E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Simon Pure.
The real man. In Mrs. Centlivre’s Bold-Stroke for a Wife, a Colonel Feignwell passes himself off for Simon Pure, and wins the heart of Miss
Lovely. No sooner does he get the assent of her guardian, than the veritable Quaker shows himself, and proves, beyond a doubt, he is the real Simon Pure.
