CHAPTER II

[4:A]"A dictionary of the English language, in which the words are deduced from their originals, and illustrated in their different significations by examples from the best authors." This early edition is in two massive quarto volumes, and the later abridgments that are now alone seen give no conception of the value of the original work.

[4:B]The two illustrative quotations appended are from the writings of Bacon and Addison respectively. The first runs as follows:—"The proverb is true that light gains make heavy purses; for light gains come thick, whereas great come but now and then"; while the second, from Addison, declares that "the proverb says of the Genoese that they have a sea without fish, land without trees, and men without faith." This latter would appear to be rather an epigram than a proverb.

[5:A]We shall later on, when we deal with proverbial philosophy suggested by the various traits of animal life, find that the cat furnishes material for several popular sayings. The particular facts here brought out are the two antagonistic points in the feline economy—a great liking for fish, and a great disliking to getting wet, so that "I dare not" becomes the insurmountable obstacle to "I would." In a sixteenth century manuscript this adage is given as "a cat doth love the fishe, but she will not wett her foote," and, with various slight modifications of diction, the proverb is an oft-quoted one.

[10:A]A great use is made in the Bible of this thought-compelling antithesis. One illustration will suffice: "There is a shame that bringeth sin, and there is a shame that is glory and grace."

[10:B]"The stone that is rouling can gather no mosse,Who often remooueth is sure of losse,The riche it compelleth to paie for his pride;The poore it vndooeth on euerie side."

[10:B]

"The stone that is rouling can gather no mosse,Who often remooueth is sure of losse,The riche it compelleth to paie for his pride;The poore it vndooeth on euerie side."

[11:A]"In manye suche parablis he spak to hem the word, as thei myghten here, and he spak not to hem withoute parable."—Wiclif's translation of the Bible."The holye scripture hath her figure and historye, her mysterye and veritie, her parable and playne doctryne."—Bale.

[11:A]"In manye suche parablis he spak to hem the word, as thei myghten here, and he spak not to hem withoute parable."—Wiclif's translation of the Bible.

"The holye scripture hath her figure and historye, her mysterye and veritie, her parable and playne doctryne."—Bale.

[14:A]"Or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher broken at the cistern."—Ecclesiastesxii. 6.

[14:B]"Ou ne fait point d'omelettes sans casser les œufs," says the Frenchman, and the Spaniard agrees, "No se hacen tortillas sin romper huevos."

[20:A]"My reasoning your reason setteth nought by,But reason for reason yee so stiffly lay,By proverbe for proverbe that with you doe way."—Heywood.

[20:A]

"My reasoning your reason setteth nought by,But reason for reason yee so stiffly lay,By proverbe for proverbe that with you doe way."—Heywood.

[22:A]Nearly equivalent to the delightful saying of classic times, "Veritas temporis filia."

[22:B]To some extent preserved in the modern equivalents, "La verdad está en el vino," "Dans le vin on dit la vérité."

[23:A]In modern Portuguese, "O homem impoem, Deus dispoem."

[23:B]In modern Portuguese, "Duro com duro nao faz bom muro."

Ancient Collections of Proverbs—The Proverbs of Solomon—Ecclesiasticus—The Work of D'Anvers on Solomon's Proverbs—The Collections of De Worde, Trevisis, and Lydgate—The "Adagia" of Erasmus—Tavernar's "Garden of Wisdom"—Heywood's Collection of Proverbs—Camden's "Remaines"—Davies, the "Scourge of Folly"—The "Apophthegms" of Lord Bacon—The "Outlandish Proverbs" of G. H.—Herbert's "Jacula Prudentum"—The Work of Howell and Cotgrave—The "Gnomologia" of Fuller—The Difficulties of Proverb-classification, by Country, by leading Word, by Subject, etc.—Ray's "Collection of English Proverbs"—The "Paræmiologia" of Walker—Palmer on Proverbs—The Sayings of "Poor Richard"

The collecting of proverbs appears at almost all periods to have exercised a great fascination, and even in classic times we find writers either amassing stores of them or introducing them freely into their writings. Many of these sayings arose, there is no doubt, in the leisurely and sententious East, and from thence found their way to the widely-spreading colonies of Greece and Phœnicia, and in due course to Rome, where a still greater area of diffusion was thrown open for their dispersal. The Jewish proverbs used by our Saviour, or by St Paul and the other apostles, can be traced back to India, where they were in use centuries before they found their way through Babylonia and Persia to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Hesiod, Homer, Pindar, Æsop, Solon, Aristotle, Phædrus, and many other ancient writers introduced them. Menander made a fine collection of them under the title ofSententiæ Monostichæ. Pythagoras drew up a collectionof adages for his disciples, and Plato, Theophrastus, and Chrysippus accumulated stores of them. During the Roman Empire collectors of antiquarian tastes carried on the work, Zenobius and Diogenianus, during the reign of Hadrian, being perhaps the most notable and enthusiastic in this pursuit, and to these, though of much later date, we may add the names of Gregorius, Cyprius, and Macarius.

Zenobius made an epitome of the proverbs collected by two older writers, Tarraeus and Didymus, in number five hundred and fifty-two, and Diogenianus, living about the same time, the beginning of the second century, accumulated seven hundred and seventy-five. Andrew Schott edited these two lists, plus fourteen hundred from Suidas and some few others from various sources at Antwerp in the year 1612.

