41 
WIT AND WISDOM OF PROVERBS. 
Rev. R. W. BERRY, B.D. 
March \lth, 1908. 
In the beginning of his paper Mr. Berry explained that he 
intended to limit himself to the consideration of such proverbs 
as were to be found in printed sources. 
Various attempts to answer the question, “ What is a 
Proverb ? ” were given, some from ancient writers such as 
Aristotle, and others by those of more modern times. The 
lecturer himself suggested “ experience made vocal.” The 
common features in the definitions given were Antiquity, 
Popularity and Brevity. 
The difference between a proverb and a maxim, aphorism 
and epigram, is similar to that between the folk-song and the 
ballad. The one is spontaneous, the other composed ; the 
one is shaped and rounded by the attrition of many lips, 
the other given its finish and polished form by its own begetter 
and author. An aphorism tends to paint the ideal of action, 
the proverb to summarise a general experience. The proverb 
is for speech, the maxim for the book, the former making talk 
witty, the latter makes it pompous. 
In the chief ancient languages proverbial expressions 
abound. The sacred books of the East are full of them. The 
proverb of the past in its popular form was an instance of the 
linguistic survival of the fittest. It was the weapon of men 
who had to make their point in a moment. In modern times 
there is undoubtedly a decay in the use of proverbial speech 
whit r seems to follow the wider circulation of literary works. 
Sermons of the Reformation are full of them ; but it was in 
their character as advocates to the multitude that the preachers 
used them. Shakespeare with unerring insight, makes the 
haughty Coriolanus express his hatred of the mob in scorn 
of their proverbs, and at a later time Lord Chesterfield said 
that no gentleman ever used them. 
