6 [The idea of depicting the manners of one's own country under the disguise of a foreign observer seems to have originated in France. The Turkish Spy' led the way, and acquired extensive popularity all over Europe: this was followed by 'Peruvian Letters, Persian Letters,' 'Chinese Letters,' and others, all with greater or less credit, and offering the fairest encouragement to an English writer to pursue the same track. The genius, the humour, the good-nature of Goldsmith, seemed to fit him for the task: he had, moreover, himself been a traveller, and at the time when these Letters were produced, no doubt many circumstances in English life and manners appeared to him with somewhat of the novelty which he ascribes to the impressions of his imaginary oriental. The Chinese Letters' commenced in the Public Ledger newspaper in January 1760, and were collected under their present title, in two volumes 12mo., in May 1762.] PREFACE. THE schoolmen had formerly a very exact way of computing the abilities of their saints or authors. Escobar,(1) for instance, was said to have learning as five, genius as four, and gravity as seven. Caramuel(2) was greater than he. His learning was as eight, his genius as six, and his gravity as thirteen. Were I to estimate the merits of our Chinese Philosopher by the same scale, I would not hesitate to state his genius still higher; but as to his learning and gravity, these, I think, might safely be marked as nine hundred and ninety-nine, within one degree of absolute frigidity. Yet, upon his first appearance here, many were angry not to find him as ignorant as a Tripoline ambassador, or an envoy from Mujac. They were surprised to find a man born so far from London, that school of prudence and wisdom, endued even with a moderate capacity. They expressed the same surprise at his knowledge, that the Chinese do at ours. "How comes it," said they, "that the Europeans, so remote from China, think with so much. justice and precision? They have never read our books, (1) [This famous casuist was born in 1588, of a noble family of Seville, and died in 1669. His polemical and other writings occupy twenty-three folio volumes.] (2) [A Cistercian monk, born at Madrid in 1606. It was said of him, that he was endowed with genius to the eighth degree, eloquence to the fifth, and judgment to the second. He wrote many works of controversial thealogy, and a system of divinity, in seven vols. folio. He died in 1682.] they scarcely know even our letters, and yet they talk and reason just as we do."(1) The truth is, the Chinese and we are pretty much alike. Different degrees of refinement, and not of distance, mark the distinctions among mankind. Savages of the most opposite climates have all but one character of improvidence and rapacity; and tutored nations, however separate, make use of the very same methods to procure refined enjoyment. The distinctions of polite nations are few; but such as are peculiar to the Chinese appear in every page of the following correspondence. The metaphors and allusions are all drawn from the East. Their formality our author carefully preserves. Many of their favourite tenets in morals are illustrated. The Chinese are always concise; so is he. Simple; so is he. The Chinese are grave and sententious; so is he. But in one particular the resemblance is peculiarly striking the Chinese are often dull; and so is he. Nor has my assistance been wanting. We are told in an old romance of a certain knight-errant and his horse who contracted an intimate friendship. The horse most usually bore the knight; but, in cases of extraordinary dispatch, the knight returned the favour, and carried his horse. Thus in the intimacy between my author and me, he has usually given me a lift of his eastern sublimity, and I have sometimes given him a return of my colloquial ease. : Yet it appears strange, in this season of panegyric, when scarcely an author passes unpraised either by his friends or himself, that such merit as our Philosopher's should be for (1) [Le Comte's "Nouveaux Mémoires sur la Chine," vol. i. p. 210. The author, a Jesuit of Bourdeaux, was one of the six missionaries sent to China in 1685, by command of the King of France: he died in 1729. The work above quoted gave weighty offence to the faculty of divinity at Paris, on account of the author's prejudices in favour of the Chinese, whom he placed on a level with the Jews; and, by a decree of the parliament of Paris, passed in 1762, it was ordered to be burnt.] |