precious for as the French men say Pays gasté vault mieux que pays perdu It is better to be Master of a wasted Countrey then of none at all LXXV Another danger there is which though not to the generality yet is very destructive to some and it is a being engaged to Law Suits An itch of being observed to prevail in matters of difference between Neighbour and Neighbour is too frequent even with such as are not observed to be much bent to the having of their will but with wilful people it surpasseth any other pleasure This is a very chargeable entertainment and bringeth bitternesse in the end for such businesses are for the most part concluded with little advantage to any but the Lawyers it is therefore much more convenient or rather Christian to make an end speedily by Reference or mediation of Friends which is the course whereunto I would advise our House-keeper LXXVI The point of non-residence at the prime Mansion house is of so great importance as the chief or at least the most probable cause of it may deserve consideration I take it to be the abhorrence of Solitude unto which the Countrey life is alwayes subject and in a very high measure but especially in the conceit of those of the best condition who have been constantly used to much converse and who cannot with the least contentment apply themselves to Rural businesses I confesse that Melancholly must be prevented for nothing can be more mischievous and therefore they must entertain themselves with such delights as may best quadrate with this course of life so new and unaccustomed LXXVII It was an Observation of my Fathers and perhaps printed in his Forest whereof I may borrow the substance and this it is That the English Gentleman can hardly be prosperous in government of his Estate for whereas the Genius of some other Nations prompteth them to particular excesses as the Italian to curiosity of House and Furniture the French man to bravery in Habit of Clothes and other matters of Parade as abundance of Pages and Laquays c. And the German to variety and excess in Drinking but they are all frugal otherwise Our English man affects all these together as also that of our own which is a number of Menial Servants and great plenty in Diet. Of this I shall make no application but say concerning the Observation Valeat quantum valere potest LXXVIII I have conversed much heretofore in the Family of a Nobleman of great fortunes who having many Children would never send any of them to travel beyond Sea giving for a reason that the seeing of so great variety and splendour made young men dislike their own native Countrey and place of Habitation The truth is it proveth to be so too often but as I conceive the inconvenience ariseth from the persons disposition and not from travel for it is not so with all Travellers neither is there reason for it England being supplyed with all necessaries of its own growth nor is it destitute of matters of Ornament and Splendor In many things we fall short for curiosity and beauty but in other things we exceed our Neighbours as particularly in our Universities which have no parallel and London falleth not much short of the greatest forrain Cities Besides this our situation is such in respect of the Sea as we are not in want of curious Wines and such delightful commodities But to shew fully how prevalent the persons disposition may be the said Nobleman gave breeding to his eldest Son with charge extraordinary at our Court and chief City where vanity so far prevailed with him as afterwards he bcame the wonder of those dayes contracting a Debt greater then ever was known by a person having little or no Estate of his own for a foundation of security LXXIX Of Countrey delights Study may deserve the first place whereby our Gentry may in some sort converse with persons of the greatest rank and wisdom It were needlesse here to discourse upon the excellency of that Entertainment which is so much treated of every where In all wayes whereby delight is sought there must be variety and therefore those Families enjoy a great advantage in the way of satisfaction which are furnished and inriched with plenty of good Books There can be no direction given for choyce of Authours to those who seek pleasure in Reading for different persons have different inclinations but if reason might be our guid I should advise our Gentleman to the study of History and in first place to that concerning our own Nation and his time will be the better spent if by Reading he acquaint himself with the Laws of this Kingdom as far as may be obtained without much labour for pains taking and delight can hardly consist together But some men are altogether averse to Study and for such there must be found some divertisement of more activity LXXX Of active Rural recreations Hunting offers it self in the first place which Horace calls Romanis solenne viris opus utile famae Vitaeque membris Or thus A serious work to all of Roman name Useful to life and limbs and of good fame This is a Pastime Royal fit for Princes inuring their bodies to motion and exercise