FOOD for the MIND:
OR, A NEW
RIDDLE-BOOK.

Compiled for the Use of
The Great and the Little
GOOD BOYS and GIRLS
In England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Who Riddles tells, and merry Tale,

O'er nut-brown Cakes and Mugs of Ale.

Homer.

Come riddle me riddle me riddle me Ree,

None are so blind as they that wont see.

Puffendorf.

LONDON:

Printed for the Booksellers of Europe, Asia,
Africa, and America; and sold by T. Carnan
and F. Newbery, Jun. at Number 65, St.
Paul's Church Yard. 1778.

The Public are desired to observe, that F. Newbery, at the Corner of St. Paul's Church-Yard and Ludgate Street, has not the least Concern in any of the late Mr. John Newbery's Entertaining Books for Children; and, to prevent having paltry Compilation obtruded on them instead of Mr. John Newbery's useful Publications, they are desired to be particularly careful to apply for them to T. Carnan and F. Newbery, Jun. (Successors to the late Mr. John Newbery) at Number 65, near the Bar in St. Paul's Church-Yard.

[PREFACE.]

The art of making riddles is so antique, that it bears date almost with our earliest accounts of time, and is a diversion with which Sampson, the strongest of all mankind, amused himself. Nor has it been confined to common people, as a certain author supposes; for Kings, and even some of the wisest of them, are said to have been adepts in the science; for such was the ever-to-be-remembered King Solomon, and such was his friend Hiram the King of Tyre.

Riddling, if I am not mistaken, is the art of both dissembling and undissembling, and, if what a great Politician has asserted to be true, that he who knows not how to dissemble knows not how to reign, this art must be eminently useful to Princes, and their Ministers, and not to them only, but to all those who are any ways connected with courts, or concerned in political transactions; for as people in high life do not always speak as they mean, nor promise what they intend to perform; or, in other words, as dissembling is held in such high estimation among the Great, and practised with applause every day, the art of undissembling, should, I think, be called in to the aid of those whose heads may render them subject to imposition.—A squeeze by the hand is a dumb riddle, which may induce any one unskilled in this art to dance attendance for years; while an adept takes the unmeaning sign to pieces, and, like a Free-mason, returns the compliment by another squeeze, to let the Ænigmatist know that he is in the secret. All Cyphers used by Politicians are Riddles; and were Ambassadors, and those to whom Cyphers are sent, but skilled in this science, few blunders would be made from that mystical manner of conveyance; for the meaning, without a key, would be as obvious to them, as to the most profound decypherer of them all.

Not that I would have this science confined to political affairs;—No, its utility is unbounded, and may be extended with propriety and benefit to every part of life, and every branch of learning. It is a kind of natural Logic, which I should be glad to see adopted by our Universities in the room of that jargon they at present make us of; for as it consists in discovering truth under borrowed appearances, it may prove of wonderful advantage to the Scholar in the pursuit of his studies, by habituating the mind to separate all foreign ideas, and consequently preserving it from that grand source of error, the being deceived by false connections. And in common life how necessary is it for a man to carry this sort of knowledge about him?—Every knave is an Ænigma that you must unriddle before you can safely deal with him, and every fool may be fathomed. What is making love but making riddles? And what else are some of our treaties, and indeed some of our laws? Even our gravestones can't tell the naked truth: tombs you see are sort of riddles! a Politician is a walking Riddle; and so is a Physician and his prescription a professed Ænigma, intended only to be solved by the Apothecary.———This being the truth, then will any man tell me, that the art of riddling is not of the utmost consequence to society?

I shall conclude this preface in the words of a great author: As this science contains the sum of all human policy, and as there is no passage thro' the world without sometimes mixing with fools and knaves; who would not chuse to be master of the ænigmatical art, in order, on proper occasions, to be able to lead aside craft and impertinence from their aim, by the convenient artifice of a prudent disguise?

A
New RIDDLE BOOK.

While young I'm as gay as the maidens in May,

And when dress'd in my holiday cloaths,

Am the joy of the swains, and the pride of the plains,

And may vie with the belles and the beaux.

But my time's of short date, and so hard is my fate,

That when to full stature I'm grown,

I'm cut down by the lout, toss'd and tumbled about,

Till no signs of life can be shown.

Four wings I have,

Which swiftly mount on high

On sturdy pinions,

Yet I never fly;

And tho' my body often moves around,

Upon the self-same spot

I'm always found;

And, like a nurse who chews the infants meat,

I chew for man before that he can eat.

With words unnumber'd I a-bound,

In me mankind take much delight,

In me great store of learning's found,

Yet I can neither read nor write.

The world I view in little space

I'm restless, ever changing place

Nothing I eat, but by my pow'r,

Procure what all mankind devour.

My body is both plump and round,

With comely neck and breast,

No brighter creature would be found

Were I but oftner dress'd:

But daily I am wearied so

And my employment such,

Black as any negro go,

Nor scarce am fit to touch:

Upon my mistress morn and eve,

I constantly attend;

Yet many a blow and nick-name have,

Tho' I did ne'er offend.

When mortals are involv'd in ills,

I sing with mournful voice;

If mirth their hearts in gladness fills,

I celebrate their joys.

And as the lark with warbling throat,

Ascends upon the wing;

So I lift up my chearful note,

And as I mount I sing.

