THE Proverb is of antient date,
That he who well would learn to shave,
His fullest wish to consummate,
Should on a Fool's beard practice have.
As with each phrase of antient lore,
The sense implied hath ta'en its rise
That Fools to deal with maketh wise.
For Fools, of all men most precise.
In things of import least, e'er gave
The widest scope for practice nice
Of Patience and of Virtues grave.
In shaving Fools the barber'll find
Those Virtues to the utmost tried,
And howsoe'er to please inclined,
Both skill and patience misapplied.
Of head and beard each sep'rate hair
Must be arranged with nicest care,
And just as Fool will have it laid:
At ev'ry clip he says, ''Take heed!''-
And in the looking-glass must view
If all is done as he decreed,
And what the Barber next must do:
This lock is now somewhat too long,
And this too short-now here, now there,
There something ails, a curl lies wrong
In beard or whisker, or somewhere.
On this side now there needs anew
Just-just a leetle snipp'd away,-
''So! let me look! yes! that will do-
But here! this turn!- looks well? nay! nay!
No moustache ever look'd well so,
Like that indeed it cannot stay!''
And all the Barber strives to do
Is vain as all he tries to say:
Yet! just this place behind the ear?
Aye! Fool! that's just the place that ail'd thee!
From what we've seen 'tis very clear
It was the brainds from first that fail'd thee!
Who wants now this, not that, nor knows
WHat 'tis he needs, doth clearly show it:
For lacking brains, he feels and shows
He wants within the means to know it.
BY moeyelicke heeren
Is veel te leeren.
'T moet een wijse hant sijn, die een sotten Kop wel scheren sal.
It must be a wise hand to cut the hair of a Fool's head.
WAT let, dat leert.
Quae nocent, docent.
[GREEK]
VEXATIO dat intellectum.
HOMINE imperito nil quidquàm est injustius, qui, nisi quod ipse facit nihil rectum
putat.-TERENT. Adelph.
MEN heeft groote kunst van doen
Om de narren te voldoen.
All those who appear Fools, are so, and no less, half of those who do not appear to be so.
FOLLY has a wide dominion in the World; and if there be some little Wisdom,
it is pure Folly compared with the Wisdom of the Most High. But the greatest
Fool is he, who does not believe that he is so, and who imputes Foolishness to every
body else. To be Wise, it is not sufficient to appear so to one's self. He is Wisest
who does not think that he is Wise; and he who does not perceive that others see,
does not see himself. How full soever the World be of Fools, there is no person who
thinks himself one, nor even, who suspects himself of folly.-GRACIAN.
THERE are People (in every class of Society) who entertain a high opinion of them-
selves, but those more particularly, who are the least worthy. Each consider himself
the centre of the Universe, and destined for and exalted position. Hope undertakes
rashly, and Experience renders it no assistance. Vain imagination finds an executioner
in Reality, who undeceives it. Every one should know his proper sphere of action,
and his fittest condition. Reality would then be the regulator of Self-Opinion.-Idem.
FORTUNE takes care that Fools should still be seen:
She places 'em aloft, o'th'topmost spoke
Of all her wheel. Fools are the daily work
of Nature, her Vocation: If she form
A man, she loses by't; 'tis too expensive;
'T would make ten Fools: A Man's Prodigy.
DRYDEN, CEdip.
UN Sot n'a pas assez d'étoffe pour être bon.-LA ROCHEFOUCAULD.
MUCH like as wine the nurse of Poets veine,
When prison-like the caske doth it conteine;
Farre from the bottome while you draw the wine,
You will it find more plenteous and more fine;
But when you come to dreg, no wine abounds,
Both least and worst remaineth in the grounds:
Such like the shining of a candle we see,
Which kindled once burnes not still equally;
At first it giv's greater and clearer light,
And is more pleasant both to smell and sight;
But when it comes to snuffe and even spent,
It shineth lesse, and gives a filthy sent.
The candle and wine's our life, which, in its prime,
Doth flourish more, and hath more hope of time;
But when with mustie age our life decayes,
Then many sorrowes have we, and few dayes.
FARLIE'S Emblems.
WHO WOULD LEARN TO SHAVE WELL, SHOULD FIRST PRACTISE ON A FOOL'S BEARD
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