"Godfather" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... a male child it is customary to invite the friends of the family to a feast, designating at the same time a Mid[-e] to serve as godfather and to dedicate the child to some special pursuit in life. The Mid[-e] is governed in his decision by visions, and it thus sometimes happens that the child is dedicated to the "Grand Medicine," i.e., he is to be prepared ...
— Seventh Annual Report • Various
... most utter dolt of a Police Magistrate might splutter from the Bench." His jarring laugh hurt her. "The Man in the Street, and the Woman of the Street, for that matter—pardon me if I offend your ears, but the truth must be told—were my godfather and my godmother, and they gave me that name between them. You are trembling, Miss Mildare. Sit down upon that balk, and I ...
— The Dop Doctor • Clotilde Inez Mary Graves
... people who have a personal acquaintance with me,' said his visitor. 'You have an advantage—I am your godfather.' ...
— Melchior's Dream and Other Tales • Juliana Horatia Ewing
... wrote to him, 'in dedicating my unpolished lines to your lordship, nor how the world will censure me for choosing so strong a prop to support so weak a burden. . . . But if the first heir of my invention prove deformed, I shall be sorry it had so noble a godfather.' 'The first heir of my invention' implies that the poem was written, or at least designed, before Shakespeare's dramatic work. It is affluent in beautiful imagery and metrical sweetness, but imbued with a tone of license which may be held either to justify the theory that it ...
— A Life of William Shakespeare - with portraits and facsimiles • Sidney Lee
... came, at one period of Victor's childhood, General Lahorie, his godfather, hiding from the authorities, who had set a price upon his head; and here he was securely hidden by Madame Hugo for two years, as Victor Hugo afterwards pictured Jean Valjean as being concealed there by the old gardener. Lahorie was implicated in Moreau's plot against Napoleon, ...
— Home Life of Great Authors • Hattie Tyng Griswold
... Isidore, St. Thomas, and other masters of those holy sciences have chiefly drawn their sublime maxims. Mauritius having married the daughter of Tiberius, in 582, who had the empire for her dowry, St. Gregory was pitched upon to stand godfather to his eldest son. Eutychius was at that time patriarch of Constantinople.[5] This prelate, having suffered for the faith under Justinian, fell at length into an error, importing, that after the general resurrection the glorified bodies of the elect will be no longer ...
— The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints - January, February, March • Alban Butler
... and wherefore of its coming to pass my dear that we called him Jemmy, being after the Major his own godfather with Lirriper for a surname being after myself, and never was a dear child such a brightening thing in a Lodgings or such a playmate to his grandmother as Jemmy to this house and me, and always good and minding what he was told (upon the whole) and soothing for the temper and making ...
— Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings • Charles Dickens
... then tell me how I shall be called," said Louis, sadly. "Be the godfather of the ...
— Marie Antoinette And Her Son • Louise Muhlbach
... boards, by the mere force of inertia. (Many people gained their livelihood by the Board of Irrigation, especially one highly conscientious and musical family: all the daughters played on stringed instruments, and Alexey Alexandrovitch knew the family and had stood godfather to one of the elder daughters.) The raising of this question by a hostile department was in Alexey Alexandrovitch's opinion a dishonorable proceeding, seeing that in every department there were ...
— Anna Karenina • Leo Tolstoy
... and then there were partings. Some day I'll take you to the Blenheim and show you England's aristocracy in arm-chairs—we haven't time to-day and here's the coffee coming. Pay up and be thankful that your new pa isn't overdrawn, and has still a shekel or two in his milk jug. My godfather!—but you are a lucky young man, and so you are beginning ...
— Aladdin of London - or Lodestar • Sir Max Pemberton
... papa is director of an insurance company in London. I remember her being born very well. The very day she was christened—her name is Grace—you were six years old, and I took you to her christening; and oh, Harry, my brother is her godfather. Don't you go near that Grace Carden; don't visit any one that knew us in ...
— Put Yourself in His Place • Charles Reade
... 1880, I think, through Southern England—William Black and Edwin A. Abbey being of the party. Approaching a pretty village he asked me if the coach might stop there a few minutes. He explained that this was the resting-place of his godfather, Bishop Keble, and he should like to visit ...
— Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie • Andrew Carnegie
... compadrazgo (gossipry) is the relation which exists between the father of a child and its godfather, who call each other compadre (gossip). It is often used also as a mere friendly ...
— Novelas Cortas • Pedro Antonio de Alarcon
... had acted as a sort of godfather to The Bible in Spain, it was "a rum, very rum, mixture of gypsyism, Judaism, and missionary adventure," as he informed John Murray. He read it "with great delight," and its publisher may "depend upon it that the book will sell, which, after all, ...
— The Life of George Borrow • Herbert Jenkins
... this time, the men for whom Jim had spent his first savings stayed solidly by him, save those whom death called out. After the camp in the canyon was built, many of them, including Henderson, developed unsuspected families and Jim became godfather to several namesakes. After the road was finished, however, old Suma-theek had to take his braves back to the Apache country. They did not like the work in the tunnel, and it was several years before Jim saw his old ...
— Still Jim • Honore Willsie Morrow
... think for both, and be the more careful. The hardest temptation of all, Peg, is one that seems just within grasp, but of which conscience says one should not take advantage. Think what this means! I have a hundred or two a year from the dear old godfather, and a few more for my salary—in all about as much as a fashionable lady would spend on clothes and jewellery. Even with what my father and— hers might be willing to add, it would mean comparative poverty for years to ...
— More About Peggy • Mrs G. de Horne Vaizey
... to his Guru, or teacher, is almost like that of godson to godfather among Christians, only more real, for the teacher becomes father, mother, family and all ...
— The Buddhist Catechism • Henry S. Olcott
... not! You're a fairy godfather. You grant my wishes before they're fairly out of my mouth. And I seem to have plenty of wishes. Just think, Uncle, how many things I've wished ...
— Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party • C. E. Jacobs
... to other members of the Council beside me," Miss Frean argued. "Mr. Fenton is fairy godfather to the camp in Beechwood Forest. He is Tory's uncle and I think should be consulted. If I remember correctly he used to be a Greek scholar. He is not apt to have forgotten, and if he thinks well of the idea ...