The Biblical book known as the Proverbs of Solomon must certainly not be overlooked, as it is a collection of quite inestimable worth, having a counsel for every emergency in the troublous life of man, an encouragement for the weak, a reproof for the froward. To the conceited man it cries "Be not wise in thine own eyes," "Cease from thine own wisdom," while man swollen up with pride is warned that "Pride goeth before destruction and an haughty spirit before a fall," so that "When pride cometh there cometh shame." The value of friendship is very fully enforced: we are warned that "A man who hath friends must show himself friendly" in turn, that we must not resent the honest counsel proffered, for "Faithful are the wounds of a friend," and we must not too hastily assume that all who profess to be our friends are really so, for "Every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts," and only adversity could prove their real value. The mischief done by the hasty tongue is repeatedly dwelt upon—"A fool's mouth is his destruction," "The words of a tale-bearer are aswounds," and "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." The man of business is warned that "Divers weights are an abomination to the Lord," while the man who honestly endeavours is encouraged to believe that his labours shall not be lost to him, for "Whoso keepeth the fig-tree shall eat the fruit thereof, while the slothful man" excuses his idleness and apathy, and "saith there is a lion without." The vindictive man is admonished that "Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein," while the value of forethought and common-sense is enforced in the hint, "Surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird." That we should read those counsels aright, and not draw false conclusions, we are reminded that "The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools."[28:A]

The priceless gift of wisdom, far in value above rubies, is dwelt upon and enforced, and its saving strength referred to time after time. The wisdom enshrined in this book, if incorporated in the heart and illuminating the life, would suffice as a completevade mecum.

The writings of the son of Sirach are worthy of attentive study: they will be found in the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, and are of very similar character to the proverbs of Solomon.[28:B]That the one writer should appreciate the work of the other was most natural, and the wisdom of Solomon is thus eulogised:—"How wisewast thou in thy youth, and as a flood filled with understanding. Thy soul covered the whole earth, and thou filledst with dark parables. Thy name went far into the islands, and for thy peace thou wast beloved. The countries marvelled at thee for thy songs, and proverbs, and parables, and interpretations."

"O Salomon, richest of all richesse,Fulfilled of sapience and worldly glorie,Ful worthy ben thy wordes to memorieTo every wight that wit and reason can."

Chaucer,The Marchantes Tale.

This book, though spoken of as one and as the work of Solomon, is really divided into several sections, and was doubtless the work of different authors and the product of different times. All was finally collected into a single book, but there is absolutely no clue as to how much is the fruit of the wisdom of Solomon and how much sprang from the experience of others. Two other contributors are mentioned in the book, Lemuel and Agur, writers of whom nothing is elsewhere known. The first nine chapters are chiefly a description and commendation of wisdom, and these are followed by others that are largely made up of sentences very loosely strung together. The proverbs of Agur are much more artificial in style than the others, while the proverbs of King Lemuel are in commendation of chastity, temperance and justice, and the praise of the ideal wife.[29:A]

In the year 1676 one Henry D'Anvers collated these proverbs, and arranged them in alphabetical sequence as an aid to the memory. He entitled it "A Presentation of the Proverbs of Solomon in English Dress." At the opening of the book the writer, as inthe Biblical original, seeks wisdom. His search is at first fruitless:—

"Fare wel (said I), for yet it don't appear,That Wisdom (whom I seek for) dwelleth here.So I departed thence with speedy feet,When as I found that was not Wisdom's seat."

At last, however, he seeks it in the Bible, and his perseverance is here rewarded:—

"She's glorious within, enlightened eyesDo see such beauty which they can't but prize.She hath one room all hung with Pearls (you'll see),King Solomon's Proverbs, full of dignity."

This simile of the pearls is to the compiler a very attractive one, and we find it repeated more than once in the book, as, for instance:—

"Who searches oft in small things worth descries.A Pearl is small and yet of a great price:A Proverb is a Pearl then, rich though small,But Scriptural most precious is of all.King Solomon hath left PosterityA rich and everlasting Legacy:A cabinet of Pearls, which all may takeNor shall they yet their fellows poorer make;You may perhaps be owner of't, and yetI also may enjoy the Cabinet.Who will not then this Cab'net prize and keep?They're precious Pearls, although they're in a heap.You'l say, perhap, they're mixt together; well,Loke here, each Jewell hath its proper Cell;And as your use requires, you may repairTo such a Cell, and have a Jewell there."

This latter part refers to the alphabetical arrangement under such headings as honour, diligent, slothful. On the right-hand page all through his book he gives the same proverbs in Latin.

The definition of proverbs by D'Anvers is a happy one, "Short, wise sentences, containing much in a little." He goes on to say that "they are in the Scripturessometimes called the Sayings of the Antients (1 Sam. xxiv. 13), because delivered by the wise antient Fathers or Elders, and therefore called the words of the wise (Prov. i. 6); and sometimes the sayings of old (2 Sam. xx. 18, Ps. lxxviii. 2), because the approbation and consent of Ages went to make them the usage of a Nation, being brought by Custom and Tradition to every mouth."

