Chapter C to Cabal of C by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

C to Cabal

C

C This letter is the outline of the hollow of the hand, and is called in Hebrew caph (the hollow of the hand).
   C. The French, c, when it is to be sounded like s, has a mark under it ; this mark is called a cedilla. (A diminutive of z; called zeta in Greek, ceda in Spanish.)

C There is more than one poem written of which every word begins with C. For example:
   (1) One composed by HUEBALD in honour of Charles le Chauve. It is in Latin hexameters and runs to somewhat more than a hundred lines, the last two of which are

“Conveniet claras claustris componere cannas
Completur clarus carmen cantabile CALVIS.”

   (2) One by HAMCONIUS, called “Certamen catholicum cum Calvinistis.”
   (3) One by HENRY HARDER, of 100 lines in Latin, on “Cats,” entitled: “Canum cum Catis certamen carmine compositum currente calamo C. Catulli Caninii.” The first line is-

“Cattorum canimus certamina clara canumque.”
Cats' canine caterwauling contests chant.

See M and P for other examples.

Ca Ira (it will go). Called emphatically Le Carillon National of the French Revolution (1790). It went to the tune of the Carillon National, which Marie Antoinette was for ever strumming on her harpsichord.
   “Ca Ira” was the rallying cry borrowed by the Federalists from Dr. Franklin of America, who used to say, in reference to the American revolution, “Ah! ah! ca ira, ca ira!” ('twill be sure to do). The refrain of the carillon is-
   Ha! ha! It will speed, it will speed, it will speed!    Resistance is vain, we are sure to succeed.

Caaba (3 syl.). The shrine of Mecca, said by the Arabs to be built on the exact spot of the tabernacle let down from heaven at the prayer of repentant Adam. Adam had been a wanderer for 200 years, and here received pardon. The shrine was built, according to Arab tradition, by Ishmael, assisted by his father Abraham, who inserted in the walls a black stone “presented to him by the angel Gabriel.”

Cab A contraction of cabriolet (a little caperer), a small carriage that scampers along like a kid.

Cabal A junto or council of intriguers. One of the Ministries of Charles II. was called a cabal (1670), because the initial letters of its members formed this acrostic: Clifford, Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington, and Lauderdale. This accident may have popularised the word, but, without doubt, we borrowed it from the French cabale, “an intriguing faction,” and Hebrew cabala, “secret knowledge.” A junto is merely an assembly; Spanish, junta, a council. (See Notarica; Tammany Ring .)

“In dark cabals and mighty juntos met.”
Thomson.

“These ministers were emphatically called the Cabal, and they soon made the appellation so infamous that it has never since ... been used except as a term of reproach.”- Macaulay: England, vol. i. chap. ii. p. 165.