super-long sentence around the k-word.
>
> 1644 A sermon preached at the publique fast the ninth day of Aug. 1644 at St. Maries, Oxford, before the honorable members of the two Houses of Parliament (1674)
>
> Prayer is for, or against: if we be friends to the peace of Ierusalem, we must be enemies to the enemies of it; if we pray for that, we must pray against these. Now if God be the authour of peace, warre and discord can have no authour but Gods adversary the Devill; and they that are the stirrers up and fomenters of it, must needs be his instruments whosoever they be. If the peace-makers be blessed, for they shall be called the sonnes of God; then cursed are the warre-makers, cursed to the pit of hell, for they shall be called you know what:
Personally, I'm tickled by the use of the phrase "you know what" in this
passage^
---Amy West
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