Il faut qu'un menteur ait bonne memoire, a liar ought to have a good memory. When a transaction is related exactly as it occurred, there is no probability that the relater should at any time vary in his account. The circumstance must for ever dwell in his mind, in the very manner he described it. But if a fictitious story is told, he must have a good memory to be able at all time to tell it in the same manner. The liar therefore has little chance that his fiction shall remain long undiscovered, for should no other circumstance lead to the detection of it, he will, by not adhering always to the same story, betray the imposition he has practised; and it is well that it is so, as there is no vice that doth so cover a man with shame, as to be detected in telling a lie. «Clear and round dealing», Lord Verulam says, «is the honour of man's nature, while a mixture of falsehood, is like allay in coin of gold or silver, which may make the metal work better, but it embaseth it». Montaigne says, very happily, «To accuse a man of lying, is as much as to say, he is a brave towards God, and a coward towards man».

Poverty has, at times, the power of destroying even the affection of a parent to his off spring. When poverty comes in at the door, love flies out at the window. In extreme poverty, the mind is too intensely employed in procuring sustenance, to have leisure to attend to the wants of others, even our nearest relatives. When Mrs. Thrale reproved a poor girl, who was sitting, while her mother was on her legs, and employed; Johnson excused the girl, as not owing that attention to her mother, from whom she only inherited misery and want. But poverty is not without its advantages. If the poor man has not the conveniences, so neither has he the cares that riches never fail to bring with them. His wants are few, and the labour necessary to supply them, preserves him in health, and gives him that composed and quiet sleep, which does not often attend the pillow of the wealthy. The wise man therefore says, «give me neither poverty nor riches».

«Would you be free? 'tis your chief wish, you say;
Come on, I'll shew thee, friend, the certain way.
If to no feasts abroad thou lov'st to go,
Whilst bounteous God does bread at home bestow;
If thou the goodness of thy clothes dost prize,
By thine own use, and not by others' eyes;
If (only safe from weather) thou jeanst dwell
In a small house, but a convenient shell;
If thou, without a sigh, or golden wish,
Canst look upon the beechen bowl and dish;
If in thy mind such power and greatness be,
The Persian king's a slave compared to thee».
(I.Walton and C.Cotton, The Complete Angler)

Many small drops make a shower. Goutte à goutte la mer s'égoute, the sea itself may be emptied by drops. Petit à petit l'oiseau fait son nid, by little and little the bird makes his nest, and many a little makes a mickle. By the accumulation of small sums, large fortunes may frequently be made. Poco è spesso empie il borsetto, little and often fills the purse. Therefore the proverb says, Take care of your pence, your shillings and your pounds will take care of themselves. The adage also admonishes, not to disregard slight evils, they may increase to a considerable magnitude; or small expenses, for if there be many of them, though each of them singly may be insignificant, together they will make a formidable sum. Of the same tendency is; «Gutta cavat lapidem».

A phrase for which we have no direct substitute. Take him away, to the river with him. To the pump or to the horse pond, is sometimes the cry of the mob in this country, when they take upon themselves to execute summary justice on some poor wretch taken in the act of picking a pocket, or in the commission of some crime for which they conceive them properly to be amenable to their tribunal. But among the ancients, certain criminals were condemned to be tied in a sack and drowned, which is what the adage alludes to, and this kind of punishment is still used in Germany. Parricides in Rome were put into a sack with a cock, a monkey, a serpent, and a dog, and thrown into a river or into the sea, to which Juvenal alludes, in the following lines, as translated by Hodgson.

«If votes were free, what slave so lost to shame.
Prefers not Seneca's to Nero's name,
Whose parricides, not one close sack alone,
One serpent, nor one monkey could atone?»

Nero, it is known, caused his mother, two of his wives, and Seneca his tutor to be put to death.

Biting the lips, was formerly, and is now, noted as a sign of vexation or anger. Comedens labra præ iracundia, biting his lips through rage.

