Women should not attempt to wield a sword, for which they are incompetent. Employ in every business means adapted and adequate to the purpose; also take care not to irritate any one whom you are not able to stand against, or oppose successfully. Brutus observed, that Cicero should not have railed against, and provoked Marc Anthony, who was much more powerful than himself. In the end, this imprudence cost Cicero his life. What, however, shall we say of those heroines, Judith in sacred, and Joan of Arc in modern history, or of the Amazons, who wielded this forbidden weapon with such advantage against their enemies, in defiance of this adage?

It is not known who was the Author of this enigmatical sentence, prohibiting to eat what has a black tail; that which is sweet to the taste, but leaves a sense of bitterness when swallowed. The interpretation seems to be, hold no intimate connection with persons of bad fame, nor do any thing of which you may repent on reflection.

The string may break; this was said to persons who, emboldened by success, were perpetually engaging in new exploits: such persons were advised by this apothegm to desist, they had done enough to shew their skill or courage; a reverse might happen, or by one wrong step they might lose all the honour or emolument they had gained. The pitcher that goes often to the well returns broken at last.
The adage takes its rise from bowmen who, by overstraining the string, at length occasion it to break, not without danger to themselves.

It is of importance that we should well consider every project that we may engage in, that there be a reasonable probability of its succeeding and that it receive the sanction of such prudent and sensible friends as we may think it right to consult; but no measure however well planned should be expected to meet with general approbation; Iupiter himself not being able to please every one.

The shoemaker should not go beyond his last. Men should not attempt what they are neither by education nor genius qualified to perform, nor discourse on matters they do not understand; they will be listened to with no more attention than would be given to a blind man discoursing on colours. Cada qual hable en lo que sabe, let every one talk of what he understands. A shoemaker having suggested to Apelles an error in the form of a shoe he had painted, the artist, readily taking the hint, altered the picture in that part. But when the same shoemaker was proceeding to recommend alterations in the form and disposition of the limbs of the figure, he received the rebuke, which thence became proverbial, "The shoemaker should not meddle beyond his last." Defiéndame Dios de mí. God defend me from myself, the Spaniards say, make me to know what is my proper state and condition.

"Fair words butter no parsnips." Though we may for a time be satisfied with kind speeches, and fair promises, yet as we cannot take them to the market, or they will not pass there, the satisfaction derived from them will be but short-lived, and when we find them totally unproductive, and that they were merely unmeaning expletives, our resentment will be in proportion to the dependence we had placed on them, and to the time we have lost in the vain expectation of some promised benefit.

A statue of Mercury may not be made from every kind of wood. All dispositions and capacities are not adapted to the higher walks of literature. It is incumbent on parents to educate their children, but they should give them such instruction, as is suited to their talents. Artificers are careful to make choice of materials fit for the work they have in hand, whether metal, stone, or wood; using the coarser sort for rough and common articles, the, finer for those that require to be more exquisitely finished. "You cannot make," we say, "a silken purse of a sow's ear," or "a horn of a pig's tail," or "a good coat", "of coarse or bad wool." The Spaniards say, "De ruyn paño nunca buen sayo".

He has not a penny left to buy an halter. He has no property, «ne in pelle quidem», not even in his skin. «Ne obolus quidem relictus est», he has totally dissipated and wasted his property, not a morsel, or the smallest particle of it remains. He is as poor as a church mouse. «Beg», Gratiano says to Shylock, «that thou mayest have leave to hang thyself»; «And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state, Thou hast not left the value of a cord; Therefore thou must be hanged at the state's charge». No le alcaça la sal al agua, «he is so poor», the Spaniards say, «that he hath not salt enough to season his water». Xenophon, in his dialogues, makes one of the interlocutors say, «he had not so much land as would furnish dust for the body of a wrestler».

«Necessity is the mother of invention, and the most powerful provoker of industry, and ingenuity». La necessité n'a point de loi, and La necessidad carece de ley. Necessity has no law, and Hunger will break through stone walls.