— The Girl Scouts in Beechwood Forest • Margaret Vandercook
... been much pleased with finding on the centre table a beautiful edition of that revered friend of my childhood, Dr. Watts's Divine Songs, finely illustrated. I remarked to Lord John that it was the face of an old friend. He said it was presented to his little boys by their godfather, Sir George Grey; and when, taking one of the little boys on his knee, he asked him if he could repeat me one of his hymns, the whole thing seemed so New England-like that I began to feel myself quite ...
— Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands V2 • Harriet Beecher Stowe
... It was McPhail, careful godfather, who had taken him as a recruit to the regimental barber and prescribed a transformation from the sleek long hair brushed back over the head to a conventional military crop with a rudiment of a side parting. On the crown a few bristles stood ...
— The Rough Road • William John Locke
... excuse for evading its performance, and by negotiating with the princes separately he broke up their coalition. The peaceful and industrious classes stood by him, and he studiously cared for their interests; mixing familiarly with the citizens of Paris, dining at their houses, standing godfather to their children, putting aside all state and ceremony, and even dressing in humble attire. The precautions of his residence at Plessis belong only to the last months of his life, when he was old and paralytic. Never ...
— Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 3 of 8 • Various
... visitors were thinking of leaving, they spoke of the christening. The Lorilleux had promised to be godfather and godmother; they looked very glum over the matter. However, if they had not been asked to stand they would have felt rather peculiar. Coupeau did not see any need for christening the little one; it certainly would not procure her an income of ten thousand francs, and besides she ...
— L'Assommoir • Emile Zola
... victories; Alfred came out of his hiding place and gathered them all together, and beat the Danes, so that they asked for peace. He said he would allow those who had settled in the North of England to stay there, provided they would become Christians; and he stood godfather to their chief, and gave him the name of Ethelstane. After this, Alfred had stout ships built to meet the Danes at sea before they could come and land in England; and thus he kept them off, so that for ...
— Young Folks' History of England • Charlotte M. Yonge
... that right with the most cruel vigor, and he fulfilled that duty with the fiercest heroism, and to make matters worse, the mysterious irony of fate had caused him to be born with the name of Lebeau, while an ingenious godfather, the unconscious accomplice of the pranks of destiny, had given him the ...
— The Works of Guy de Maupassant, Vol. 1 (of 8) - Boule de Suif and Other Stories • Guy de Maupassant
... situation. But old M. Langevin did not easily console himself for the departure of his daughter: he died two years later without having embraced the little Clementine, to whom it was intended that he should be godfather. M. Sambucco, his son-in-law, lost his life in 1843, during an earthquake. The papers of the colony and of the metropolis related at the time how he had fallen a victim to his devotion to others. After this fearful misfortune, the young widow hastened to recross the sea with ...
— The Man With The Broken Ear • Edmond About
... masterpieces. This feverish life did not prevent him from making friends among the literary celebrities of his day: Dumas fils had a paternal affection for him; at Aix-les-Bains he met Taine and fell under the spell of the philosopher-historian. Flaubert continued to act as his literary Godfather. His friendship with the Goucourts was of short duration; his frank and practical nature reacted against the ambiance of gossip, scandal, duplicity and invidious criticism that the two brothers had created around them in the guise of an Eighteenth Century style salon. ...
— Mademoiselle Fifi • Guy de Maupassant
... the day he laid aside his white baptismal-robes became a liegeman of the king's, he and Bolli both. Hallfred was not baptized that day, for he made it a point that the king himself should be his godfather, so the king put it off till the next day. Kjartan and Bolli stayed with Olaf the king the rest of the winter. [Sidenote: Kalf wishes to leave Norway] The king held Kjartan before all other men for the ...
— Laxdaela Saga - Translated from the Icelandic • Anonymous
... to stay and live at Stirling until her husband's return from Jamaica. She told Dr. Johnson so now; and, moreover, as an earnest of the friendship which she, accustomed to be loved by every one, expected from him, she requested him to stand godfather to ...
— Olive - A Novel • Dinah Maria Craik, (AKA Dinah Maria Mulock)
... when writing of the act of treachery mentioned above: "They all yearned to act treacherously towards Felim, although he was the gossip of the Lord Justice."—Annals, vol. iii. p. 285. He was sponsor or godfather to one of ...
— An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800 • Mary Frances Cusack
... which are painful to the feelings, from the associations of our passions.[22] I have seen the Christian name of a gentleman, the victim of the caprice of his godfather, who is called Blast us Godly,—which, were he designed for a bishop, must irritate religious feelings. I am not surprised that one of the Spanish monarchs refused to employ a sound catholic for ...
— Curiosities of Literature, Vol. II (of 3) - Edited, With Memoir And Notes, By His Son, The Earl Of Beaconsfield • Isaac D'Israeli
... place at the end of August. The baron was godfather and Aunt Lison godmother. The child was named Pierre-Simon-Paul and ...
— Une Vie, A Piece of String and Other Stories • Guy de Maupassant
... MUST have a godfather; and so, Caudle, who shall we have? Who do you think will be able to do the most for it? No, Caudle, no; I'm not a selfish woman—nothing of the sort—but I hope I've the feelings of a mother; and ...
— Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures • Douglas Jerrold
... true," said Jean, sympathizingly. "However, we will talk about it to-morrow. I am going to dine with you, godfather; I have warned Pauline of my visit; no time to stop to-day. I am on duty, and must be in ...
— L'Abbe Constantin, Complete • Ludovic Halevy
... little Saint, even in her infancy, that when her uncle, who was her godfather, kissed her after her baptism, a rosy glow, a real blush of shame, ...
— Confessions of a Book-Lover • Maurice Francis Egan
... should become a Christian, in remembrance of the Divine religion which now taught his conqueror, the noble ALFRED, to forgive the enemy who had so often injured him. This, GUTHRUM did. At his baptism, KING ALFRED was his godfather. And GUTHRUM was an honourable chief who well deserved that clemency; for, ever afterwards he was loyal and faithful to the king. The Danes under him were faithful too. They plundered and burned no more, but worked ...