and as Machiavel observes acquainting them with variety of places and situations as Hills Dales Woods Plain grounds and uneven Moorish and Dry Enclosed and Champain a knowledge very useful for Commanders Military which Profession is fit to be understood not only by Princes but by the Gentry universally it being their proper vocation as appears in some measure by the ensigns of Nobility their Coats of Arms impressed upon a Shield This affords entertainment not onely abroad but at home in the discoursing of it and to this may be added Hawking Bouling Fishing c. LXXXI Of Pastimes within dores Musick may challenge the next place to Study and is more sociable for it entertains many at the same time This is more innocent then that of Hunting for no living Creature receives vexation or damage by it and no man can complain that his fences are destroyed Horace his advice concerning verses is Quocunque volunt aninum auditoris agunto Or thus Let Verses gently charm the mind And as they will th' affections wind Which qualitie I have found more constant in Musick from which I my self have received a great subsistence in this my retirement When I found my self subject to be pensive then by Musical Ayres Corantoes and Sarabands I was rendred more chearful and when I desired to become Serious the work was done for me by hearing Almayns Fancies and Pavans variety is most pleasing and much of this is afforded even in the diversity of Musical Instruments as the Lute Harp c. but certainly no Musick can bear up with the Vocal to which some suppose a continuance in Heaven it self but howsoever that be Musick is found useful in the Service of God here below even with the most
due time and in fitting place for being taken up upon trust they must be had of such persons as make a trade of buying and selling whose manner is to work upon the necessity of others and they will be sure to have great advantage by laying out their Money Besides this if the Family be resident in the Countrey our Master will find that such Lands as he keeps in hand will frequently want stock which must be accompanied with great prejudice XLVIII Some persons are so Rich as they have many places of residence Romae Tibur amant ventosi Tibure Romam these are delighted in variety of habitation swimming in plenty and may do well to change often having no need to be frugal but our thrifty Master of a Family shall do better to keep constant to his chief habitation unlesse the change afford him some certain and constant opportunity of gain for no place can afford him otherwise so much advantage as that where much time hath yielded means to settle things with convenience for habitation XLIX I have alwayes thought it a most uncomfortable thing to keep House in so sparing a manner as to pinch the belly of Servants and some I have known who doing so have yet wasted the greatest part of their Patrimony Hospitality hath ever been a great honour to this Nation and certainly it is accompanied very far with Gods Blessing And so thought King Charles the first who being told of a Noble mans Estate much wasted by House-keeping could not give credit to it but attributed the decay to some other extravagancy I have been informed of a Gentleman of the times little foregoing mine who had been a great Traveller in Italy and was very expenceful as well in Apparrel as in other matters of parade but for House-keeping so great a Lesinante or Miser as it was his use to keep but one Meal a day and to hold it about three in the afternoon pretending that he did it for health By this means he kept off all Company from eating with him and made it so usefull as to bear out his other excesses without impairing his Estate L. Having in the last Observation taken notice of a Blessing upon Hospitality I think it fit to consider how that happinesse may be procured I conceive the readiest way to obtain the Blessing may be to take care sufficient for relief of the poor neighbourhood and best it is to appoint set dayes and times for it with a method in the doing yet so as the set time and method do not any whit diminish the proportion fit for them LI. It is a good Rule in House-keeping to observe fasting days according to the Law for much good ariseth thence It becomes a great encouragement to the Trade of Fishing by which Shipping is much encreased and many Mariners are bred and maintained whereof no Countrey hath so great need in the way of defence as ours Abstinence conduceth much to the confirmation of health and the breed of Cattel being a great part of the Kingdoms stock is spared by that means But the observation of this constitution may the better be thought reasonable because there is no other particular to my knowledge either commanded or restrained within a Family by the publike Magistrate LII Alike to that of Fast dayes is the consideration of observing Feasts for between these the opposition is so far relative as they should answer one another and the latter is no lesse sitting in a Family then in a State for chearfulness and plenty in Diet cause labour