The Spectator Volume Iii Part 71

Copia di Littera del Re della China al Papa, interpretata dal Padre Segretario dell' India della Compagna di Giesu. [1]

_A Voi Benedetto sopra i benedetti PP, ed interpretatore grande de Pontifici e Pastore Xmo dispensatore dell' oglio de i Re d' Europe Clemente XI._

'Il Favorite amico di Dio Gionata 7 Potentissimo sopra tutti i potentissimi della terra, Altissmo sopra tutti gl' Altissmi sotto il sole e la luna, che sede nella sede di smeraldo della China sopra cento scalini d'oro, ad interpretare la lingua di Dio a tutti i descendenti fedeli d'Abramo, che da la vita e la morte a cento quindici regni, ed a cento settante Isole, scrive con la penna dello Struzzo vergine, e manda salute ed accresimento di vecchiezza.

'Essendo arrivato il tempo in cui il fiore della reale nostro gioventu deve maturare i Frutti della nostra vecchiezza, e confortare con quell i desiderii dei populi nostri divoti, e propogare il seme di quella pianta che deve proteggerli, habbiamo Stabilito d'accompagnarci con una virgine eccelsa ed amorosa allattata alia mammella della leonessa forte e dell' Agnella mansueta. Percio essendo ci stato figurato sempre il vostro populo Europeo Romano par paese di donne invitte, i forte, e caste; allongiamo la nostra mano potente, a stringere una di loro, e questa sara una vostra nipote, o nipote di qualche altro gran Sacerdote Latino, che sia guardata dall' occhio dritto di Dio. Sara seminata in lei l'Autorita di Sarra, la Fedelta d'Esther, e la Sapienza di Abba; la vogliamo con l'occhio della colomba che guarda il cielo, e la terra e con la bocca dello Conchiglia che si pasce della ruggiada del matino. La sua eta non pa.s.si ducento corsi della Luna, la sua statura sia alta quanto la spicca dritta del grano verde, e la sua grossezza quanto un manipolo di grano secco. Noi la mandaremmo a vestire per li nostri mandatici Ambasciadori, e chi la conduranno a noi, e noi incontraremmo alla riva del fiume grande facendola salire su nostro cocchio. Ella potra adorare appresso di noi il suo Dio, con venti quatro altre vergini a sua ellezzione, e potra cantare con loro come la Tortora alla Primavera.

'Sodisfando O Padre e amico nostro questa nostro brama, sarete caggione di unire in perpetua amicitia cotesti vostri Regni d'Europa al nostro dominante Imperio, e si abbracciranno le vostri leggi come l'edera abbraccia la pianta, e noi medesemi Spargeremo del nostro seme reale in coteste Provinci, riscaldando i letti di vostri Principi con il fuoco amoroso delle nostre Amazoni, d'alcune delle quali i nostri mandatici Ambasciadori vi porteranno le Somiglianze depinte. Vi Confirmiamo di tenere in pace le due buone religiose famiglie delli Missionarii gli' Figlioli d'Ign.a.z.io, e li bianchi e neri figlioli di Dominico; il cui consiglio degl' uni e degl' altri ci serve di scorta nel nostro regimento e di lume ad interpretare le divine Legge come appuncto fa lume l'oglio che si getta in Mare. In tanto Alzandoci dal nostro Trono per Abbracciarvi, vi dichiariamo nostro congiunto e Confederato; ed ordiniamo che questo foglio sia segnato col nostro Segno Imperiale dalla nostra Citta, Capo del Mondo, il quinto giorno della terza lunatione l'anno quarto del nostro Imperio.

'Sigillo e un sole nelle cui faccia e anche quella della Luna ed intorno tra i Raggi vi sono traposte alcune Spade.

'Dico il Traduttore che secondo il Ceremonial di questo Lettere e recedentissimo specialmente Fessere scritto con la penna della Struzzo vergine con la quella non soglionsi scrivere quei Re che le pregiere a Dio e scrivendo a qualche altro Principe del Mondo, la maggior Finezza che usino, e scrivergli con la penna del Pavone.

A Letter from the Emperor of _China_ to the Pope, interpreted by a Father Jesuit, Secretary to the _Indies_.

_To you blessed above the Blessed, great Emperor of Bishops, and Pastor of Christians, Dispenser of the Oil of the Kings of Europe_, Clement XI.

"The Favourite Friend of G.o.d _Gionnata_ the VIIth, most Powerful above the most Powerful of the Earth, Highest above the Highest under the Sun and Moon, who sits on a Throne of Emerald of _China_, above 100 Steps of Gold, to interpret the Language of G.o.d to the faithful, and who gives Life and Death to 115 Kingdoms, and 170 Islands; he writes with the Quill of a Virgin _Ostrich_, and sends Health and Increase of old Age.