— A Child's History of England • Charles Dickens
... before him rather pleasantly mapped out by kind friends, but Bonus Bernardus non videt omnia, in this map too. He was to win honours at the Shrewsbury School, and carry them thick to Cambridge, and after that, a living awaited him, the gift of his godfather, Sir Peter Arley. Poor Peter! his lot in life was very different to what his friends had hoped and planned. Miss Matty told me all about it, and I think it was a relief when she had ...
— Cranford • Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
... I went on, "is that I'm down for a place as a godfather. Archie tells me that it isn't settled yet, but that there's a good deal of talk about it in the clubs. Who's the other going to be? Not Thomas, I suppose? That would be making the ...
— Once a Week • Alan Alexander Milne
... malarial country. I came up from Romancoke Sunday morning, arriving in time to be present at the christening of my nephew, which ceremony was decided on rather hurriedly in order that the grandfather might stand as godfather. After returning from the morning service at St. Peter's, where we all went, it was decided that the mother and child should go to the mountains with my father. As there were some preparations for the summer to be made, his daughter and her baby went to Petersburg that afternoon, agreeing to meet ...
— Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee • Captain Robert E. Lee, His Son
... their Seminaire Sauvage (Indian seminary), where they displayed an unceasing zeal for the instruction and civilization of the little red-skinned girls. The Jesuit Relation of 1671 mentions the baptism of an Indian girl with her mother. Talon wished to be godfather and asked Madame d'Ailleboust to act as godmother. Laval officiated. In 1671 the Ursulines had fifty Indian girls in their Seminaire Sauvage, and in Montreal the Sulpicians and the Sisters of the Congregation, ...
— The Great Intendant - A Chronicle of Jean Talon in Canada 1665-1672 • Thomas Chapais
... be named Pierre Simon Paul (they were going to call him Paul) and at the end of August he was christened, the baron being godfather, and Aunt Lison godmother. At the beginning of September Aunt Lison went away, and her absence was as unnoticed as her presence ...
— The works of Guy de Maupassant, Vol. 5 (of 8) - Une Vie and Other Stories • Guy de Maupassant 1850-1893
... is introduced into the annals of Michelangelo's life at this point by his correspondence with jovial Sebastiano del Piombo. We possess one of this painter's letters, dating as early as 1510, when he thanks Buonarroti for consenting to be godfather to his boy Luciano; a second of 1512, which contains the interesting account of his conversation with Pope Julius about Michelangelo and Raffaello; and a third, of 1518, turning upon the rivalry between the two great artists. ...
— The Life of Michelangelo Buonarroti • John Addington Symonds
... whom shall I give this order," had not turned to the mirror, and pointing to himself, replied—"Give it to this worthy man!" but who instead of that had indicated with his finger the furthest limit of the national map, and there seeking out a country priest, not his brother-in-law or godfather, not even a priest of his own church, had said—"This is a better man than I." Indeed this is a man of pure gold. A gold worker would have to mix at least three carats of silver with him before he ...
— Timar's Two Worlds • Mr Jkai
... him. This curiosity he now strove to expel from his mind, telling himself that he had no right to it. He had wished to preserve Vere just as she was, to keep her from all outside influences. And now he asked the real man why he had wished it? Had it been merely the desire of the literary godfather to cherish a pretty and promising talent? Or had something of the jealous spirit so brutally proclaimed to him that night by the Marchesino really entered into the desire? This torturing curiosity to know ...
— A Spirit in Prison • Robert Hichens
... fellow, was always glad to listen to him on his favourite subject. He had many long talks with Steve on the question of William's future. Steve, as the infant's godfather, which post he had claimed and secured at an early date, had definite views on ...
— The Coming of Bill • P. G. Wodehouse
... a very nice woman," continued Mme. Mauperin. "I like her face. Do you know her, M. Barousse?" she asked, turning to Renee's godfather. ...
— Rene Mauperin • Edmond de Goncourt and Jules de Goncourt
... the obligation of a godfather and a godmother? A. The obligation of a godfather and a godmother is to instruct the child in its religious duties, if the parents neglect to do so ...
— Baltimore Catechism No. 2 (of 4) • Anonymous
... there came out a young man, slight, and delicate-looking, with bright blue eyes, and thickly-curling light hair. "Acting nurse?" he said, smiling. "What an odd little face it is! I didn't think little white babies were so pretty! Well, I shall always consider myself as the real godfather—the other ...
— The Daisy Chain, or Aspirations • Charlotte Yonge
... the end o' the po'ch, opened his book ag'in, an' holdin' up his right hand to'ards Sonny, settin' on top o' the bean-arbor in the rain, he commenced to read the service o' baptism an' we stood proxies—which is a sort o' a dummy substitutes—for whatever godfather an' mother Sonny see fit to ...
— Short Stories for English Courses • Various (Rosa M. R. Mikels ed.)
... if my memory fails me not, in the evening on the 23rd of March. His mother, the wife of a Government official, and a very fine woman, made all due arrangements for having the child baptised. She was lying on the bed opposite the door; on her right stood the godfather, Ivan Ivanovich Eroshkin, a most estimable man, who served as the head clerk of the senate; and the godmother, Arina Semyonovna Bielobrinshkova, the wife of an officer of the quarter, and a woman of rare virtues. They ...
— Best Russian Short Stories • Various
... right. After the banner, the monks themselves followed, in two lines. And what was the motto of their banner?—"Justitia et Misericordia!" Then followed the culprits, to the number of three hundred, each with his godfather by his side, and his large wax candle lighted in his hand. Those whose offences have been most venial walk first; all are bareheaded and barefooted. After this portion; who wore only the dress of black and white serge, ...
— The Phantom Ship • Frederick Marryat
... right either never came off or was also beaten off; let us hope the latter. So dear old Admiral Dennistoun has gone. At 78 one must expect to go to Heaven shortly, but still one's friends will be sorry, no doubt, and Hal loses his godfather. I did not know him very well myself, but I am sorry because you were fond of him. I wonder if it is about to settle in for cold weather in these parts. If so, we shall have attacks across the frozen ground. Whilst it was wet the ...
