Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1874-02-18
OF PROVERBS AND ADAGEs.
BY LOUISE V. lloyd.

1
proverbs to which he was partial we even see
| the cold glance of his eye and note the sordid
| lines about his mouth, revealing the petty page
| Of his past life, and spreading before us too,
| the blank, scant pages primly ruled, wherein
he designs to have written the future of his
| famly-but, the the pages mark you, are gilt
edged.
Reader, dear, dost thou love to dwell upon
the msxius of our fathers, and hast thou of pet
| proverbs mighty store? If So thou art to be
| p tied, not envied or, that is my mood to-day
what l shall think bout it to- morrow, know
not The wind bloweth where 1t llsteth is
| not this Scripture saying to my purpose
Why should take kindly to proverbs when
my earliest recollection of one was when sob
| bling out some childish sorrowupon my mother
| indulgent bosom, and thinking what 3 good
| place it was to cry, our visitor, the minister,
who had Just enough of learning TO Inlsquote
| muttered, Spare the rod and spoil the child ~
This remark drove out of me a meek and cQntrlte
| spirit. and i become possessed ot-well-l went
| out from my mothers and that minister pres
| ence little bowling demon, and per cohse-
quence hated him and his voluntary saw Tor
ever after. l recolect still his text OF the io,
| lowing Sunday, it was, "Rememb Der Lot wite'
| All, surely, l will remember the poor thing
| also, the seemingly wicked, or, at least, cruel
exultation with which he dwelt on her punish
| ment-nor did he fail in this connection to add
"the wages of sin is death, which, with his ter"
| rible emphasis, greatly frightened me. You
! may be sure be did not finish the sentence with
its Heaven-reaching promise.
When wild with delight, / saw swallow
glancing through the sunny spring-time air,
ran to tell my father; can l forget how he, too;
| who bad been "snapper-up of unoonsidered
| trifes," seeming not to share in my gladness,
looked up and said. warningly, "One swallow
does not make a summer
And are net the many pleasant recollectlons
of my school days, overshadowed and made
mournful by the tormenting proverbs L was
doomed to encounter. My teacher maiden
loAV &C aDNoD ia
quirements In her everyday language she had
use for any point save period, therefore, she
was just the person for proverbs, very short
ones.
On, that teacherl how she looms up in the
far-of sunny land of my childhood, like the
great mournful visaged, impenetrable sphynx of
the desert and as 1t gazes toward the pyramids,
so did she look on the world about her-to her
it was the mighty tomb of q dead glory. Now
] think of her with sadness yet can l scarcely
forgive her for throwing that unnecessary dam
per over me when | exhibited to her the gold
ring that had been sent me in a letter from 8
loving grandfather hundreds of miles away.
'All is not gold that glltters,n was the explosion
from her thin lips; SO my pleasure WAS wofully
diluted | looked with suspicion on the dear lit
tie circlet, and was not sorry when my finger
outgrew il.
Afterward did put upon my chubby hands a
pair of mtts-these my grandmother had made;
she had been to the city, and had procured this
neatly-tttRg mitt-pattern from the wife of the
foreman of g love factory. She had measured
my hand lengthwise and wdthwise with the
greatest precision; she had cut the er-shaped
pieces out Of scraps of nankeen, she had over
scanned them wonderfully, and had ornamented
them with green worsted, in what she called
beggar-stch
/ made my debut in the school-room next
morning. presenting in my own estimation, not
only tidy, but most stylish appearance How
was the rag taken of the bush, of my vanity,
when at the writing that teacher, seeing thos
4 4 Ill ob,,n1,
were dying of envy, said plsyfully, as she placed
the open cOpy-book before me, "a cat in gloves
will catch no mice" In deep humiliation re-
moved my now disgraced mitts from my hands
10 my pocket took up the neatly mended quill
pen and began to write. l read the copy through
tears | despise it to this very hour. l beg good
st. Paul pardon, it was Evil communications
corrupt good manners" Could not the many
good things Paul said of himself the many glor-
lous things he said by Inspiration have satisfied
himself without his resorting to the writings of
old Aenander for this? But l am told that it is
still quite fashionable among teachers and the
getters-up of copy-books, when they reach the
letter G, 70 give this old stager.
Out Of school, during the long summer holi-
days, l was often reminded that Fields look
green at a distance" and that Every white will
have its black, and.every sweet its sour" which
! could, in time, have found out for myself Oh
the great Lord John Russell would, 1sknow,
make me his best bow, could he revisit this dull
earth and read my improvement on his defni-
ton Of proverb. "a proyerb is the wisdom of
many mon and the wit of one" said he; it is
one mans crOaking of all mems disappointments
say for you will observe that CHEEKY and
hopeful adages are such ridiculous minority,
that we can but exclaim. The weakest goes TO
the wall.
When my young brother started out into the
great world to try his fortunes, instead of a
kindly God speed, he only hesred," a rolling
stone gathers no moss" And when my bank
rupt uncle thought 70 take his stalwart sons and
rosy daughters ard in the far West begin life
anew, his neighbors gravely shook their heads,
remarking, "A drowning man catches At a
straw" or they reminded hun by way Of dis
enlargement that Three removes are as bad as
q fire.
When the impertinent tAorns ofayoung rose
bush caught and tore my dress sleeve, need
say some one was near 20 say "A stitch in time
saves nine and vas not the piOus John Weslcy's
memory kept green in our home by that watch
word Of hOusekeepers of which ne was the Orig-
nator Cleanliness is next % godhness."
One nt the most popular and by all odds the
most -e-sOlnding and cuphOuiOus Of max
inns with which my youthful mind became
familiar, was, "Early % bed and early y rise,
makes q man healthy, and wealthy, and wise"
Bu il don (. Indeed ] know this prOYerb 10 be
miserable failure, for my sisters husbands
cousin wifs's frst husband tried II, and he was
known 70 be almost smpleton, never was
healthy % speak OF, and died poor. ! congratu-
late myself now that ] was never deuded into
trying this experiment never sacrificed the
pleasure Of being up when amusement offered,
never dispensed with, the luxury of q conforta-
bic morning nap till compelled by dire neces-
sity, and think ii ] had done 50 ] might now be
constrained 10 confess that Il had paid too dear
for my whistle and when one CONES 10 that