"Being arrived at the time of our Age, in which the Flower of our Royal Youth ought to ripen into Fruit towards old Age, to comfort therewith the Desire of our devoted People, and to propagate the Seed of that Plant which must protect them; We have determined to accompany our selves with an high Amorous Virgin, suckled at the Breast of a wild Lioness, and a meek Lamb; and imagining with our selves that your _European Roman_ People is the Father of many unconquerable and chaste Ladies: We stretch out our powerful Arm to embrace one of them, and she shall be one of your Neices, or the Neice of some other great _Latin_ Priest, the Darling of G.o.d's Right Eye. Let the Authority of _Sarah_ be sown in her, the Fidelity of _Esther_, and the Wisdom of _Abba_. We would have her Eye like that of a _Dove_, which may look upon Heaven and Earth, with the Mouth of a Sh.e.l.l-Fish to feed upon the Dew of the Morning; Her Age must not exceed 200 Courses of the Moon; let her Stature be equal to that of an Ear of green Corn, and her Girth a Handful.

"We will send our _Mandarine's_ Emba.s.sadors to clothe her, and to conduct her to us, and we will meet her on the Bank of the great River, making her to leap up into our Chariot. She may with us wors.h.i.+p her own G.o.d; together with twenty four Virgins of her own chusing; and she may sing with them, as the _Turtle_ in the Spring. You, O Father and Friend, complying with this our Desire, maybe an occasion of uniting in perpetual Friends.h.i.+p our high Empire with your _European_ Kingdoms, and we may embrace your Laws, as the _Ivy_ embraces the Tree; and we our selves may scatter our Royal Blood into your Provinces, warming the chief of your Princes with the amorous Fire of our _Amazons_, the resembling Pictures of some of which our said _Mandarine's_ Emba.s.sadors shall convey to you.

"We exhort you to keep in Peace two good Religious Families of _Missionaries_, the black Sons of _Ignatius_, and the white and black Sons of _Dominicus_; that the Counsel, both of the one and the other, may serve as a Guide to us in our Government, and a Light to interpret the Divine Law, as the Oil cast into the Sea produces Light.

"To conclude, we rising up in our Throne to embrace you, we declare you our Ally and Confederate; and have ordered this Leaf to be sealed with our Imperial Signet, in our Royal City the Head of the World, the 8th Day of the third Lunation, and the 4th Year of our Reign."

Letters from _Rome_ say, the whole Conversation both among Gentlemen and Ladies has turned upon the Subject of this Epistle, ever since it arrived. The Jesuit who translated it says, it loses much of the Majesty of the Original in the _Italian_. It seems there was an Offer of the same nature made by a Predecessor of the present Emperor to _Lewis_ the XIIIth of France, but no Lady of that Court would take the Voyage, that s.e.x not being at that time so much used in politick Negotiations. The manner of treating the Pope is, according to the _Chinese_ Ceremonial, very respectful: For the Emperor writes to him with the Quill of a Virgin _Ostrich_, which was never used before but in Writing Prayers.

Instructions are preparing for the Lady who shall have so much Zeal as to undertake this Pilgrimage, and be an Empress for the sake of her Religion. The Princ.i.p.al of the _Indian_ Missionaries has given in a List of the reigning Sins in _China_, in order to prepay the Indulgences necessary to this Lady and her Retinue, in advancing the Interests of the _Roman Catholic Religion_ in those Kingdoms.

_To the_ SPECTATOR-GENERAL.

_May it please your Honour_,

'I have of late seen _French_ Hats, of a prodigious Magnitude, pa.s.s by my Observatory.

_John Sly._

T.

[Footnote 1: No suggestion has been made as to the authors.h.i.+p of this squib on the Jesuits in China.]

No. 546. Wednesday, November 26, 1712. Steele.

'Omnia patefacienda ut ne quid omnino quod venditor norit, emptor ignoret.'

Tull.

It gives me very great Scandal to observe, where-ever I go, how much Skill, in buying all manner of Goods, there is necessary to defend yourself from being cheated in whatever you see exposed to Sale. My Reading makes such a strong impression upon me, that I should think my self a Cheat in my Way, if I should translate any thing from another Tongue, and not acknowledge it to my Readers. I understood from common Report, that Mr. _Cibber_ was introducing a _French_ Play upon our Stage, and thought my self concerned to let the Town know what was his, and what foreign. [1] When I came to the Rehearsal, I found the House so partial to one of their own Fraternity, that they gave every thing which was said such Grace, Emphasis, and Force in their Action, that it was no easy matter to make any Judgment of the Performance. Mrs. _Oldfield_, who, it seems, is the Heroick Daughter, had so just a Conception of her Part, that her Action made what she spoke appear decent, just, and n.o.ble. The Pa.s.sions of Terrour and Compa.s.sion, they made me believe were very artfully raised, and the whole Conduct of the Play artful and surprizing. We Authors do not much relish the Endeavours of Players in this kind; but have the same Disdain as Physicians and Lawyers have when Attorneys and Apothecaries give Advice. _Cibber_ himself took the liberty to tell me, that he expected I would do him Justice, and allow the Play well-prepared for his Spectators, whatever it was for his Readers. He added very many Particulars not uncurious concerning the manner of taking an Audience, and laying wait not only for their superficial Applause, but also for insinuating into their Affections and Pa.s.sions, by the artful Management of the Look, Voice, and Gesture of the Speaker. I could not but consent that the Heroick Daughter appeared in the Rehearsal a moving Entertainment wrought out of a great and exemplary Virtue.

