now think the multitude of books a multitude of evils. He would consider a bulky writer who engrossed a year, and a swarm of pamphleteers who stole each an hour, as equal wasters of human life, and would make no other difference between them than between a beast of prey and a flight of locusts.

OLIVER GOLDSMITH

[OLIVER GOLDSMITH was born in the village of Pallas, Ireland, in 1728. He entered Trinity College at Dublin, but was a poor student and was graduated "by special favor." Later he studied medicine in Scotland and on the continent, and wandered adventurously through various European countries, returning to London in destitution about 1756. He now did hack-work of various kinds for publishers, and presently attained some reputation by his pen, but was usually in debt and often in difficulties arising from journalistic quarrels. One of his principal pleasures was his friendship with Dr. Johnson, who procured the publication of Goldsmith's chief work, The Vicar of Wakefield, in 1766. He is also remembered for a permanently successful comedy, She Stoops to Conquer. When he died, in 1774, Dr. Johnson wrote a Latin epitaph for his monument in Westminster Abbey (though he was buried elsewhere), in which occurs the famous saying: "There is almost no kind of composition which he did not touch, and nothing he touched which he did not adorn."]

A SERVICE AT ST. PAUL'S

[The Citizen of the World,1 Letter XLI.]

3

SOME time since I sent thee, O holy disciple of Confucius, an account of the grand abbey,2 or mausoleum, of the kings and heroes of this nation. I have since been introduced to a temple not so ancient, but far superior in beauty and magnificence. In this, which is the most considerable of the empire, there are no pompous inscriptions, no flattery paid the dead, but all is elegant and awfully simple. There are, however, a

1. On The Citizen of the World, from which these essays are taken, see the Introduction, page 11.

2. the grand abbey. Westminster, described by the writer in his 13th Letter.

3. not so ancient. The original St. Paul's Cathedral had been destroyed in the fire of 1666; the structure here described, which still stands, was built in 1675-1710.

few rags hung round the walls, which have, at a vast expense, been taken from the enemy in the present war. The silk of which they are composed, when new, might be valued at half a string of copper money in China; yet this wise people fitted out a fleet and an army in order to seize them, though now grown old, and scarcely capable of being patched up into a handkerchief. By this conquest the English are said to have gained, and the French to have lost, much honor. Is the honor of European nations placed only in tattered silk?

In this temple I was permitted to remain during the whole service; and were you not already acquainted with the religion of the English, you might from my description be inclined to believe them as grossly idolatrous as the disciples of Lao. The idol which they seem to address strides like a colossus over the door of the inner temple, which here, as with the Jews, is esteemed the most sacred part of the building. Its oracles are delivered in a hundred various tones, which seem to inspire the worshipers with enthusiasm and awe. An old woman, who appeared to be the priestess, was employed in various attitudes as she felt the inspiration. When it began to speak, all the people remained fixed in silent attention, nodding assent, looking approbation, appearing highly edified by those sounds which to a stranger might seem inarticulate and unmeaning.

When the idol had done speaking, and the priestess had locked up its lungs with a key, observing almost all the company leaving the temple, I concluded the service was over, and, taking my hat, was going to walk away with the crowd, when I was stopped by the Man in Black,' who assured me that the ceremony had scarcely yet begun.

4. rags.

It is still customary to hang national battle trophies in St. Paul's.

5. present war. The war which was ended in the following year (1763) by the Peace of Paris.

6. The idol. The great organ.

7. the Man in Black. The gentleman who guides the Chinese traveler about London.

"What!" cried I. "Do I not see almost the whole body of worshipers leaving the church? Would you persuade mo that such numbers who profess religion and morality would, in this shameless manner, quit the temple before the service was concluded? You surely mistake; not even the Kalmouks would be guilty of such an indecency, though all the object of their worship was but a joint-stool."

My friend seemed to blush for his countrymen, assuring me that those whom I saw running away were only a parcel of musical blockheads, whose passion was merely for sounds, and whose heads were as empty as a fiddle-case. "Those who remain behind," says he, "are the true religious. They make use of music to warm their hearts, and to lift them to a proper pitch of rapture. Examine their behavior, and you will confess there are some among us who practice true devotion."

I now looked round me as he directed, but saw nothing of that fervent devotion which he had promised. One of the worshipers appeared to be ogling the company through a glass. Another was fervent, not in addresses to heaven, but to his mistress; a third whispered; a fourth took snuff; and the priest himself, in a drowsy tone, read over the "duties" of the day. "Bless my eyes!" cried I, as I happened to look toward the door, "what do I see? One of the worshipers fallen fast asleep, and actually sunk down on his cushion! He is now enjoying the benefit of a trance; or does he receive the influence of some mysterious vision?"

"Alas! alas!" replied my companion. "No such thing. He has only had the misfortune of eating too hearty a dinner, and finds it impossible to keep his eyes open."

Turning to another part of the temple, I perceived a young lady just in the same circumstances and attitude. "Strange!" cried I. "Can she too have overeaten herself?"

"Oh, fie!" replied my friend, "you now grow censorious. She grow drowsy from eating too much! That would be pro

8. Kalmouks. Nomadic Mongolians of western China.

fanation. She only sleeps now from having sat up all night at a brag9 party."

"Turn me where I will, then," says I, "I can perceive no single symptom of devotion among the worshipers, except from that old woman in the corner, who sits groaning behind the long sticks of a mourning fan. She indeed seems greatly edified with what she hears."

"Ay," replied my friend, "I knew we should find some to catch you. I know her; that is the deaf lady who lives in the cloisters."

In short, the remissness of behavior in almost all the worshipers, and some even of the guardians, struck me with surprise. I had been taught to believe that none were ever promoted to offices in the temple but men remarkable for their superior sanctity, learning, and rectitude; that there was no such thing heard of as persons being introduced into the church10 merely to oblige a senator, or provide for the younger branch of a noble family. I expected, as their minds were continually set upon heavenly things, to see their eyes directed there also, and hoped from their behavior to perceive their inclinations corresponding with their duty. But I am since informed that some are appointed to preside over temples they never visit,11 and, while they receive all the money, are contented with letting others do all the good.—Adieu.

THE CHARACTER OF BEAU TIBBS

[The Citizen of the World, Letter LIV.]

THOUGH naturally pensive, yet am I fond of gay company, and take every opportunity of thus dismissing the mind from

9. brag. The old name for poker.

10. introduced into the church. That is, into the priesthood, and given a "living" or endowed pastorate.

11. temples they never visit. A reference to the custom of turning over the care of an endowed living to a poorly paid curate; this was complained of by Chaucer in his Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, as early as the fourteenth century, and remained a subject of criticism in the Church of England well into the nineteenth.