and follow him into the other world. On fuch occafions, he who gives himself the deepest wound, acquires the highest glory. In the valuable compilation of Thevenot, we find the following fingular Anecdote: Two officers belonging to the emperor of Japan, having met upon the imperial ftair-cafe, their fwords happened to entangle. Words arofe of courfe. One of them, however, would have excused himfelf, by imputing the affair to accident; adding, that the quarrel was between the two fwords, and that the one was as good as the other. We shall fee that prefently, returned his adverfary; and with thefe words he drew his weapon, and plunged it into his heart. The other, impatient to obtain the fame advantage, hurried away, in order to ferve up to the Emperor, who was at table, a plate he happened to have in his hands, and inftantly returned to his antagonist, who was already at the point of death. On enquiring if he was yet alive, he alfo plunged his fword into his heart. "You fhould not have had the start of me (faid he) if you had not found me engaged in the fervice of the Prince. I die, however, contented, fince I have had` the glory to convince you, that my fword is as good as yours."

An Englishman, in reading this Anecdote, will thrug up his shoulders at the folly of these two Orientals, and, perhaps, the next hour will expofe his life to the fword of a bravo, in order to revenge an imaginary infult.

[Weft. Mag.]

The FORCE of PREJUDICE. WHEN Prejudice is once established, în vain does Réafon re-affert her rights. Few people can judge for themfelves; no wonder that names have, in all ages, made more impreffion than things.

When the Fables of La Motte appeared, it was fashionable in France to deIpife them. One evening, at an entertainment given by the Prince de Vendome, several of the first critics of the kingdom made themselves exceedingly merry at the expence of the author. Voltaire happened to be prefent: "Gentlemen (faid he) I perfectly agree with you." What a difference is there between the ftile of La Motte, and the file of La Fontaine! Have you feen the new edition of the latter ?--The company answered in the negative. "Then you have not read that beautiful fable of his, which was found among the papers of the Duchefs of Bouillon." He accordingly repeated it to them. Every

it.

one present was charmed, transported with Here (faid they) is the true fpirit of La Fontaine. Here is Nature in her fimplicity. What naviete, what grace !”--

Gentlemen, (refumed Voltaire) you will find this Fable among thofe of La Motte." Confufion took poffeffion of all but Voltaire, who was happy in exposing the folly of these peetended judges. [Weft. Mag.]

AVARICE in the EXTREME.

MONS. Vadille was the moft remarkable man in Paris, both on account of his immenfe riches, and his extreme avarice. He lodged as high up as the roof would admit him, to avoid noife or vifits, and maintained one poor old woman, to attend him in his garret, allowing her only feven fous per week, or a penny per day. His ufual diet was bread and milk, and for indulgence, fome poor four wine on a Sunday, on which day he conftantly gave one farthing to the poor, being is, 1d. a year, which he caft up; and after his death his extenfive charity amounted to 43s. 44. This prudent œconomist had been a magiftrate at Bonlogne, where he maintained himself by taking upon him to be milk-tafter general of the market; and from one to another filled his belly, and washed down his bread, at the fame time that he regulated the goodness of milk. When he had a call to Paris, he travelled on foot, and to prevent being robbed, took no more than three-pence to carry him 130 miles.

The great value a mifer annexes to a farthing, will make us lefs furprised at the infinite attachment he must have to a guinea, of which it is the feed, growing by gentle gradations into pence, fhillings, pounds, thousands, and ten thousands; which made this connoiffeur fay, Take care of the farthings, and the pence and fhillings will take care of themselves.

In the fummer of 1765, (when he was worth 7 or 800,000l.) he stole feveral logs of wood, and loaded himself with them to his hiding-hole, by which he contracted a fever; he then fent for a poor barber to bleed him, who undertook to open a vein for 3d. a time. He asked the barber how many times he should be bled, and what quantity of blood he should take; and be ing told three times, and eight ounces each;" then take (faid he) the whole quantity at once, which will fave me fixpence." The barber expoftulated in vain; he loft 24 ounces of blood, and died in a few days, leaving his vaft treasures to the king.

The

ART. 1. Lord Chefterfield's Letters, continued from our laft month's review.

THE

HE fecond volume of thefe elegant and entertaining letters, like the firft, abounds with fuch a variety of tempting flowers, that we are bewildered in the multiplicity, and at a lofs which to felect for the nofegay of the prefent month.

