[Ads-l] Anecdote Origin: I Hope Your Honor Will Have Mercy on a Poor Orphan

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

After posting about this topic on Bluesky and XTwitter I received a
message from Simon Koppel who found an excellent citation for the
anecdote dated April 24, 1856 in the “Daily Dispatch” of Richmond,
Virginia. This led me to find the following slightly earlier citation
dated April 17:

[ref] 1856 April 17, New-York Daily Times, Paris Gossip: French Sang
Froid, Quote Page 1 Column 2, New York, New York. (Newspapers_com)
[/ref]

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-orphan/194013421/

[Begin excerpt]
French Sang Froid
A Frenchman was tried the other day in one of the Departments, for
having killed his father and mother. The crime was committed under the
most revolting circumstances; and at the end of the pleadings, when he
was about to be condemned to death, the President of the Tribunal
asked the usual question, if he had any thing to say in his defence?
"Mon Dieu, non, Monsieur le President," he replied, "Only I hope you
have pity on a poor orphan!"
MALAKOFF.
[End excerpt]

The QI article has been updated, and Simon Koppel has been acknowledged.
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/03/23/mercy-orphan/

Garson O'Toole

On Mon, Mar 23, 2026 at 12:00 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Back in 2018 a tale with the punchline displayed in the subject line
> was discussed on this mailing list in a thread initiated by JL. "The
> New Yale Book of Quotations" lists the anecdote under the name Artemus
> Ward (Charles Farrar Browne) and presents an 1867 citation.
>
> Now, I have posted an article:
> https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/03/23/mercy-orphan/
>
> The earliest match I found appeared in 1856 within "The Knickerbocker
> or New-York Monthly Magazine". The anecdote appeared in a section
> called "Editor's Table", and it was submitted by a person who was only
> identified as "Bob":

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org