The Gentlemans Calling, Section 3
SECT. III. The Particulars of the Gentleman's Advantages above others.
1. BUt to dwell no longer on Generals, I shall descend to Particularize those Advantages, by which they are severed and discriminated from the vulgar, and which consequently by being peculiar to them, devolve on them an obligation of a distinct Duty. And here I shall be careful to prevent dispute, and therefore take in none but what are so obvious, as to be universally acknowledged; and then having my premisses granted, I shall hope they will not betray themselves such ill Logicians, as to resist or disclaim the Conclusion.
2. I begin with that advantage which they are earliest possest of, that of an ingenuous and refined Education; of which, I hope none that hath had it, will so far confute the Efficacy, as to despise and undervalue. What the Apostle urges in a higher Argument, Rom. 9. may be appliable here. Mens mindes are naturally of the same Clay, Education is the Potters hand and wheel that forms them into Vessels of honor or dishonor; and though experience shews us, it is too possible for Men to deface those nobler Impressions which they have thus received, yet that makes it not cease to be in it self a most estimable Blessing, any more then that excellency of Gods Image wherein Man was created, could be defamed by his fall. It is certain, there is no Humane means more effectual towards the refining and sharpning Mens intellects, giving them an edge and quickness, and that the more, because it takes them in that Age wherein their faculties are, as their joynts, pliant and tractable, and so capable of being by exercise improved into great degrees, both of strength and activity. This Advantage the meaner sort generally want, the expencefulness of such a breeding, sets it beyond their reach: The indigence of whose condition, doth on the contrary determine their pursuits to that onelyonly, which may bring them in a subsistence, fastens them to the Shop or Plough, and so leaves their mindes uncultivated and unapt for those more excellent productions which the happier Institution of Gentlemen enable them for; as we see it observed by the Wiseman, Eccles. 38. 25. to the end of that Chapter.
3. A second Advantage is that of Wealth which to Gentlemen seems to be, as it were, rained down from the Clouds, both in respect of the plenty and the easiness of its acquisition Fair Patrimonies, large Inheritances descend on them without one drop of their sweat, one minutes toyl or sollicitude, as if they were the undoubted Heirs of the Israelites Blessings, Successors in their Canaan, who were to Possess Houses full of all good things which they fi…ed not, and Wells digged which they digged not; Vineyards and Olive-trees which they planted not, as it is D…ut 6 11. The Poet hath placed it in the front of his Inventory, the prime ingredient in the compleatest felicity of this life, Res … …erta labore sed relicta; whereas on the other side the lower rank of Men fetch their meer necessaries out of the Earth, which being, as it were, hardned and petrified by Adams sin, must be mollified and suppled with their sweat, before it will become penetrable, will not yield them food, but gives them also a portion of sorrow with it: They must first be torn with those Thorns and Briars which cover her surface, before they can fetch nourishment out of her Bowels, they must buy their Bread with their sweat, as if they had ingrossed the penalty of their first Fathers sin, whilest Gentlemen sweat onelyonly by the engagement of their sports, or by the direction of the Physitian, to digest their fulness of Bread, which every one must confess a sufficient inequality.
4. A third is that of Time. This depends by way of consequence on the former; for God having made such liberal provisions for them, thus prevented them with the Blessings of his Goodness, they can have no need to employ their time to gain that, wherewith they already abound; and so being exempted from that one devouring expence of it, have a great stock to bestow on other more excellent purposes; whereas the poor Man hath scarce any vacant minute, or such as he can call his own; they are all forestalled by those pressing necessities which lie unremoveable upon him; his day-hours are challenged by his labor, his nights by his rest; and the satisfying of these Claims so necessary, that his own support, perhaps that also of a numerous family depends upon it; and therefore he may not attempt to defeat them: So that if Time be to be accounted a Treasure, as undoubtedly it is, here is a second sort of Poverty to which he is exposed as a result of the former; and another manifest inequality between him and the Gentleman.