This literary collection is not, however, in all refpects, to be compared to thofe beautiful gardens, in which we meet only with the most valuable flowers, and the choiceft fruits. On a clofer inspection, we are forry to obferve among them, fome of the rankeft weeds, and most noxious plants*, which we cannot but view with disgust and furprize: for how fhall we account for their appearance among those admirable productions to which they are in their nature fo heterogeneous, and fo difgraceful? That Lord Chesterfield should happen to diffeminate the feeds of this balettil crop, may not feem altogether ftrange to those who knew him to have been, what a witty lady once farcaftically filed him, a gentleman of eafy virtue," but that the Fair Gardener,† who undertook the care and culture of the foil, fhould juffer them to grow in it, is matter of amazement to us.

The exceptionable paffages here chiefly alluded to, are thofe in which Lord C. in the excess of his folicitude left his fon fhould be unnaturally infenfible to the calls of pleafure, and too much addicted to books or to business, advises, nay prees him to female attachments. We have not the least objection to any of thofe agreeable attentions to the fair, which perhaps equally contribute to the polishing and refinement of both fexes; nor are we at all inclined to controvert his Lordship's maxim,that "the concurrence of the two fexes is as neceffary to the perfection of our being, as to the formation of it." But when this noble, modern Ariftippus comes to recommend to his young difciple fo unrestrained an indulgence of his inclinations as the invafion of another man's bed, we start with aftonishment, and view the feductive, licentious counfeller with horror. The reader fhall fee that we have but too much ground for this feverity of stricture. A propos, I am affured that Madam de Blot-is exceffively pretty, and yet has teen fcrupulously conftant to her husband,

though he has now been married above a year. Surely fhe does not reflect, that woman wants polishing. I would have you po lish one another reciprocally. Force, affidu ities, attentions, tender looks, and paffionate declarations, on your fide, will produce fome irrefolute wishes, at least, on hers; and when even the flightest wishes arise, the rest will foon foliow." Lett, xxx, addressed to Mr. Stanhope at Paris, 1751.

Let not the prevailing modes of gallantry in France be urged in excufe for this fatherly piece of advice to a young man of fashion, fent thither to compleat his education, and acquire les maniéres, les agrémens, les graces, to perfection.- Are CHASTITY, HONOUR, and VIRTUE to be facrificed to fuch refine ments rather perish, for ever, the agrémens and the graces of Lord Chesterfield, and his Lordship's fame and memory with them!

Chiefly for the fake of a parliamentary anecdote, which will be acceptable to our more scientific readers, we fhall present them with the following part of a letter:

"I acquainted you in a former letter, that I had brought a bill into the House of Lords for correcting and reforming our present calendar, which is the Julian; and for adopting the Gregorian. I will now give your more particular account of that affair; from which reflexions will naturally occur to you that I hope may be useful, and which I fear you have not made. It was notorious, that the Julian calendar was erroneous, and had overcharged the folar year with eleven days. Pope Gregory the 18th corrected this error; his reformed calendar was immediately received by all the Catholic Powers of Europe, and afterwards adopted by all the Proteftant ones, except Ruffia, Sweden, and England. It was not, in my opinion, very honourable for England to remain in a grofs and avowed error, efpecially in fuch company; the inconveniency of it was likewife felt by all thofe who had foreign correfpondences, whether political or mercantile. I determined, therefore, to attempt the reformation; I confulted the best lawyers, and the most skilful aftronomers, and we cooked up a bill for that purpose. But then my difficulty began; I was to bring in this bill, which was neceffarily compofed of law jargon and aftrono mical calculations, to both which I am an utter stranger. However, it was abfolutely neceffary to make the House of Lords think that I knew fomething of the matter; and alfo, to make them believe that they knew fomething of it themselves, which they do not. For my own part, I could just as soon E