D'Anvers carefully calls attention to a point that is sometimes overlooked, that such figurative language is sometimes of intent employed to veil rather than to reveal. Hence sometimes "an obscure and enigmatical way of speaking," and therefore called "the word of the wise and their dark sayings," and "dark sayings of old." And therefore it is said to our Saviour upon His explanation of some teaching that had not been grasped by His hearers, "Now speakest thou plainly and speakest no proverb," opposing plain speaking to proverbial and parabolical.

The comprehensiveness of the book of Proverbs is very happily brought out by D'Anvers when he speaks of it as "containing not only the true Wisdom (in teaching the fear of the Lord) but all other necessary learning as well—Ethicks, viz., matters pertaining to moral virtues, as Prudence, Temperance, Justice. As Oeconomicks, viz., matters of Domestick and Family-concerns, relating to the duties of Husbands, Wives, Parents, Children, Masters and Servants, and Politicks, also, relating to Government and matters of State." We may therefore, on recognition of this, find no difficulty in assenting to his declaration that "Plato, Aristotle, Cicero and other Heathenish School-Authors are not to be named with Solomon who so instructs to every good word and work."

A manuscript preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, is of considerable interest in thebibliography of proverbs. It was written in the beginning of the thirteenth century and is a translation into Latin of some of the more popular sayings of the time. Thus, for example, the well-known adage, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," appears as "Plus valet in manibus avis unica quam dupla silvis." "When the dog eats his bone he loves not company," is given as "Dum canis os rodit, sociari pluribus odit." In an old French collection we find the equivalent of this, "Chen en cosyn compagnie ne desire"—"The dog while in the kitchen desires no fellow."

Another is the interesting collection got together by Wynkyn de Worde and Peter Trevisis early in the sixteenth century. The wording is very quaint, but we are able to recognise many proverbs that are still in use, the difference of their wording often making them still more attention-compelling. How delightful, for example, is the variation on the well-worn theme as to the impropriety and want of delicacy in looking in a gift-horse's mouth, "A gyuen hors may not be loked in the tethe." The fate that may attend unasked-for offers of assistance is graphically brought before us in the rendering, "Profred seruyce stynketh." The difference in result between the idle aimless wish and the strenuous endeavour is excellently brought home to us in "Wysshers and wolders ben smal housholders." "Be ye dayes neuer so long at ye last cometh euensonge," when "the ploughman homeward plods his weary way." It is very refreshing, too, to meet another old friend, "Thou hyttest the nayle on the heed," though in these latter days we make a point of its being "the right nail." The collection is entitled "Vulgaria Stambrigi."

The "Prourbes of Lydgate," a black letter-treatise of about the same date as the book just referred to, may also be consulted. Many of the proverbs, though some are good, appear to have now passed out of use. Wehave for instance a somewhat selfish motto, "Payne thee not eche croked to redresse," a counsel not to worry over other people's troubles. "Galle under suger hathe double bytternesse," is expressive and suggestive. It tells of lost friendship, of confidence treacherously betrayed, of bright hopes dashed. The advice to look at home and to mind primarily one's own business is brought out in the line, "Loke in thy mirrour and deme none other wyghts." There is, as will be noted in the examples we have given, a certain tone of cynicism and selfishness that is not a pleasant feature and which we would fain hope is at least one reason for many of them having gone out of service.

Michael Apostolius of Byzantium in the middle of the fifteenth century compiled a book of ancient proverbs, on which he made comments and gave explanations where he deemed it needful. The collection contained 2027 examples. The man, however, who in these earlier days did most in this direction was Erasmus, and his labours supplied for subsequent writers a mass of very valuable material, for the work was one of gigantic toil. Erasmus largely contributed in many ways to the advancement of learning in Europe. The first edition of his book, the "Adagia," was published in Paris in the year 1500. The work was at once greeted with acclamation, and fresh editions were repeatedly called for. On each occasion Erasmus made additions, until at length the book contained over 4000 examples. These were mostly the proverbs to be found in the early Greek and Roman writers. The book is a monument of perseverance and erudition; it still remains unrivalled, and it became on its issue the medium through which the knowledge of many proverbs was disseminated throughout Europe: the similarity of many of the proverbs of England, Holland, Germany, Italy, Spain, was at least in some measure owing to the fact that theLatin treatise of Erasmus supplied an abundant store for general appropriation.

Erasmus was one of the many who sought to reform the Church. The dissolute were denounced whatever their rank, and abuses were fulminated against with unsparing zeal, so that the people were prepared for some great change either of mending or ending. Hence it has been said that Erasmus laid the egg of the Reformation and Luther hatched it. Great enmity was aroused, and the divines who had had cause to wince, endeavoured to persuade the Pope, Leo X., to have the "Adagia" condemned. The morals and comments added to some of the proverbs told very heavily against the clergy, and they very naturally did not take kindly to the issue of such a book. The ecclesiastics, however, in session at the Council of Trent, before whom the matter was brought, liberally decided that the book was of too great value to be wholly suppressed, so they contented themselves with ordering its strict revision, everything which they deemed offensive to the papal sway and the influence of the priesthood being under their ban. This garbled version was published in Florence in the year 1575, the name of the author being suppressed, but the book had ere this passed through so many editions and had been scattered so far and wide over Europe that any action of this kind came altogether too late to be of any efficacy.

