Philadelphia.
Definition of a Proverb (Vol. viii., p. 243.)—C. M. Ingleby inquires the source of the following definition of proverb, viz. "The wisdom of many, and the wit of one."
"To Lord John Russell are we indebted for that admirable definition of a proverb: 'The wisdom,' &c."—See Notes to Rogers's Italy, 1848.
The date is added since, in an edition of 1842; this remark makes no part of the note on the line, "If but a sinew vibrate," &c.
Q. T.
Ireland a bastinadoed Elephant (Vol. viii., p. 366.).—I venture to suggest whether this expression may not be something more than a bull, as
Polonius.
Ennui (Vol. vii., p. 478.; Vol. viii., p. 377.).—The meaning of this admirable word is best gleaned from its root, viz. nuit. It is somewhat equivalent to the Greek ἀγρυπνία, and signifies the sense of weariness with doing nothing. It gives the lie to the dolce far niente: vide Ps. cxxx. 6., and Job vii. 3, 4. Ennui is closely allied to our annoy or annoyance, through noceo, noxa, and their probable root nox, νὺξ. It is precisely equivalent to the Latin tædium, which may be derived from tæda, which in the plural means a torch, and through that word may have a side reference to night, the tædarum horæ: cf. Ps. xci. 5. The subject is worthy of strict inquiry on the part of comparative philologists.
C. Mansfield Ingleby.