have

them to try their skill in forming. By thefe means, and with a paffionate deûre, of pleafing every body, I came by degrees to please fome; and I can affure you, that what little figure I have made in the world, has been much more owing to that paffionate defire I had of pleafing univerfally, than to any intrinfic merit or found knowledge I might ever have been mafter of. My paffion for pleafing was fo ftrong, (and I am very glad it was fo) that I own to you fairly, I wished to make every woman I faw in love with me, and every man I met with, admire me. Without this paffion for the object, I should never have been to attentive to the means; and I own I cannot conceive how it is poffible for any man of good-nature and good fenfe to be without this paffion. Does not good-nature incline us to please all thofe we converfe with, of whatever rank or station they may be? And does not good fenfe, and common obfervation, fhew of what infinite ufe it is to please? Oh! but one may please by the good qualities of the heart, and the knowledge of the head, without that fashionable air, addrefs, and manner, which is mere tinfel. I deny it. A man may be efteemed and refpected, but I defy him to pleafe without them. Moreover, at your age, I would not have contented myself with barely pleafing; I wanted to fhine and to diftinguish, myfelf in the world as a man of fashion and gallantry, as well as bufinefs. And that ambition or vanity (call it what you please) was a right one; it hurt nobody, and made me exert whatever talents I had. It is the fpring of a thousand right and good things."

The following letter on the knowledge of men and books, is dated Batli, O&. 4, 1746. "Dear boy,

"Though I employ fo much of my time in writing to you, I contefs, I have often my doubts, whether it is to any purpose. I know how unwelcome advice generally is; I know that those who want it moft, like it and follow it leaft; and I know too, that the advice of parents, more particularly, is afcribed to the morofenefs, the imperioufhefs, or the garrulity of old age. But then, on the other hand, I flatter myself, that as your own reafon (though too young as yet to fuggeft much to you of it) is, however, itrong enough to enable you, both to judge of, and receive plain truths; flatter myself, I fay, that your own reafon, young as it is, muft tell you, that I can have no intereft but yours in the advice I give you; and that, confequently, you will at least weigh and confider it well; in which cafe fome of it will, i hope, have its effect. Do not think that I mean. to dictate as a parent; I only mean to advife as a friend, and an indulgent one too: And, do not apprehend, that I mean to check your pleasures; of which, on the contrary, I only defire to be the guide, not the cenfor. my experience fupply your want of it, and clear your way in the progrefs of your youth;.

Let

of those thorns and briars, which scratched and disfigured me in the courte of mine. Iv do not, therefore, so much as hint to you, how abfolutely dependant you are upon me; that you neither have, nor can have, a fhilling in the world but from me and that, as have no womanish weakness for your pers fon, your merit muit, and will, be the only measure of my kindness. I fay, I do noti hint these things to you, because I am convinced that you will a right upon more now! ble and generous principles: 'I mean for the fake of doing right, and out of affection and gratitude to me.

"I have fo often recommended to you at tention and application to whatever, you learn, that I do not mention them now as duties; but I point them out to you, as conducive, nay abfolutely neceffary to your pleasures; for can there be a greater pleasure than to he univerfally allowed to excel those of one's own age and manner of life? And confequently, can there be any thing more mortifying than to be excelled by them. In this latter cafe, your hame and regret muft be greater than any body's, because every body knows the uncommon care which has been taken of your education, and the op portunities you have had of knowing more than others of your age. I do not confine the application which I recommend, fingly to the view and emulation of excelling others, (though that is a very fenfible pleasure, and a very warrantable pride) but I mean like wife to excel in the thing itfelf: For, in my mind, one may as well not know a thing at a. as know it but imperfectly. To know a' little of any thing gives neither fatisfaction nor credit, but often brings difgrace or risi dicule.

Mr. Pope fays, very truly,

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, “Drink deep, or tafte not the Caftalian

fpring."

And what is called a "fmattering" of every thing infallibly conftitutes a coxcomb. I have often, of late, reflected what an unhappy man I must now have been, if I had not ac-i quired in my youth fome fund and taste of learning. What could I have done with myfelf at this age without them? I must, as many ignorant people do, have destroyed my health and faculties by fotting away the e venings; or, by wafting them frivoloully in the tattle of women's company, must haver expofed myself to the ridicule and contempt of thofe very women; or lastly, I must have hanged nyfelf, as a man once did, for weary incfs of putting on and pulling off his shoes and ftockings, every day. My books, and only my books are now left me; and I daily find what Cicero fays of learning to be true:: Hoc fudia, fays, he) adolefcentiam alunt, Je neciniem obleclant, fecundas yes ornant, adverfis, perfugium ac folatium præbent,delectant domi,: non impediunt foris, pernoctant nobifcum, pere grinantur, ruficantur.

klo

"I do not mean by this, to exclude converfation out of the pleasures of an advanced age; on the contrary, it is a very great and a very rational pleasure at all ages; but the converfation of the ignorant is no conversa tion, and gives even them no pleasure: They tire of their own fterility, and have not matter enough to furnish them with words to keep up a conversation.

