Literature
Godfather Death A poor man had twelve children and was forced to work night and day to give them even bread. When therefore the thirteenth came into the world, he knew not what to do in his trouble, but ran out into the great highway, and resolved to ask the first person whom he met to be godfather. The first to meet him was the good God who already knew what filled his heart, and said to him, poor man, I pity you. I will hold your child at its christening, and will take charge of it and make it happy on earth. The man said, who are you.
Grimms Fairy Tales - Godfather Death
From the Salem Observer , 1840: “The following letter was written by a young gentleman to his ‘lady love,’ under the direction and eye of a rigid old father. The understanding, however, between the lovers, was, that she should read only every other line, beginning with the first. Love is full of expedients.” Madam, –