English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases. Collected, arranged, and annotated by
W. Carew Hazlitt. (J. R. Smith.)—The indefatigable industry of Mr. Hazlitt has given us this large volume of 500 pages and more, containing, as after a rough calculation we estimate, more than 12,000 "proverbs and proverbial phrases." That it is the most com- plete collection of the kind that has ever appeared we do not doubt ; that it should be perfect is impossible. We have sought to test it by calling up all the proverbs which our memory could furnish ; most of them we found duly set forth ; the following we miss, though it is possible that they may be present under some other shape :—" Curses, like young chickens, come home to roost" a proverb of Greek origin, but now an old inhabitant of this country ; " A burnt child dreads the fire ;" "Liverpool gentlemen, Manchester men, and Oldham fellows," a saying common enough in Lancashire, though not always in precisely the same form ; and " Caveat emptor," which is as much naturalized as most of the Latin phrases which Mr. Hazlitt includes in his collection. We do not pretend to great critical power in this respect; could we but call up Mrs. Poyser from the shadowy realms of fiction, she might point out more omissions. But anyhow, the volume contains a wonderfully large collection ; and the notes are judicious and to the point. The only serious fault we have to find is with the Greek printing, a sad trial to authors, as we know by experience, but here worse done than usual.
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