5. A fourth is that of Authority, by which I mean not that which belongs to those which are advanced to Publick Office; for that being peculiar to some few onelyonly, will not bear a distinct part in my present consideration; b… I understand by it that more private influence which Gentlemen generally have on those tha… are their Dependents. And this also may be reckoned an effect of the former, their Wealth. For in proportion to that, the number of Servants, Tenants, and Pensioners, (yea, perhaps of Friends too) is to be measured; and over all these they have somewhat (though not o… absolute despotical dominion, yet) of sway and prevalency. On the other side, the poor Mans authority is bounded within the narrow circuit of his little Cottage, being in effect no other then the propagation of that Pow… Nature hath given him over his own Body to those Branches that spring from it, hi… Children; and to that Cien which is ingraf… into it, his Wife: And if he shall but pee… out of this little Principality, attempt to inlarge his Territories, and prescribe to any forreigner, he will soon be taught how little hi… power is acknowledged, and consequently a… how great a distance he stands in this particula… also from the Gentleman.
6. The fifth is that of Reputation and Esteem; which as the World goes is a shadow that waits only on the greater Bodies. Wealth and Honor, are the things that render any person considerable amongst Men, prepar… them with an aptness to embrace his Dictates to consider his Counsels, to transcribe hi… Copies; and though now it often falls out to be an unjust measure, yet perhaps it may have no unjust Original: For if such persons did make use of those advantages they have, to make their Mindes as rich as their Fortunes, this were but their due: And therefore if it be paid them upon this supposition, it is they onelyonly that are guilty of the injustice, by defeating the ground of it. But by what tenor soever they hold it, 'tis sure; it may be made an apt Instrument to many good purposes, and therefore well deserves to be accounted into the number of their advantages. But now if you look on the poor Man, you shall see him loaded with Contempts; from which, no inward Excellencies he possesses can rescue him. It is the observation of the wisest of Men, that the poor mans wisdom is despised, Eccles. 9. 16. So hated and scorned a thing is Poverty, that it seems the Fate of it is infectious, and casts reproach upon the most estimable things that cohabit with it The World is so full of instances of this truth, that we need go no higher then our own times; but if we should look back, we may finde one as ancient as Job, who in his own person experimented these distant effects of Prosperity and Adversity; while he was in a flourishing condition Men gave ear to him, and waited, and kept silence at his counsel. After his words, they spake not again, and his soul dropped on them, Job 29. 21, 22. But in the next Chapter we finde the Scene quite changed, and this reverenced and adored person is become a song and a by-word to the basest of men I shall readily acknowledge this injurious treating of the poor to be a great Barbarism: But though there can nothing be inferred from it as de jure, yet its being so d… facto, proves all I am about to assert, vi… The great unevenness that is (in this instance as well as the former) between Gentlemen and their Inferiors.
7. Having given this Schedule of undeniable Priviledges they enjoy, I shall before I proceed farther, beseech them here to make… stand, and sob…rly to consider whither it be imaginable, that God hath put so many excellent Instruments of Action into their hand… onelyonly to make them less active. That were t… accuse the Divine Wisdom of such an unskil… kinde of managery, as the shallowest Huma… Providence falls not under. Will any of them be at the care and expence to furnish a Servan… with all Materials and Utensils for Work, with no other design, but that he may spend h… time either in sleep or riot. If they will not, … shall ask how they would like a Servant tha… should so absurdly pervert their intentions And according to the answer they give to that, leave them to conclude of their own acceptableness, with their great Master; who no… onelyonly in a single instance, but in an habitu… course behave themselves as preposterously. … cannot see how such a reflexion, if made wit… any seriousness, can miss of being attend… with a severe self condemnation, and then that …eing so proper a basis and ground-work, …hould me thinks by a kinde, even of natural …nergy, invite them to superstruct on it more Noble and Christian purposes; that they who …re so apt to expect Adoration from others, … willing to be Idolized, may not yet any …nger be willing to be indeed Idols (have …ouths and speak not, &c. Psal. 135, as many …nactive powers, as those have Organs) but …ay rather aspire to some degree of resem…lance to that Divine Essence, whose opera…ons are as Incessant as Excellent, and by an …intermitted Industry in employing those ad…antages God hath put into their hands, answer …s design in bestowing them.