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 Phoenicia, 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 of
_Sententiæ Monostichæ_. Pythagoras drew up a collection of 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 as wounds," 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 complete _vade 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 wise wast 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 memorie
To 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 in the 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 eyes
Do 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 Posterity
A rich and everlasting Legacy:
A cabinet of Pearls, which all may take
Nor shall they yet their fellows poorer make;
You may perhaps be owner of't, and yet
I 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 repair
To 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 Scriptures sometimes 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 the bibliography 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. We
have 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 the Latin
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 prognosticati[=o] (a tok[=e] of
some misfortune) he cometh to Cato to aske his co[=u]saile and to know
of hym what euyl thys thyng portended. Cato maketh hym thys answere,
Certes my frend it is no m[=o]strouse 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 proverbs may 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 olde
Some sense of some of whiche beying bare and rude,
Yet to fine and fruitfull effect they allude,
And their sentences include so large a reache
That 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 the
Frere, 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 provoke
When the pigge is proffered to hold up the poke.
When the sun shineth make hay: which is to say
Take time when time com'th, lest time steale away.
And one good lesson to this purpose I pike
From 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 wearing
Decay 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 worthy to
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 may buy 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." "No penny, 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
of these 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 fast
As 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."
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 touch that 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 the _esprit_ and 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 to critical 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 bee heard." "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 last over-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 produces results 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--
1. Short } { 1. Oration
2. Playne } Otherwise it is not { 2. Riddle
3. Common } a proverb at all { 3. Secret
4. Figurative } but a { 4. Sentence
5. Antient } { 5. Upstart
6. True } { 6. Libel."
As he was evidently a little nervous that some persons might think the
subject a little beneath the dignity of Dr Fuller, he allows an
imaginary objector to have his fling, and then proceeds to demolish him.
The "objection" raised by this anonymous disciple of Mrs Grundy is that
"it is more proper for a person of your profession to imploy himself in
reading of, and commenting on, the Proverbs of Solomon, to know wisdome
and instruction, to perceive words of understanding. Whereas you are now
busied in what may be pleasant, not profitable, yet what may inform the
fleshlie not edifie the inward man." As many proverbs do undoubtedly
build up the inner man this judgment is wanting in charity, and as a
student ourselves in the subject we are gratified to find that the
doctor declines to accept this vote of censure, and is able to make out
a good case for himself. His reply is somewhat longer than a quotation
permits, and one must give all or none.
In his preface, also, he alludes to "snarling persons" who have
deprecated his labours. This preface of his is distinctly interesting.
"All of us," he writes therein, "forget more than we remember, and
therefore it hath been my constant Custom to note down and record
whatever I thought of myself, or received from Men or Books worth
preserving. Amongst other things I wrote out Apothegms, Maxims,
Proverbs, acute Expressions, vulgar Sayings, etc., and having at length
collected more than ever any Englishman has before me I have ventur'd to
send them forth to try their Fortune among the People. In ancient Times,
before methodical Learning had got Footing in the Nations and
instructive Treatises were written, the Observations that were from
Experience were us'd to be gather'd and sum'd up into brief and
comprehensive Sentences, which being so contriv'd as to have something
remarkable in their Expressions might be easily remember'd and brought
into Use on Occasions. They are call'd Adagies or Maxims.
"Also the Men of Business and the common People, that they might in
their Affairs and Conversation signify and communicate this Sense and
Meaning in short, with Smartness and with Pleasantness fell into
customary little Forms of Words and trite Speeches, which are call'd
Proverbs and common Sayings. The former of these are from Judgment, and
are us'd by Men of Understanding and Seriousness; the other are from
Wit, and are accommodate to the Vulgar and Men of Mirth. I conceive it
is not needful for me accurately to determine which are to be call'd
Adagies and Proverbs; nor nicely to distinguish the one from the other.
All that I here take upon me to do is only to throw together a vast
confus'd heap of unsorted Things, old and new, which you may pick over
and make use of, According to your Judgment and Pleasure. Many of these
are only plain bare Expressions, to be taken literally in their proper
Meaning: others have something of the Obscure and Surprize, which, as
soon as understood, renders them pretty and notable.