to be undergone the more willingly another time which may appear the better since the wisdom of Legislators have made Lent but an attendant upon Easter and each Vigil Fast upon his relative Feast I speak not of occasional Feasts for to have these too frequent consisteth not well with the Rules of frugality Yet sometimes even the Miser will have his feast famous for excesse LIII As good it is to observe set hours for publike Meals and for going to rest for by that means Servants know their proper times allotted to their businesse meat is the better drest and served in and night disorders are much prevented whereby there comes not only great wast for the most part but danger by fire LIV. Some have a way of diversifying their Dishes according to several dayes of the week in a constant course and this not only affords variety which is pleasing to Nature but gives much ease to the Mistris of the Family who hath so much lesse trouble in appointing what shall be drest LV. In houshold expences care would be taken not to have the excesse in such things as require money to be immediately disbursed and especially in those that drain the Kingdom it self of bullyon as Wine dried Fruits Sugar Spices c. but rather in Commodities which arise originally upon the Masters own land as of Cattel there bred Corn of growth upon the same c. or at least of such as are improved there as Cattel bought and fatted LVI Nothing as I conceive can be fitter to close up the Advices to a Housholder for that which is to be done within his House then to put him in mind of filling his petty Magazines in due season with those provisions of store which are necessary These branch themselves into so many particulars as here can be no room to specifie them but so it is as the very life of domestical frugality consisteth therein and as to these if occasion be not taken by the foretop it will be little lesse then impossible to make these provisions at all especially in a Countrey Family And wheresoever the Family is the Supply must otherwise be wrought out with infinite losse Our Master therefore must not slumber in such matters least his experience be too dearly bought LVII Most of these Observations do chiefly concern House-keeping in the Countrey and it is not unreasonable to have it so for the most considerable hospitality is held there Families in the City are generally lesse and being so the care of them must be lesse also Yet the principal consideration taketh place there which is the disposing of money all being there bought with the penny so as he deserveth greatest commendation who hath the best faculty in spreading his shilling as William late Earl of Bedford was wont to stile it by which is meant a making of the best appearance with least expence LVIII We have already mentioned Villains Servants by discent or 〈…〉 â—nd have approved of their among us Christians But there is another kind termed by Writers in politicks Servi natura who are endued with extraordinary strength of body but altogether defective in point of understanding These receive advantage by being Servants and may be of good use in a Family if labouring in body be necessary there but I altogether disapprove of that use which is made of them by great Persons turning their defect of Nature into sport These do not much
rigid who must have singing Psalms and so it was anciently in the Jewish Church I professe not to know any pleasure exceeding Musick saving that of Contemplation in matters Divine Musick indeed may be said to be sensual for it is altogether conveyed by the Senses but certainly it hath a great approach towards Spirituality or else the Prophet Elisha would never have called for a Minstrel when an Inspiration was required I may fear I have been too tedious concerning this Recreation to which I confesse my self a little partial and I cannot but wonder at some persons who are so much more then brutish as they have a total aversion to it whom I must leave in their misery LXXXII Some are so austere and rigid in the way of Religion as they will admit nothing of pleasure farther then refection which includes eating drinking and sleeping only supposed to be necessary Recreation or Pastime they hold altogether unlawful as injurious to better employment These mens Religion is very conformable to Mahometisme wherein all Professors must have a Mechanical profession even the great Turk himself and they consider not the necessity of health which cannot be preserved with a continual intention of mind A Bow that stands alwayes bent looseth its strength in the end and so it is with the mental faculties if they be continually at the stretch Immediately after meals all serious thoughts are prejudicial to health and certainly at such times entertainments of some levity are to be tolerated and not onely then but in the long winter evenings a season unfit for stirring businesse so as for the Master and better sort of Servants there may be then some use made of Gaming in a moderate sort For can it be better to sit by the fire and sleep or for a man to rack