We must all die, we should, therefore, frequently meditate on this our common destiny, which is equally incident to the young and the old, the strong and the weak; no age, no state of health affording security against the stroke of death. Whence is it then, that we treat this common guest as a stranger, and appear to be surprised when he has taken from us any near relative or friend? In this town we have a regular yearly account of the number of deaths that occur within a certain distance; this, besides the purpose of recording the diseases which occasion the greatest destruction, for which it seems to have been originally formed, should have the further use of familiarizing us with death, and as it appears that that from 18 to 20,000 persons die yearly within the compass of a few miles, it ought not to seem extraordinary that ourselves, or any of our families should be of the number; it should rather be expected. A friend, condoling with Anaxagoras, on the death of his son, and expressing a more than ordinary concern on the occasion, was told by that philosopher, «Sciebam mortalem me genuisse filium», «that he had never thought his son to be immortal». And Xenophantes receiving similar intelligence, hearing that his son died fighting bravely for his country, said, «I did not make it my request to the Gods that my son might be immortal, or that he should be long lived, for it is not manifest whether this was convenient for him or no; but that he might have integrity in his principles and be a lover of his country, and now I have my desire!».

«The time of being here we style amiss,
We call it life, but truly labour 'tis».
(Plutarch, Consolation to Apollonius)

These men, therefore, it may be presumed, had well considered the subject. From the aversion that many persons have of speaking thinking of death, it would seem as if they thought that by such meditation they should accelerate its approach; but it would probably have the contrary effect, for as a large portion of the diseases and deaths of such as live to an adult age are occasioned by intemperance, a serious contemplation of that circumstance might wean them from their irregularities, and so prolong their lives; or if it did not produce that effect, it might enable them to meet death with firmness as a guest that was daily expected :

«Fleres si scires unum tua tempora mensem,
Rides, cum non sit forsitan una dies».

You would weep if you knew you had only one month to live, yet you pass your time in gaiety and folly, though perhaps you may not live a single day. It is not meant by what is here said, that we should not have a proper relish for life, or that we should be indifferent about its extinction ;

«For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey,
This pleasing anxious being e'er resigned,
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor cast one longing lingering wish behind?"

But as we know we must die, we should be at all times ready to meet our fate when the hour approaches.

The dead do not bite, cannot hurt you. This apothegm was used by Theodore Chius, master in rhetoric to Ptolemy king of Egypt, when consulted by him whether they should grant an asylum to Pompey, who had landed on their coast, after being defeated by Julius Cæsar. He advised them to receive him, and put him to death; adding, «Mortuos non mordere». Our more common phrase, and which is probably used by ruffians who determine to murder those they rob, is, the deads tell no tales.

Having dreamed you were dead, you will now be free from care. Such was anciently a current opinion among the Grecians, as it is now in some parts of this country. The Spaniards say, more properly, De los sueños no creas, ni malos, ni buenos, pay no credit to dreams, whether good or bad; and the French, Tous les songes sont mensonges, all dreams are lies. Hence, perhaps, an opinion, that all dreams are to be construed as meaning the contrary, After a dream of a wedding, we say, comes a corpse. But this is equally as idle, as taking them literally.

Entre la bouche, et le verre,
Le vin souvent tombe a terre.
Many things happen between the cup and the lip, was the saying of a servant to his master, whom he saw anxiously tending a vine, from which he promised himself an abundant produce of excellent liquor, of which, however, he was not permitted to partake; for, at the moment he was about to taste the wine, the reward, as he thought, of his labour, he was told that a boar had broke into his vineyard, and was destroying his trees; running hastily to drive away the beast, it turned upon him, and killed him. We are hence taught, not to be too sanguine in our hopes of success, even in our best concerted projects, it too often happening that they fail in producing the intended advantages. De la mano a la boca, se pierde la sopa, is the same sentiment in Spanish. The adage may also be explained, as admonishing us to take time by the forelock, that is, not to let a present opportunity, or advantage, to pass by, a similar one may not again occur. Strike, therefore, while the iron is hot, and
He that will not when he may,
When he will he shall have nay.

Many hands make light work. This is too obvious to need being explained. Of the same kind are, Two heads are better than one, or why do folks marry? and in a multitude of counsellors, there is safety. But the opposite to this is no less true, and we say, too many cooks spoil the broth, and keep no more cats than catch mice; we know also that where too many men are employed in the same business, instead of helping, they often-times hinder each other.