"It is a matter of no small Pains and Diligence (whatever lazy, snarling
Persons may think) to pick up so many independent Particulars as I have
done, And it is no trifling or useless thing neither: it being what many
of the most learned and wisest Men of the World have in all Ages
employ'd themselves upon. The Son of Syrac will be held in everlasting
Remembrance for his Ecclesiasticus, but, above all, that most glorious
of Kings and wisest of Men, Solomon, wrote by Divine Appointment and
Inspiration, Proverbs, Precepts and Counsels.
"No man ought to despise, ridicule, or any ways discourage the Diligence
and Kindness of those that take Pains to bring home to others without
Price those things of Profit and Pleasure. I picked up these Sentences
and Sayings at several times, according as they casually occurr'd, and
most of them so long ago that I cannot remember the Particulars: and am
now (by reason of great Age and ill Sight) utterly unable to review
them; otherwise I would have struck out all such as are not fit for the
Company, or are indecent to be spoke in the Presence of wise, grave,
virtuous, modest, well-bred people." These closing words one can hardly
accept. Years before age and failing sight had come these various items
had been growing bit by bit, and the striking-out process might well
have been going on at the same time as the collecting.
"Our excellent Mr Ray," as a contemporary writer terms him, was another
great collector of proverbs, and he, too, made a book of them. The first
edition of this work appeared in 1670, and a second in 1678. The first
was altogether too gross, so that the second edition gave an
opportunity, which was embraced, for some little amendment. This is
beyond all doubt the coarsest set of proverbs that has come under our
notice.
Ray was a Master of Arts and a Fellow of the Royal Society. The title of
his book is as follows:--"A Collection of English Proverbs Digested into
a convenient Method for the speedy finding any one upon occasion: with
short Annotations. Wherunto are added Local Proverbs with their
Explications, old Proverbial Rhythemes, Less known or Exotick Proverbial
Sentences and Scottish Proverbs." The second edition was enlarged by the
addition of several hundred more English Proverbs, and by an appendix of
Hebrew sayings. The annotations of Ray on various proverbs are often
very feeble. Thus to the adage, or saw, or whatever it may be, "I would
not trust him though he were my brother," he adds to a thing
sufficiently tame in itself the comment, "This is only a physiognomical
observation." The truth is, our learned author, or compiler, seems to
have heaped together all the old "saws," whether wise or not, and all
the "modern instances" that came in his way, and to have strung at
random the precious gems in company with the worthless beads.
His "convenient method" was the alphabetical one, based on the leading
word of the saying. Thus, under A, for example, we get "Adversity makes
a man wise, not rich," "There is no Alchemy like saving," "He that is
Angry is seldom at ease," "For that thou canst do thyself rely not on
Another," "Make a slow Answer to a hasty question," "The best Armour is
to keep out of gun-shot."
Robert Codrington added yet another to the pile of proverb lore in his
"Collection of many Select and Excellent Proverbs out of Several
Languages." These he declared to be "most useful in all Discourses and
for the Government of Life." He gives no preface or any kind of
introductory matter, but begins at once with number one, and goes
straight on till he gets to fourteen hundred and sixty-five. His adage,
"You may not lose your friend to keep your jest," is a curious variant
on the familiar present-day assertion that some men would rather lose a
friend than a joke. His selection is on the whole a very good one. Such
sayings as, "A young man old maketh an old man young," "A drunkard is
not master either of his soul or his body," and "Curses prove
choke-pears to those that plant them," are thought-compelling, and many
such may be encountered.
A book of somewhat different character is the "Paroemiologia
Anglo-Latina" of William Walker, B.D. The sub-title was "English and
Latin proverbs and proverbial sentences and sayings matched together in
a collection of them made out of Plautus, Petronius, Terentius,
Horatius, and other authors." The particular copy that came under our
notice bore the date of 1676. He concludes his short preface by the
following deprecatory passage: "What will be the advantage and benefit
hereof to the Commonwealth of learning I leave to others to judge and
try, as not willing to show the Sun by the light of a Candle. And so,
that I may not set up a great Gate before a little House I commit the
Work to You, and You to God, and rest your humble Drudge, W. W."
