For fhe was fair Fair as the forms, that, wove in fancy's head. [loom, What then fhall confole me when this boafted grace and elegance shall be no more,-when time fhall gather the perishable flower of beauty, when it fhall languifh and fade, never to revive?-Ño; I will build my felf-esteem on a more folid foun. dation. I will cultivate the facul With a heart overflowing with felf-complacence and exultation in the confcioufrefs of her charms, the power which beauty, belows, and the admiration it excites, he walk-ties of my mind, 1 will exercise my ed forth into the garden, and enter. ed a hermitage which was there, where the found a fcul which had been placed there as appropriate to the character of the place. reafon and reflection; I will refift vanity; I will practise benevolence, and lay up, for the day when beauty fhall be departed and life departing, the invaluable treasures of useful knowledge and a good confcience." FRIEND relating to his WATCH. She took it up; fhe furveved it, the thuddered; the recollected that the was mortal, time precipitately rapid, and every thing in this world tran-LETTER from a QUAKER to bis fient, vain and illufory, except virtue and genuine piety. Her reflections took another courfe: the fuggestions of vanity were repelled by the dictates of reafon; and thus fhe moralifed on the object chance had prefented to her eyes w “Alabi! what is a human: creature, that it should be vain?How clearly does this melancholy relique of a fellow mortal evince that pride was not made for man-nor wo man neither! What is that beauty in which I fo lately prided myfelf, what its power, what its luftre, finde to this complexion, it must come at laft But it is. not death alone which deftroys beauty; illness, the forerunner of death, ftay fpare life, but irrecoverably confunds beauty, Life is tranfient, life is vanity; buc beauty is still more fragile, ftill more an unfubftantial bubble ever than life. Age, which must-arrive, fhould life continue, will dry up this fial low fource of pride dong before death hall terminate: thesfcene,is The tints of beauty are fugitive and evanefcent as the hues of the bow of Iris. Short is the duration of the delicate fymmetry ofthe faireft forms: They live a rofe, as rofes live, Little Dale, the place of the refi dence of my fleshly tabernacle, the 19th of the 9th month, in the year of the outward Chrift, 1759, where thou mayeft be welcome to fuch as I keep. FRIEND JOSEPH, DESIRED Chriftopher Hop Lkins, who fells the dead letter, muft muft defire thee to rectify them. Evil principles, thee, knoweft, feldom produce good effects. I fear there is fome latent root of evil in her, otherwife she would not deceive both thee and me. Thee tells me thee has filed her, yet all her defilements continue ftill: thee fays thee has turned her canter-wheel right, yet the whole machine goes wrong: thee fays thee has taken out her crevices, yet her old fores remain: thee fays thee turned the laps of her teeth, yet the remains unconverted to the truth: and thus,, in the literal fenfe, O watchman, thou watcheft in vain!-Thee demands the fifth part of a pound fterling, as the world calls it, for thy labour. I own thee art worthy of a recompenfe when thy labour doth profit me; but he has been wound up regularly ever fince the came to my hands, and yet the errs and fails in her duty. I have once again fent her unto thee; I pray thee enter into a friendly conference with her, and reform this vice of lying; I will board her with thee for a few days, and pay thee for her fare, if thee requires or defires it; for I would not be too troublesome to thee. I defired our friend Hopkins to content thee for thy pains. Thus, leaving her to thy friendly care and correcs -tion, I remain thy friend, in the light, &c. P. H. countries; we may fay, farther, which make the fate of wedlock much more dreaded than defired. The denunciations of the law againft thofe who offend in this are terrible. Whoever feduces the wife of another is put to death; and the fame punifliment is generally inflicted on the perfon who debauches a young woman. It is true, that in both thefe circumstances, the precautions dictated by univerfal cuftom tend greatly to fupport the law, and often render it fuperfluous. The Chinese women are almost condemned to perpetual imprifonment within the precincts of their own houfes; and what is ftill more in its favour, a Chinese enters into the married ftate without ever having feen the woman whom he efpoufes: he knows nothing of her looks or perfon but from the account of fome female relation or confident, who, in fuch cafes, acts the part of match-maker. It is true, if they impofe upon him either with refpect to her age or figure, he can have recourfe to a divorce. Here the law, in its turn, ferves to correct the abufes of cuf. tom. The fame matrons who negotiate a marriage, detern.ine alfo the fun which the intended husband mult pay to the parents of the bride: tur, in China, a father does not give a dowry to his daughter: it is the. hufband who gives a dowry to hig wife, or, we may fay with equal propriety, who purchases her-She ACCOUNT of the MARRIAGES of becomes his property, and by a the CHINESE. MARRIA double title. The parents of the bride fix the ARRIAGE,-that bond