The Consolidator | Page 3

let them know, how
Infinitely we are out-done by those refined Nations, in all manner of
Mechanick Improvements and Arts; and in discoursing of this, it will

necessarily come in my way to speak of a most Noble Invention, being
an Engine I would recommend to all People to whom 'tis necessary to
have a good Memory; and which I design, if possible, to obtain a Draft
of, that it may be Erected in our Royal Societies Laboratory: It has the
wonderfullest Operations in the World: One part of it furnishes a Man
of Business to dispatch his Affairs strangely; for if he be a Merchant,
he shall write his Letters with one Hand, and Copy them with the other;
if he is posting his Books, he shall post the Debtor side with one Hand,
and the Creditor with the other; if he be a Lawyer, he draws his Drafts
with one Hand, and Ingrosses them with the other.
Another part of it furnishes him with such an Expeditious way of
Writing, or Transcribing, that a Man cannot speak so fast, but he that
hears shall have it down in Writing before 'tis spoken; and a Preacher
shall deliver himself to his Auditory, and having this Engine before him,
shall put down every thing he says in Writing at the same time; and so
exactly is this Engine squar'd by Lines and Rules, that it does not
require him that Writes to keep his Eye upon it.
I am told, in some Parts of China, they had arriv'd to such a Perfection
of Knowledge, as to understand one anothers Thoughts; and that it was
found to be an excellent Preservative to humane Society, against all
sorts of Frauds, Cheats, Sharping, and many Thousand European
Inventions of that Nature, at which only we can be said to out-do those
Nations.
I confess, I have not yet had leisure to travel those Parts, having been
diverted by an accidental Opportunity of a new Voyage I had occasion
to make for farther Discoveries, and which the Pleasure and Usefulness
thereof having been very great, I have omitted the other for the present,
but shall not fail to make a Visit to those Parts the first Opportunity,
and shall give my Country-men the best Account I can of those things;
for I doubt not in Time to bring our Nation, so fam'd for improving
other People's Discoveries, to be as wise as any of those Heathen
Nations; I wish I had the same Prospect of making them half so honest.
I had spent but a few Months in this Country, but my search after the
Prodigy of humane Knowledge the People abounds with, led me into

Acquaintance with some of their principal Artists, Engineers, and Men
of Letters; and I was astonish'd at every Day's Discovery of new and of
unheard-of Worlds of Learning; but I Improv'd in the Superficial
Knowledge of their General, by no body so much as by my
Conversation with the Library-keeper of Tonquin, by whom I had
Admission into the vast Collection of Books, which the Emperors of
that Country have treasur'd up.
It would be endless to give you a Catalogue, and they admit of no
Strangers to write any thing down, but what the Memory can retain,
you are welcome to carry away with you; and amongst the wonderful
Volumes of Antient and Modern Learning, I could not but take Notice
of a few; which, besides those I mentioned before, I saw, when I lookt
over this vast Collection; and a larger Account may be given in our
next.
It would be needless to Transcribe the Chinese Character, or to put their
Alphabet into our Letters, because the Words would be both
Unintelligible, and very hard to Pronounce; and therefore, to avoid hard
Words, and Hyroglyphicks, I'll translate them as well as I can.
The first Class I came to of Books, was the Constitutions of the Empire;
these are vast great Volumes, and have a sort of Engine like our Magna
Charta, to remove 'em, and with placing them in a Frame, by turning a
Screw, open'd the Leaves, and folded them this way, or that, as the
Reader desires. It was present Death for the Library-keeper to refuse
the meanest Chinese Subject to come in and read them; for 'tis their
Maxim, That all People ought to know the Laws by which they are to
be govern'd; and as above all People, we find no Fools in this Country,
so the Emperors, though they seem to be Arbitrary, enjoy the greatest
Authority in the World, by always observing, with the greatest
Exactness, the Pacta Conventa of their Government: From these
Principles it is impossible we should ever hear, either of the Tyranny of
Princes, or Rebellion of