As the author has himself raised the question as to the benefit of his
book to others, one can only reply that the advantage to the
Commonwealth would probably not be very great, since the translation of
the old classic authors is so exceedingly free that it is practically no
translation at all. It gives those who do not know the original writings
no adequate idea of them, while the English is of so very colloquial a
character that all the dignity of the original is lost, the result being
that both the Latin and the English languages suffer in the process.
If we take, for example, "Versutior es quam rota figularis," we find
that he cites three so-called equivalents, and none of them at all
giving the beautiful image of the original; the first of these being,
"You are as inconstant as the wind," the next, "As wavering as the
weathercock," and, thirdly, "One knows not where to have you." The "Non
habet plus sapientiæ quam lapis" of Plautus he renders fairly enough as
"He hath no more wit than a stone," but he adds to this, "No more brains
than a burbout. He is a very cod's head"; while "As wise as Solomon"
cannot at all be accepted as a rendering of "Plus sapit quam Thales."
The striking "Verba fiunt mortuo" has lost all its dignity when we are
invited to accept as a translation, "It is of no purpose to talk to him:
he'll not hear you speak: you may as well talk to the wall."
The well-known "Parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus" is thus
Anglicised by Walker, "Great boast, little roast; Great cry and little
wool, as the fellow said when he shore his hogs"; and the equally
familiar "Ad Græcas calendas" is given as, "At Nevermass, when two
Sundays come together." The striking "Leporis vitam vivit" loses much
when we are invited to accept as an equivalent, "He is afraid of the
wagging of a straw." The absurdity of teaching a fish to swim, "Piscem
natare doces," is scarcely adequately rendered by, "Tell me it snows."
How pleasant a glimpse of ancient customs we get in the "Stylum
invertere." The waxen tablet--the stile at one end sharpened for
writing, at the other flattened for erasing--rise before us. But all
this is entirely lost when we are invited to accept, in place of the
classic allusion, "To turn the cat in the pan," "To sing another tune";
and certainly the pith and rhythm of "A minimo ad maximum" suffers woful
deterioration in such renderings of it as "Every mother's son of them,
tag and rag, all that can lick a dish."
The refining influences that are associated with a study of good classic
writers seem to have rather failed when this ancient schoolmaster came
beneath their sway. Such expressions as, "Your brains are addle," "As
subtle as a dead pig," "Chip of the old block," "Lean as a rake," "A
cankered fellow," "A scurvy crack," scarcely rise to the dignity of his
subject. We cannot help wondering how the school prospered in his hands,
and what sort of boys he turned out after a year or two under his
tuition.
The "Moral Essays on some of the most Curious and Significant English,
Scotch, and Foreign Proverbs," of Samuel Palmer,[57:A] "Presbyter of the
Church of England," deserves some little notice. The edition before us,
we note, is dated 1710. His definition of a proverb strikes one as being
an entirely satisfactory one. He tells us that it is "an Instructive
Sentence, in which more is generally Design'd than is Express'd, and
which has pass'd into Common Use and Esteem either among the Learned or
Vulgar. I take this to be its Genuine Definition, for though the
Incomparable Erasmus takes Elegance and Novelty into the Character of a
Proverb it seems to be an Error: for a Proverb has not only more Honour
and Authority from Antiquity, but a Sentence never comes up to that
Title till it has pass'd for Sterling some Competent time, and receiv'd
its Dignity from the Consent of an Age at least. 'Tisn't in a Single
Author's Power to convey this Reputation to any Saying, but the Dignity
grows up in the Use of it." This appears excellent common-sense, and the
distinction that he draws between the use of a saying by the learned or
the vulgar is a very happy one, and one that no other writer appears to
regard. A proverb need not, to establish its position, be in use by all
classes. There are certain sayings from the classics or elsewhere that
find general acceptance amongst the educated, such as the "Ad calendas
Græcas," "A la Tartuffe," "Aut Cæsar aut nullus," "Facilis est descensus
Averni." These, either in the original tongue or Anglicised, are
current, and have a full claim to recognition as proverbial sayings,
though four-fifths of the population never heard them; while many homely
sayings that come freely to the lips of the carter or the village
blacksmith find no welcome or recognition from the professor, the
bishop, or the banker, and yet are as truly of proverbial rank.