"Let me, therefore, most earnestly recommend to you, to hoard up, while you can a great stock of knowledge; for though, during the diffipation of your youth, you may not have occafion to spend much of it: yet, you may depend upon it, that a time will come, when you will want it to maintain you. Public granaries are filled in plentiful years; not that it is known that the next, or the fecond, or third year will prove a fcarce one; but because it is known, that, fooner or later fuch a year will come, in which the grain will be wanted.

"I will fay no more to you upon this fubject; you have Mr. Harte with you to enforce it; you have reason to affent to the truth of it; fo that, in short, < you have Mofes and the prophets; if you will not believe them, neither will you believe, tho' one rofe from the dead.'-Do not imagine that the knowledge, which I fo much recommend to you, is confined to books, pleafing, useful, and neceffary as that knowledge is. But I comprehend in it the great knowledge of the world, ftill more necessary than that of books. In truth, they affiit one another reciprocally; and no man will have either perfectly, who hath not both. The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet. Books alone will never teach it to you; but they will fuggeft many things to your obfervation, which might otherwife escape you; and your own obfervations upon mankind, when compared with that which you will find in books, will help you to fix the true point.

"To know mankind well requires full as much attention and application as to know books, and, it may be, more fagacity and difcernment. Tani, at this time, acquainted with many elderly people, who have all paffed their whole lives in the great world, but with fuch levity and inattention, that they know no more of it now, than they did at fifteen. Do not flatter yourfelf, therefore, with the thoughts that you can acquire this knowledge in the frivolous chit-chat of idle companies: No, you must go much deeper than that. You must look into people, as well as at them. Almost all people are born with all the paffions, to a certain degree; but almoft every man has one prevailing one, to which the others are fubordinate. Search every one for that ruling paflion; pry into the receffes of his heart, and obferve the different workIngs of the fame paffion in different people. And, when you have found out the prevailing paffion of any man, remember never to truft

him, where that paffion is concerned. Work upon him by it, if you pleafe; but be upon your guard yourself against it, whatever profeffions he may make you.”

2. Sketches of the Hiftory of Man. 2 Vols. 419. 11. 16s, Boards. Cadell.

WITHOUT poffeffing the acute difcernment of Protagoras, every reader of taste will immediately discover that the Sketches before us flow from the pencil of an Apelles. Deeply skilled in human nature, this writer paffes mankind in review before him, difcriminating whole nations and individuals from their most favage condition, to the higheft ftages of culture, civilization, and luxury, by nice characteristical touches which had efcaped preceding moralifts. Lord Kaymes, of the Court of Seffion in Scotland, in his ingenious Elements of Criticism, had fo clearly expofed to view all the human paffions and faculties, as could not fail to excite an appetite in the public for every thing proceeding from the hands of fo great a mafter in philofophy. Nor has he in thefe volumes altogether difappointed expectation.

"The following work, (fays he, in his preface) is the fubftance of various fpeculations, that occafionally amufed the author, and enlivened his leifure hours. It is not intended for the learned, they are above it, nor for the vulgar, they are below it; it is intended for men, who, equally removed from the corruption of opulence, and from the depreffion of bodily labour, are bent on useful knowledge; who, even in the delirium of youth, feel the dawn of patriotism, and who in riper years enjoy its meridian warmth. To fuch men this work is dedicated; and that they may profit by it, is the author's ardent with, and probably will be while any fpirit remains in him to form a wish.

"May not he hope, that this work, child of his grey hairs, will furvive, and bear teftimony for him to good men, that even a laborious calling, which left him not many leifure-hours, never banished from his mind, that he would little deferve to be of the human fpecies, were he indifferent about his fellow-creatures :

Homo fum; humani nihil a me alienum puto. "Most of the fubjects handled in the fol lowing sheets, admit but of probable reasoning; which is not a little flippery, as with respect to many reafonings of that kind, it is difficult to pronounce, what degree of conviction they ought to produce. It is eafy to form plausible arguments; but to form fuch as will ftand the test of time, is not always eafy. I could amufe the reader with nume rous examples of conjectural arguments, which, fair at a diftant view, vanish like a cloud on a near approach. In the firft fketch of this book, not to go farther, he will find recorded more than one example. The

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