Mechanics, servants, farmers, and so forth, Less prized, more useful, for your desk decreed, The wretch, whom avarice bids to pinch and spare, Take next the miser's contrast, who destroys Health, fame, and fortune, in a round of joys. Will any paper match him? Yes, throughout, He's a true sinking paper, past all doubt. The retail politician's anxious thought Deems this side always right, and that stark naught; The hasty gentleman, whose blood runs high, What are our poets, take them as they fall, Good, bad, rich, poor, much read, not read at all? Them and their works in the same class you'll find; They are the mere waste-paper of mankind. Observe the maiden, innocently sweet; She's fair white paper, an unsullied sheet; One instance more, and only one I'll bring; 'Tis the great man who scorns a little thing, Whose thoughts, whose deeds, whose maxims are his own, Formed on the feelings of his heart alone; True genuine royal paper is his breast; Of all the kinds most precious, purest, best. BAGATELLES. Concerning all the following articles, from The Levee to An Economical Project inclusive, Mr. William Temple Franklin remarks, that they "were chiefly written by Dr. Franklin for the amusement of his intimate society in London and Paris; and were actually collected in a small PORTFOLIO, endorsed as above. Several of the pieces were either originally written in French, or afterwards translated by him into that language, by way of exercises." The pieces which follow next, entitled The Craven Street Gazette, and A Letter concerning China, may perhaps be properly ranked in the same class. - EDITOR. THE LEVEE. In the first chapter of Job we have an account of a transaction said to have arisen in the court, or at the levee, of the best of all possible princes, or of governments by a single person, viz. that of God himself. At this levee, in which the sons of God were assembled, Satan also appeared. It is probable the writer of that ancient book took his idea of this levee from those of the eastern monarchs of the age he lived in. It is to this day usual, at the levees of princes, to have persons assembled who are enemies to each other, who seek to obtain favor by whispering calumny and detraction, and thereby ruining those that distinguish themselves by their virtue and merit. And kings frequently ask a familiar question or two, of every one in the circle, merely to show their benignity. These circumstances are particularly exemplified in this relation. If a modern king, for instance, finds a person in the circle, who has not lately been there, he naturally asks him how he has passed his time since he last had the pleasure of seeing him. The gentleman perhaps replies, that he has been in the country to view his estates, and visit some friends. Thus Satan, being asked whence he cometh, answers, "From going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it." And being further asked, whether he had considered the uprightness and fidelity of the prince's servant Job, he immediately displays all the malignance of the designing courtier, by answering with another question; "Doth Job serve God for naught? Hast thou not given him immense wealth, and protected him in the possession of it? Deprive him of that, and he will curse thee to thy face." In modern phrase, "Take away his places and his pensions, and your Majesty will soon find him in the opposition." This whisper against Job had its effect. He was delivered into the power of his adversary, who deprived him of his fortune, destroyed his family, and completely ruined him. The Book of Job is called by divines a sacred poem, and, with the rest of the Holy Scriptures, is understood to be written for our instruction. What then is the instruction to be gathered from this supposed transaction? Trust not a single person with the government of your state. For if the Deity himself, being the monarch, may for a time give way to calumny, and suffer it to operate the destruction of the best of subjects; what mischief may you not expect from such power in a mere man, though the best of men, from whom the truth is often industriously hidden, and to whom falsehood is often presented in its place, by artful, interested, and malicious courtiers? And be cautious in trusting him even with limited powers, lest sooner or later he sap and destroy those limits, and render himself absolute. For by the disposal of places, he attaches to himself all the placeholders, with their numerous connexions, and also all the expecters and hopers of places, which will form a strong party in promoting his views. By various political engagements for the interest of neighbouring states or princes, he procures their aid in establishing his own personal power. So that, through the hopes of emolument in one part of his subjects, and the fear of his resentment in the other, all opposition falls before him. PROPOSED NEW VERSION OF THE BIBLE. SIR, TO THE PRINTER OF It is now more than one hundred and seventy years since the translation of our common English Bible. The language in that time is much changed, and the style, being obsolete, and thence less agreeable, is perhaps one reason why the reading of that excellent book is of late so much neglected. I have therefore thought it would be well to procure a new version, in which, preserving the sense, the turn of phrase and manner of expression should be modern. I do not pretend to have the necessary abilities for such a work myself; I throw out the hint for the consideration of |