freet, never run out into the same street, looking about you in order to pick up fuch another; or when you are inform ed, that he has made a fortune in one branch of business, never change your own, in order to be his rival. Do not defire to be rich all at once; but patient ly add farthing to farthing. Perhaps you defpife the petty fum; and yet they who want a farthing, and have no friend that will lend them it, think farthings very good things. Whang, the foolish miller, when he wanted a farthing in his diftrefs, found that no friend would. lend, because they knew he wanted. Did you ever read the story of Whang in our books of Chinese learning? He, who defpifing fmall fums, and grafping at all, loft even what he had. Whang, the miller, was naturally avaricious; nobody loved money better than he, or more refpected thofe that had it. When people would talk of a rich man in company, Whang would fay I know him very well; he and I have been long acquainted; he and I are intimate; he stood for a child of mine:' but if ever a poor man was mentioned, he had not the least knowledge of the man; he might be very well for aught he knew; but he was not fond of many acquaintances, and loved to chufe his company. Whang, however, with all his eager refs for riches, was in reality poor, he had nothing but the profits of his mill to support him; but though these were Imall, they were certain: while his mill ftood and went, he was fure of eating; and his frugality was fuch, that he every day laid fome money by, which he would at intervals count and contemplate with much fatisfaction. Yet, ftill his acquifitions were not equal to his defires; he only found himself above want, whereas he defired to be poffeffed of affluence. One day, as he was indulging thefe wishes, he was informed that a neighbour of his had found a pan of money under ground, having dreamed of it three nights running before. These tidings were daggers to the heart of poor Whang Here am I,' fays he, toiling and moiling from morning to night, for a few paltry farthings, while neighbour Hunks only goes quietly to bed, and dreams himself into thou*fands before morning. O that I could dream like him! with what pleafure would I dig round the pan; how flily • would I carry it home; not even my wife fhould fee me; and then, O the pleafute of thrufting one's hand into a heap of gold up to the elbow!' Such reflections only served to make the miller unhappy; he difcontinued his former affiduity, he was quite difgufted with fmall gains, and his cuftomers be gan to forfake him. Every day he re peated the with, and every night laid himself down in order to dream. Fortune, that was for a long time unkind, at laft, however, feemed to fmile upon his diftreffes, and indulged him with the wifhed-for vifion. He dreamed, that under a certain part of the foundation" of his mill, there was concealed a monftrous pan of gold and diamonds, buried deep in the ground, and covered with a large flat ftone. He rofe up, thanked the ftars that were at laft pleased to take pity on his fufferings, and concealed his good luck from every person, as is ufual in money dreams, in order to have the vifion repeated the two fucceeding nights, by which he fhould be certain of it's veracity. His wishes in this alfo were answered, he still dreamed of the fame pan of money, in the very fame place. Now, therefore, it was paft a doubt; fo getting up early the third morning, he repairs alone, with a mattock in his hand, to the mill, and began to undermine that part of the wall which the vi fion directed. The first omen of fuccefsTM that he met, was a broken mug; digging still deeper, he turns up a house tile, quite new and entire. At laft, after much digging, he came to the broad flat ftone, but then fo large, that it was beyond one man's ftrength to remove it.. Here,' cried he, in raptures to himself, here it is; under this stone, there is room for a very large pan of diamonds indeed! I muft e'en go home to my wife, and tell her the whole affair, and get her to affist me* in turning it up.' Away, therefore, he goes, and acquaints his wife with every circumftance of their good fortune. Her raptures on this occafion eafily may be imagined, the flew round his neck, and embraced him in an agony of joy, but thofe tranfports, however, did not delay their eagerness to know the exact fum: returning, therefore, fpeedily together to the place where Whang had been digging, there they found not, indeed, the expected treafure, but the mill, their only fup port, undermined, and fallen. Ádieu., LETTER LETTER LXXI. FROM LIEN CHI ALTANGI, TO FUM HOAM, FIRST PRESIDENT OF THI CI REMONIAL ACADEMY AT PEKIN, IN CHINA. TH THE people of London are as fond of walking, as our friends at Pekin of riding: one of the principal entertainments of the citizens here in fummer, is to repair about, nightfall to a garden not far from town; where they walk about, fhew their best cloaths and beft faces, and liften to a concert provided for the occafion. I accepted an invitation, a few evenings ago, from my old friend, the man in black, to be one of a party that was to fup there; and at the appointed how waited upon him at his lodgings. There I found