definite signification than something cast by, as out of date.' Any observer of street melodies must have noted that what is in vogue for nine days is forgotten at the end of twenty-one. 'Letting the cat out of the bag' comes probably from the old 'Cat and the bag' of Æsop (Prose Fables, 16; James, 102).

The English are rich in local, and in what, to embrace weather and calendar in one, we may term Almanack proverbs. To touch on the latter first, what hop-grower doubts the truth of the saw,

'Till St. James's day is past and gone,

There may be hops, or there may be none?'

Or what bee-master, that

'A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay,
But a swarm in July is not worth a fly?'

Or what epicure would act in contravention of the adage that 'Oysters are not good in the month that has not an R in it?' More questionable is the adage of 'A green Christmas making a fat churchyard,' if we may trust the Registrar-General, and the 'Times' obituary, both pointing to greater frequency of death in cold, keen weather. The legend,

'When our Lady falls in our Lord's lap,

Then let England beware of a sad mishap;'

i. e., when Lady-Day (March 25) coincides with Easter-Dayis a rod in pickle held over us by the Pope for discarding the worship of the Virgin, who, it is supposed, will wait for such happy conjunction to avenge herself on her slighters. Credat

Judæus!

Those who study diligently the hatches, matches, and dispatches' column of the Times' will see that the 25th of January (the festival of the Conversion of St. Paul) was a great day for weddings this year. 'Wherefore?' it may be asked. As reasonable an answer as can be suggested lies in the words of the old rhyming adage,

If the day of St. Paul be clear,

Then shall betide a happy year.'

See N. and Q., Feb. 10th, 1866, p. 118.*

These

Local proverbs are as curious as they are numerous. short ones, Bristol milk,' i. e. sherry; Essex lions,' i. e. calves; to say nothing of 'Lancashire witches,' and 'Wiltshire moonrakers,' are sufficiently amusing; and other illustrations of this kind are given above. The local rhyme,

Our acknowledgments to 'Notes and Queries' for help in these researches cannot be too hearty or too frequently reiterated.

• Blessed

6

'Blessed is the eye

Between Severn and Wye,'

preserved by Ray, is not referable to the pleasant prospect, if, as is reasonable, we adopt Sir G. C. Lewis's suggestion that 'eye' is the first syllable of 'iland,'' eiland' (German), whence comes eyot,' an islet. Howell chronicles a Herefordshire proverb Weobly ale, Medley bells, and Lemster ore.' The ore' stands for wool,' then and now a staple of the borough of Leominster. Weobly ale may have been more famous when the town returned its two members, or it may have been a facetious synonym for cider.' Medley or Madley bells Howell may have often heard in his rambles when he was a pupil at Hereford Cathedral School. Such local proverbs, it will be seen, add a trifle now and then to the too scanty materials for county history. Another local proverb, in vain inquired into in 'Notes and Queries,' is 'As round as a Pontypool waiter.' We had half a mind to take Pontypool in a long-vacation excursion, and ascertain whether at its hotels the waiters were exceptionally rotund and obese. But our labour would have been lost. We have lately learnt that the town was famous for its manufacture of japanned goods.' Dirty Dick's shop in Leadenhall Street

was

'Of things in general full,

Hardware from Birmingham and Pontypool.'

Professional proverbs, too, if we had time to go into them, would prove very interesting. There is much truth in this, that 'A surgeon must have an eagle's eye, a lion's heart, and a lady's hand;' and strong testimony to the superiority of letters to arms, or to the danger of law, in this other, 'A goose quill is more dangerous than a lion's claw.' Householders and house-builders, a large class, may thank us for one other adage:

'Better one's house too little one day, than too large all the year.'

In his gossip on the 'Philosophy of Proverbs,' Isaac Disraeli quotes a speech against double payment of book debts by a blunt M.P. of the Elizabethan House of Commons. It was an honest telling speech, commendable for its briefness, and wholly composed of proverbs. Without urging unqualified imitation of it, we may conceive how much gain would ensue if modern speakers would but clench by an adage arguments which, through lack of compression, they now launch in a sea of words. The days of the clepsydra are desiderated at many a public meeting, especially perhaps in the case of post-prandial orations. O that the ambition to win the palm of oratory could be diverted into

the

'A stitch in

the channel which quotation of proverbs offers! time saves nine' is a homely thesis, but its seasonable use might serve a thorough economist better than all his figures and statistics. Those many county and borough members, one of whose recess-duties is to address diocesan societies on the benefits of National education, might do worse than confine their remarks to a short exposition of the adage,

The best horse needs breeching,

And the aptest child needs teaching.'

And in the proverb 'Nimble ninepence is better than a slow shilling,' though it consists but of eight words, lies a more useful lesson for paterfamilias' to instil into his son, and illustrate in his own practice with his tradesmen, than any that can be found in the code of my Lord Chesterfield. Many more saws might be cited, which, spoken in season, would be far more telling than set speeches, far more convincing to hearers, far better husbandry of power to the speaker.

