Grocott & Ward, comps. Grocott’s Familiar Quotations, 6th ed. 189-?.
Proof
About three weeks ago I was very seriously alarmed by intelligence which I received of an illness under which I then laboured. My informer was certain of his fact, but enjoined me not to mention it again; he had, it seems, been let into the secret by a friend of his, who had been told of it by an acquaintance of his, who had had it from a near relation of his, who had been informed of it by an intimate of hers, who had heard it from the best authority.
Microcosm, No. XVIII. March 12, 1787.
She knew a man, who knew another,
Who knew the very party’s brother.
Ed. Moore.—Trial of Slim Sal.
How prove you that, in the great heap of your knowledge?
Shakespeare.—As You Like It, Act I. Scene 2.
That which you hear you’ll swear you see, there is such unity in the proofs.
Shakespeare.—Winter’s Tale, Act V. Scene 2.
We’ll leave a proof, by that which we will do,
Wives may be merry and yet honest too.
Shakespeare.—Merry Wives of Windsor, Act IV. Scene 2.
Give me the ocular proof;—
Make me see’t; or, at the least, so prove it,
That the probation bear no hinge, nor loop,
To hang a doubt on.
Shakespeare.—Othello, Act III. Scene 3.
Prove it before these varlets here; thou honourable man, prove it!
Shakespeare.—Measure for Measure, Act II. Scene 1.
I will prove it legitimate, sir, upon the oaths of judgment and reason.
Shakespeare.—Twelfth Night, Act III. Scene 2.
Prove all things, hold fast that which is good.
St. Paul, 1 Thessalonians, Chap. v. Ver. 21.