48 TiMEHRI. 



James Howell, who made a colle6Hon of them in 

 the seventeenth century, thus sings of them : — 



" The people's voice the voice of God we call, 

 And what are proverbs but the people's voice, 

 Coined first, and current made by common choice 

 Then sure they must have weight and truth withal." 



Lord Bacon speaks of them as being strong evidence 

 of national life and chara6ler. " The genius, wit and 

 spirit of a nation," says he, " are discovered in its 

 proverbs." 



Lord John Russell defines a proverb as being " the 

 wisdom of many and the wit of one." 



Tennyson sings of proverbs as 



" Jewels five words long 

 Which on the stretched forefinger of all time 

 Sparkle forever." 



Archbishop TRENCH, one of the most celebrated 

 theologians of the Irish Church, largely studied and 

 le6lured upon the subje6l of proverbs, and speaking of 

 them he says : — " What a body of popular good sense 

 " and feeling is contained in the tetter, which is also the 

 " more numerous portion of them, what a sense of 

 *' natural equity, what spirit of kindness breathes out 

 " from many of them, what prudent rules for the manage- 

 " ment of life, what shrewd wisdom, which, though not 

 " often of this world is most truly /br it, what frugality, 

 " what patience, what perseverance, what manly inde- 

 " pendence are continually inculcated by them, what a 

 " fine knowledge of the human heart do many of them 

 " display, what useful and not always obvious hints do 

 " they offer on many most important points ; as on the 

 " choice of companions, the bringing up of children, the 

 " bearing of prosperity and adversity, the restraint of all 



