Those who, avoiding one difficulty, rashly run into a still greater dilemma, are warned, as in More's "Dial," that "they lepe lyke a flounder out of the fryenge panne into the fyre." Tertullian, Plato, and other early writers vary the wording to "Out of the smoke into the fire," but the pith of the matter is the same. Fire and smoke play their part in several adages. One of these, "If you will enjoy the fire you must not mind the smoke," recalls the days when the domestic arrangements were somewhat cruder than in those more luxurious days, but it still remains a valuable reminder that whatever advantages we may enjoy we must also be prepared for certain drawbacks. The Latin "Commodatis quævis sua fert incommoda secum" covers the same ground; and the French, "Nul feu sans fumée"--no fire without smoke, no good without some inconvenience--echoes the same idea. On the other hand, "Where there is smoke there is fire," the appearance of evil is a warning that the evil exists, the loose word implies the loose life. As the effect we see cannot be causeless, it is a danger-signal that we must not ignore. The present whiff of smoke, if disregarded, may be the herald of half an hour hence a raging conflagration, spreading ruin on every side. When a strong comparison, the expression of a marked difference, is called for, we may, in the words of Shaclock, in his "Hatchet of Heresies," published in 1565, exclaim, "Do not these thynges differ as muche as chalcke and chese?" or, turning to the "Confessio Amantis" of Gower, find for our purpose, "Lo, how they feignen chalk for cheese!" while Heywood hath it: "That as well agreeth the comparison in these, As alyke to compare in tast, chalk and cheese." Another popular proverb of our ancestors was "Fast bind, fast find." Hence, on turning to the "Merchant of Venice," we find the admonition, "Do as I bid you. Shut doors after you: fast bind, fast find--a proverb never stale in thrifty mind"; and the counsel is found repeated in the "Jests of Scrogin," published in 1565: "Wherefore a plaine bargain is best, and in bargaines making, fast bind, fast find"--a certain business shrewdness, a legal document, even the turning of a key in a door, will at times preserve to us unimpaired property that carelessness would have lost to us. "The more the merrier" is an adage that has a pleasantly hospitable ring about it, though we are reminded in addition that the multiplicity of guests may lead to a certain pinching in the supplies. Heywood reminds us how "The more the merrier we all day here see, Yea, but the fewer the better fare, sayd he";