fo ne- day for folemnifing the marriage; ceffary, fo favourable to good and they always take care to con order, recommended and encourag-fuit the calendar, in order that they ed by all great legiflators,is pasti- may make choice of one that is cularly protected in China. Rarely lucky for they confider fomg as does marriage there give rife to thofe favourable, and others unfavourable fcandalous intrigues that fo often to every great undertaking, Dur. embitter its fweets, and diffurb the ing this interval, the two families domeftic peace of tamilies, in other fend prefents to one another, and the bridegroom purchafes for his in-¡ tended fpoufe fome jewels, fuch as rings, pendants, or bracelets. Frequent letters pafs between the parties; but they are not permitted to sce one another: the whole treaty is carried on by the means of other people. When the day appointed for the ceremony arrives, the bride is placed in a chair, or clofe palanquin. Every thing that compofes her portion is borne before and behind her, by different perfons of both sexes, while others furround her, carrying, torches and flambeaux, even in the middle of the day. A troop of muficians, with fifes, drums, and hautboys, march before her chair, and her family follow it behind. The key of the chair in which fhe is fhut up is committed to the care of a trufty domeftic, who muft deliver it to no one but to the husband only. The husband, richly dreffed, waits at his gate for the arrival of the proceffion. As foon as it approaches, the key is put into his hands he eagerly opens the chair, and, at the first glance, he may learn his fortune, and perceive whether thofe he employed have ferved him with fidelity. It fometimes happens, that the hufband, difcontented with his intended fpoufe, fuddenly fhuts the chair, and fends her back to her relations. To get rid of her, it only cofts him a fum equal to that which he gave to obtain her. If the husband is contented, he defcends from her chair, and enters the houfe, followed by the relations of both, where the new-married couple falute the Tien four times in the hall, and afterwards the parents of the husband. The bride is then committed into the hands of the women who have been invited to the ceremony, and who, together with her, partake of an entertainment, which continues the whole day: the male part of the guests are treated in the like manner by the hufband. The fame form prevails among the Chinese at all their grand feafts: the women amuse themfelves feparately; and the men do the fame in another apart ment. A Chinese is permitted to have only one lawful wife; but he may at the fame time purchase feveral concubines. These are indeed the fervants of the wife, much more than rivals in authority. She has the fame power over them as over the meaneft domestic in the family: their children are even fuppofed to belong to her, and to be her own; but they have alfo a right to thare with those born of her in their paternal fucceffion. If the happens to die, they are obliged to wear mourning for three years. Other husbands, defirous of having a male child, which their lawful wife cannot, perhaps, give them, take a concubine from this motive only, and difmifs her as soon as their wifhes are accomplished: they then give her permiffion to efpoufe whomfoever the chufes, and often they even provide a husband for her themfelves. A husband who becomes a widower, raifes fometimes his favourite concubine to the rank of lawful wife. He is not then obliged, as in the former cafe, to examine whether the rank of her whom he efpoufes approaches near to his own; and he is alfo freed from the preliminary formalities which have been before defcribed. Thefe concubines are almost allprocured from the cities of Yangtcheon and Son-tcheon, where they are educated, and taught finging, dancing, and mufic, and every accomplishment fuitable to women of quality, or which can render them agreeable and pleafing. The greater part of them are purchased in other places, to be again difpofed of. This is the principal branch of trade carried on by these two cities. The right which individuals of ordinary rank affume to themfelves of keeping a concubine, is merely tolerated by cuftom, and not au thorised by any law. This privilege is granted only to the emperor, to princes of the blood, and to mandarins; and none but the emperor is permitted, in ftrictnefs of law, to have more than one. A widow, of any rank above the common, feldom enters a fecond caufes which may authorise a di vorce. A woman, however, cannot be repudiated, on any account, if the lofes her parents after her marriage, or if fhe has worn a three years' mourning for the death of her hus band, father, or mother.. ACCOUNT of APICIUS, the celebrated T Suetonius.) There time into the state of marriage when (From Dr. Thomson's Translation of fhe has children. Some carry their delicacy to a much greater length: were they only betrothed, it is fufficient to make them renounce every other engagement, if their intended hufband happens to die before the celebration of the nuptials. Widows of ordinary rank, who have children, generally avail themselves of the liberty which is granted them, and unite themselves to another buf. band. 4 um equal to 484,375 pounds sterlingUpon examining the ftate of his affairs, he found, that there remained no more of his eftate than centies feftertim, 80,7291. 