445 
good his payments thereto, might, on 
these circumsiances hemg verified under 
the hands of two officers of the parish in 
which he resides, and of one steward of 
the club in which he has been enrolled, . 
be entitled to a certificate from his pro- 
per parish, with all the privileges thereto 
by law allowed. The power now pos- 
sessed by parish officers of refusing certi- 
ficates to their ex-poor might be thus re- 
Jaxed in favour of the provident poor, 
with public advantage, and without par- 
tial detriment to any parish whatsoever. 
Other indulgences might be suggested for 
for this class of inmates in the district 
manufactories; and out of these houses 
a marked preference may be shewn by 
magistrates In the disposal of forfeitures, 
and by trustees of charities, as well as by 
the benevolent in general, in favour of 
the provident poor, by which means 
their numbers would from prudence,. if 
not from inclination, in a few years be 
greatly multiplied to the certain relief of 
the parish rates, and general amendment 
of the morais and manners of the inferior 
part of the community. 
=e ee 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
ERMIT me to send you a List of the 
foolish and absurd actions men- 
tioned by the Greeks, and used by them, 
as a kind of proverbs, more than two 
thousand years ago. Those of your 
readers, who are well acquainted with 
the history of modern times and the 
colloquial language of this country, will 
be‘akle to judge how far the nations of 
Europe have, by adopting these, approved 
of them. When the Greeks meant to 
say that a man was absurdly, foolishly, 
or improperly employed, they used to 
say, 
He ploughs the air. 
— washes the Ethiopian. 
=—~ measures a twig. 
=— opens the door with an ox 
=— demands tribute of the dead. 
— holds the serpent by the tail. 
== takes the bull by the horns. 
w= is making clothes for fishes. 
= is teaching an old woman to dance, 
— is teaching a pig to play on a flute. 
== catches the wind with a net. 
— changes the fly into an elephant. 
— takes the spring from the year. 
-— is making ropes of sand. 
m= sprinkles incense on a dunghills 
— is ploughing arock, 
— is sowing on the sand. 
vex is taking gil to extinguish the Gres, 
Account of Lemington Priors. 
[June 1, 
He chastises the dead. 
=~ seeks water in the sea. 
— puts a rope to the eye of a needle; 
== is washing the crow. 
= draws water with a sieve. 
— gives straw to his dogs, and bonds to his ass; 
-—— numbers the waves, 
— paves the meadow. 
—= paints the dead. 
= seeks wool on an ass. 
— digs the well at the rivers 
— puts a hat ona hen. 
—- runs against the point of a speard 
-— is erecting broken posts. 
— fans ‘with | a feather. 
— strikes with astrawe 
— cleaves the clouds. 
— takes a spear to kill a fly. 
— washes his sheep with scalding water, 
—— speaks of things more ancient than rage’ 
—— roasts snow ina furnace, 
— holds a looking glass toa mole. 
— is teaching iron to swim. 
— is building a bridge over the sea, &c. &c. 
Not insensible of the value and vast 
variety in your widely spreading Mis- 
cellany, [ remain, Your's, &c. 
St. Martin’s-lane. JAMES oe 
May 5, 1809. 
P.S. Could any of your readers tell me — 
what is the origin of the phrase, ¢* He Baie: 
it under the rose ?” J. H. 
Seen SAG 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
S the season of the year is appriaety 
ing when the public are frequenting 
the watering-places either for the benefit 
of the saline springs, or the more grati- 
fying pleasure of rural retirement, a 
short account of Lemington Priors will 
probably be acceptable to some of your 
numerous readers; no situation can be 
so highiy favoured by nature, the springs, 
like the dews of heaven, appear inex- 
haustible, and tend very much to invigorate 
the frame, and in scorbutic, gouty, and 
rheumatic casés, are held in great re- 
pute. Several patients of the celebrated’ 
Dr. Cheshire, of Hinckley, have found 
much relief. For rural retirement it has 
no rival, being nearly in the middle of 
the kingdom within two miles of War= 
wick; a delightful morning’s walk from . 
Guy’s Cliff, once the noted residence of 
our country’s champion, and the vene- 
rable ruins of Kenilworth Castle; and 
about nine miles from this city: there is 
a stage coach passes through (o@ its way 
to Chester) which renders the communi~’— 
cation easy, and the canal coming near 
the: 
f 