— Letters of Lt.-Col. George Brenton Laurie • George Brenton Laurie
... to 'is godfather,' she ses, dabbing her eyes. 'I promised 'im not to tell anybody; but I don't know wot ...
— Ship's Company, The Entire Collection • W.W. Jacobs
... other. This engagement is considered very binding, and, curiously enough, it is sometimes entered into by Christians and Mussulmans mutually. Again, a man cuts the hair of a child, and thus constitutes himself the 'Coom,' or, to a certain degree, assumes the position of a godfather. It not unfrequently happens that a Mussulman adopts a Christian child, ...
— Herzegovina - Or, Omer Pacha and the Christian Rebels • George Arbuthnot
... home. I am sick, and have not long to live. My life has been a useless one. When you have read this letter, do not cry yourselves sick on my account. Let my brothers' wives rear and educate my two cousins. I wish to be known as godfather to one of them. I desire Chow He, my wife, to protect and assist you. When you both are dead, she may marry if she wishes. In this world I can do no more for you, father and mother. You must look to the next world for any future benefit to ...
— Life at Puget Sound: With Sketches of Travel in Washington Territory, British Columbia, Oregon and California • Caroline C. Leighton
... the whimsie of the toaster, till at last their slippery engines of verbosity coined nonsense with such a facil fluency, that a parcel of alley-gossips at a christening, after the sack had gone twice round, could not with their tattling tormentors be a greater plague to a fumbling godfather, than their lame jest and impertinent conundrums were to a man of my temper. Oaths were as plenty as weeds in an ...
— History of English Humour, Vol. 2 (of 2) • Alfred Guy Kingan L'Estrange
... Borgia shalt stand your friend. He owes you no less. I will be godfather to your nuptials. Thus shall the blame and consequences rest on me. Paola Sforza di Santafior is dead, men think. We will leave them thinking it. Filippo must know the truth. But you can trust me to make your brother take a reasonable view of what has come to pass. After all, there may be a ...
— The Shame of Motley • Raphael Sabatini
... are chosen godfather, you are expected to send a silver mug to your godchild. Christening parties are held about four in the afternoon. ...
— The Complete Bachelor - Manners for Men • Walter Germain
... foremost—Yes. We shall be going to Chantepleurs about the end of April. To me it will be a piling up of pleasure to travel, to see you, and to be the godmother of your first child. I must, please, have Macumer for godfather. To take part in a ceremony of the Church with another as my partner would be hateful to me. Ah! if you could see the look he gave me as I said this, you would know what store this sweetest of lovers sets ...
— Letters of Two Brides • Honore de Balzac
... eight years of age my uncle the baronet, who was also my godfather, sent me a pair of Norway hawks, with directions for managing them; he was a great fowler. Oh, how rejoiced was I with the present which had been made me, my joy lasted for at least five minutes; I would let them breed, I would have a house of hawks; yes, ...
— Lavengro - The Scholar, The Gypsy, The Priest • George Borrow
... For twenty-five of them he had no great difficulty in procuring godparents, but for the twenty-sixth—that, alas! was a different story. Godmothers, indeed, were to be found in plenty, but he could not find anyone to act as godfather. ...
— Legends & Romances of Brittany • Lewis Spence
... rose, and said, "to my worthy friend Sir Robert Cecil, and to you, Lady Frances Cromwell, and to you also, Mistress Cecil, this young gentleman, by the name of Walter de Guerre, who, though of French extraction, hath doubtless had an English godfather, who hath favoured him with an English Christian name. And now, most worthy baronet, as master of this mansion, I pray you to present me to him who hath a swift arm and a ready hand for the defence of ...
— The Buccaneer - A Tale • Mrs. S. C. Hall
... a splendid opening for the rich uncle, the benevolent godfather, the affectionate grandfather, the kindly aunt, the successful brother. They will come bearing gifts—not the silver cup, if you please, but the Deferred Annuity. 'I bring you, my dear, in honour of your little Molly's birthday, an ...
— As We Are and As We May Be • Sir Walter Besant
... go out as a missionary. I had no call. I answered one of Miss Beecher's appeals for Western teachers. Most of my life since has been a school-ma'am's. It has had ups and downs. But I have always been proud that the Public was my godfather; and, as you know," she said, "I have trusted the Public well. I have never been lonely, wherever I went. I tried to make myself of use. Where I was of use I found society. The ministers have been kind to me. ...
— The Man Without a Country and Other Tales • Edward E. Hale
... of so many capacities, that he would excommunicate any man who should have presumed to intermeddle with any one of his provinces. Has he been an author? he is too the licenser. Has he been a father? he will stand too for godfather. Had he acted Pyramus, he would have been Moonshine too, and the Hole in the Wall. That first author of 'Ecclesiastical Polity,' (such as his) Nero, was of the same temper. He could not be contented with the Roman empire, unless he were too his own precentor; ...
— Calamities and Quarrels of Authors • Isaac D'Israeli
... after you get some new clothes made, we'll go to Malabon. Your godfather is no longer in San Diego. The priest that you may have noticed here last night, that young padre, is the new curate whom we have there, and he ...
— The Social Cancer - A Complete English Version of Noli Me Tangere • Jose Rizal
... special titles some of the pieces quoted in these pages. Though unlike one of Wilde's other friends I cannot claim to have collaborated with him or to have assisted him in any of his plays, I was sometimes permitted, as Wilde acknowledges in different letters, to act in the capacity of godfather by suggesting the actual titles by which some of his books are known to the world. I mention the circumstance only as a precedent for my present temerity. To compensate those who disapprove of my choice, I have included two unpublished letters. ...
— Selected Prose of Oscar Wilde - with a Preface by Robert Ross • Oscar Wilde
... be amiss, if all the notes were marked with authors' names or other reference, as I find some few of the Latin quotations as well as the Greek, and all the Italian ones, require a godfather. ...
