E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Jo’nas,
in Dryden’s satire of Absalom and Achitophel, is meant for Sir William Jones, Attorney-General, who conducted the prosecution of the Popish Plot (June 25th, 1674); not the great Oriental scholar, who lived 1746–1794. The attorney-general was called in the satire Jonas by a palpable pun.