himself by his own thoughts then to entertain himself by innocent pastime But in this I leave our Master to his own thoughts LXXXIII A Gentleman of quality whom I consider chiefly in these Oeconomical Notes living in the Countrey can hardly keep himself out of employment under the Lievtenancy or Commission of the Peace and this may contribute something against the inconveniencies of Solitude Though this gives trouble yet it generates an Acquaintance and correspondence between those of the Gentry and may also yield some inward satisfaction to a well disposed person who ever desires to be useful to others and here as I conceive notice may be taken that our Soveraign is happy beyond other Princes for he is very much served gratis in matters of Common Government whereas others are enforced to use Mercinaries to their cost LXXXIV In these Observations and every of them I would not be understood to intend persons of vast fortunes Noblemen or others for it is fit that such should have their freedom since they need not be obliged to any Rules of Frugality and I may say it is for the honour of this Kingdom that the Court and chief City should be frequented and expence in bravery there is not onely honourable but brings advantage to the People since many Trades and Manufactures subsist meerly by excesse of that nature Every man therefore must use his prudence and do that which is most proper for himself as well in relation to the publike as to his own private Condition LXXXV I think we cannot better Conclude these Observations then with some notes concerning the Royal Family or Household which as I conceive hath not its Peer in Christendom exceeding all others as well for Hospitality as for Order As touching the first it hath no parallel for consider it as it was in the time of former Princes and as I hope now is and we may justly say That more Flesh and Fish Bread and Drink is spent yearly there then is consumed in some Italian Cities whose Bishops are capable of sitting in general Councels And for Order it resembleth rather a State then a Family having within it or thereto belonging establishments for Government Ecclesiastical Military Civil and Criminal First there is a kind of Cathedral Church with an Episcopal Dean c. adorned with a Quire and Vestments for the Clergy as also with materials for Musick very extraordinary Then there is a Judicatory called the Green-Cloth which determineth in matters belonging to the Houshold Provisions and Government where the Lord Steward the Treasurer and Comptroller of the Houshold are Judges with several under Officers Thirdly there is two Military Companies one of Horse-men called Pensioners all Gentlemen and the other that of the old Guard consisting of Yeomen and these are under Command of two eminent persons their Captains Lastly it hath a Jurisdiction as well Civil as Criminal appertaining to it called the Verge extending it self twelve miles about the Court where the Lord Steward of the Kings House and Marshal and a peculiar Coroner do respectively exercise a Jurisdiction and none of the publike Judges may interpose in cases proper to that Court uncalled which limit of the Verge beareth some similitude to the Rural Territory of a City or State Besides this the Lord Chamberlaine of his Majesties Houshold hath governance of all the Gentry and Officers above-stairs who are very numerous Lawyers tell us that originally all Justice was administred within the Royal Family and that the Kings Bench was stiled Aula Regia Of these there still remains some shadow in the stiles of Teste meipso and of Coram Rege and at this day the Privy Councel an Assembly supposed to consist of the most eminent persons for Wisdom in the whole Nation hath its residence within the Kings House with a Jurisdiction extending it self over the whole Kingdom in matters of State To this Royal Family relate two others whereof one is that of the Queen Consort who by the Law is a person distinct from the King and may plead or be impleaded apart The other is that of the Prince of Wales when there is one and both these have especial Officers of State belonging to them It is a Prerogative of the Royal Family that the Servants are obliged to a faithful and diligent performance of service domestical which as I conceive is not by the Law permitted in the case of any person who is a meer Subject And all this under a Race of Princes of unknown Antiquity linked in Blood with most of the Royal Families of Christendom and that in all ages hath given to the world Illustrious Persons yielding to none for eminence in Wisdom and vertue and sometime such as by forreign Conquests were famous for their Martial Power and in great part Arbiters of the most important affairs of Europe unto which Royal Race all true-hearted English men desire and pray for a continuance in Regality even until the universal Day of Judgment Morning Prayer for a Family O Lord our most gracious God We of this Family do acknowledge with all thankfullnesse thy many great Mercies unto us but more especially thy freeing us from