Taverner, an Englishman, issued a book of proverbs, axioms, and epigrams in the year 1539. It is in black-letter, and has avowedly been largely constructed "with newe addicions" out of the monumental work of Erasmus. It is "the Garden of Wysdome, conteyning pleasant floures, that is to saye, propre and quycke sayinges of Princes, Phylosphers, and other sortes of men, Drawen forth of good Authours by Rycharde Tauerner." His comments on the various adages are often very shrewd. "Lawes,"he says, "be lyke spyders webbes, wherein the weakest and most feble beastes be catched and stycke faste, but the strongest breake out. So lawes do bynde the poore and meane persons but the rich cobbes escape vnpunyshed"; and again, "An angrye bodye dothe nothynge dyffer from a mad man, but in the tariannce of tyme, sygnifyeng that wrathe is a short frensye." Many of his "quycke sayinges"[35:A]are very happy, thus, "Demanded what is a frend, Zeno answered an other I, sygnifyeng that an entyer and hartye frende no lesse loveth his frende then hymselfe." We read, too, with interest, of "a certayne person which rose erly in the mornynge and found his hose knawen and eaten of the rattes, and being troubled wyth this syght, thynkyng it a prognosticatiō(a tokēof some misfortune) he cometh to Cato to aske his coūsaile and to know of hym what euyl thys thyng portended. Cato maketh hym thys answere, Certes my frend it is no mōstrouse syght to se rattes eat mens hose, but yf thy hose had eaten the rattes that had been a monstrouse syght." This answer was so entirely to the point that one would fain hope that the man of the knawen hose went on his way rejoicing that he knew the worst.

Books of like nature with that of Taverner will be found in the works of Florio—one of these is entitled "Merie proverbes, Wittie Sentences and golden Sayings," and another is the "Garden of Recreation." This latter contains some six thousand Italian proverbs. They doubtless passed through divers editions; the copies that came under our own notice were dated 1578 and 1591 respectively.

A valuable sixteenth century collection of proverbsmay be found in a rhyming treatise written by John Heywood. The first edition that we have seen is a black-letter quarto of the year 1547. It is entitled "A Dialogue, contayning in effect the number of al the Proverbs in the English tongue, compact in a matter concerning two Marriages." In an issue in 1598 that has come under our notice the title is, "A dialogue wherein are pleasantlie contrived the number of all the effectuall proverbs in our English tongue, compact in a matter concerning two marriages. Together with three hundred epigrams upon three hundred proverbs." Heywood always refers to the proverbs as already old sayings and praises them, though he at times dressed up as proverbs some of his own ideas, and altered others, depriving them of somewhat of their rugged directness. He says of them:

"Our common, plaine, pithie proverbes oldeSome sense of some of whiche beying bare and rude,Yet to fine and fruitfull effect they allude,And their sentences include so large a reacheThat almost in all thinges good lessons they teache.This write I not to teach but to touch: for why?Men know this as well or better than I.But this and that rest: I write for this,Remembering and considering what the pith is,That by remembering of these, Proverbs may grow."

This poem on marriage may make an excellent vehicle for the introduction of these old English sayings, but as a poem it is in itself most cheerless and disagreeable, the view taken being a most unfavourable one. One gets no notion of anything like conjugal felicity being possible, the rhymes being a snarl and a wrangle all through.

John Heywood was a friend of Sir Thomas More. His book at once sprang into popularity, and was ten times reprinted during the sixteenth century. He also wrote the "Mery playe betwene the Pardoner and theFrere, the Curate and Neybour Pratte." The whole tone of this is as hostile to the clergy as the other to Hymen. Another of his productions was the "Play of the Wether," where a "gentylman, wynde-miller, marchaunt, launder," and others all fall foul of the weather, and at last appeal to Jupiter. The gentleman, for instance, "wants no wynde to blow for hurt in hys huntynge," while "she that lyveth by laundry must have wether hot and clere her clothys to dry." He wrote several other plays and other things.

The following extracts from Heywood give an illustration of his rhyming treatment:—

"The cat would eat fish and would not wet her feete.They must hunger in frost that will not worke in heate.And he that will thrive must aske leave of his wife,But your wife will give none, by you and her life.""Haste must provokeWhen the pigge is proffered to hold up the poke.When the sun shineth make hay: which is to sayTake time when time com'th, lest time steale away.And one good lesson to this purpose I pikeFrom the smith's forge, when th' iron is hot, strike."

"Haste must provokeWhen the pigge is proffered to hold up the poke.When the sun shineth make hay: which is to sayTake time when time com'th, lest time steale away.And one good lesson to this purpose I pikeFrom the smith's forge, when th' iron is hot, strike."

The reasons may be sound enough, but the rhymes are deplorable. Thus "pike" is no doubt an example of "poetic license," as pick, the word he really wants, would not rhyme with strike!

"From suspicion to knowledge of yll, for sothe,Coulde make ye dooe but as the flounder dothe—Leape out of the frying-pan into the fyre,And chaunge from yl peyn to wurs is smal hyre."

For badness of rhyme it would be hard to surpass this—

"But pryde she sheweth none, her looke reason alloweth,She lookth as butter would not melt in her mouth."

