Chapter Beg the Question to Belial of B by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Beg the Question to Belial

Beg the Question (To). (See Begging .)

Beggar A beggar may sing before a pickpocket. (In Latin, “Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator.”) A beggar may sing before a highwayman because he has nothing in his pocket to lose.
   Set a beggar on horseback, and he'll ride to the de'il. There is no one so proud and arrogant as a beggar who has suddenly grown rich.

“Such is the sad effect of wealth- rank pride-
Mount but a beggar, how the rogue will ride!”
Peter Pindar: Epistle to Lord Lonsdale.

   Latin: “Asperius nihil est humili cum surgit in altum.”
   French: “Il n'est orgueil que de pauvre enrichi.”
   Italian: “Il vilan nobilitado non connosce il parentado” (A beggar ennobled does not know his own kinsmen).
   Spanish: “Quando el villano estáen el mulo, non conoze a dios, ni al mundo” (when a beggar is mounted on a mule, he knows neither gods nor men).

Beggars King of the Beggars. Bampfylde Moore Carew (1693-1770).
   Beggars should not be choosers. Beggars should take what is given them, and not dictate to the giver what they like best. They must accept and be thankful.

Beggars' Barm The thick foam which collects on the surface of ponds, brooks, and other pieces of water where the current meets stoppage. It looks like barm or yeast, but, being unfit for use, is only beggarly barm at best.

Beggars' Bullets Stones.

Beggar's Bush To go by beggar's bush, or Go home by beggar's bush - i.e. to go to ruin. Beggar's bush is the name of a tree which once stood on the left hand of the London road from Huntingdon to Caxton; so called because it was a noted rendezvous for beggars. These punning phrases and proverbs are very common.

Beggar's Daughter Bessee, the beggar's daughter of Bednall Green. Bessee was very beautiful, and was courted by four suitors at once- a knight, a gentleman of fortune, a London merchant, and the son of the inn-keeper at Romford. She told them that they must obtain the consent of her father, the poor blind beggar of Bethnal Green. When they heard that, they all slunk off except the knight, who went to ask the beggar's leave to wed the “pretty Bessee.” The beggar gave her 100 to buy her wedding gown. At the wedding feast he explained to the guests that he was Henry, son and heir of Sir Simon de Montfort. At the battle of Evesham the barons were routed, Montfort slain, and himself left on the field for dead. A baron's daughter discovered him; nursed him with care, and married him; the fruit of this marriage was “pretty Bessee.” Henry de Montfort assumed the garb and semblance of a beggar to escape the vigilance of King Henry's spies. (Percy: Reliques.)

Begging Hermits were of the Augustine order; they renounced all property, and lived on the voluntary alms of “the faithful.”
    Begging Friars were restricted to four orders: Franciscans (Grey Friars). Augustines (Black Friars), Carmelites (White Friars), and Dominicans (Preaching Friars).

Begging the Question Assuming a proposition which, in reality, involves the conclusion. Thus, to say that parallel lines will never meet because they are parallel, is simply to assume as a fact the very thing you profess to prove. The phrase is a translation of the Latin term, petitio principii, and was first used by Aristotle.

Beghards A brotherhood which rose in the Low Countries in the twelfth century, and was so called from Lambert Bégue. The male society were Beghards, the female, Beguins. They took no vows, and were free to leave the society when they liked. In the seventeenth century, those who survived the persecutions of the popes and inquisition joined the Tertiarii of the Franciscans. (See Beguins .)

Begtashi A religious order in the Ottoman Empire, which had its origin in the fourteenth century. The word is derived from Hadji Begtash, a dervish, its founder.