Selected quad for the lemma: land_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
land_n	estate_n	rent_n	tenant_n	1,388	5	9.6310	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51272	A moral essay concerning the nature and unreasonableness of pride in which the most plausible pretences of this vice are examined, in a conference between Philotimus and Philalethes. Licensed August 17. 1689.	Collier, Jeremy, 1650-1726.	1689 (1689)	Wing M2614; ESTC R203612	40,602	99

what then Philal. Why then I say it is Vanity for any Man to have a better Opinion of his Family than the Law allows my Reason is because the Law is the measure of Honor as well as of all other Civil Rights Besides I must tell you that it is both reasonable and the Interest of the State that Merit should be considered of what date soever it is A worthy Action ought to be as much rewarded now as one of the same kind was a thousand years since The prospect of Honor to a generous Mind is the chief incitement to all great Undertakings This consideration Polishes Arts and Sciences makes Men Industrious in improving their Understandings and Resolute in exposing their Persons for the Publick Service If therefore we dote upon Antiquity so far as to undervalue the Merit of the present Age the Government must necessarily suffer by it for such a Partiality will slacken the Nerves of Industry and occasion a negligence both in those who have an antient Title to Honor and in those who have not The first will grow sluggish because they have a sufficient share of Reputation already and therefore need not run any hazards about getting more The latter will abate in their forwardness to oblige their Country because they know their Service though never so great will be contemned and for that very Reason which ought to make them the more valued that is because their Considerableness came from themselves Moreover If the Inheritors of antient Honor have not by Personal Additions improved that Stock which was granted to their Ancestors there is no reason it should be rated above the same Degree Precedency excepted which is given now For to affirm that a Family raised to Nobility by this King is not as good as one raised by the Conqueror is a reflection upon his present Majesty it supposes his Judgment or his Authority less considerable than that of his Predecessours and that the Fountain of Honour is almost dry'd up and runs more muddy than in former Ages Philot How plausibly soever you may make your opinion look I 'm sure it has the disadvantage of being Singular For you know a plain Gentleman of an ancient Family is accounted a Person of better Quality than a new made Knight though the reason of his dubbing was never so Meritorious Honour like China Dishes must lie some Ages under Ground before it comes to any Perfection And to carry on your own Figure the greater distance from the spring always makes the Stream the more considerable Philal. This it is to be wiser than the Laws And since you are for Illustrations I reply that to suppose an ancient Title though lesser in degree is preferable to a greater of late Creation is as if one should affirm that an old shilling is better than a new half-Crown though the Alloy and Impression are the same in both Nay from your Argument a man may conclude that a coarser metal only by being digg'd and refin'd in the Dayes of our Great Grandfathers though perhaps it has contracted some rust by lying is more valuable than the same weight in Gold but lately separated from the Oare And that an ancient Estate is really better than one newly purchased though the Lands of the latter are richer and the Survey larger than the other Now if a man should prove so fanciful as to demand a greater Rent for his Farm because it has been in the Possession of his Family for some hundred of years I believe the want of Tenants would soon convince him of his Errour From whence it 's evident that in taking an Estimate of Nobility we are not so much to consider its Antiquity as the Merit of the first Grantee and the distinction the Prince has put upon it which like Figures or other marks upon Money stamp the value and tell the Subject for how much it is to pass Philot. Pray by your favour are not Meddals and Coyns valued more for their Antiquity than their Metal Philal. That Question is to the point and therefore I answer First That Coyns c. though they are valuable as rarities yet they signifie little in Exchange and common use And if a man has any debt to pay or Commodities to buy K. Charles his Image and superscription will do him much more service than Ce'sar's Secondly The Reason why these things are sometimes so much valued is not because they are old but useful They often rectifie Chronology and explain History and retrieve us several material parts of Learning which might otherwise have been irrecoverably lost Thirdly There is a disparity in the case of ancient Coyns and Families For in the first you have the same numerical peice in the latter nothing but the Name or Relation so that the change and succession of Persons seems to destroy the notion of Antiquity To make the Instance parallel we must suppose a Gentleman as old as Methusalem and then I confess he would be a great Curiosity and ought to be valued accordingly Philot. As I remember you were saying the merit of the first Gentleman of the House ought to be consider'd Philal. Yes I conceive that circumstance very material and that if upon enquiry it proves unintelligible or unlucky it 's no small abatement to the Family For if he Advanced himself by a voluntary engaging in unjust Quarrels he has no better pretence to Honour than what a resolute and successful Padder may Challenge If he owes his Heraldry to a servile Flattery and a dextrous Application to the vices of Princes the marks of their Favour are rather infamous than Honourable to his Posterity because he is ennobled for those qualities for which he ought to have been punished Philot. What if the Gentility was purchased I hope we may make the best of what we have paid for Philal. By all means But then this is a sign that Worth and distinguishing Qualities were wanting otherwise the Honour had been conferred Gratis The same may be said when Arms or Titles are given at the Instance or recommendation of a Favorite for this is down-right begging for Quality and looks more like an Alms than an Honour Farther it 's a lessening to a mans Nobility when the Reason and Grounds of it are unknown for if his Rise had been derived from worthy and creditable Causes he would in all likelyhood have been as certainly acquainted with them as with his Arms It being both easie and for the Reputation of the Family that Records of this nature should have been preserv'd and therefore the loss of them seems rather to proceed from Design than Neglect In short if the first Principles of Honour happen to be thus coarse or counterfeit it 's not in the power of time to mend them A Pebble or Bristol stone will not change their natures and improve into Diamonds though they are laid up a thousand years together Philot. Hark you Mr. I doubt your Effects if you have any have