That "newe broom swepth cleene" is the text for another atrociously bad rhyme. It limps as follows:—

"But since all thing is the worse of the wearingDecay of cleene sweeping folke had in fearing."

In the year 1586 appeared the first edition of Camden's Britannia. The book was a very popular one, and repeatedly issued. The author accumulated a vast store of information, more than he found himself able to utilise in his book, the result being yet another book, the "Remaines." This, like the first, was received with much favour. The title was "Remaines concerning Britaine; but especially England and the Inhabitants thereof, their Languages, Names, Surnames, Allusions, Anagrams, Armories, Monies, Impresses, Apparell, Artillarie, Wise Speeches, Prouerbs, Posies, Epitaphs." William Camden was Clarenceaux, King of Armes, surnamed "the Learned" by some of his contemporaries, and his heraldic and archæological tastes are clearly seen in his choice of subjects when dealing with so vast a theme as the thousand and one interests that divers Englishmen would look for in such a book; the sportsman, the botanist, the merchant, for example, each having their special interests quite outside those that seemed to Camden so specially characteristic and essential to a right comprehension of England.

The book is a very interesting one, and full of valuable matter, but it is with one section alone, that on proverbs, that we now deal. His reason for their insertion is as follows:—"Where as proverbs are concise, witty, and wise Speeches grounded upon long experience, containing for the most part good caveats, and therefore profitable and delightfull: I thought it not unfit to set down here, alphabetically, some of the selectest and most usuall amongst us, as being worthyto have place amongst the wise Speeches." In the book they immediately succeed these wise speeches.

We give a selection from these proverbs, held to be worthy of such commendation. "An ynche in a miss is as good as an ell." "Looke not to hie least a chip fall in thine eie." "It is euill waking of a sleeping dogge." "Many stumble at a strawe and leape over a blocke." "Of little medling commeth great ease." "Poore and proud, fy, fy." "Saue a thiefe fro the gallowes and heele cut your throat." "So long goes the pot to the water that at length it comes home broken." "Tread a worme on the taile and it must turne againe." "Where be no receauers there be no theeues."[39:A]"When the skye falleth we shall have larkes."

Though the exigencies of space prevent anything like individual comment, we trust that our readers will not hurry through these as a mere list to be got through. Each is excellent, and well worthy of quiet thinking over; while a second theme of interest may, we think, often be discovered in the recognition of proverbs well known to us in a somewhat different wording, as, for instance, Camden's version—"A man may well bring a horse to the water, but he cannot make him drinke without he will," and "An inche in a misse is as good as an ell,"—proverbs in common use still, but given here with a certain quaintness of variation that has a charm.

Other happy utterances in the Camden collection are: "A friend is not so soon gotten as lost."[39:B]"A leg of a lark is better than the body of a kyte." "A man far from good is near to harm." "A man maybuy golde too deare." "One piece of a kid is worth two of a cat." "It is a proud horse that will not bear his own provender." "As good sit still as rise up and fall." "Blind men should judge no colours." "He that will have a hare for breakfast must hunt overnight." "It is hard to teach an old dog tricks." "It is not good to have an oare in every man's boat." "One ill weede marreth a whole pot of pottage." This latter is in an especial degree, in its literal wording, a proverb of the past, though its inner significance will hold good till the end of time. It clearly refers to a time when the herbs of the field were utilised, and vegetable gardens did not supply the needful requisites for the table. In these present days well-ordered ranks of beans, onions, lettuce, and other crops are to hand, and a mistake is scarcely possible, but in these earlier days, when the wild growths of the hedgerow were utilised, one can readily see that a little ignorance in the gathering might contribute an ingredient that would mar all—a touch of hemlock, for instance, in lieu of parsley.

It is strikingly true, too, that as on the one hand a soft answer turneth away wrath, so, on the contrary, "one ill worde asketh another," and probably does not ask in vain. It is equally true in one's experience of life that not uncommonly "One beateth the bush and another catcheth the birds." The necessity of caution in permitting innovations is well brought out in, "Once a use then ever a custom"; and the fact that there is more skill in even the simplest art than the onlooker quite realises is very effectively brought out in, "There is craft in daubing." The motto of the Order of the Garter has prepared us for "Shame take him that shame thinketh." Other happy renderings in the collection under consideration are, "Such an one hath a good wit if a wise man had the keeping of it." "Nopenny, no paternoster." "The beggar may sing before the thiefe," for, having no property to lose, the highwayman or the burglar have no terrors for him. "Three may keepe counsell if two be away." "Who medleth in all things may go shoe the gostlings." We have by no means exhausted the list. The only one amongst the whole collection that appears unworthy of a place is "Struggle not against the streame." This appears to point to a cowardly surrender, a floating easily down when a stout resistance should be made. A policy of "Do as the others do; ask no questions; raise no difficulties; make no protest; keep quiet, or shout with the majority; we are no worse than other people." We cannot recall the name of any man or woman whose life shines bright in history whose principles were built up exactly on these lines.

