[PW] Re: ? "Speak Truth to Power" (Quotation Query #633)

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>The expression "speak truth to power" is usually traced to the title of a
>pamphlet published by the American Friends Service Committee in 1955.  In
>tomorrow's New York Times Magazine, William Safire writes:  "The earliest
>use I can find of that challenge to authortiy was in a letter, probably
>written in the 1820's, from the British painter B. R. Haydon to the editor
>of The Edinburgh Review.  The artist told the editor, 'My life has been a
>whirlwind of brilliant victory and bitter defeat ... because in my early
>and ardent aspirations after excellence I _told truth to power_!'"
>
>Is anyone able to supply a more precise citation for this alleged letter?

I can't, really, but ...

The quotation appeared in the NYT, 13 Aug. 1898. Searching <<"truth to 
power">> at Newspaperarchive, one finds the above quotation. One can find 
it at ProQuest by searching <<"ardent aspirations" and haydon>>.

Searching MoA (Cornell and Michigan) produces items from ca. 1876, 
attributing "truth to power" to Haydon.

-- Doug Wilson 


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