Our old author goes on to say: "'Tis the Use, not the Critical History
or Notion of Proverbs I am concern'd in. To see People throw 'em at each
other by way of Jest or Repartee, without feeling their Weight, tasting
their Wit, or being better'd by the Reflection, wou'd vex a man of any
Spirit, and the Indignation forces him to write somewhat that might
Redeem these Fragments of Wisdom from the Contempt and Ill Treatment of
the Ignorant. For as they are now us'd they make up more of the
Ridiculous Conversation than the Solid and Instructive. To this Abuse
some of our Authors of the first Rank have very much contributed: for
the Modern Poets and Novelists have put 'em in the Mouths of their
lowest Characters. They make Fools and Clowns, little and mean People
speak Sentences in Abundance, string 'em like Necklaces and make Sport
with 'em, and Ridicule the Remains of our Ancestors. By this Means 'tis
esteem'd Pedantry if we find one in the Mouth of a Gentleman, and an
Author of Honour and very fine Parts has made the Reciting an Adage or
Two the Sign of a Coxcomb. Thus they are condemn'd to the Use of the
Mob, thrown out of the Minds of our People of Birth, and the Influence
of 'em lost in the Manage of Education."
While Palmer was engaged upon his book, a work called "English Proverbs,
with Moral Reflections" was published by a writer named Dykes, a poor
production enough. "This," said Palmer, "put me on the Thought of
Suppressing the whole, not doubting but an Ingenious Gentleman whose
Imployment isn't only to teach Hic Hæc Hoc, but to Instruct Youth in
Learning and Vertue, and convey the Notions of Religion and Good Manners
while he is managing the Ferula, wou'd have managed the Proverbs to the
best Purpose and without Exception. But upon a View I find my self
extreamly disappointed: His Collection is so very short, being but Fifty
Two, and most of 'em so Lean, Trite, and Insignificant that the Greatest
Excellence of the Work is that he has been so happy as to fill up Four
or Five pages upon Nothing. 'Tis not my Design to Note all his
Indecencies, but I have scarce seen anything under the Name of Moral
more out of Order. Execrable Rant, Curses, and little dirty Language are
one Part of the Entertainment, and tho' it might perhaps be tolerable
enough to cite Billingsgate when he was speaking of Scolds, yet to
introduce the Dialogue of Two Fish Women, with their Curses, Lewd
Epithets, and Brutish Reflections is Insufferable: 'tis opening a Sink
and spreading the Infection." Palmer therefore saw no cause to
discontinue his labours, the work of Dykes not at all trenching on his
own ideal of what such a book should be.
Palmer is struck with "the Likeness of many which are in Modern Use to
the most Sacred Apophthegms," a similarity which "forces us to show 'em
very great Respect, and engages us to think 'em either of the same
Original, or else deriv'd from Divine Proverbs by Wise and Pious Men,
who have only given 'em a different Turn according to the Language and
Genius of the Nation wherein they liv'd."
These essays of Palmer's are each some three or four pages long, the
page being that of a quarto book. In some of these he takes a single
adage as his theme, but very often he brackets together two of like
sense. Thus, one is based on "A Mouse that has but One Hole is soon
Catch'd," or, "Don't venture all your Eggs in one Basket." Another is,
"Fly the Pleasure that will Bite to Morrow," or, "After Sweet Meat comes
Sour Sauce," while yet another is, "Don't throw away Dirty Water till
you have got Clean," or, "He that changes his Trade makes Soop in a
Basket." One readily sees in each case what the drift of the essay based
on the coupled adages must be.