«An nescis longas regibus esse manus?» «Kings», we say, «have long arms», they have also many eyes and ears, that is, they use the ministry of their many servants and dependents, both to discover what is done that may be prejudicial to their interest, and to punish the delinquents, whose crimes may by these means have been detected, though seated at the extremities of their dominions. Hence we say, by way of caution, to persons speaking too freely, on subjects that may give offence, do you not know that Les murs ont des oreilles? "Walls have ears." This sentiment is beautifully expressed in the Ecclesiastes "Curse not the king, no not in thy thought, and curse not the rich, in thy bedchamber, for a bird of the air shall carry thy voice, and that which hath wings, shall tell the matter." The number of spies and emissaries employed by Midas, king of Phrygia, who was a cruel tyrant, gave occasion to the fable of that prince's having asses ears. Antoninus Caracalla, a monster in wickedness, and therefore full of suspicion, not only was frequent in his application to augurs, and soothsayers, in the hope that by their means he might discover whether any designs were hatching against his life, but he made it a serious complaint against Providence, that he was not endowed with the faculty of hearing with his own ears, whatever was said of him: so impotent is the influence of wealth or eminence, in imparting happiness to the possessor, unless, like Titus, he employs them in diffusing blessings among the people. Paredes tienen oydos, et Tras pared, ni tras seto no digas tu secreto. Walls have ears, and behind a wall or a hedge do not tell a secret.

Men are often through the dread of some misfortune threatening them, so disturbed, and so completely deprived of judgment, as not to see, or be able to use the means, which, in a more easy and quiet state of their minds, would have been sufficiently obvious, and by which they might have avoided the evil, so that to standers by, they seem to have acted under some secret impulse, or to have been fascinated. It is fear that deprives the bird of the power of escaping the snake, if it has once caught its eye; not daring to turn its face from the frightful object, it necessarily every step it takes approaches nearer, and at length, deprived of all sense and power, falls into its jaws.

Quo timoris minus est, eo minus ferme periculi est.

Where there is the least fear, there is, for the most part, least danger; though the Spaniards say, Quien obra sin miedo, yerra su hecho, he who acts without fear, acts wrong; but the word «miedo», «fear», in this sentence, means only care, caution or attention.

The goodwill and intention of the donor, constitutes the principal value of the gift. Xerxes found a draught of water, presented to him by a soldier in the field of battle, of inestimable value.

Living like the mouse, upon the property of others. Plautus makes his parasite say, «Quasi mures, semper edimus alienum cibum», like the mouse, we always feed upon what others have provided.

You have a weasel in your house, was said to persons with whom every thing turned out unfortunate and perverse. To meet a weasel was considered by the ancients as ominous; and portending some misfortune about to happen. Among huntsmen in this country, Erasmus tells us, it was in his time deemed an ill omen, if anyone named a weasel when they were setting off for their sport. Theophrastus, in his description of the character of a superstitious man, says; «If a weasel crosses the road he stops short, be his business never so pressing, and will not stir a foot till somebody else has gone before him and broke the omen; or till he himself has weakened the prodigy by throwing three stones».

What is retained and kept in the mind can never injure, it may injure us to have divulged it. Quien calla, piedras apaña, he that is silent is heaping up stones; he is thinking how he may profit by what others are saying; and Oveja que bala bocada pierde, the sheep loses a mouthful when it bleats. Silence is the sanctuary of prudence, and properly used, it is one of the most valuable attributes of wisdom. The fool's bolt is soon shot, he has little in him, and over that little he has no controul; he is always, therefore, saying something that is unseasonable and improper; he is precipitate in his judgment, and determines before he well knows the proposition to which his assent is required. But the wise man is reserved and cautious, he looks before he leaps, thinks before he speaks and even of a good bargain he thinks twice before he says done, for he knows that appearances are often deceitful, and that all is not gold that glitters, he has wide ears, and a short tongue, therefore more ready to hear the opinions of others, than to proclaim his own. Augustus Cæsar bore a sphinx, an emblem of silence, on his ring, intimating that the counsels of princes should be secret. But silence is often adopted for very different purposes and from different motives: some make use of it, to cover their ignorance; conscious of their inability to bear a part in the conversation, they avoid venturing their opinion, and «wisely keep the fool within», in which they shew a commendable prudence; even a fool when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise, and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. Parla poco, ascolto assai, et non fallirai, speak little and attend to what falls from others, and you will commit no error. Others again are silent through craft, fearful lest by some unguarded expression they should betray the part they had taken in some transaction, in which they would not be thought to have been concerned; or that they should discover their opinion or intention, which may be the reverse of what they publicly profess: such men, to use the strong language of Churchill,

«Lest bold truth to do sage wisdom spight,
Should burst the portals of their lips by night,
Tremble to trust themselves one hour in sleep».

