MALAY PROVERBS. 51 



' not confined to their universal truths, nor to their poignant 

 * pleasantry; a philosophical mind will discover in proverbs a 

 ' great variety of the most curious knowledge. The manners 

 6 of a people are painted after life in their domestic proverbs ; 

 ' and it would not be advancing too much to assert that the 

 ' genius of the age might be often detected in its prevalent 

 ' ones. The learned Selden tells us that the proverbs of 

 s several nations were much studied by Bishop Andrews ; the 

 ' reason assigned was, because " by them he knew the minds 

 6 of several nations, which," said he, " is a brave thing, as we 

 6 count him wise who knows the minds and the insides of men, 

 ' which is done by knowing what is habitual to them." Lord 

 ' Bacon condensed a wide circuit of philosophical thought 

 ( when he observed that " the genius, wit, and spirit of a 

 ' nation are discovered by their proverbs." 



