At a good bargain pause awhile. A little neglect may breed great mischief. A fat kitchen makes a lean will. A true nobleman would prefer rags to patched clothes.- Mr. Collins explains this proverb to mean, " that a man of honour ought to embrace poverty, rather than be guilty of meanness to support his rank in life." This is very good; but I should rather interpret the proverb literally, and think that a person of spirit and dignity would prefer "the hole out to a clout." As a noted wit once observed, one is an accident of the day, but the other is a certain sign of helpless and premeditated penury. A wager is a fool's argument. A thread-bare coat is armour proof against an highwayman. A very good or very bad poet is remarkable ; but a middling one, who can bear? An affected superiority spoils company. A poor squire ought to have his cup of silver, and his kettle of copper.-Spanish. Though they will cost the most at first, they will last the longer, and in the end be the cheapest. A skilful mechanic is a good pilgrim.-Spanish. An empty purse and a new house make a man wise too late. -Italian. A lean dog gets nothing but fleas.-Spanish. Alluding to the unfortunate, who are shunned by their former associates and friends. Paupertas fugitur, toto que arcessitur orbe.-Lucan. An artful fellow is the devil in a doublet. As is the garden, such is the gardener.-Hebrew. A deluge of words and a drop of sense. A man loses his time that comes early to a bad bargain. A wicked book is the worse because it cannot repent. B. Bacchus has drowned more men than Neptune. Bashfulness is boyish. Better eat grey bread in your youth than in your age.— Scotch. Better a clout than the hole out.-Scotch. Beauty is potent, but money is omnipotent. Better give a shilling than lend and lose half-a crown. Better is the last smile than the first laughter. Business to-morrow. A Greek proverb, applied to a person ruined by his own neglect. The fate of an eminent person perpetuated this expression, which he casually employed on the occasion. One of the Theban polemarchs, in the midst of a convivial party, received despatches relating to a conspiracy: flushed with wine, although pressed by the courier to open them immediately, he smiled, and in gaiety laying the letter under the pillow of his couch, observed, "Business to-morrow!" Plutarch records that he fell a victim to the twenty-four hours he had lost, and became the author of a proverb, which was still circulated among the Greeks. Better half a loaf than no bread. Better spared than ill spent.-Scotch. Busy folks are always meddling. Boys will be men. C. Care will kill a cat; yet there is no living without it. Conversation teaches more than meditation. Come not to the counsel uncalled.-Scotch. Conceited men think nothing can be done without them. Clowns are best in their own company, but gentlemen are best every where. Crows are never the whiter for washing themselves. Contempt is the sharpest reproof. Craft, counting all things, brings nothing home. Count siller after a' your kin.—Scotch A precious safe maxim this, and not a little characteristic of the country it comes from. The reader will remark, that most of the proverbs relating to saving and economy, are of Scottish origin. Contempt will sooner kill an injury than revenge. Compliments cost nothing, yet many pay dear for them. They generally expect to be favoured; and if not, there arises animosity and ill blood. Cure your sore eyes only with your elbow. Dependence is a poor trade. D. Despair has ruined some, but presumption multitudes. Do not buy of a huckster, nor be negligent at an inn.- Do not all that you can do; spend not all that you have; believe not all that you hear; and tell not all that you know. Drown not thyself to save a drowning man. Do not ruin yourself to save a man, from whose character or situation, there is no hope of effectually serving. Drinking water neither makes a man sick, nor in debt, nor his wife a widow. Drive thy business; let not that drive thee. An imputation on a man of spotless character leaves the foulest blot. Do not close a letter without reading, nor drink water without seeing it.-Spanish. Dumb folks get no lands. Too much diffidence, as well as too forward a disposition, may impede a man's fortune. E. Enough is a feast, too much a vanity. Every one should sweep before his own door. Every man is the son of his own work. Every one must live by his trade. French. Il faut que le prêtre vive de l'autel. Every one has a penny to spend at a new alehouse. F. Every man loves justice at another man's house; nobody cares for it at his own. We all naturally love fair play among others, and it is only when self intervenes, that we become subject to a sinister bias. This is a truth that needs no illustration here. We have abundant proof of it in the conduct of judges, juries, politicians, ministers of religion, and every class; all of whom are perfectly honourable men, till some darling interest, opinion, or connexion, interferes to bias their decisions. Every one thinks he hath more than his share of brains. Expect nothing from him who promises a great deal.-Italian. Fancy may bolt bran, and think it flour. Father, in reclaiming a child, should out-wit him, and seldom beat him. For want of a nail the shoe is lost, for want of a shoe the horse is lost, for want of a horse the rider is lost. Showing how a small neglect sometimes breeds a great mischief. Fine dressing, is a fine house swept before the windows. For mad words, deaf ears. Flattery sits in the parlour, while plain dealing is kicked ou of doors. Forecast is better than work hard. Fortune can take nothing from us but what she gave. G. Good words cost nothing, but are worth much. God send us some money, for they are little thought of that want it, quoth the Earl of Eglinton at Prayer.Scotch. Go not for every grief to the physician, for every quarrel to the lawyer, nor for every thirst to the pot.-Italian. God makes and apparel shapes, but money makes the man. Lat.-Pecuniæ obediunt omnia. Good bargains are pick-pockets. Grieving for misfortunes is adding gall to wormwood. Give neither counsel nor salt till you are asked for it.- Give a clown your finger and he'll take your whole hand. H. Have not the cloak to make when it begins to rain. Help hands, for I have no lands. He who has neither ox nor cow, ploughs all night and has nothing in the morning.-Spanish. He may make a will upon his nail for any thing he has to give. He who pays well is master of every body's purse. |