Yet there is an instance on record, where silence is said to have occasioned the destruction of a country, whence the following:

Amyclas perdidit Silentia.

Amyclas was lost by silence. The magistrates of this city having been frequently alarmed by some of the more timid inhabitants, with reports of an enemy being at hand when no danger was near, ordered, under the penalty of a severe punishment, that no one should again disturb them with such rumours. At length, when an enemy was actually approaching, the people not daring, on account of the law to give the necessary information, the city was taken. The proverb may be applied to any one neglecting the proper opportunity or time for doing any necessary business.

Which may be aptly enough rendered by our English proverb, what is bred in the bone, will never get out of the flesh. Lupus pilum mutat, non mentem, it is easier for the wolf to change his coat than his disposition: habits are with difficulty changed, and with greater difficulty if of such long continuance as to become a second nature. As the bough of a tree drawn from its natural course, recoils and returns to its old position as soon as the force by which it had been restrained is removed; so do we return to old habits as soon as the motives, whether interest or fear, which had induced us to quit them, are done away: the cat that had been transformed into a fine lady, on seeing a mouse, forgetting the decorum required by her new form, sprung from the table where she was sitting to seize on her prey. Vizio di natura dura fino alla sepoltura, the vice that is born with us or is become natural to us, accompanies us to the grave. A rich miser being at the point of death, his confessor placed before him a large silver crucifix, and was about to begin an exhortation, when the usurer, fixing his eyes on the crucifix, said, «I cannot, sir, lend you much upon this ».

You are going the way of the Massilians, may be said to inconsiderate spendthrifts, who are dissipating what had been acquired for them, either by good fortune or the industry and frugality of their ancestors. The Massilians, once a brave and independent people, having by their commerce acquired great affluence, became so debauched, extravagant and effeminate, as to fall an easy prey to the neighbouring states.

He has not been taught even the fables of Æsop, was used to be said of persons totally illiterate; whose education has been so neglected, that they had not been initiated in the rudiments of literature; "he has not read his horn-book or his primer," or "does not know his alphabet," we say on similar occasions. The horn-book, it is known, is a piece of board six or seven inches long and four or five broad, on which is pasted a strip of paper containing the alphabet in capital and small letters, covered with a plate of transparent horn, to guard it from the fingers of the young subjects, to whose use it is dedicated: this description may seem superfluous at present, but horn-books are now so little used, that, it is probable, should the name of the contrivance continue, the form and fashion of it will in a short time be lost. To the same purport is: "Neque natare, neque Literas" (Erasmo, 0313).

Offer not your hand to anyone with whom you may casually associate. This is in fact only an extension of the sense of the first apothegm, by which we were admonished not lightly, or unadvisedly, to admit anyone to an intimacy, «for with your hand you should give your heart». «Deligas enim tantum quem diligas», you should chuse as friends only such persons as are worthy of your love, and when you have found such, as Polonius advises his son Laertes, «Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel», for «amicus est magis necessarius quam ignis et aqua», a friend is more necessary to us than fire and water, without which, we know, we cannot even exist. From a want of making this selection, and of being well acquainted with the characters of the persons whom we admit to this intimacy, arises the frequent complaint of the perfidy of friends. «Qui sibi amicus est, scito hunc amicum omnibus esse», he who is a friend to himself is a friend to everyone to whom he professes to be so. If this apothegm of Seneca should not be admitted to its full extent, it will at the least be allowed, that he who is not a friend to himself, should not be expected to be a friend to anyone besides. For how should a man be a friend to strangers, who neglects what is necessary for the comfortable subsistence of himself and family? In short, to be a friend it is necessary that a man should shew himself to be a reasonable and a good moral man, fulfilling his duty to God, to his country, and to himself. Such a man, to adopt the language of Montaigne, «is truly of the cabinet council of the Muses, and has attained to the height of human wisdom».If these rules in the choice of our friends be followed, few persons will have reason to complain of their faithlessness. If it should be said that such characters are rare, it then follows, that there are but few persons with whom we should enter into that close intimacy which is designated by the term friendship.