[37] It has been suggested that this whimsical amusement has been
lately revived, to a certain degree, in the _acting of charades_
among juvenile parties.
[38] Now the punning motto of a noble family.
[39] At the ROYAL INSTITUTION there is a fine copy of Polydore
Vergil's "Adagia," with his other work, curious in its day, _De
Inventoribus Rerum_, printed by Frobenius, in 1521. The _wood-cuts_
of this edition seem to me to be executed with inimitable delicacy,
resembling a pencilling which Raphael might have envied.
[40] Since the appearance of the present article, several collections
of PROVERBS have been attempted. A little unpretending volume,
entitled "Select Proverbs of all Nations, with _Notes_ and
_Comments_, by Thomas Fielding, 1824," is not ill arranged; an
excellent book for popular reading. The editor of a recent
miscellaneous compilation, "The Treasury of Knowledge," has
whimsically bordered the four sides of the pages of a Dictionary
with as many proverbs. The plan was ingenious, but the proverbs are
not. Triteness and triviality are fatal to a proverb.
[41] A new edition of Ray's book, with large additions, was
published by Bohn, in 1855, under the title of "A Handbook of
Proverbs." It is a vast collection of "wise saws" of all ages and
countries.