— Notes and Queries, Number 71, March 8, 1851 • Various
... military school when war broke out with Germany in 1848. Both of his brothers volunteered, and fell in battle. Enrico was ordered out as lieutenant, and put on the shoulder-straps joyfully, to the great scandal of his godfather in Milan, who sympathized with the German cause. When the young soldier refused to resign he not only cut him off in his will, but took away a pension of four hundred kroner he had given his mother in her widowhood. ...
— Hero Tales of the Far North • Jacob A. Riis
... at him curiously, and smiled to one another—and he recalled what Blaise had said to him when they were in London, and Harry had spoken about his godpapa, when the Frenchman said, "Parbleu! one sees well that my lord is your godfather"; words whereof the poor lad did not know the meaning then, though he apprehended the truth in a very short time afterwards, and learned it and thought of it with no small ...
— Henry Esmond; The English Humourists; The Four Georges • William Makepeace Thackeray
... Mrs Underhill; and, last and greatest, the young King, by Sir Humphrey Ratcliffe, Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners, and a Gospeller. The mania for asking persons of distinction to stand as sponsors was at its height during the reigns of the Tudor sovereigns. Every one of them was godfather or godmother to countless multitudes of his or her subjects, though they rarely, if ever, acted in person. We shall find on a later page, that even "the nine days' queen," Lady Jane Grey, was not without this distinction during ...
— Robin Tremain - A Story of the Marian Persecution • Emily Sarah Holt
... assumed and what above all he desired; yet perversely enough it gave him a chill. The boy believed in the cabals and things, believed in the peculiar line, believed, to be brief, in the Master. What happened a month or two later wasn't that he went up again at the expense of his godfather, but that a fortnight after he had got settled in Paris this personage sent ...
— Victorian Short Stories, - Stories Of Successful Marriages • Elizabeth Gaskell, et al.
... Lord Brighthelmston went to fetch Patricia, who chanced to be sitting out a dance with Terence. The three came out on the balcony, which was deserted, in the near prospect of supper, and the personage—whom we suspected to be Patricia's godfather—took from his waistcoat pocket a string of pearls, and, clasping it round her white throat, stooped ...
— Penelope's English Experiences • Kate Douglas Wiggin
... in Devon, was born Francis Drake, greatest of sea-dogs and first of modern admirals. His father, Edmund Drake, was a skipper in modest circumstances. But from time immemorial there had been Drakes all round the countryside of Tavistock and the family name stood high. Francis was called after his godfather, Francis Russell, son and heir of Henry's right-hand reforming peer, Lord Russell, progenitor of the Dukes of Bedford down to ...
— Elizabethan Sea Dogs • William Wood
... for Venice under Manin, Lodovico. The way is now paved for Manin, Daniele, who was no relation, but a poor Jewish boy to whom a Manin had stood as godfather. Daniele was born in 1804. In 1805 the Peace of Pressburg was signed, and Venice, which had passed to Austria in 1798, was taken from Austria and united to Napoleon's Italian kingdom, with Eugene Beauharnais, ...
— A Wanderer in Venice • E.V. Lucas
... rooms in Paris and the conditions of existence there of which Septimus was an integral part. She had got used to them, to his forced association with the intimate details of her life, to his bending over the child like a grotesque fairy godfather and making astonishing suggestions for its upbringing. She had regarded him less as a stranger to be treated with feminine reserve than the doctor. Now it was different. She was about to take up her own life again, with new responsibilities, and the dearly loved creature whom she had bullied ...
— Septimus • William J. Locke
... gods must hold me in peculiar favour. The first letter I opened was from old Simon McQuhatty, my present host, a godfather of my mother, who alone of mortals befriended us in the dark days of long ago. He was old and infirm, he wrote, and Gossip Death was waiting for him on the moor; but before he went to join him he would like to see Susan's boy again. I could ...
— The Morals of Marcus Ordeyne • William J. Locke
... lady was obstinate. She had set her heart on his being godfather. If it gave rise to suspicions, well and good. She would do ...
— The Grandee • Armando Palacio Valds
... acquired the estate of Canons-Ashby, by marriage with Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir John Cope of that county. Wood says, that John Dryden was by profession a schoolmaster, and honoured with the friendship of the great Erasmus, who stood godfather to one of his sons.[15] He appears, from some passages in his will, to have entertained the puritanical principles, which, we shall presently find, descended to his family.[16] Erasmus Driden, his eldest son, succeeded to the estate of Canons-Ashby, was high-sheriff of ...
— The Dramatic Works of John Dryden Vol. I. - With a Life of the Author • Sir Walter Scott
... hardest task. At eighteen he would have dragged on from hand to mouth, from hour to hour, from penny to penny, until eighty. Nobody got into the prison from whom he derived anything useful or good, and she could find no patron for him but her old friend and godfather. ...
— Little Dorrit • Charles Dickens
... was mustered out we went to Warren County, Mississippi to live. He worked on the halves with a schoolteacher named Mr. Hannum. He said he was my godfather. ...
— Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Arkansas Narratives, Part 4 • Works Projects Administration
... influenza. In one hut a little girl of nine years old, boarded out from the foundling hospital, wept bitterly because all the other little girls in the hut were Mihailovnas while she was called Lvovna after her godfather. I said call yourself Mihailovna. They were all highly delighted, and began thanking me. That's what's called making friends with ...
— Letters of Anton Chekhov • Anton Chekhov
... put down the glass she held, and turned to Sir Wilfrid. He was her godfather, and he had been her particular friend since the days when they used to go off together to ...
— The Coryston Family • Mrs. Humphry Ward
... quiet. Madam Wetherill had been godmother, and the godfather was a distant relative who resided in New York. Good Parson Duche had been asked to keep the matter private. And so, if the meeting came to know, Philemon Henry must be the accuser. It was his duty, of course, but he put it off month after month. The babe grew sweet and winsome, and there were many ...
— A Little Girl in Old Philadelphia • Amanda Minnie Douglas
... is a silly kind of a foreign name. His mother is called Julia: I suppose that is how it comes. No Sandal was ever called such a name before, but the young man mustn't be blamed for his godfather's foolishness, Alice. Eh?" ...
