Institutions, Part 1
INSTITUTIONS OR ADVICE TO HIS GRANDSON. The Firſt Part.
NOSCE TEIPSUM was a document in eſpecial eſteem amongſt the ancient Philoſophers, and to know your Origin and birth is to know a good part of your ſelf.
I have in my cuſtody ſix Offices or Inquiſitions in ſerie (which alſo are tranſcribed into the ſeveral Offices at London) all which I will take care faithfully to leave unto you, becauſe it ſhall not be through my default, that you loſe any of your juſt rights either in honour or profit: theſe Offices and the quiet enjoyment of your Anceſtors enſuing thereupon, being in truth the very Nerves and Sinews of your eſtate, and the Conduits whereby it doth appear how their blood runneth in your veins, of all which I ſhall be ready to give you an account.
But I beſeech you (this your deſcent be it what it will) that you make no boaſting or oſtentation thereof, or compariſons with other Gentlemen; than which nothing is more vile or putid: but lay it aſide by you to vindicate you from indignities and affronts, and when you finde your ſelf diſparaged, or the title of your land queſtioned, then with modeſty (the comelieſt ornament of youth) and with ſuch weapons as are left unto you, defend the ſame. Let upſtarts and buyers of honour bragg and boaſt.
Pervia dant vada plus murmin is, alta nihil.
Armories have ſuffixed unto them Mottoes or ſhort ſentences: and that which your Anceſtors have long uſed is, VIRTUS VERUS HONOS.
By which it doth appear, that unleſs you imitate their virtues, you cannot participate their honours. Without virtue, honour is but a falſe gloſſe: for Titles of honour do not ennoble men, but worthy men ennoble their Titles of Honour.
Virtute decet non ſanguine niti.
This Honour, though it be a character indelible, which cannot be loſt, but by your own default; yet it will be much impaired and in effect loſt, neither can it be well preſerved, without the preſervation of your eſtate alſo. They are like two twins, inſeparable, born together, and muſt live and dye together.
Vnijugis vitae eſt una, neciſ que dies.
Poverty and Honour are very unſutable Companions. Every Acre of land you ſell, you loſe in proportion ſo much gentile blood: And therefore you may take notice that you are but Fiduciarius, that is (according to the Civill Law) a Truſtee for others: and that Piety which your Anceſtors had to preſerve an Eſtate for you, you are to extend the ſame unto thoſe who ſhall ſucceed you. If you diſſipate, you break that tacit and implicit Truſt, which ſo many Anceſtors, in ſo many Ages, have repoſed in you.
Now to preſerve an Eſtate is an Art and skill, as Ovid telleth you:
Non minor eſt virtus, quàm quaerere, parta tueri:
Caſus ineſt illis, hic erit artis opus:
The virtue which beſt conduceth to this end, is the moſt excellent virtue Parſimony, I mean the medium between nimium and parum, ſordid Avarice, and profuſe Prodigality. Cato being demanded what was the greateſt Revenue, made Anſwer, Maximum vectigal Parſimonia. Uſe Parſimony betimes before a waſt be made, for Seneca tells you, Sera eſt in fundo Parſimonia.
In reſpect of the diſtance of years which is between us, you are very likely to be Maſter of your Eſtate, in part or in whole, betimes, yea in the very entrance of your youth.
The Civil Law limiting the majority of Males at the Age of 25. better provideth for the ſecurity of Eſtates than the Common Law of our Land, which appointeth the full Age at 21. More Families, I dare ſay, have decayed, or at leaſt received the deadly wound in this intervall, which is but four years, than in all other years of mans life. Be not therefore too jolly at the firſt, nor apt to be blown by Paraſites and Flatterers (the bane of youth, who as Summer birds, but withall birds of prey, do allwayes reſort to the Spring of an Eſtate) that your eſtate is greater than it is: this hath deceived many. Make your ſelf rather leſs then you are. Good grounds of Frugality at firſt once well lay'd will make your Eſtate continue firm and ſtable.