John Davies, a native of Hereford, in the year 1611 or thereabouts wrote a book which he called the "Scourge of Folly." The work is now a scarce one, and the world is no great loser in consequence. He was a versifier at once prolific and drearily dull. The first edition we have not seen, but that of 1620 is entitled, "The Scourge of Folly, consisting of satyricall Epigrams and others in honour of many noble Persons and worthy Friends, together with a pleasant (though discordant) Descant upon most English Proverbs and others." The epigrams are, most of them, of a most offensive character. The references to the names of the persons satirised carry now no meaning, but at the time they were written they must have been of the most grossly personal character. "Against Formias brauery and unceessant prating," "against Cleophus, the Time observer," "against faint-hearted bragging Bomelio," "against wordy Classus," are examples of the headings, and the lines that in each case are appended are grossly insolent. There are two hundred and ninety-two ofthese scoundrelisms. His proverbs are four hundred and nineteen in number, and he adds to each a rhyming comment of his own. They are mostly very feeble, and many of them much too gross for quotation.

"Fast binde, fast finde, but Rufus, bound as fastAs bonds could do, to pay a debt he ought,Stole quite away, ere quite the day was past,And nowhere can be found, though he be sought."

He lengthens and shortens the proverbs as rhythmical exigencies call for, and his great idea throughout seems to be to show that these old proverbs were quite absurd and valueless, and that John Davies was the real fount of wisdom.

We append a few of these couplets, the first line being a proverb and the second the comment of Davies upon it. Anything more feeble and pointless than the latter could scarcely be imagined.

"A Mouse may in time bite in two a cable—That may she at once if she be able.""No more can we have of the fox but his skin;Yes, Bones to make dice, which now is no sin.""Three may keep counsell if two be away,And so may all three if nothing they say.""A dead Bee will make no Hony,But from dead Bees it's had for money.""Ill newes are commonly true,Not if a lyer made them new.""The Cat would eat fish but for wetting her feete,To eat ere she wash is fowle and unsweete.""Throw no Guift at the Giver againe;Yes: if he give me a blow Ile thanke him with twaine.""A scabb'd Sheepe will marre a whole flocke,Faith, then the Shepherd's a Knave or a Block.""Who is worse Shood than the Shoomaker's wife?Faith, Geese, that never wore Shoes in their life."

"A Mouse may in time bite in two a cable—That may she at once if she be able."

"No more can we have of the fox but his skin;Yes, Bones to make dice, which now is no sin."

"Three may keep counsell if two be away,And so may all three if nothing they say."

"A dead Bee will make no Hony,But from dead Bees it's had for money."

"Ill newes are commonly true,Not if a lyer made them new."

"The Cat would eat fish but for wetting her feete,To eat ere she wash is fowle and unsweete."

"Throw no Guift at the Giver againe;Yes: if he give me a blow Ile thanke him with twaine."

"A scabb'd Sheepe will marre a whole flocke,Faith, then the Shepherd's a Knave or a Block."

"Who is worse Shood than the Shoomaker's wife?Faith, Geese, that never wore Shoes in their life."

About this time also was published a book called "The Crossing of Proverbs." The copy before us as we write is, we see, dated 1616. It is on the same lines as the preceding book, except that it is not in rhymes. "It is far to the bottom of the sea," says the old proverb. "Not so," says the author, "'tis but a stone's cast." We will spare our readers any further extracts. To give several extracts from the "Scourge of Folly" and then to merely add that "The Crossing of Proverbs" is just such another book, will give a quite sufficient measure of justice to both.

In the year 1625 the "Apothegms new and old" of Lord Bacon made their appearance. The study was a favourite one with him, and he often in his writings and discourses made a very judicious use of the material he had collected. He affirms that "Apothegms are not only for delight and ornament but for business also and civil use," for "they are, according to Cicero, mucrones verborum, pointed speeches." He also calls them Salinas, salt pits from whence one can draw the salt of discourse. "By their sharp edge they penetrate the knots of business, and serve to be interlaced in continued speech or recited upon occasion by themselves." He regrets greatly that Cæsar's book was lost. "I imagine these apothegms were collected with judgment and care; for as his history, and those few letters of his which we have and those apothegms which were his own excel all others so I suppose would his collection of them have done. As for those which are collected by other writers either I have no taste in such matters, or else their choice has not been happy." Elsewhere he declares that the modern writers on the subject "draw much of the dregs."

With all possible respect to the erudition of Bacon we find his book a somewhat heavy one, the subject appearing to call for a lightness and delicacy of touchthat he would very possibly have considered beneath the dignity of literature. If we turn, for instance, to his comments on friendship, we are referred to verse 14 of Psalm xxvii. We read, "He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him," and this calls forth the following comment: "Moderate and seasonable praises uttered upon occasion, conduce much to men's fame and fortune; but praises immoderate, noisy, and importunately poured out, profit nothing: nay rather, do a good deal of hurt. First, they manifestly betray themselves to proceed either from excess of love and kindness, or that they are designed and affected, so that they may rather ingratiate themselves with the person commended by false encomiums rather than set him off by just and deserved eulogisms. Secondly, sparing and modest praises commonly invite such as are present to add something of their own to the commendation; on the contrary, profuse and immoderate ones detract and take away something. Thirdly, which is the principal point, too much magnifying a man stirs up envy; since all immoderate praises seem to tend to the reproach of others, who are no less deserving." This is quite Baconian, almost Johnsonian, in its weighty precision and formal enunciation, but a thousand proverbs thus handed over to the commentator would be a ponderous tome that few would dare to open, and theespritand quaintness of these familiar utterances would be utterly lost, buried, in such a flow of exposition.