— The Squire of Sandal-Side - A Pastoral Romance • Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
... to be produced, when she's of proper age to come out, at Drury Lane. Who gave her that name? Is it her "Pettitt nom," or was it her Godfather, Sir DRURIOLANUS LE GRAND, or was it the joint effort of GRAND et PETTITT, so as to satisfy all comers Great and Small? The Prodigal Son has already served as the title of an Opera directly founded on the Scriptural parable of the Prodigal, and has recently been used as the title ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 103, September 3, 1892 • Various
... favourably disposed towards the Christians and their religion, and Louis, it appears, had hopes of converting him, and securing his aid against the sultan of Egypt. "What honour would be mine," he used to say, "if I could become godfather to this Mussulman king!" Filled with this idea he landed in Africa, near the site of the city of Carthage, but found that he had reckoned without his host. The king of Tunis had no thoughts of renouncing his religion, nor intention of aiding the Crusaders ...
— Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds • Charles Mackay
... a kind of a godfather to you yonder. I have promised and vowed some things in your name which I think you are bound ...
— The Comedies of William Congreve - Volume 1 [of 2] • William Congreve
... monsters! Upon my word, I never saw the likes of them—black and supernaturally big. They came in, sniffed, and then went away.—Here's a letter I'll read to you—from Andrey Ivanovich. You know him, Artemy Filippovich. Listen to what he writes: "My dear friend, godfather and benefactor—[He mumbles, glancing rapidly down the page.]—and to let you know"—Ah, that's it—"I hasten to let you know, among other things, that an official has arrived here with instructions to inspect the whole government, and your district especially. [Raises ...
— The Inspector-General • Nicolay Gogol
... has pointed out (Bohn's Heptameron, p. 395) that in France the godfather and godmother of a child are called in reference to each other compere and commere, terms implying mutual relations of an extremely friendly kind. "The same usage exists in all Catholic countries," adds Mr Kelly, "and one of the novels of ...
— The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V. (of V.) • Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
... troubles come about in Touraine, no record has been kept. This girl, aged about twelve years, was saved from the stake at which she would have been burned by being baptised; and the said defunct and his wife had then been godfather and godmother to this child of hell. Being at that time laundress at the convent, she who bears witness has remembrance of the flight which the said Egyptian took twenty months after her entry into the convent, so subtilely that it has never been known how or by what means she escaped. At that ...
— Droll Stories, Volume 2 • Honore de Balzac
... said Sir Kasimir, the more drawn by pitying admiration towards their mother, as he perceived more of the grandmother's haughty repulsiveness and want of comprehension of the dangers of her position. "They are not baptized? Let me become their godfather." ...
— The Dove in the Eagle's Nest • Charlotte M. Yonge
... the circle made a halt. There was then a momentary bustle while the grand-master and his attendants" took their places: when "a long and loud flourish of trumpets announced that the court was seated for judgment. Malvoisin, then acting as godfather to the champion, stepped forward and laid the glove of the Jewess, which was the pledge of battle, at ...
— Coronation Anecdotes • Giles Gossip
... would not meddle in the business about the trial of the King. He often invited Mr. Selden and me together to his house to dinner, where we had great cheer, and greater learning in excellent discourse, whereof himself bore a chief part. I was the more frequent with him, being godfather to one of his sons, and Mr. Selden the other godfather, which brought us two the oftener together to his house, to see our godson; and even in such meetings as these I gained very much of knowledge from the most learned and ...
— A Journal of the Swedish Embassy in the Years 1653 and 1654, Vol II. • Bulstrode Whitelocke
... plain, not to say ugly, gentleman intimated his intention of being godfather to somebody's child, Jerrold begged him not to ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. I, No. 1, Nov. 1857 • Various
... that Twirling-stick Mike held a christening, and he not only asked the Dwarf as a guest to the feast, but actually went so far as to invite the creature to stand godfather to his child. Klaus was mightily pleased with the honour, and behaved like a gentleman on the occasion. He made his godson a handsome present, and promised to do a good deal more for him, stipulating only that the child, being a boy, should ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Vol. 56, No. 346, August, 1844 • Various
... first Sunday in September, 1851—in the story of my conversion, a little bit of autobiography entitled "A Troubled Heart, and How It was Comforted at Last." The late Peter H. Burnett, first Governor of California, was my godfather. ...
— In the Footprints of the Padres • Charles Warren Stoddard
... so many centuries ago, that the register of their baptism was lost long, long before the memory of man, and no one knew their names. They had had their Godfathers and Godmothers, these Bells (for my part, by the way, I would rather incur the responsibility of being Godfather to a Bell than a Boy), and had had their silver mugs, no doubt, besides. But Time had mowed down their sponsors, and Henry the Eighth had melted down their mugs; and they now hung, nameless and mugless, in the ...
— A Budget of Christmas Tales by Charles Dickens and Others • Various
... Jerome, as she appreciated his intellect. She used to talk with him on literary and philosophical questions. She sent him two tapestry ottomans one year, which she had worked for him. Her son Maurice went for a cruise to America on Prince Jerome's yacht, and he was the godfather of George Sand's little grandchildren ...
— George Sand, Some Aspects of Her Life and Writings • Rene Doumic
... your pardon, my name is not Ivan, but Ilia, ma'am—Ilia Telegin, or Waffles, as I am sometimes called on account of my pock-marked face. I am Sonia's godfather, and his Excellency, your husband, knows me very well. I now live with you, ma'am, on this estate, and perhaps you will be so good as to notice that I dine ...
— Uncle Vanya • Anton Checkov
... Aulnays, my godfather. Monsieur Anselme de Forchambeaux," he said next—(a thin, fair-haired young man, already bald); then, pointing towards a simple-mannered man of forty: "Joseph Boffreu, my cousin; and here is my old tutor, Monsieur Vezou"—a ...
