ENGLISH LITERATURE, in most departments the richest in Europe, is yet
the only one in which there has hitherto existed no comprehensive
collection of proverbs adapted to general use. To supply this
deficiency is the object of the present attempt.
Dean Trench, in the preface to his "Proverbs and their Lessons,"
adverts to "the immense number and variety of books bearing on the
subject;" but adds, that among them all he knows not one which
appears to him quite suitable for all readers. "Either," he says,
"they include matter which cannot fitly be placed before all--or they
address themselves to the scholar alone; or, if not so, are at any
rate inaccessible to the mere English reader--or they contain bare
lists of proverbs, with no endeavour to compare, illustrate, or explain
them--or, if they do seek to explain, they yet do it without attempting
to sound the depths or measure the real significance of that which they
attempt to unfold."
My own experience in this department of literature is entirely in
accordance with these views. I have, therefore, during the preparation
of the following pages, kept constantly before my mind the Dean of
Westminster's precise statement of things to be done, and things to be
avoided.
British proverbs for the most part form the basis of this collection.
They are arranged according to their import and affinity, and under
each of them are grouped translations of their principal equivalents in
other languages, the originals being generally appended in footnotes.
By this means are formed natural families of proverbs, the several
members of which acquire increased significance from the light they
reflect on each other. At the same time, a source of lively interest
is opened for the reader, who is thus enabled to observe the manifold
diversities of form which the same thought assumes, as expressed in
different times and by many distinct races of men; to trace the unity
in variety which pervades the oldest and most universal monuments of
opinion and sentiment among mankind; and to verify for himself the
truth of Lord Bacon's well-known remark, that "the genius, wit, and
spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs."
Touching as they do upon so wide a range of human concerns, proverbs
are necessarily associated with written literature. Sometimes they are
created by it; much oftener they are woven into its texture. Personal
anecdotes turn upon them in many instances; and not unfrequently they
have figured in national history, or have helped to preserve the memory
of events, manners, usages, and ideas, some of which have left little
other record of their existence. From the wealth of illustration thus
inviting my hand, I have sought to gather whatever might elucidate
and enliven my subject without overlaying it. In this way I hope to
have overcome the general objection alleged by Isaac Disraeli against
collections of proverbs, on the ground of their "unreadableness." It is
true, as he says, that "taking in succession a multitude of insulated
proverbs, their slippery nature resists all hope of retaining one in
a hundred;" but this remark, I venture to believe, does not apply
to the present collection, in which proverbs are not insulated, but
presented in orderly, coherent groups, and accompanied with appropriate
accessories, so as to fit them for being considered with some
continuity of thought.