the company affembled, and expecting my arrival. Our party confifted of my friend in fuperlative finery, his ftockings rolled, a black velvet waistcoat, which was formerly new, and 2 grey wig, combed down in imitation of hair. A pawn-broker's widow, of whom, by the bye, my friend was a profeffed admirer, drefed out in green damask, with three gold rings on every finger. Mr. Tibbs, the fecond-rate beau I have formerly described, 'together with his lady, in flimfy filk, dirty gauze instead of linnen, and a hat as big as an umbrella. Our first difficulty was in fettling how we fhould fet out. Mrs. Tibbs had a natural averfion to the water; and the widow, being a little in flefh, as warmly protefted againft walking; a coach was therefore agreed upon, which being too fmall to carry five, Mr. Tibbs confented to fit in his wife's lap. In this manner, therefore, we fet forward, being entertained by the way with the bodings of Mr. Tibbs, who aflured us, he did not expect to fee a fingle creature for the evening above the degree of a cheefemonger; that this was the last night of the gardens, and that, confequently, we should be pefterad with the nobility and gentry from Thames Street and Crooked Lane, with feveral other prophetic ejaculations, probably infpired by the uneafinefs of his fituation. The illuminations began before, we ived; and I must confels, that, upon entering the gardens, I found every fenfe overpaid with more than expected pleasure: the lights every where glimmering through the fcareely moving trees; the full bodied confort bursting on the illness of the night, the natural confort of the birds, in the more retired part of the grove, vying with that which was formed by art; the company gaily dreffed, looking fatisfaction, and the tables spread with various delicacies, alb confpired to fill my imagination with the vifionary happiness of the Arabian law-giver, and lifted me into an extafy of admiration. Head of Confucius," cried I to my friend, this is fine! this unites rural beauty with courtly magnificence; if we except the virgins of immortality that hang on every tree, and may be plucked at every defire, I do not fee how this falls fhort of "Mahomet's Paradife F As for virgins, cries my friend, it is true, they are a fruit that do not much abound in our gardens here; but if ladies as plenty as apples in autumn, and as complying as any Houry of them all, can content you, I fancy we have no need to go to heaven for paradife." I was going to second his remarks, when we were called to a confultation.. by Mr. Tibbs and the rest of the company, to know in what manner we were to lay out the evening to the greatest advantage. Mrs. Tibbs was for keeping the genteel walk of the garden, where, the obferved, there was always the very beft company; the widow, on the contrary, who came but once a feason, was for fecuring a good standing place to fee the water works, which the affured. us, would begin in less than an hour at fartheft za difpute therefore began; and, as it was managed between two of very oppofite characters, it threatened to grow more bitter at every reply. Mrs. Tibhs wondered how people could pretend to know the polite world, who had receiv ed all their rudiments of breeding behind a compter; to which the other replied, that, though fome people fat behind, Compters, yet they could fit at the head of their own tables too, and carve three good dishes of hot meat whenever they thought proper, which was more than fome people could fay for themselves, that hardly knew a rabbit and onions from a green goofe and goofeberries. tured again to commend one of the fingers; but Mrs. Tibbs foon let her know, in the ftile of a connoiffeur, that the finger in queftion had neither ear, voice, nor judgment. Mr. Tibbs, now willing to prove that his wife's pretenfions to mufic were juft, entreated her to favour the company with a fong; but to this he gave a pofitive denial- For, you know very well, my dear,' fays ine, that I am not in voice to-day; and when one's voice is not equal to one's judgment, what fignifies finging Befides, as there is no accompanyment, it would be but spoiling music. All these excufes, however, were over-ruled by the reft of the company who, though one would think they already had mufic enough, joined in the entreaty: but particularly the widow, now willing to convince the company of her breeding, preffed fo warmly, that the feemed de It is hard to fay where this might have ended, had not the hufband, who probably knew the impetuofity of his. wife's difpofition, propofed to end the difpute by adjourning to a box, and try if there was any thing to be had for fupper that was fupportable. To this we all confented; but here a new diftrefs arofe, Mr. and Mrs. Tibbs would fit in none but a genteel box, a box where they might fee and be feen; one, as they expreffed it, in the very focus of public view but fich a box was not eafy to be obtained, for though we were per fectly convinced of our own gentility, and the gentility of our appearance, yet we found it a difficult matter to perfuadetermined to take no refufal. At laft, the keepers of the boxes to be of our pinion; they chofe to referve genteel boxes for