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The Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith: Letters from a citizen of the world, to his friends in the East
by Oliver Goldsmith
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Excerpt:
They like to have the face of various colours, as among the Tartars of Koreki, frequently sticking on, with spittle, little black patches on every part of it, except on the tip of the nose, which I have never seen with a patch. You 'll have a hetter idea of their manner of placing these spots, when I have finished a map of an English face patched up to the fashion, which shall shortly be sent to increase your curious collection of paintings, medals, and monsters. is the Englishman's prerogative; we must preserve that at the expense of our lives; of that the French shall never deprive us; it is not to be expected thai men who are slaves themselves would preserve our freedom should they happen to conquer. "Ay, slaves, cries the porter, they are all slaves, fit only to cany burthens, every one of them. Before I would stoop to slavery, may this be my poison (and he held the goblet in his hand), may this be my poison—but I would sooner list for a soldier."
But what surprises more than all the rest is what I have just now been credibly informed by one of this country. "Most ladies here," says he, "have two faces; one face to sleep in, and another to shew in company; the first is generally reserved for the husband and family at home; the other put on to please strangers abroad: the family face is often indifferent enough, but the out-door *one looks something better; this is always made at the toilet, where the lookingglass and toad-eater sit in council, and settle the complexion of the day."
I can't ascertain the truth of this remark; however, it. is actually certain, that they wear more clothes within doors than without; and I have seen a lady, who seemed to shudder at a breeze in her own apartment, appear half naked in the streets, Farewell!
LETTER IV.
TO THE SAME.
The English seem as silent as the Japanese, yet vainer than the inhabitants of Siam. Upon my arrival I attributed that reserve to modesty, which I now find, has its origin in pride. Condescend to address them first, and you are sure of their ac^ quaintance; stoop to flattery, and you conciliate their friendship and esteem. They bear hunger,
cold, fatigue, and all the miseries of life, without shrinking; danger only calls forth their fortitude; they even exult in calamity; but contempt is what they cannot bear. An Englishman fears contempt more than death; he often flies to death as a refuge from its pressure; and dies when he fancies the world has ceased to esteem him.
Pride seems the source not only of their national vices, but of their national virtues also. An Englishman is. taught to love his king as his friend, but to acknowledge no other master than the laws which himself has contributed to enact. He despises those nations, who, that one may be free, are all content to be slaves; who first lift a tyrant into terror, and then shrink under his power as if delegated from heaven. Liberty is echoed in all their assemblies; and thousands might be found ready to offer up their lives for the sound, though perhaps not one of all the number understands its meaning. The lowest meehanic however looks upon it as his duty to be a watchful guardian of his country's freedom, and often uses a language that might seem haughty, even in the mouth of the great emperor who traces his ancestry to the moon.
A few days ago, passing by one of their prisons, I could not avoid stopping, in order to listen to a dialogue, which I thought might afford me some entertainment. The conversation was carried on between a debtor through the grate of his prison, a porter who* had stopped to rest his burthen, and a soldier at the window. The subject was upon a threatened invasion from France, and each seemed extremely anxious to> rescue his country from the impending danger. For my part, cries, the prisoner, the greatest of my apprehensions is for our freedom; if the French should conquer, ivhat would become of English liberty? My dearfriends, liberty