Dimidium facti, qui bene coepit, habet.
Land, by which a man is fed, is moſt honourable: mony (as Syracides hath it) anſwereth all things, but 'tis not ſo honourable, and more caſual. Land and mony ſort beſt together. If you cannot ſet your land, you may ſtock it. When it is more profitable for you to diſtock, you can take your beſt market. Caſt your ſelf once behind, whereby you muſt be inforced to recieve your Rents before they are due, or to engage your Tenants and ſervants, it is wonderfull what wayes and projects will be layd to keep you down.
Riches may be well compared unto Ciſternes or Pooles, which a ſmall ſtream will eaſily fill, if there be no leaks or waſts, but ſmall waſts and expences continuing, and not prevented, have decieved, and undone many, no man knoweth how. Look to your exports, as well as your Imports, and ſo prevent growing miſchiefs. Idem facit ſentina neglecta, quod flumen irruens. Iſta levia noli contemnere. Qui ſpernit modica, paulatim decidet.
The Antient Hiſtorians agree that by this Vertue Parſimony moſt eſpecially, the State of Rome came to Soveraignty over the whole World. Quintus Cincinnatus was taken from the Plough and made Dictator, and at the end of his Dictatorſhip returned to the Plough again. But the Roman State, after the conqueſt of Aſia being rotten with luxury, and the delicacies thereof (prope ad ſummum prope ad exitum) fell as faſt, and at laſt reſting in ſinu imperatoris, the whole Roman Empire was not ſufficient to ſatiate the throat of one Man, as did well appear in thoſe Monſters of men, Vitellius and Heliogabalus.
But what do we ſeek for examples of Parſimony ſo antient & remote, when you have ſo lively one of your own. Your worthy Mother, you ſee, bred up in all affluence, denyeth herſelf all the conveniences and contentments becoming her ſex and Honour. What to do? to give your ſelf and Brothers a Vertuous Education. Certainly, you will much degenerate, if you comply not with Her in ſo eminent a vertue.
Much more might be added by comparing the contrary effects to this Vertue, becauſe Contraria juxta ſe poſita magis eluceſcunt: but they are all checked by this rare Vertue Parſimony, the wholſome Preſervative againſt all Inordination.
Another, and that an eſpeciall means to preſerve your Eſtate is your choice of a wife, when as Maturity of years and your own affections ſhall encline you thereunto: which alſo by your care will adde unto you both an Increment of Eſtate, & Strength & Alliance of friends. It is the weightieſt action you can perform in all your life, and it is reſembled to Warr, in which it is ſayd, you cannot erre twice. Non eſt in bello bis peccandum. If love be your incentive, let Diſcretion de your directive. Take your worthy Mother by the hand with you; She looketh upon you with a double aſpect, as entruſted by your late Father, and by her own Goodneſs, and indulgence toward you, exacting by the Lawes of God and Nature duty and obedience from you. To whoſe advice, if you joyn your Prayers to the Allmighty, you ſhall then know that a good wife is a Portion from the Lord.
Love is a fire which requireth fuell, and therefore I truſt you will take care by your Marriage to advance and augment your eſtate, that thereby your affectionate Mother may be enabled to make proviſion for your Brothers, to undergo thoſe progreſſions into which they have made ſo happy and Vertuous a Commencement.
And this is alſo another preſervation of your Eſtate, and ſecurity, if your ſelf ſhould faile, theſe like two Arches will preſerve the ſame. Theſe are noble Emiſſaries, which are ſent abroad to afford you honour and reputation at home. If any ſad adventure happen to them, your Houſe muſt be an Aſylum or Sanctuary unto them. You are three in number: Numero Deus impare gaudet.
And as Solomon ſaith, The triple twiſted cord is not eaſily broken.
Nemo laeditur niſi a ſcipſo.