what they judged more genteel company. At last, however, we were fixed, though fomewhat obfcurely, and fupplied with the ufual entertainment of the place. The widow found the fupper excellent, but Mrs. Tibbs thought every thing deteftable. Come, come, my dear,' cries the hufband, by way of confolation, to be fure we can't find fuch dreffing here as we have at Lord Crump's, or Lady Crimp's; but for Vauxhall dreffing, it is pretty good; it is not their victuals, indeed, I find fault with, but their wine; their wine,' eries he, drinking off a glafs, indeed, ⚫ is most abominable.' By this laft contradiction, the widow was fairly conquered in point of politenefs. She perceived now that he had no pretenfions in the world to tafte, her very fenfes were vulgar, fince the had praised detestable cuftard, and fmacked at wretched wine; he was therefore Content to yield the victory, and for the rest of the night, to liften and improve. It is true, he would now and then forget herfelf, and confefs fhe was pleafed; but they foon brought her back again to miferable refinement. She once praifad the painting of the box in which we were fitting; but was foon convinced that fuch paltry pieces ought rather to excite horror than fatisfacion; fire ven then, the lady complied; and, after humming for fome minutes, began with sucla a voice, and fuch affectation, as I could perceive gave but little fatisfaction to any except her husband. He fat with rapture in his eye, and beat time with his hand on the table. You must obferve, my friend, that it is the cuftom of this country, when a lady or gentleman happens to fing, for the company to fit as mute and motionlefs as ftatues. Every feature, every limb, muft feem to correfpond in fixed attention; and while the fong continues, they are to remain in a ftate of univerfal petrefaction. In this mortifying fituation, we had continued for fome time, liftening to the fong, and looking with tranquillity, when the mafter of the box came to inform us, that the water-works were going to begin. At this information, I could imitantly perceive the widow bounce from her feat; but correcting herself, the fat down again, repreffed by motives of good-breeding, Mrs. Tibbs, who had feen the water. works a hundred times, refolving not to be interrupted, continued her fong without any share of mercy, nor had the finalleft pity upon our impatience. The widow's face, I own, gave me high entertainment; in it I could plainly read the ftruggle the felt between goodbreeding and curiofity; he talked of the water-works the whole evening be fore, and feemed to have come merely a nefs,' replied the fellow, to contra dict your ladyfhip; I'll run again and fee. He went, and foon returned with confirmation of the difmal tidings. No ceremony could now bind my friend's difappointed miftrefs, the testified her. difpleasure in the openeft manner; in fhort, the now began to find fault in turn, and at last infiffed upon going home, juft at the time that Mr. and Mrs. Tibbs affured the company that the polite hours were going to begin, and that the ladies would inftantaneonfly be entertained with the horns. Adieu. LETTER LXXII. FROM THE SAME OT far from this city lives a poor fons, all at this very time in arms and fighting for their country; and what reward do you think has the tinker from the ftate for fuch important fervices? None in the world; his fons, when the war is over, may probably be whipped from parifh to parifh as vagabonds; and the old man, when pat labour, may die a prifoner in fome houfe of correc tion. Such a worthy fubject in China would be held in univerfal reverence; his fervices would be rewarded, if not with dignities, at least with an exemption from labour; he would take the lefthand at feafts, and mandarines themfelves would be proud to fhew their fubmiffion. The English laws punish vice; the Chinese laws do more, they reward virtue! Confidering the little encouragement given to matrimony here, I am not furprized at the difcouragements given to propagation. Would you believe it, my dear Fum Hoam, there are laws made which even forbid the peoples marrying each other? By the head of Confucius, I jet not; there are fuch laws in being here; and yet their law givers have neither been inftructed among the Hottentots, nor imbibed their principles of equity from the natives of Anamaboo. There are laws which ordain, that no man fhall marry a woman against her own confent. This, though contrary to what we are taught in Afia, and though in fome meafure a clog upen no to. There are laws which ordain, that no woman fhall marry against her father and mother's confent, unless arrived at an age of maturity; by which is underftood thofe years when women, with us, are generally past child-bearing. This must be a clog upon matrimony, as it is more difficult for the lover to please three than one, and much more difficult to please old people than young ones: The laws ordain, that the consenting couple fhall take a long time to confider before they marry; this is a very great clog, becaufe people love to have all rash actions done in a hurry. It is ordained, that all marriages thall be proclaimed before celebration; this is a fevere