–––«Ingenii largitor venter,
Cautum e rudi reddit magistra necessitas».

Necessity makes the dull man bright, the sluggard active, the unwary cautious. It sharpens the wit, and makes men more apt for instruction.

«Jejunus raro stomachus vulgaria terabit».

Hunger is the best cure for daintiness, it is the best sauce; and A la hambre, no ay pan malo; A hungry dog will eat dirty pudding. To these may be added the following,

Impletus venter, non vult studere libenter.

A full belly does not excite to mental labour or exertion, and want sharpens, but luxury blunts the disposition to study.

As fern and other hurtful weeds spring up in ground that is not tilled, so do ill humours abound in the bodies of the idle, and evil thoughts take possession of their minds. Hence we truly say, L'ozio è il padre di tutti i vizi, idleness is the root of all evil, L'oisiveté nous mène à la mendicité, and leads to beggary. Idle persons are necessarily restless and unhappy. «They are never pleased, never well in body or in mind, but weary still, sickly still, vexed still, loathing still; weeping, sighing, grieving, suspecting, offended with the world, and with every object; and this is the reason», Burton says, «that so many wealthy and great personages, become melancholy».

«Non sibi sed toti mundo se credere natum».

No one is born, or should think himself born, solely for himself. The helpless state in which we are produced into the world, might teach us this maxim, or should we happen to forget it, a very slight fit of sickness would be sufficient to bring it back to our memories. But even in health we are none of us able, without the assistance of others, to prepare every article necessary for our comfort, or even for our subsistence. Every thing we wear, and every thing we eat or drink, requiring the concurrence of several hands, to make them fit for our use. This doubtless was intended by Providence to encourage mutual benevolence. As we were indebted in early life to our parents, teachers, and friends, for our maintenance, and for all the knowledge that was instilled into us, it becomes our duty to shew our sense of the obligation, by doing every thing in our power that may contribute to their comfort, and by giving the like assistance to those who may have similar claims upon us. The chain linking us together, is by this means kept entire, and we become what nature intended, social beings. Plato is said to have first promulgated this adage, «Each of us owing», he says, «a portion of our time, and of our exertions, to our country, to our parents, and to our friends».

He has neither been taught to read nor to swim, two things which the Grecians and Romans were careful their children should be instructed in early; and which it was held to be disgraceful not to have learned.

But where is the yolk, was used to be said to persons reserving to themselves the best part of any viands, or other things, of which they had the distribution. A man dreamed he had found an egg. A soothsayer who was consulted to interpret the dream, told him that it portended he should find a treasure, the white of the egg representing silver, the yolk gold. The event corresponding with the prediction, the man took to the seer, some of the pieces of silver; but what, said the seer, is become of the yolk? Which thence became proverbial.

Familiarité engendre mépris. Familiarity breeds contempt. «E tribus optimis rebus», Plutarch says, «tres pessimae oriuntur», from three excellent endowments, three of the worst of our affections are produced. Truth begets hatred, familiarity contempt, and success envy. The contrary to this may be, «Omne ignotum pro magnifico est». We are apt rather to extol those persons whom we know only by report, but with whose merit, or real characters, we are not acquainted. A prophet is not without honour, we are told, save in his own country. Great men should not associate too familiarly with the world, ever more ready to blazon their defects, which reduce them to their own standard, than to admire those talents and qualities which they are incapable of imitating. To posterity they must look for justice, which never fails paying to their genius and abilities, the homage that had been refused them by their own age and country. «Suum cuique decus posteritas rependet». Posterity will give to everyone the portion of commendation, to which he was entitled by his merit. Or the adage may be thus interpreted: What is mentioned in the gross often fills the mind with surprise, which in detail would excite no emotion. If we should say of any man that he ordinarily walked between two and three thousand miles in a year, the account would seem to be exaggerated; but if we should say, he walked six or seven miles in a day, which would amount to the same number of miles in the year, no surprize would be excited.