There be many ways & middeſſes by which Families have decayed, and many ſeeming wiſe men have overthrown their own eſtates. Such are they that graſp more than they can hold. Mortgage not your own land upon a certain title, for other land of whoſe title you cannot be ſo well aſſured. Such as theſe Syracides well noteth: He that buyeth land with other mens mony, is like one that buyeth a heap of ſtones to bury himſelf. It is not the number of acres will give you content, when you are beſieged and oppreſſed with debts and neceſſities. Melior eſt pauper (ſaith Solomon) ſibi ſufficiens, quàm qui multa poſſidet, & tamen egenus.
Such as theſe are Gameſters alſo, who out of a covetous deſire and overweening to gain, ſomtimes make a Patrimony, but a Chriſtmas-Caſt. Others have more ſport for their Money, who adventure bag after bag, and never leave off till all be loſt. This hath accelerated the ruine of many noble Families.
I am not ſo ſupercilious to conceive, but that it may be a firting decorum, for you to play, when by noble company you are invited thereunto: nay, not to play is a defect: but then not to adventure more than you can well ſpare, and for which the loſſe will not diſcontent you. And in this your diſport, you are to have ſome reſpect unto time, and not to make that to be your vocation which is onelyonly intended for your recreation. Ludendi modus eſt retinendus, ſaith Tully.
And it will alſo become you to know the advantages of games; ſo ſhall you not altogether commit your money, which is ſo precious, to the temerity of fortune: Mony is the hand to all actions, and it is alſo called alter ſanguis, and Regina pecunia, cui omnia obediunt.
A conſequent of the two former is the taking up of mony upon Intereſt: What though you ſee many of the Nobility and Gentry involved and plunged therein, Multitudo errrantium non parat errori patrocinium. Cato being demanded, Quid eſt foenerare, made anſwer, Hominem jugulare. The Jews (well verſed in the trade ever ſince) were permitted to lend upon uſury, to thoſe Nations, whom God had commanded to be caſt out before them, thereby to ext…rp them. It devoureth States and Kingdoms. The King of Spain, called the King of the golden purſe, upon whoſe Dominions the Sun never ſetteth; was not able to pay the Intereſt of mony, taken up from the Merchants of Genoa, for the ſupply of his Army in the Low-Countries.
A concomitant to this of Uſury is Suretyſhip, which hath alſo undone many. Mony cannot be procured but upon high ſecurity; whereby you muſt make uſe of your friends, even of your beſt friends. If you ſuffer them to be ſued and impleaded, Actum eſt de Amicitia. But for the moſt part the borrowers of money (as at a mart) are engaged one for another, by a law of congruity. Thoſe that ſtand engaged for you; you muſt underwrite for them alſo: ſo that thereby your perſon and eſtate will not onelyonly lie expoſed to your own engagements, which might be weighty enough to pull you down, but for other mens debts alſo. And then it will be too late for you to hearken unto Solomon, whoſe advice is: If thou be ſurety for thy Neighbour, and haſt ſtricken hands with a ſtranger, give no ſleep to thine eyes, not ſlumber to thine eyelids. Deliver thy ſelf as a Doe from the hands of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fouler. Your own engagements, with others alſo, by a figure of multiplication, may ſo redouble and treble upon you, that in a moment you may be ſwallowed up alive, and that Houſe wherein your Anceſtors have been glorious for bounty and hoſpitality, may become the Den of a mercileſſe Uſurer: Your enemies will laugh you to ſcorn, your friends paſſing by will lament and ſay, O domus antiqua, quàm diſpari dominaris domino! But to prevent theſe and other the like miſchiefs, you have a ſure way. Be you the fruitful ſervant of Almighty God, you ſhall take deeper root: You ſhall be like a tree planted by the water ſide, which will bring forth fruit in due ſeaſon: your leaf alſo ſhall not wither, and whatſoever you do, it ſhall proſper.
Thus much for the preſervation of your Honour and Eſtate, which deſcend upon you from your Anceſtors. You may take breath a little, and then proceed to the ſecond part of this Diſcourſe, concerning your Company and Converſe.