PEOVEEBS. 



Antiquity of Proverbs amongst all Nations. Proverbs in the Middle Ages. Solomon and Slarcoul. 

 The Philosophers' Proverbs. Ilural and Vulgar Proverbs. Guillaume de Tignonville. 

 Proverbs of the Villeins." Bit de 1'Apostoile." Historical Proverbs. Proverbs in Works 

 of Prose and Verse. French Proverbs in the Sixteenth Century. Foreign Proverbs. The 

 Use of Proverbs. Constable de Bourbon's Collection of Proverbs. 



HE popular sayings which compose what 

 has been called the "ancient wisdom of 

 nations " are of all times and of all lands, 

 for proverbs are to be found in the early 

 language of all nations ; but they belong 

 especially to the Middle Ages, which had 

 collected and preserved them as a precious 

 legacy of the early ages and peoples in the 

 world's history. 



Every nation gives its own special 

 impress, so to speak, to its familiar proverbs. 

 The Italian proverb is witty and subtle; 



that of the Spaniards haughty and bold. The French proverb is incisive 

 and satirical : originating in the lower classes, it very often attacks the rich and 

 the powerful, and not unfrequently is expressed in language the liberty of which 

 has developed into license. In England, Germany, and in all Northern nations 

 the proverbs are severe, cold, formal, and pedantic. The proverb is used by 

 all classes of society to characterize an individual act, or some general or specific 

 occurrence, as occasion requires. It is never explained, but always understood. 

 Proverbs passed, as by a natural transition, from speech into writing, and 

 they are very abundant in the first works written in French, though the 

 worb proverb itself does not appear to be of earlier date than the thirteenth 

 century. Before this period, the word proverbium, though used by all authors 