As an example of Palmer's exposition, we will give that based on two
adages of like import. "A baited Cat may grow as Fierce as a Lyon," or,
"Tread on a Worm and it will Turn." "No Enemy," he tells us, "is so Mean
and Impotent but at One Time or Other he becomes sensible of his own
Force, knows how to Exert It, feels an Injury, and has a proportionable
Resentment: for Nature can't easily be Conquer'd: is very Rarely
Forc'd, but will Struggle after all the Discipline either of Power or
Principles. This made Solomon say that Oppression makes a Wise Man Mad.
Now this shou'd be consider'd, and a Wise Man ought to foresee how far
'tis fit to press the most contemptible Enemy: for though his Opposition
be Wicked or Ridiculous yet it may hit the Pursuer and do him a
Mischief. To drive a Coward to the Wall recovers his Spirits, and fear
of being shot thro' the Back makes him turn his Face. The certainty of
being quite lost by Flight gives a new Turn to the Spirits, and
Naturally prompts to a Sudden and Desperate Defence: and tho' this be
not true Courage, nor don't act up to the Regularity that Valour is
distinguished by: yet it may exceed in Face, and give a Home Thrust. He
that is eager in the Pursuit may be struck through by that Hand which
trembled till it was reinforced by Necessity. In Armies this is a known
Rule. He that Beats a Brave Enemy ought to be glad to be Rid of him. Let
him Retreat as quick as He can, provided the Main Victory be secure. In
Private Quarrels, Just and Vnjust, this must be heeded: in the One Case
to be Implacable is Infamous, and in the other Wicked and Dangerous. In
Both, Rashness: and if Pity don't move us to forbear and abate in our
Revenge, Caution and Regard to our own Safety Shou'd." A rat, if driven
into a corner, will fly at a man.[61:A] And it appears that even in
baiting a cat there is a right and a wrong way of going to work. It is
said by old sportsmen that the fox enjoys the sport as much as anybody,
but there comes a time with baited rats and cats and most other
creatures when they tire of that sort of thing, and have a very definite
way of indicating the fact to all whom it may concern.
The proverbial utterances of "poor Richard" were once in great vogue.
They were written by Benjamin Franklin under the _nom de plume_ of
Richard Saunders. "Poor Richard's Almanack" was issued for twenty-six
years, from 1733 to 1758, and with constantly increased acceptance.
These calendars excellently combined entertainment with useful knowledge
and terse concentrated wisdom. All available spaces that occurred
between notable days in the months were filled in with wisdom-chips,
some of them of true proverbial rank, and others the offspring of the
brains of Dr Franklin.
Franklin was born on January 6th, 1706, at Boston, and there is no doubt
that his sterling common-sense and quaint philosophy must have had a
considerable influence in moulding the character of the early
inhabitants of the United States. These almanacks were largely reprinted
in Great Britain and France, and very freely quoted from, so that the
area of their influence was very extensive. In the preface to the first
of this long series he quaintly gives the reasons that influenced him,
poor Richard, to issue it. "I might, in this place," he writes, "attempt
to gain thy favour by declaring that I write Almanacks with no other
view than that of the publick good, but in this I should not be sincere;
and men are now-a-days too wise to be deceived by pretences. The plain
truth of the matter is, I am extremely poor, and my wife, good woman
is, I tell her, excessive proud; she cannot bear, she says, to sit
spinning in her shift of tow while I do nothing but gaze at the stars,
and has threatened more than once to burn all my books if I do not make
some profitable use of them for the good of my family."
Next year he writes, "Your kind and charitable assistance last year in
purchasing so large an impression of my almanack has made my
circumstances much more easy in the world, and requires my most grateful
acknowledgment. My wife has been enabled to get a pot of her own, and is
no longer obliged to borrow one from a neighbour; nor have we ever since
been without something to put in it. She has also got a pair of shoes
and a nice new petticoat, and for my part I have bought a second-hand
coat, that I am not now ashamed to go to town or be seen there. These
things have rendered her temper so much more pacifick than it used to
be, that I may say I have slept more and more quietly within this last
year than in the three foregoing years put together."
