From Lien Chi Altangi to Fum Hoam, First President of the
Ceremonial Academy at Pekin, in China
There are numbers in this city who live by writing new books; and yet
there are thousands of volumes in every large library unread and
forgotten. This, upon my arrival, was one of those contradictions which
I was unable to account for. Is it possible, said I, that there should
be any demand for new books before those already published are read? Can
there be so many employed in producing a commodity with which the market
is overstocked; and with goods also better than any of modern
manufacture!
What at first view appeared an inconsistency is a proof at once of this
people's wisdom and refinement. Even allowing the works of their
ancestors better written than theirs, yet those of the moderns acquire a
real value, by being marked with the impression of the times. Antiquity
has been in the possession of others; the present is our own: let us
first therefore learn to know what belongs to ourselves, and then, if we
have leisure, cast our reflections back to the reign of Shonsu, who
governed twenty thousand years before the creation of the moon.
The volumes of antiquity, like medals, may very well serve to amuse the
curious; but the works of the moderns, like the current coin of a
kingdom, are much better for immediate use; the former are often prized
above their intrinsic value, and kept with care, the latter seldom pass
for more than they are worth, and are often subject to the merciless
hands of sweating critics and clipping compilers: the works of antiquity
were ever praised, those of the moderns read; the treasures of our
ancestors have our esteem, and we boast the passion; those of
contemporary genius engage our heart, although we blush to own it. The
visits we pay the former resemble those we pay the great; the ceremony
is troublesome, and yet such as we would not choose to forgo; our
acquaintance with modern books is like sitting with a friend; our pride
is not flattered in the interview, but it gives more internal
satisfaction....
In England, where there are as many new books published as in all the
rest of Europe together, a spirit of freedom and reason reigns among the
people; they have been often known to act like fools, they are generally
found to think like men.--O. GOLDSMITH. _Letters from a Citizen of the
World._