Chapter Liber Albus to Lick into Shape of L by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Liber Albus to Lick into Shape

Liber Albus contains the laws and customs of the city of London, compiled in 1419, by John Carpenter, town clerk.

Liber Niger or The Black Book of the Exchequer, compiled by Gervase of Tilbury, in the reign of Henry II. It is a roll of the military tenants.

Liberal Arts Book-learning (Latin, liber); viz., Grammar, Rhetoric, Philosophy, Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy, and Music.

Liberal Unionists or Tory Democrats. Those Conservatives or Tories who have a strong bias towards democratic measures.

Liberal Unionists Those Whigs and Radicals who united, in 1886, with Lord Salisbury and the Conservative party to oppose Home Rule for Ireland. Mr. Gladstone had brought in a Bill to give the Irish Home Rule. Lord Hartington was chief of the Whigs, and Mr. Chamberlain chief of the Radicals, who seceded from Mr. Gladstone's party.

Liberals A political term first employed in 1815, when Lord Byron and his friends set on foot the periodical called The Liberal, to represent their views in politics, religion, and literature. The word, however, did not come into general use till about 1831, when the Reform Bill, in Lord Grey's Ministry, gave it prominence.

“Influenced in a great degree by the philosophy and the politics of the Continent, they [the Whigs] endeavoured to substitute cosmopolitan for national principles, and they baptised the new scheme of politics with the plausible name of “Liberalism.”- Disraeli, June 24, 1872.

Liberator (The). The Peruvians so call Simon Bolivar, who established the independence of Peru. (1785-1831.) Daniel O'Connell was so called, because he tried to sever Ireland from England. (1775-1847.)
   Liberator of the world. So Dr. Franklin has been called. (1706-1790.)

Liberia An independent republic of western Africa settled by free negroes.

Libertines A sect of heretics in Holland, led by Quinton a factor, and Copin. They maintained that nothing is sinful but to those who think it sinful, and that perfect innocence is to live without doubt.
    By a “libertine” is now generally meant a profligate, or one who puts no restraint on his personal indulgence.

“A libertine, in earlier use, was a speculative free-thinker in matters of religion and in the theory of morals ... but [it has come] to signify a profligate.”- Trench: On the Study of Words, lecture iii. p. 90.

Liberty means “to do what one likes.” (Latin, liber, free.)
   Civil Liberty. The liberty of a subject to conduct his own affairs as he thinks proper, provided he neither infringes on the equal liberty of others, nor offends against the good morals or laws under which he is living.
   Moral Liberty. Such freedom as is essential to render a person responsible for what he does, or what he omits to do.
   National Liberty. The liberty of a nation to make its own laws, and elect its own executive.
   Natural Liberty. Unrestricted freedom to exercise all natural functions in their proper places.
   Personal Liberty. Liberty to go out of one's house, or nation, and to return again without restraint, except deprived thereof by way of punishment.
   Political Liberty. The right to participate in political elections and civil offices; and to have a voice in the administration of the laws under which you live as a citizen and subject.
   Religious Liberty. Freedom in religious opinions, and in both private and public worship, provided such freedom in no wise interferes with the equal liberty of others.
    Cap of Liberty. The Goddess of Liberty, in the Aventine Mount, was represented as holding in her hand a cap, the symbol of freedom. In France, the Jacobins wore a red cap. In England, a blue cap with a white border is the symbol of liberty, and Britannia is sometimes represented as holding such a cap on the point of her spear. (See Cap Of Liberty.)

Liberty The Goddess of Liberty. On December 10th, 1793, Mlle, Malliard. an actress, was selected to personify the “Goddess of Liberty.” Being brought to Notre Dame, Paris, she was seated on the altar, and lighted a large candle to signify that Liberty was the “light of the world.” (See Louis Blanc: History, ii. 365-367.)
    The statue of Liberty, placed over the entrance of the Palais Royal, was modelled from