The Advantages of Action, Show, and Dress on these Occasions are allowable, because the Merit consists in being capable of imposing upon us to our Advantage and Entertainment. All that I was going to say about the Honesty of an Author in the Sale of his Ware, was that he ought to own all that he had borrowed from others, and lay in a clear light all that he gives his Spectators for their Money, with an Account of the first Manufacturers. But I intended to give the Lecture of this Day upon the common and prost.i.tuted Behaviour of Traders in ordinary Commerce.

The Philosopher made it a Rule of Trade, that your Profit ought to be the common Profit; and it is unjust to make any Step towards Gain, wherein the Gain of even those to whom you sell is not also consulted. A Man may deceive himself if he thinks fit, but he is no better than a Cheat who sells any thing without telling the Exceptions against it, as well as what is to be said to its Advantage. The scandalous abuse of Language and hardening of Conscience, which may be observed every Day in going from one Place to another, is what makes a whole City to an unprejudiced Eye a Den of Thieves. It was no small pleasure to me for this reason to remark, as I pa.s.sed by _Cornhill_, that the Shop of that worthy, honest, tho' lately unfortunate, Citizen, Mr. _John Moreton_, [2] so well known in the Linnen Trade, is fitting up a-new. Since a Man has been in a distressed Condition, it ought to be a great Satisfaction to have pa.s.sed thro' it in such a Manner as not to have lost the Friends.h.i.+p of those who suffered with him, but to receive an honourable Acknowledgment of his Honesty from those very Persons to whom the Law had consigned his Estate.

The Misfortune of this Citizen is like to prove of a very general Advantage to those who shall deal with him hereafter: For the Stock with which he now sets up being the Loan of his Friends, he cannot expose that to the Hazard of giving Credit, but enters into a Ready-Money Trade, by which Means he will both buy and sell the best and cheapest.

He imposes upon himself a Rule of affixing the Value of each Piece he sells to the Piece it self; so that the most ignorant Servant or Child will be as good a Buyer at his Shop as the most skilful in the Trade.

For all which, you have all his Hopes and Fortune for your Security. To encourage Dealing after this Way, there is not only the avoiding the most infamous Guilt in ordinary Bartering; but this Observation, That he who buys with ready Money saves as much to his Family, as the State exacts out of his Land for the Security and Service of his Country; that is to say, in plain _English_, Sixteen will do as much as Twenty s.h.i.+llings.

_Mr._ SPECTATOR,

'My Heart is so swelled with grateful Sentiments on account of some Favours which I have lately received, that I must beg leave to give them Utterance amongst the Croud of other anonymous Correspondents; and writing, I hope, will be as great a Relief to my forced Silence, as it is to your natural Taciturnity--My generous Benefactor will not suffer me to speak to him in any Terms of Acknowledgment, but ever treats me as if he had the greatest Obligations, and uses me with a Distinction that is not to be expected from one so much my Superiour in Fortune, Years, and Understanding. He insinuates, as if I had a certain Right to his Favours from some Merit, which his particular Indulgence to me has discovered but that is only a beautiful Artifice to lessen the Pain an honest Mind feels in receiving Obligations, when there is no probability of returning them.

'A gift is doubled when accompanied with such a Delicacy of Address; but what to me gives it an inexpressible Value, is its coming from the Man I most esteem in the World. It pleases me indeed, as it is an Advantage and Addition to my Fortune; but when I consider it is an Instance of that good Man's Friends.h.i.+p, it overjoys, it transports me; I look on it with a Lover's Eye, and no longer regard the Gift, but the Hand that gave it. For my Friends.h.i.+p is so entirely void of any gainful Views, that it often gives me Pain to think it should have been chargeable to him; and I cannot at some melancholy Hours help doing his Generosity the Injury of fearing it should cool on this account, and that the last Favour might be a sort of Legacy of a departing Friends.h.i.+p.

'I Confess these Fears seem very groundless and unjust, but you must forgive them to the Apprehension of one possessed of a great Treasure, who is frighted at the most distant Shadow of Danger.

'Since I have thus far open'd my Heart to you, I will not conceal the secret Satisfaction I feel there of knowing the Goodness of my Friend will not be unrewarded. I am pleased with thinking the Providence of the Almighty hath sufficient Blessings in store for him, and will certainly discharge the Debt, though I am not made the happy Instrument of doing it.

'However, nothing in my power shall be wanting to shew my Grat.i.tude; I will make it the Business of my Life to thank him, and shall esteem (next to him) those my best Friends, who give me greatest a.s.sistance in this good Work. Printing this Letter would be some little Instance of my Grat.i.tude; and your Favour herein will very much oblige

_Your most humble Servant, &c._

W. C.

Nov. 24th.

T.