There is much excellent wisdom in the sayings that he got together. How
full of wise warning the utterance, "There is no little enemy," or this,
"There's small revenge in words, but words may be greatly avenged." Or
these warnings against covetousness, "If you desire many things many
things will seem but a few." "Avarice and happiness never saw each
other, how then should they become acquainted?" How quaintly sarcastic
are these, "Lawyers, preachers, and tomtits' eggs, there are more of
them hatched than come to perfection." "None preaches better than the
ant, and she says nothing." How true again that "Poverty wants some
things and luxury many things," and that "No man was glorious who was
not first laborious." How valuable the counsel, "Deny self for self's
sake," and that "It is less discredit to abridge petty charges than to
stoop to petty gettings"; and as a hint as to the value of
concentration, "Don't think to hunt two hares with one dog." Others that
we marked for quotation are, "Ever since follies have pleased, fools
have been able to divert"; "He that can have patience can have what he
will"; "Strange that he who lives by shifts can seldom shift himself,"
and to these many more of equal shrewdness could be added.
We make no claim that this list of ours is complete as a bibliography of
proverb-writers. All references to the works of more recent men, Trench
and others, are entirely omitted, as they are so easily accessible, that
all who care to do so will have no difficulty in consulting them.
Amongst the earlier men's works some are good, and some are good for
nothing, but we trust that our readers will feel that this excursus is
not without interest, while somewhat may be added to the dignity of our
subject when it is seen to how many minds it has been a fascinating
study.
FOOTNOTES:
[28:A] "A wise sentence shall be rejected when it cometh out of a fool's
mouth; for he will not speak it in due season."--_Ecclesiasticus_ xx.
20.
[28:B] The following illustrate the nature of these precepts: "Gold is
tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity."
"Change not a friend for any good." "Of a spark of fire a heap of coals
is kindled." "How agree the kettle and the earthen pot together?" "He
that can rule his tongue shall live without strife." "As the climbing up
a sandy way is to the aged so is a wife full of words." "The furnace
trieth the potter's vessels." "Better is the life of a poor man in a
mean cottage than delicate fare in another man's house." "He that taketh
away his neighbour's living slayeth him." "Every counsellor extolleth
counsel." "Bountifulness is as a most fruitful garden."
[29:A] Amongst the various commentators on this book the works of Ewald,
Berthean, Hitzig, Elster, Rosenmuller, Hirzel, Stuart, Umbreit, and
Noyes may be commended to the reader who would desire detail and
analysis.
[35:A] Quick is here used in its original sense of having life. These
therefore were lively sayings. In the Apostle's creed the quick and the
dead are referred to, and a quick set hedge is one of growing plants as
contrasted with a mere fencing or line of palings.
[39:A] "It is a comon sayinge, ware there is no ryceyver there shoulde
be no thefe." "A Christian exhortation unto customable swearers," 1575.
[39:B] A more modern utterance shrewdly says, "There is a scarcity of
friendship, but none of friends."
[47:A] Somewhat similar proverbs to this are, "If you play with boys you
must take boy's play," and if you "play with a fool at home he will play
with you abroad."
[49:A] "The messenger (one of those dogs who are not too scornful to eat
dirty puddings) caught in his hand the guinea which Hector chucked at
his face."--"The Antiquary."
[57:A] Our author must not be confused with a namesake, Charles Palmer,
who was Deputy Serjeant of the House of Commons, and who published "A
Collection of Select Aphorisms and Maxims extracted from the most
Eminent Authors." He gives eighteen hundred and thirteen of these: the
copy that came into our hands was dated 1748.
[61:A]
"For a flying foe
Discreet and provident conquerors build up
A bridge of gold."--MASSINGER, _The Guardian_.
"Ouuerez tousiours a voz ennemys toutes les portes et chemins
et plustost leur faictes ung pont d'argent, affin des les
renvoyer."--RABELAIS, _Gargantua_.
See also the Italian proverb--"A nemico che fugge un ponte d'oro." "Le
Comte de Pitillan en parlant de la guerre soulouit dire quand ton ennemy
voudra fuir, fais luy un port d'or."--Extract from _Les divers propos
memorables des Nobles et Illustres Hommes_."--Gilles Corrizot. Paris,
1571.
"Press not a falling man too far."--SHAKESPEARE, _King Henry VIII._