— Sentimental Education, Volume II - The History of a Young Man • Gustave Flaubert
... all fairy-tales have a good ending. And, to make a long story short, this wicked old troll was not a troll at all, but a fairy-godmother, who had taken the form for good purposes. I would have said fairy-godfather, but I have never come across a fairy-godfather in all my reading, and I must be truthful. Well, the fairy-godmother came along right in the nick of time—and, of course, you know who married ...
— The Romance of an Old Fool • Roswell Field
... An' that man calls hisself your godfather! and he bids you take part in such works o' wickedness? Have nothing to do with them, Gottlieb. They've let themselves be tempted by Satan, an' it's his works ...
— The Dramatic Works of Gerhart Hauptmann - Volume I • Gerhart Hauptmann
... reached Caughnawaga Mr. Cross and his party were waiting for us at the trading store of my godfather, good old Douw Fonda. I was relieved to learn that I had not delayed them; for it was still undecided, I found, whether we should all take to the river here, or send the boats forward with the men, and ourselves proceed to the Great Carrying Place at Fort ...
— In the Valley • Harold Frederic
... and condescension, Consequently (and perhaps, also, because she had nothing really in common with the other servants) she kept them all at a distance, and used to say that she "recognised neither kinsman nor godfather in the house, and would permit of no exceptions with regard ...
— Childhood • Leo Tolstoy
... party started for the church: fifteen-year-old Rene, the Belgian boy scout who was to serve as godfather, giggling; the apple-cheeked Flemish girl carrying "Pervyse"; Hilda and Hinchcliffe closely following. They walked through the village street past laughing soldiers who called out, "Les Anglais!" They entered the church through the left door. A puff ...
— Young Hilda at the Wars • Arthur Gleason
... always had the power of exciting the little fellow's imagination. His godfather, the lawyer Labarta, poet-laureate, could not repeat this name without a lively thrill passing across his grizzled beard and a new light in his eyes. Sometimes the mysterious power of such a name evoked a new mystery and a more intense ...
— Mare Nostrum (Our Sea) - A Novel • Vicente Blasco Ibanez
... moment there came strolling round the corner of the hedge a group of grown-ups—Sir Nevil Sinclair with Mrs Bradley, Lady Roscoe, Lady Despard and Roy's godfather, the ...
— Far to Seek - A Romance of England and India • Maud Diver
... one would be thankful to have as good reasons for contentment as he who had Good Luck for his godfather. ...
— Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales • Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing
... but Scribe is only godfather to the piece. It is almost entirely written by Duverger, ...
— In the Days of My Youth • Amelia Ann Blandford Edwards
... to escape from one of your greatest possible duties and one of your greatest possible pleasures? You have the remarkable fortune to possess a friend named Athanasius; you have in addition, the strange fate to be his godfather by secondary baptism; and you would, after these unparalleled chances, be the sole renegade from the vow which you have extracted from ...
— Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. XII. No. 30. September, 1873 • Various
... of the natives, who find our surnames rather difficult of pronunciation, while they know very little of the Christian calendar, to baptize a new comer with some title, for which, any chattel or merchandise that strikes their fancy, is apt to stand godfather. My exploit with the prince christened me "Powder" on the spot; but when they saw my magnificent establishment, beheld the wealth of my warehouse, and heard the name of "store," I was ...
— Captain Canot - or, Twenty Years of an African Slaver • Brantz Mayer
... And so it was, that on the very day after his father's funeral, when school-hours were over, instead of coming straight home, he walked boldly into Sir Richard Grenville's house, and asked to see his godfather. ...
— Westward Ho! • Charles Kingsley
... smelling-bottle, and a vinaigrette; and she offers him, en revanche, a cane, buttons, or a pin—in short, some present. The corbeilles given to godmothers are often very expensive, being suited to the rank of the parties; so that in Paris the compliment of being selected as a godfather entails no trifling expense on the chosen. The great prices given for wedding trousseaux in France, even by those who are not rich, surprise ...
— The Idler in France • Marguerite Gardiner
... village of Chatillon to get back to Paris, Rodolphe met in the square before the church a baptismal procession, in which he recognized one of his friends who was the godfather, with a singer from ...
— Bohemians of the Latin Quarter • Henry Murger
... had also heard the story of what the Prince had said that he expected, and he scratched his head again with vexation. It had been reported that the Prince had declared that he had hoped to be asked to be godfather long ago. Lady Amaldina had probably heard some other version of the story. "What I mean is that everybody was surprised that it should be so long postponed, but that they now begin to think ...
— Marion Fay • Anthony Trollope
... is erring after strange goddesses and neglecting the little girl who is in love with him. He must be delivered. He must marry Maisie Ellerton, and the two of them must bring lots of capable, clear-eyed Kynnersleys into the world. I long to be their ghostly godfather. ...
— Simon the Jester • William J. Locke
... returned there, and became successively the substitute for the general prosecutor, attorney-general and finally attorney-general to the Court of Cassation. He watched over and protected the misguided woman, consenting to act as godfather to the child she had by Lousteau. ...
— Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A — Z • Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois Christophe
... nation that was later to adopt him as its godfather, the shrewd and honest patriot, “Uncle Sam,” not only lived loyally up to his contracts, giving full measure and of his best, but proved himself incorruptible, making it his business to see that others too fulfilled their engagements both in the letter and the spirit; ...
— The Ways of Men • Eliot Gregory
... some one would have to stand godfather to the child, and there was no way to have the ceremony performed without confessing the fact that it was without ...
— Jennie Gerhardt - A Novel • Theodore Dreiser
... mankind. But if Gunga Govind Sing's government be the greatest curse that ever befell suffering humanity, as we assert it to have been, there is the man that placed him in it; there is his father, his godfather, the first author and origin of all these evils and, calamities. My Lords, remember Dinagepore; remember the bribe of 40,000l. which Gunga Govind Sing procured for Mr. Hastings in that province, and the subsequent horror of ...
— The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. XII. (of XII.) • Edmund Burke
... would have preferred a different daughter-in-law, but that she sent Malanya Sergyevna her motherly blessing. The lean peasant received a rouble, asked permission to see the new young mistress, to whom he happened to be godfather, kissed her hand and ran off at his ...