In the year 1640 was published a volume entitled, "Outlandish Proverbs." The name of the author was not given, "selected by Mr G. H." being all the information vouchsafed. As these proverbs were those in common use, the title strikes one as being particularly inappropriate. The collection was a somewhat meagre one. All gross sayings were omitted, or softened down.That anything objectionable should be left out seems to our present ideas so entirely a matter of course that the mention of the fact appears uncalled for, nevertheless this omission differentiated the labours of Mr G. H. from much that had gone before. The softening down process is perhaps not quite so justifiable. A proverb, like a hymn, should not be edited. All that seems fair and justifiable is to accept it as it stands or else refuse it admission.

Some considerable time after the appearance of this book on "Outlandish Proverbs" a second edition appeared, but this time the title was "Jacula Prudentum, or outlandish proverbs, sentences, etc.," and the authorship was no longer veiled by mere letters but stands revealed—"selected by Mr George Herbert, Late Orator of the University of Cambridge." This second issue contains a great many more proverbs than the first, and the title, Jacula Prudentum, "javelins of the wise," indicates the value placed by Herbert upon these popular sayings.

The mystery of the anonymous publication, like that of the Waverley novels, and other cognate cases, excited some little public interest, one writer of the day advances we see the somewhat startling thesis, "It is not a thing that, hastily regarded, one would have expected from Herbert, hence the genuineness is the more probable!" This is a very sweeping and far-reaching argument, that because a thing appears well-nigh impossible there is much to be said in favour of its probability. It seems so unlikely that Bala lake will ever flood out Westminster that all prudent persons resident there will at once provide themselves with life-belts.

A well-known proverb warns us against letting the cat out of the bag, and this seems to have been just what Herbert very nearly did, another book of his, of more devotional type, "A priest to the Temple," supplying tocritical eyes a clue. In it he says that "the Country Parson doth bear in mind in the morning the outlandish proverb that prayers and provender never hinder a journey." Also in one of his letters that he wrote to his brother he added, "Take this rule, and it is an outlandish one, which I commend to you now as being a father, 'The best bred child hath the best portion.'" The introduction of the title of the book and the liking for the use of proverbs were held strong proofs in favour of his being the Mr G. H. who was being sought for. As we are told that nothing succeeds like success, we are invited to admire the sapience of the mystery-hunter, but there really seems no reason why, the title of the book being in men's minds, some other person might not have thus referred to it and introduced into his book or letters proverbs that this book had brought before him and that had attracted his notice.

Most of the proverbs in the Jacula Prudentum are admirably chosen, and as many of them are now passing away from the minds of men we make no apology for quoting freely from the book.

The re-appearance of old proverbs in a slightly altered setting than that we are now familiar with, is a point of interest in these old collections that we have already referred to, but each author we consult gives us anew this pleasure. How refreshing, for instance, is Herbert's version, "Whose house is of glasse must not throw stones at another," or this, "You may bring a horse to the river, but he will drinke when and what he pleaseth," or this, yet again, "A feather in hand is better than a bird in the ayre." A proverb that is often used at the present time amongst us in its French dress is found here as "It is a poore sport that's not worth the candle."

How true and how pithily put are these, "He that studies his content wants it." "Not a long day but a good heart rids worke." "Hearken to Reason and shee will beeheard." "He that staies does the businesse." "Prosperity lets go the bridle." "Still fisheth he that catches one." "Give a clowne your finger and he will take your hand."[47:A]And this one like unto it, "Let an ill man lie in the strawe, and he looks to bee thy heire." "The back-dore robs the house." "One sword keeps another in the sheath." An excellent motto this last. The Peace Society may have its uses, but there is no doubt that this side the millennium efficient army corps and magnificent navies supply yet more cogent arguments. "Si vis pacem pare bellum."

How sound again the teaching, "He is not poor that hath little, but he that desireth much." "God provides for him that trusteth." "A cheerful look makes a dish a feast." "Sometimes the best gain is to lose." "He that sows trusts in God." "Divine ashes are better than earthlie meale."

How excellent the prudence that gives value to the following: "Send a wise man on an errand and say nothing unto him." "Although it rain cast not away thy watering-pot." "Who hath no more breade than nede must not keepe a dog." "The best remedy against an ill man is much ground between." "Love your neighbour, yet pull not down your hedge." "Send not a catt for lard." It is well, too, to remember that "Courtesie on one side only lasts not long," that a commensurate price has to be paid for everything, and so "a lion's skin is never cheape," that one's position must be frankly accepted and its duties adequately met, for "he that serves must serve," that gentle measures will often succeed better than rough ones, for "he that will take the bird must not skare it." It is at once a comfort and a warning that "none is a foole alwaies, everyone sometimes," and that the crafty at lastover-reach themselves and in the end Nemesis awaits them. "At length the fox is brought to the furrier," and the farmyard knows him no more.

What an excellent lesson against jumping to conclusions is seen in this, "Stay till the lame messenger come, if you will know the truth of the thing," against concluding too hastily that the work we are engaged upon is finished, for "One flower does not make a garland."

