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Article THE COLLECTOR. Page 1 of 5 →
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The Collector.
THE COLLECTOR .
Mn . IV . CHINESE ARTIFICE . THIS people , who have attracted , and with so much justice , all universal curiosity , are distinguished by an acuteness and cunning that is really wonderfulwhether " it be in promoting their own
inte-, rest in p-eneral , or in extricating themselves in cases of sudden emer-< reocy . j ° A remarkable instance of this has been related by two authors of great credit , to this . effect : ' A certain Mandarine , the Visitor of a province , having acted some time in his government , of a sudden shut ' his gatesand refused access to any person , pretending he
up , was sick . A Mandarine , one of his friends , was greatly troubled at this , and with much difficulty obtained leave to speak with him . When he was admitted , he informed him ofthe discontent that was in the city , by reason that all public business was at a stand . The Visitor put him off with the sam e excuse of his sickness . ' ' I see no si" of this ( answered his friend ) but if your Lordship will be
-ns , pleased to unfold to me the true cause , 1 will serve you in it at the hazard of my life . ' ' Know , then , ( replied the Visitor ) that some person has stolen the Emperor ' s seal out of the cabinet where it used to be kept , leaving it locked , as if it had not been touched ; so that if should
I would g ive audience , I am not able to seal dispatches . Now , my neo-ligence in the loss of the seal be discovered , I shall lose my government , if not my ljfe . In this suspence , I am endeavouring- to gain time , which , however , will but little avail me , being more sensible than the people themselves of this delay of justice . ' The Mandarine readily perceiving how terrible his situation was , asked him if ? answered that the
he had no enemv whom he suspected He , 'Jyes , Che-foo or Governor of the city , had long borne a concealed malice against him , ancl would be now the first to inform the court of his misfortune . ' ' Away then , my Lord , ( quoth the Mandarine , in great haste ) remove all your goods into the most secret part of your palace , and at nig ht set lire to the empty apartments , calling out for Thither the Chefoo must of necessity
help to quench the fire . - repair with the first , this being one of the principal duties of his office . As soon as you see him among the people call out aloud to him , and consign to his care the cabinet thus shut up as it is ; and if he maliciously caused the seal to be stolen , he will replace it there , or you may accuse him of having lost it . ' The Visitor followed his advice , and it succeeded so well , that the next morning the seal was restored to him .
MONASTIC REASONINGJOHN RAWLI'N , a monk ofthe order of Cluny , in his Sermones ¦ QuadragesimaUs , speaking of fasting , says , 'A coach goes faster
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Collector.
THE COLLECTOR .
Mn . IV . CHINESE ARTIFICE . THIS people , who have attracted , and with so much justice , all universal curiosity , are distinguished by an acuteness and cunning that is really wonderfulwhether " it be in promoting their own
inte-, rest in p-eneral , or in extricating themselves in cases of sudden emer-< reocy . j ° A remarkable instance of this has been related by two authors of great credit , to this . effect : ' A certain Mandarine , the Visitor of a province , having acted some time in his government , of a sudden shut ' his gatesand refused access to any person , pretending he
up , was sick . A Mandarine , one of his friends , was greatly troubled at this , and with much difficulty obtained leave to speak with him . When he was admitted , he informed him ofthe discontent that was in the city , by reason that all public business was at a stand . The Visitor put him off with the sam e excuse of his sickness . ' ' I see no si" of this ( answered his friend ) but if your Lordship will be
-ns , pleased to unfold to me the true cause , 1 will serve you in it at the hazard of my life . ' ' Know , then , ( replied the Visitor ) that some person has stolen the Emperor ' s seal out of the cabinet where it used to be kept , leaving it locked , as if it had not been touched ; so that if should
I would g ive audience , I am not able to seal dispatches . Now , my neo-ligence in the loss of the seal be discovered , I shall lose my government , if not my ljfe . In this suspence , I am endeavouring- to gain time , which , however , will but little avail me , being more sensible than the people themselves of this delay of justice . ' The Mandarine readily perceiving how terrible his situation was , asked him if ? answered that the
he had no enemv whom he suspected He , 'Jyes , Che-foo or Governor of the city , had long borne a concealed malice against him , ancl would be now the first to inform the court of his misfortune . ' ' Away then , my Lord , ( quoth the Mandarine , in great haste ) remove all your goods into the most secret part of your palace , and at nig ht set lire to the empty apartments , calling out for Thither the Chefoo must of necessity
help to quench the fire . - repair with the first , this being one of the principal duties of his office . As soon as you see him among the people call out aloud to him , and consign to his care the cabinet thus shut up as it is ; and if he maliciously caused the seal to be stolen , he will replace it there , or you may accuse him of having lost it . ' The Visitor followed his advice , and it succeeded so well , that the next morning the seal was restored to him .
MONASTIC REASONINGJOHN RAWLI'N , a monk ofthe order of Cluny , in his Sermones ¦ QuadragesimaUs , speaking of fasting , says , 'A coach goes faster