E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Charities.
Masks.
1
“Our ladies laugh at bare-faced trulls when they have those mufflers on, which they call masks, and which were formerly much more properly called charity, because they cover a multitude of sins.”—Rabelais: Pantagruel, v. 27.
