_Court Dress_ (Vol. iii., p. 407.).--There are no orders of the Earl
Marshal, printed or manuscript, upon the subject of court costume--it is
not within his department. It is more likely that the Lord Chamberlain
has notices upon the subject. In all cases of court mourning, his
lordship specifies the dress, and notifies the changes, not always,
however, strictly adopted or comprehended.
Gh.
_Ex Pede Herculem_ (Vol. iii., p. 302.).--The origin of this proverb is
to be found, I think, in Plutarch, who is quoted by Aulus Gellius (i.
1.) as saying in substance as follows:
"Pythagoras ingeniously calculated the great stature of Hercules,
by comparing the length of various stadia in Greece. All these
courses were nominally 600 feet in length, but Hercules was said
to have measured out the stadium at Olympia with his own feet,
while the others followed a standard of later days. The
philosopher argued that by how much the Olympic course exceeded
all others in length, by the same proportion did the foot of
Hercules exceed that of men of a subsequent age; and again, by the
same proportion must the stature of Hercules have been
pre-eminent."
(The original is to be found also in _Plutarchi Varia Scripta_, ed.
Tauchnitz, vol. vi. p. 393.)