E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Waiters upon Providence.
Those who cling to the prosperous, but fall away from decaying fortunes.
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“The side of the Puritans was deserted at this period by a numerous class of … prudential persons, who never forsook them till they became unfortunate. These sagacious personages were called … waiters upon Providence and deemed it a high delinquency towards heaven to afford countenance to any cause longer than it was favoured by fortune.”—Sir W. Scott: Peveril of the Peak, chap. iv.
