Brewer's: Waiters upon Providence

Those who cling to the prosperous, but fall away from decaying fortunes.

“The side of the Puritans was deserted at this period by a numerous class of ... $$$ persons, who never forsook them till they became unfortunate. These sagacious personages were called ... waiters upon Providence, and deemed it a high delinquency towards heaven to afford countenance to any cause longer than it was favoured by fortune.” —Sir.W.Scott: $$$ of the Peak, chap. iv.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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