clog, as many are ashamed to have their marriage made public, from motives of vicious modefty, and many afraid from views of temporal intereft, It is ordained, that there is nothing facred in the ceremony, but that it may be diffolved, to all intents and purposes, by the authority of any civil magiftrate. And yet, oppofite to this, it is ordained, that the priest fhall be paid a large fum of money for granting his facred permiffion. Thus you fee, my friend, that ma trimony here is hedged round with fo many obftructions, that thofe who ate, willing to break through or furmount them must be contented, if at laft they find it a bed of thorns. The laws are not to blame, for they have deterred the people from engaging as much as they could. sould. It is indeed become a very ferious affair in England, and none but ferious people are generally found willing to engage. The young, the gay, and the beautiful, who have motives of pafhon only to induce them, are feldom found to embark, as thofe inducements are taken away; and none but the old, the ugly, and the mercenary, are feen to unite; who, if they have any pofte rity at all, will probably be an ill-faVoured race like themselves. What gave rife to thofe laws might have been fome fuch accidents as thefe. It fometimes happened that a mifer, who had spent all his youth in fcraping up money to give his daughter fuch a fortune as might get a mandarine husband, found his expectations disappointed at laft, by running away with his footman; this must have been a fad fhock to the poor difconfolate parent, to fee his poor daughter in a one-horfe chaife, when he had defigned her for a coach and fix. What a ftroke from Providence! to fee his dear money go to enrich a beggar; all Nature cried out at the profanation! It fometimes happened, alfo, that a lady who had inherited all the titles and all the nervous complaints of nobility, thought fit to impair her dignity, and mend her conftitution, by marrying a farmer: this mult have been a fad fhock to her inconfolable relations, to fee fo fine a flower fnatched from a flourishing family, and planted in a dunghill; this was an abfolute inverfion of the first principles of things. In order, therefore, to prevent the great from being thus contaminated by vulgar alliances, the obftacles to matrimony have been fo contrived, that the rich only can marry amongst the rich; and the poor, who would leave celibacy, must be content to encrease their poverty with a wife. Thus have their laws fairly inverted the inducements to matrimony: Nature tells us, that beauty is the proper allurement of thofe who are rich, and money of those who are poor; but things here are fo contrived, that the rich are invited to marry by that fortune which they do not want, and the poor have no inducement but that beauty which they do not feel. An equal diffusion of riches through any country ever conftitutes it's happihefs. Great wealth in the poffeflion of one stagnates, and extreme poverty with another keeps him in unambitious indigence; but the moderately rich are ge nerally active; not too far removed from poverty to fear it's calamities, nor too near extreme wealth to flacken the nerve of labour, they remain ftill between both in a fate of continual fluctuation. How impolitic, therefore, are thofe laws which promote the accumulation of wealth among the rich, more impolitic ftill in attempting to increase the depreffion on poverty! Bacon, the English philofopher, compares money to manure' If gathered in heaps," fays he, it does no good on the contrary, it becomes offenfive. But being spread, though never so thinly, over the furface of the earth, it enriches the whole country.' Thus the wealth a nation poffeffes muft expa tiate, or it is of no benefit to the public it becomes rather a grievance, where matrimonial laws thus confine it to a few. But this restraint upon matrimonial community, even confidered in a phyfical light, is injurious. As those who rear up animals take all poffible pains to cross the ftrain, in order to improve the breed; fo, in thofe countries where marriage is moft free, the inhabitants are found every age to improve in stature and in beauty; on the contrary, where it is confined to a caft, a tribe, or an hord, as among the Gaurs, the Jews, or the Tartars, each divifion foon affumes a family likeness, and every tribe degenerates into peculiar deformity. From hence it may be eafily inferred, that if the mandarines here are refolved only to marry among each other, they will foon produce a pofterity with mandarine faces; and we fhall fee the heir of fome honourable family scarce 1 equal to the abortion of a country farmer. Thefe are a few of the obftacles to marriage here; and it is certain they have in fome measure answered the end, for celibacy is both frequent and fashionable. Old batchelors appear abroad without a mask; and old maids, my dear Fum Hoam, have been abfolutely known to ogle. To confefs in friendship, if I were an Englishman, I fancy I fhould be an old batchelor myfelf; I fhould never find courage to run through all the adventures prefcribed by the law. I could fubmit to court my mistress herfelf upon reasonable terms, but to court |