Α

Not that there should be no limit to the use of proverbs. man, whose every other utterance was an adage, would be as great a bore as the indiscriminate punster or the everlasting anecdotist. But, given a clear head and a sound discretion as to times and occasions, the proverb will come in as one of the most cogent witnesses that can be cited. It is the voice of experience; and it could not be what it is, but for the fiat of the wise and prudent. Yet to its use, as to that of other accessories of conversation and style, must always apply the maxim, ‘Enough is as good as a feast.'

But this last proverb, with a second edge as it were, admonishes us that enough has been said for the reader's patience, although the topic is inexhaustible. In so wide a field one will prefer this particular spot, and another that. To some the wisdom of our own countrymen in this kind may seem to have been scantily illustrated in comparison with that of the ancients. Be it remembered, however, that from the nature of the case the former is 'as household words' to us, while the latter has been too little studied, and too generally neglected. The deeper the inquiry, the larger will be the amount of proof that to Greek and Roman parœmiology is due a vast proportion of the proverblore of modern Europe. And such inquiry will repay those who make it, by re-impressing adagial truths that have hitherto sat lightly on the memory, by helping a knowledge of the minds of several nations' (a brave thing, in the judgment of Selden and Bishop Andrews), and by throwing a light not only on philosophy

and

and history, but also on the study of human life and manners. A nation's proverbs are as precious as its ballads, as useful, and perhaps more instructive. Centuries,' says Isaac Disraeli, 'have not worm-eaten the solidity of this ancient furniture of the mind.'

ART. IX.-Journals, Conversations, &c., relating to Ireland. By the late Nassau W. Senior. 2 vols. London, 1868.

O apology is needed for so soon recurring to the subject of Ireland. It is, and we fear must long continue, the question of the day; the question which statesmanship and patriotism alike yearn to settle; the question which honest prejudices and bad passions, sad legacies of the past and wild dreams of the future, conspire to keep for ever in dispute. Other matters may be left in abeyance,-this cannot. Other difficulties may be solved by degrees, or may often trust to time, and happy accidents, and calculable contingencies for their solution. Irish difficulties, it would appear, must be grappled with at once; for their solution few seem inclined to wait with any patience, to inquire with any thoroughness, to think or reason with any calmness.

If apology had been needed, an ample one might be found, first, in the new phase which Parliamentary action on Irish policy has entered since we last addressed our readers; and, secondly, in the appearance of the remarkable volumes which we have placed at the head of this article. Opinions ripen fast in these days; they ripen often suddenly and from unexpected causes and in unexpected quarters; and the abolition of the Irish Church Establishment, which a few months ago seemed an immeasurably remote and improbable event-a distant consummation scarcely hoped by one party and faintly dreaded by the other-has, by some quick and unexplained impulse, been adopted as the immediate object and the avowed policy of the whole Liberal party; and has been resolved in the House of Commons by a larger majority than has for a long period voted upon any question. The various wild schemes which had been so boldly propounded for dealing with Irish tenure and the laws of property may be held to have been utterly discredited and exploded after three or four nights' discussion, and the Land question fell at once into the background; but Lord Mayo's exposition of the views of the Government in relation to Ireland, at the opening of the session, was suddenly seized upon by the

See Quarterly Review,' vol, cxxiii., p. 459, The Talmud."

leader

leader of the Opposition as an opportunity for the announcement of a startling and decisive line of action, in which-rather, we think, to the surprise of the country-he has been followed by nearly the whole body of his usual supporters with a unanimity rarely displayed by them of late. What may be the true explanation of this hasty move in such unforeseen strengthwhether the experience of the last two sessions has taught the party the necessity of stricter discipline, more serried ranks, and a more compact organization-it is scarcely worth while to inquire. Two things only seem certain in the matter: first, that the time chosen for this onslaught on one of the most deeplyrooted institutions of the land is singularly inappropriate; and secondly, that neither the body of the Liberals nor their impetuous chief, when they resolved on their decisive step, had at all realised either the complication, the difficulty, or the full scope and consequences of the task they have undertaken.

Now, whatever views on the question we may entertain, every true friend to his country, irrespective of the political party to which he may belong, must desire that so great a step should not be taken either as a mere strategical operation; or under circumstances open to suspicion or reproach; or in ignorance or miscalculation of probable results; or under the influence of fallacious hopes; or in any way on erroneous grounds or in deference to unsound arguments, and on the assumption of premises which more accurate knowledge will scatter to the winds; or before the country has fully and deliberately resolved on the measure, and is therefore safe from the danger of reaction and bitter disappointment. It is because we are satisfied that very few of the strong phalanx led to the assault by Mr. Gladstone are quite aware of what they are doing, and that the great majority-including even their chief himself-are under the strangest delusions or the most singular blindness as to the real issue and range of his proposals, that we venture once more to call attention to a few considerations which in the heat of combat have been too much overlooked.

First, then, it can scarcely be denied-and we know that it is felt by many staunch Whigs-that the time chosen has been unfortunate, and that some of the reasons alleged for choosing this time have been more unfortunate still. The subject has been opened with startling suddenness in the midst of a crowded session, the last of a dying and superseded Parliament, with two Reform Bills, a Boundary Bill, and a Bribery Bill to dispose of, in addition to its ordinary business; a Parliament, besides, in consequence of its peculiar position, scarcely to be credited with that mental and moral freedom from all disturbing influences