University of Virginia Library

PARALLELS OMITTED, &c.

PAGE 189. "A passion indulged, &c.

[- - - drunkard. The French say, L'orgueilleux
s' enyvre de sa propre boutelle.]

Ibid. "A pismire and a rat, &c.

[To the same effect with that precept of
Cato, Corporis exigui vires contemnere noli. Fr.
Il est nul petit ennemi. Eng. There are, &c.

Page 190. "A stab with, &c.

[- - - - - N. B. The Italians have a saying,
Pensa molto, parla poco, e scrivi meno. i. e. Think
much, speak little, write less. The French
say, &c. - - -]

Page 193. "An amiable prince, &c.

[It is a saying in one of their ancient classical
books, "A good king loveth and cherisheth
his people, as a mother most tenderly
claspeth her naked and new-born little
son."

Conf. lib. p. 19.]

Page 194. "Avoid a blast, &c.

[The Spaniards say, "De viento - - - - &c.
guarda te. i. e. Take heed of a wind that comes
in through a hole.]

Page 198, 199. "He who aims, &c.

[The Spaniards say, Menos camino ay de vertud
a vicios, que de vicios a vertud. i. e. It is a
shorter road from virtue to vice, than from
vice to virtue.]

Ibid. "He who eats, &c.

[The Italians have a proverb, Il pan d' altri
costa caro: another's bread is dear bought.]

Ibid "He who suffers, &c.

[- - - - diverts them. Not very different is
that saying of P. Syrus, Heu, dolor quam miser
est, qui in tormento vocem non habet.]

Ibid. "Heaven and hell, &c.

[After the quotation - - - - - By way of illustration
of the above Apothegm we shall throw
together a few hints of a famous Chinese moralist.

"Certain persons complain, (says the philosopher
ME) "of not finding a place of repose:
they are wrong, they always have it: but
what they ought to be dissatisfied at, is their
having a heart, which is an enemy to the
very repose they seek.

"What is the use of cloaths but for decency
and warmth? This man wears a fur'd habit
worth more than a thousand crowns, and
thinks it not gooe enough: he doth not reflect
that a Quail is as well cloathed as himself.

"What doth a man want, as to food, but

nourishing victuals? yet he, who is every
day served with a large quantity of the most
delicate viands in the grandest dishes, is not
contented: another, who sleeps on a mat,
and after a temperate meal drinks out of the
half of a scooped cucumber, is more contented
than himself.

"What is required in lodgings, but to be
sheltered from the inclemencies of the weather?
yet such a man in a lofty and spacious
palace, whose walls are finely varnished,
finds himself ill-lodged. Another is contented
with a cottage so poor and mean,
that the door is hung upon two pieces of
cord which serve for hinges.

"In what climate or place may not a
man live agreeably if he hath a mind! To
me a little garden of flowers is the famous
valley of gold: to me a little brook is the
fountain of young peach trees: [alluding
here to some obscure fables] "to me the melody
of birds is more ravishing than the harmony
of a full concert of instruments: and
I prefer the tincture of certain clouds to the
finest paintings in the world."

See P. Du Halde, 2. p. 98.]

Page 206. "In former times, &c.

[It was a saying of Chu-jin-quey, "What
doth a man lose, who gives way in the
street to those that are in haste? two or
three hundred steps and nothing more.
What doth another lose, who will not dispute

with his neighbour the boundaries of
his field?"

P. Du Halde, 2. 104.]

Page 231. "The net in which, &c.

[- - - - - - N. B. When the Chinese would
express any impracticable attempt it is a common
phrase with them, "You may as well
hope to get out of the nets of heaven and
earth."

P. Du Halde, vol. 2. p. 177. c. 1.]