An owl flew by us, it is a fortunate omen, our project will succeed, or we shall hear good news from our friends. The raven, on the contrary, was considered as a bird of ill omen, and its appearance was supposed to predict evil. "That raven on you left hand oak, Curse on his ill foreboding croak, Bodes me no good." The owl was in a particular manner reverenced by the Athenians, as it was the favoured bird of Minerva, their patroness. When Pericles was haranguing his men on board one of his vessels, who had mutinied, an owl, flying by on the right hand, is said to have settled on the mast of the ship, and the men observing the omen were immediately pacified, and came into his opinion. The phrase, noctua volavit, was also sometimes used to intimate that any advantage obtained was procured by bribery, by giving money on which the figure of an owl was impressed, such coin being common among the Athenians.

Men are rarely fit to command, who have not been accustomed to obey. Children brought up too indulgently neither become agreeable companions, nor good masters. Accustomed to find everyone bending to their humours, and to have all their wishes gratified, they are ill qualified to mix with the world, and to encounter the thousand cross accidents, which every one, whatever may be their rank, will be sure to meet with. Every opposition to their will irritates, and every accident appals them. One of the strongest arguments in favour of our public schools is, that boys must there obey, before they are allowed to command. The proverb also intimates, that no one is fit to govern others, who has not obtained a command over his own passions and, affections.

It is not the fortune of every man to be able to go to Corinth. This city, from its commerce, and from the great concourse of strangers accustomed to visit it, became the most wealthy, and in time, the most voluptuous city in the world; it was also celebrated for its numerous and splendid temples, baths, theatres, and other exquisitely rich and beautiful public buildings, and unfortunately not less so for its debaucheries. It was, therefore, only suitable to the circumstances of the rich to visit a place so dissipated and expensive. Corinth gave its name to the fourth order of architecture, which was invented and first employed in the public buildings there, and to a metallic composition, Corinthian brass, which was very beautiful and durable, but of which there are no vestiges remaining. The proverb may be aptly used to deter persons from entering pursuits, or engaging in projects much beyond their faculties or powers to carry into execution.

It is not easy for anyone to talk a great deal, and altogether to the purpose. "A mucho hablar, mucho errar," talk much, and err much. "No diga la langua par do pague la cabeza," "the tongue talks at the head's cost," and "eating little, and speaking little, can never do harm." "He that speaks doth sow, but he that is silent reaps." "En boca cerrada, no entra moscha," flies do not enter the mouth that is shut, and "Fous sont sages, quand ils se taisent," fools are wise, or may be so reputed, when they are silent.

I am not made of horn, of brass, of iron, or such like impenetrable stuff, as to be so totally void of sense or proper feeling, that I should hear unmoved a tale of so much distress; or so difficult of persuasion, that I should not listen to so reasonable a request.

There is no remedy against the tongue of the sycophant, who, by pretended concern for your interest, worm themselves into your confidence and get acquainted with your most intimate concerns. When men who are indifferent to you affect a more than ordinary regard for your interest, you should be cautious how you converse with them;

" Halaga la cola el can
Non por ti, sino por el pan",

the dog wags his tail not for you but for your bread. It might be well if the sycophant were content with pillaging, but more usually they flatter only to betray you; such men are said, "halagar con la cola, y morder con la boca," to bite while they fawn upon you and, if they are as crafty as they are malevolent, you will not discover the villany of their dispositions until they have done you some irremediable mischief; until they have alienated the minds of your friends, or raised such dissensions in your family as nothing but death will extinguish. When Iago saw that he had succeeded in exciting in Othello a suspicion of the incontinence of Desdemona, he says, exulting in the success of his villany,

–––"Not poppy, nor mandragore,
Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,
Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep
Which thou ow'dst yesterday."

The ancients supposed that there were magic rings which had the power of defending those who wore them from certain diseases, inflicted, as they imagined, by inchantment or witchcraft, but even these were insufficient to protect them from the tongue of the slanderer.