A tall and slender shape I bear,

Nor lady's skin's more white or fair:

My life is short, and doth decay

So soon it seldom lasts a day.

If in the evening brought to light,

I make my exit in the night;

Yet to mankind I'm useful ever,

And many hidden things discover;

Which makes all those who round me tend,

Oft with a sigh lament my end.

I'm of the same materials made as you,

Have native ignorance and beauty too;

But when I fly for safety to your arms,

You to a foreigner resign my charms;

He, to defile me thinks it no offence;

And rudely robs me of my innocence;

With inward rage I burn—but hug the foe,

And breathe out vengeance wherefo'er I go.

Nay, while thus lovingly we seem to agree,

I serve him just as Jove did Semele,

For e'er from me the thoughtless sot retires,

By my embrace consum'd he soon expires.

The HIGHWAY.

When Cæsar did this Isle invade,

I first experienc'd royal aid:

Nay, now to Majesty belong,

Tho' subject to the vulgar throng;

Who with uncivil usage treat,

And trample me beneath their feet;

With heavy burdens me oppress,

And money gain by my distress;

Yet all their insults I endure,

While they my given bruises cure:

I am in every country found,

And traverse all the kingdom round:

Say what's my name, that's so well known,

I am a common proverb grown.

I can money procure,

For the rich and the poor,

If I open my mouth pretty wide;

So that there's not a house,

Worth the skip of a louse,

But will for me a lodging provide;

Tho' with Tom, Will, or Bob,

I am licens'd to rob,

And plunder my country all over;

Yet, however unjust,

I keep true to my trust,

And ne'er will my patron discover:

When engag'd for the great,

Or the minions of state,

You'd be shock'd at the havock I make;

For I hack, cut, and slay,

Whate'er falls in my way,

And send it to hell for their sake.

The EYE-LIDS.

In courts or cottages we may be found;

Our skirts with fringe of various dyes are bound;

And as we were by providence design'd,

A guard from harm t' a fav'rite applejoin'd.

We ne'er rove long, nor far asunder stray,

But meet and part a thousand times a day:

When dark, like loving couples, we unite,

And cuddle close together every night.

TIME.

I was before the world began,

And shall for ever last;

Ere father Adam was a man,

Or out of Eden cast.

Your mirthful moments I attend,

And mitigate your grief;

Th' industrious peasant I befriend;

To pris'ners give relief.

Make much of me if you are wise,

And use me while you may;

For you will lose me in a trice,

As I for no man stay.

Tho' a cook, I'm so lean,

That my ribs may be seen,

Yet I care not a farthing for that;

For when victuals I dress,

All about me confess,

They are cover'd all over with fat.

No twins could e'er with us compare,

So like in shape and size;

Our bodies are like ermin fair

As black as jet our eyes:

But tho' so like in ev'ry feature,

We rival brothers be;

Yet so obdurate is our nature,

We often disagree.

Sometimes we play the friendly part,

And sometimes act the foe;

Now transient happiness impart,

Then cause a future woe:

Thousands by us have curs'd their fate,

Plung'd in the gulph of sin;

Happy the youth who shuns the bait,

And dreads the fatal gin.

A DOLL.

Like Lady Patch, in diff'rent dress,

I either sex can ape;

And like her, all mankind confess,

Have comeliness and shape:

Had she the innocence of me,

And I her air and parts,

She would a perfect goddess be,

And I should gain more hearts.

What though I have a hundred eyes,

Which my beholders may surprise,

Yet I could never see:

What if I fine and gay appear,

And sometimes gold and silver wear,

I'm slav'd by industry.

Both male and female me admire,

Or for my service or attire;

And I while young am priz'd.

But when I into years am grown,

And with hard labour quite worn down,

I am by both despis'd.

There was a thing a full month old,

When Adam was no more;

But 'ere that thing was five weeks old,

Adam was years five score.

Tho' you seem of me fond—for my safety provide,

And when you walk out take me close by your side;

Yet you oft use me ill, which I take in good part,

Nor e'er murmur or sigh though I'm stabb'd to the heart.

What being's most despis'd by man,

And does him all the good he can;

Who bore the greatest Prince on earth,

That gave to righteousness new birth;

Who does sometimes o'er death prevail,

And health restore when doctors fail.

We dwell in cottages of straw,

And labour much for little gains;

Sweet meat from us our masters draw,

And then with death reward our pains.

Great virtues have I,

There's none can deny,

And to this I shall mention an odd one;

When apply'd to the tail,

'Tis seldom I fail

To make a good boy of a bad one.

Two twins we are, and let it not surprise,

Alike in ev'ry feature, shape and size;

We're square or round, of brass or iron made,

Sometimes of wood, yet useful found in trade:

But to conclude, for all our daily pains,

We by the neck are often hung in chains.

A head and body large I have,

Stomach and bowels too;

One winding gut of mighty length,

Where all my food goes through;

But what's more strange, my food I take

In at the lower end;

And all, just like a drunken rake,

Out at my mouth I send.

What force and strength could not get through,

I with a gentle touch can do;

And many in the streets would stand,

Were I not as a friend at hand.

Homer of old, as stories tell,

His Iliad put in a nut-shell;

But did you know what I conceal,—