Wise Saws and Modern Instances, Volume 1 (of 2)

Designed to elucidate the philosophy of fiction as well as to afford specimens of those marvels which have entered into popular belief, and taken a permanent place in literature. The classical inventions of the Greeks, the romantic fables of the middle ages, the gorgeous and sometimes gloomy conceptions of the orientals, and our own pleasing superstitions of fairy lore, will be exemplified by specimens, and the influence of fancy on belief will be illustrated by a variety of legends most of which have not hitherto been brought before the English public. By W. C. TAYLOR, L.L.D.

Adorned with Twenty beautiful line Engravings on Steel, from pictures by British Artists, and several Woodcuts, elegantly printed in demy 4to, and richly bound in gilt, Price 21_s._

THE BOOK OF ART; Or, Cartoons, Frescoes, Sculpture, and Decorative Art, as applied to the New Houses of Parliament, as also to building in general: with an Appendix, containing an Historical Notice of the Exhibitions in Westminster Hall.

The Volume, which will contain at least One Hundred Engravings, is printing in the best manner, in royal 4to. Price 15_s._ handsomely bound.

On the 1st of November, Part 1., Price Half-a-crown, to be continued Monthly, and completed in Ten Parts,

WANDERINGS OF A PEN AND PENCIL; Being the results of an antiquarian and picturesque tour through the Midland Counties of England, by F. P. PALMER & ALFRED CROWQUILL. The illustrations will be drawn on wood by the latter, and engraved by our best wood-cutters.

The Book will present something of interest for those readers who cherish the affection for antiquity, or an appreciation of manners, customs, and legends which abound in the nooks of "Merry England."

At Christmas, THE HONEY STEW OF THE COUNTESS BERTHA. A Fairy Tale.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF ALEXANDER DUMAS BY MARIANNE TAYLOR.

With Coloured Engravings.

Square Royal. RAMBLES IN NORMANDY. BY JAMES HAIRBY, M.D.

Normandy, the cradle of our monarchy and aristocracy, the last resting-place of our early kings, and the scene of our first great struggles against France, must ever have strong interest for Englishmen. We find our national associations connected with its most striking localities; and many of our leading families must refer to the archives of this province for the antiquities of their race. It is also as rich in natural scenery as it is in historical associations; its peasants surpass those of the rest of France in industry, intelligence, and comforts; while the numerous English families who annually visit its sea-coast for the purpose of bathing have brought it almost as close to England in alliance as it was anciently in connection.

This Volume will record the impressions of a two years' residence, and sundry journeyings in the province, furnishing a useful guide to visitors, and information for tarry-at-home travellers. The Illustrations will consist of a variety of subjects, Costume, Landscape, and Architecture.

WISE SAWS AND MODERN INSTANCES.

VOL. I.

LONDON: Printed by A. SPOTTISWOODE, New-Street-Square.

WISE SAWS AND MODERN INSTANCES.

BY THOMAS COOPER, THE CHARTIST, AUTHOR OF "THE PURGATORY OF SUICIDES."

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

LONDON: PRINTED FOR JEREMIAH HOW, 209. PICCADILLY. 1845.

TO DOUGLAS JERROLD.

My friend, heart-homage, in this simple strain, I yield thee for thy toil to aid the Right! Too long hath genius, with a guilty slight, Passed by the thousands who life's load sustain Of scorn and indigence,—to court the vain And foppish crowd,—or laud, in phrases dight With fulsome flattery, some pampered wight Who counts himself for polished porcelain,— The poor for vulgar clay! A nobler path,— Disdaining hireling censure, hireling praise,— Thou, for thyself, hast chosen. Still, in faith That thy true toil shall hasten the boon days Of brotherhood renewed, brother, toil on!— All upright hearts give thee blythe benison!

ADVERTISEMENT.

With the exception of the last three sketches, the pieces composing these two volumes were written during the author's confinement, for "conspiracy," in Stafford gaol, merely, as a relief from the intenser thought exercised in the composition of his "Prison-Rhyme,"—"The Purgatory of Suicides,"—already published. Higher merit than naturalness combined with truth is not claimed for any of the stories: they are, simply, such as any man may write who has the least power of pourtraying the images which human life, in some of its humblest, least disguised forms, has impressed on his memory,—while the heart has formed no attachment sufficiently powerful to seduce the judgment into a decision, that it is either wise or honest to hide these images from the observance of others. Nearly all the homely characters sketched are real,—some of them, in their very names; and the few adventures allotted to them, are devoid of romance and intricacy, because they seldom exceed fact.

The "_Old_ Lincolnshire," so often mentioned in these simple pieces, and endeared to the writer of them by the associations of thirty years of his life, is likely soon to disappear before the social changes of that New Lincolnshire which railway "civilisation" will summon into existence:—would that the manufacturing-misery of the modern Leicestershire, outlined in two or three uncoloured and painfully-veritable pictures, might, as speedily, evanish!

Of the three concluding sketches, the writer feels it right to state that the first is merely a slight alteration of a series of paragraphs furnished to the Stamford Mercury, in 1838, and records strict facts which were then occurring in Lincolnshire; while the two remaining fragments were intended to form parts of a novel, in some degree autobiographical,—but the completion of which was relinquished, at first, from a toilful engagement with the sterner business of life, and at length from a growing preference for other subjects.

134, Blackfriars' Road, London, Nov. 1. 1845.

CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.