The evil wrought by the tongue is a constant and perennial theme of the moralist, and the makers of proverbs are in complete accord, "The tongue talks at the head's cost." "More have repented speech than silence." Those who suffer at the hands, or rather the tongues, of others may learn how effectually to avenge themselves, for "Pardon and pleasantnesse are great revengers of slanders," and the experiment is one that is well worth trial. In any case, "Neither prayse nor disprayse thyself: thy actions serve the turne." "The effect speakes, the tongue need not." How full of wisdom is this final cluster of pearls, this sheaf of javelins: "A gift much expected is paid, not given." "Pleasing ware is half sould." "The hole calls the thief"—a warning against putting temptation in the way and thereby causing a brother to offend. The man who has gone far on the path of reformation is not safe so long as any relic of the past yet clings round his heart, for "The horse that draws after him his halter has not altogether escaped." "Whither shall the oxe goe where he shall not labour?" How can one hope to evade the responsibilities of his position? The proverb is an interesting reminder of the custom once common enough, and which we ourselves have seen in Sussex and Wiltshire, on the heavy down-lands, of ploughing with a yoke of oxen. There is quaint humour in this, "The chicken is the countrey's, but the citie eateth it." "If the old dog barke he gives counsell." "A married man turns his staffe into a stake," his wandering days are over.

A not unpleasant cynicism gives point to the assertion that "Nothing dries sooner than a teare," while it is equally one's experience of life that "When the tree is fallen all goe with their hatchet," and that "Men speak of the fair as things went with them there." It is a rather touching assertion that "The reasons of the poor weigh not," and it is too true. Their poverty makes the poor despised and their words unheeded by many who, richer in this world's goods, treat with contempt the struggling and the unsuccessful. Poverty is not a crime: it may be a badge of shame if the result of vice, or it may be a badge of honour where a man has scorned to stoop to shuffling dishonesties that may have enriched some who presume to despise him.

In 1659 James Howell issued a series of proverbs, and some of these were incorporated in Randle Cotgrave's dictionary in the following year. This latter has been deemed "that most amusing of all dictionary makers." He quotes many French proverbs, and then gives English adages that more or less match them. Thus under faim he gives "A la faim il n'y a point de mauvais pain," which, he explains, means that "To him who is hungry any bread seems good"—not quite a sufficiently literal translation, we should have thought, for a dictionary-maker—and adds, "We say hungrie dogs love durtie pudding."[49:A]Howell's proverbs were, as a whole, not very judiciously selected, and he had the presumption and bad taste to spin out of his own imagination a series of what he called "New Sayings which may serve for Proverbs for posterity." These were very poor, and posterity has declined to have anything to do with them.

In this same year, 1659, a small volume of adages, compiled by N. R. (Nathaniel Richards), appeared.

They are all in English, but are mostly of foreign origin, and are of no great interest or value.

A much more notable book is the "Gnomologia: Adagies and proverbs; wise sentences and witty sayings, ancient and modern, foreign and British, collected by Thomas Fuller, M.D." As the compiler gives over six thousand proverbs, we may regard the book as a fairly adequate one. He gives in it no indication of the sources from whence the adages are derived, adds no explanatory notes, and works on no system. This is equivalent to writing a natural history and leading off with panther and earwig. It is, as a matter of fact, very difficult to classify a collection of such disconnected units as proverbs. If we attempt to do it by countries we may soon find that it is in most cases quite impossible to guess where the adage originated, and the general borrowing that has been going on for centuries makes anything like a local claim to exclusive possession impossible. It would be quite easy to write out a list of fifty proverbs, illustrating them exclusively by passages from Cervantes and other Spanish writers, and, on the strength of this, claiming them as Spanish, but it would be equally easy afterwards for Dane, Russian, and German, Englishman, Italian, and Greek to come and each claim so many of these items that the speedy outcome would be an almost absolute disappearance from our list of anything purely Iberian.

There is a good deal to be said in favour of the alphabetical arrangement, but only on condition that the leading word of the adage be taken. It is a mere absurdity to take the first word. How can we reasonably put under letter A, "A rolling stone gathers no moss"? It may be objected that we are putting an extreme case, but extreme cases have to be considered as much as any others. In one book before us we find that the old author in scores of instances producesresults as grotesquely inadequate. Under the letter D, for instance, we find, "Do not spur a willing horse," though surely everyone, with the exception of the compiler of the list, would at once realise that the pith of the adage does not in any way rest in "do." We may at once see this if we take the proverb in another of its popular forms, "Spur not a willing horse."

The classification of these old saws according to their subject, such as friendship, pride, industry, and the like, is sometimes adopted, and it has many advantages; but we very soon find that we come to something that declines to be thus pigeon-holed. If we take the Russian proverb, for instance, "The burden is light on the shoulders of another," how shall we classify it? It will clearly not come under "friendship," and it is equally not at home in the section on "industry." While some adages decline to fit into any section, others we find might with almost equal appropriateness find a home under three or four headings.

Fuller defines a proverb as "much matter decocted into a few words," and a very good definition it is. He declares that "six essentials are necessary for the compleating of a perfect Proverb. Namely that it be—

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