35. 4d. which feeming to him too finall to live upon, he ended his days by poifon. O the writers of the reign of Tiberius we must add Apicius Caelius, who has left a book De Re Coquinaria, of Cookery. were three Romans of the name of Apicius, all remarkable for their gluttony. The firft lived in the time of the republic, the laft in that of Trajan, and the interme diate Apicius under the emperors The Chinese women, even thofe Auguftus and Tiberius. This man, of the greatest rank, feldom quiturious living fexcentics feftertium, a as Seneca informs us, wasted on luxtheir apartment. It is fituated in the moft retired part of the houfe, where they live fecluded from all fociety but their domeftics. The book of Ceremonies requires that there fhould be two apartments in every houfe, the exterior for the bufband, and the interior for his fpoufe. They muft even be feparated by a wooden partition, or a wall; and the door must be carefully guarded the hufband is not at liberty to enter the inner apartment, nor muft the wife ever quit it without a fufficient caufe. "A wife," adds this book, "is not miftrefs of herself; fhe has nothing at her own difpofal; the can give no orders but within the precincts of her own apart ment, to which all her authority is confined." It will appear, no doubt, extraordinary, that the fame book of Ceremonies ranks the prattling and Joquacity of a woman among thofe DESCRIPTION of a MAY-DAY COLLATION given by WHITELOCKE, in the English manner (during his Embaffy from OLIVER CROMWELL) to CHRISTINA, QUEEN of SWEDEN and fome of her favourite Ladies and Courtiers. Tlocke, to locke, according to the inviHIS being May-day, Whitetation he had made to the queen, put her in mind of it, that, as fle was his mistress, and this May-day, he was by the cuftom of England to wait upon her to take the air, and to treat her with fome little collation as her fervant. The queen faid the weather was very cold, yet fhe was very willing to bear him company after the English mode. With the queen were Woolfeldt, Tott, and five of her ladies. WhiteJocke brought them to his collation, which he had commanded his fervants to prepare in the best wanner they could, and altogether after the English fashion. majefty's good housewifery; who, to exprefs, her contentment in this collation; was full of pleafantnefs and gaiety of fpirits, both in fupper time and afterwards; among other frolics the commanded Whitelocke to teach her ladies the English faiutation; which, after fome pretty defences, their lips obeyed, and Whitelocke moft readily. It was late before the returned to the caftle, whither Whitelocke waits ed on her; and the difcourfed a little with him about his business and the time of his audience, and gave him many thanks for his noble treatment of her and her company. She highly.commended Whitelocke's mufic of the trumpets, which founded all fupper-time; and her difcourfe was all of mirth and drolAt the table with the queen fatlery, wherein Whitelocke endea la belle comteffe, the countess voured to answer her, and the rest Gabriel Oxenstierne, Woolfeldt, of the company did their parts. Tott, and Whitelocke; the other Jadies fat in another room. Their meat was fuch fotvl as could be gotten, dressed after the English fashion, and with Englifh fauces, creams, puddings, cuftards, tarts, tanfeys, English apples, bon chreftien pears, cheefe, butter, neat's-tongues, potted venifon, and fweet-meats brought from England, as his fack and claret alfo was; his beer was alfo brewed, and his bread made by his own fervants, in his own houfe, after the English manner; and the queen and her company feemed highly pleafed with this treatment: fome of her company faid, fhe did eat and drink more at it, than the ufed to do in three or four days at her own table. The entertainment was as full and noble as the place would afford, and as Whitelocke could make it, and fo well ordered and contrived that the Queen faid she had never feen any like it; fhe was pleafed fo far to play the good housewife, as to inquire how the butter could be fo freth and fweet, and yet brought out of England? Whitelocke, from his cooks, fatisfied her majefty's Our auther informs us that two days after this entertainment, Monf. Woolfeldt, being invited by Whitelocke, told him that the queen was extremely pleafed with his treatment of her. Whitelocke excused the meanness of it for her majesty. Woolfeldt replied that both the queen and all the company efteemed it as the handfomeft and nobleft that they ever faw; and the queen, after that, would drink no other wine but Whitelocke's, and kindly accepted the neat's tongues, potted venifon, and cakes, which, upon her commendation, Whitelocke fent to her majefty. ANECDOTE. office at Doctor's commons Countryman, going into the inquiry; that they put the falt but-where all the wills are kept, was furter into milk, where it lay all night,prifed to fee fuch a number of large and the next day it would eat fresh and fweet as this did, and any butter new made, and commended her volumes, and inquired, if they were Bibles?" No, fir, (replied one of the clerks) they are Teftaments." |