— A House of Gentlefolk • Ivan Turgenev
... Christian name. I was christened Allan, after the name of a wealthy cousin of my father's—the late Allan Armadale—who possessed estates in our neighborhood, the largest and most productive in the island, and who consented to be my godfather by proxy. Mr. Armadale had never seen his West Indian property. He lived in England; and, after sending me the customary godfather's present, he held no further communication with my parents for years afterward. I was just twenty-one ...
— Armadale • Wilkie Collins
... added, marking a line on his thumb, "and hair like the cherubim. When you ask her: 'Tell me, Perotte' (That's how we say Pierette in these parts," he remarked, interrupting himself; "she is vowed to Saint Pierre; Cambremer is named Pierre, and he was her godfather)—'Tell me, Perotte, what does your uncle say to you?'—'He says nothing to me, nothing.'—'Well, then, what does he do to you?' 'He kisses me on the forehead, Sundays.'—'Are you afraid of him?'—'Ah, no, no; isn't he my godfather? he wouldn't have anybody but me bring ...
— A Drama on the Seashore • Honore de Balzac
... time to christen the infant, the Prince of Wales sent word that he would act as godfather to the ...
— The Great Round World And What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, November 4, 1897, No. 52 - A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls • Various
... Prince Arthur, the elder brother of Henry VIII., was christened on the very next Sunday succeeding to his birth, notwithstanding an inevitable delay, occasioned by the distance of Lord Oxford, his godfather, and the excessive rains, which prevented the earl being reached by couriers, or himself reaching ...
— Biographical Essays • Thomas de Quincey
... which had probably escaped the fate of Chippenham, and still contained a church. Here Guthrum and his thirty nobles were sworn in, the soldiers of a greater King than Woden, and the white linen cloth, the sign of their new faith, was bound round their heads. Alfred himself was godfather to the viking, giving him the Christian name of Athelstan; and the chrism-loosing, or unbinding of the sacramental cloths, was performed on the eighth day by Ethelnoth, the faithful alderman of Somersetshire. After the religious ceremony there still remained ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 5 • Various
... Paul IV. made this church a cathedral; but, in 1812, Pius VII. issued a bull by which it was made dependent on the diocese of Malines. The effect of the evening sun upon the painted windows is the production of a glory which no pen can describe. Charles V. was once an actor here, for he stood godfather at the baptism of the great bell. The pulpit is carved work, and done by Verbruggen. It represents the four quarters of the world, and, though elaborate, is not as beautiful as the one in St. Gudule, at Brussels. ...
— Young Americans Abroad - Vacation in Europe: Travels in England, France, Holland, - Belgium, Prussia and Switzerland • Various
... much as his mother had conveyed to him of the resources of his wealth. Her version had been adapted to his tender years and the delicacies of her position. The departed Nolan had become an eccentric godfather. Benham's manner was apologetic, and he made it clear that only recently had these facts come to him. He had never suspected that he had had this eccentric godfather. It altered the outlook tremendously. It was one of the reasons that made Benham glad to have Prothero there, ...
— The Research Magnificent • H. G. Wells
... and the quiet humor that gleamed in his face caused more than one passerby to turn and watch him as he strode along the pavement. "Well, I guess I'll play a character not hitherto heard of in the legitimate drama. What price the fairy godfather? I've a picture of myself in that role. Oh, my! See me twirl that wand! Helen, you shall climb those rocks. But I don't like your friend. I sha'n't send you to Champery. No—Champery's off the map ...
— The Silent Barrier • Louis Tracy
... Queen consented to become the godfather and godmother of the poor little creature who had been brought thus disagreeably into this disagreeable world. But the conduct of the prince was regarded as unpardonable, and he was banished by Royal letter from the King's palace, whether at Hampton Court or St. James's. The prince's own party, ...
— A History of the Four Georges, Volume II (of 4) • Justin McCarthy
... latter end of October, a new headdress for the infantry was proposed, and Prince Albert was universally credited as being its godfather—but public opinion was so unequivocally expressed against it, that it was never likely to be popular. It was neither soldier-like, nor appropriate, and bore a strong resemblance to the old Hessian ...
— Gossip in the First Decade of Victoria's Reign • John Ashton
... indignantly. Then turning to the king: "These English grow arrogant, Your Majesty. What has the herald to say? Let him come forward. We have no secrets from our most gracious godfather, ...
— Yolanda: Maid of Burgundy • Charles Major
... Pinckney get him reinstated, and it wa'n't until the steward went to the board of governors with the row that Mr. Cahill was given his permanent release. You might think Pinckney would have called it quits then; but not him! He'd started out to godfather Spotty, and he stays right with the game. Everybody he knew was invited to help along the good work of givin' Spotty a lift. He got him into brokers' offices, tried him out as bellhop in four diff'rent hotels, and even jammed him by main strength ...
— Odd Numbers - Being Further Chronicles of Shorty McCabe • Sewell Ford
... others' books. These earthly godfathers of heaven's lights That give a name to every fixed star Have no more profit of their shining nights Than those that walk and wot not what they are. Too much to know is to know nought but fame; And every godfather ...
— Love's Labour's Lost • William Shakespeare [Craig, Oxford edition]
... Gonzaga, dated February 19, 1488, we learn that this new marriage of Vannozza's was not childless. In this epistle, the Bishop of Mantua asks his agent in Rome to act as godfather in his stead, Carlo Canale having chosen him for this honor. The letter gives no further particulars, but ...
— Lucretia Borgia - According to Original Documents and Correspondence of Her Day • Ferdinand Gregorovius
... was his offence? It was that, not content with merely licensing the anonymous answer to Milton, he had become godfather to it by expressing the ...
— The Life of John Milton Vol. 3 1643-1649 • David Masson
... place the baptism of Francois Xavier, tenth son of Pierre Lecour, master-butcher, of this Parish, and of his wife, Marie LeCoq. He had for godfather, Jean LeCoq, tinker, and for godmother, Therese, wife of Louis Bossu, ...
— The False Chevalier - or, The Lifeguard of Marie Antoinette • William Douw Lighthall |
