opposes it self to his happiness and obstructs those ways which the Laws set open to Yeomen to acquire Riches Among others I finde this to be very severe which forbids them Trafick it seems to me to be grounded upon very weak principles to be so absolute For to prohibit the use of a thing it is necessary that it must either be bad in it self or produce bad effects And can we blame Commerce as vicious without offending all the Nations of the World Is there any thing so solidly establisht among men and with so Universal a consent The usefulness thereof is so great that we cannot abolish it without molesting the whole Society of a civil State 'T is that which peoples the great Cities 't is that which brings forth Wealth and Plenty in all Nations which gives Strangers a courteous reception and furnithes us with all things necessary Are these the Effects so unworthy of a Gentleman 's employ If we should restrain the Nobility to the only profession of Arms is there any thing which can accommodate it self so well therewith as Trafick These two things joyn'd together have made the Vertue of many great men appear to admiration the memory of which will never die Do we know any more bold attempts than the Vâ—yages or Paul Derâ—ise of Drake and of Magelan Do we read of any more resolute Enterprises than those of Pacheco of Albuquerque and of Suarez in America If these Illustrious Merchants had not made a discovery of this New World should we not have been destitute of the most curious things we now enjoy in Europe Could they have framed such great Designes without having great Souls Could they have made them succeed so happily if their Courages had not been above the greatest Perils and their Resolutions proof against the most extreme difficulties Is there any better means of carrying the Glory and Names of our Kings even to the other end of the World The Republick of Venice which has subsisted above twelve hundred years has ever lookt upon Commerce as the Basis which sustains its greatness notwithstanding it is govern'd by the Nobles who have not banisht this from among them And this wise Policie has so well succeeded that it has put the State in a condition to defend it self against the Forces of the most redoubtable Monarch of the World 'T is upon the same foundation the Hollanders have erected into a Republick their little corner of the Earth and have so well disputed their Interests that the House of Austria as puissant as it is was constrain'd to treat with them as with Soveraigns and renounce all their Rights of Superiority This Democratical State govern'd by good Merchants has it not given sufficient proofs by its Conquests in divers Places that a Gentleman may very well be a Merchant seeing that a Merchant equalizes without trouble the worthiest actions of a Gentleman But if this Profession be so much beneath Noblemen that it is a disgrace for them to follow it why do they serve in the Armies of these Merchants whom they acknowledge to be their Masters and receive their Pay Is it not a great extravagance to obey in the Indies and in Holland those as Masters whom we do not esteem to be our Equals in France Let the Laws enjoyn what they will Commerce is so necessary that they cannot hinder any man from being a Merchant The relation is so just between the Buyer and the Seller that if you take away the one you destroy the other When a Jockey sells me a Horse he is not more a Merchant for selling it than I am for buying it And if I sell the Corn of my fields or the Sheep of my fold I am a Merchant of Corn and Sheep seeing that men so call as well such as sell as those that buy They may tell me that there is a necessity for converting the Fruits of our Lands into money that we might purchase other things which they do not produce I confess it and is it agreater baseness to sell again the Corn which I had bought of my Neighbour a good peny-worth to gain thereby than to put off that of my own growing to get money instead thereof The Fruits ought to change their condition in the Lands of Noblemen and Nature should give them some prerogative above those of the Yeomen that therein might be found this difference which is really nothing else but the effect of our grippleness Nevertheless men cease to be Gentlemen when they begin to be Merchants and our Customes are not contented with bestowing the greatest Wealth of the Family on the Eldest Sons but after having rendred the Youngest poor they even deny them the power of acquiring a subsistance of which they have deprived them CHAP. IV. What a Gentleman ought to practice who seeks his Fortune in the War TO say that to drive them from their Houses is a means to send them to the War the consequence dees not always hold good Nil habet infaelix paupertas durius in se Quam quod ridiculos homines facit Juven Such a on lives unhappily in the Country who would serve as a man of Courage in the Army if he had an equipige and Money whereon to subsist Poverty has a certain force which depresses the courage of some and makes others desperate those whose mindes are heightned by their Birth and education cannot condescend without great regret to list themselves under Captains who are not so good as themselves This way of raising their Fortune is tedious painful and uncertain but necessary to those who have never studied nor rendered themselves expert at their Exercises I would advise a Gentleman who is reduced to this point to seek the favour of some considerable Officer of the Army and gain him to be his Patron this will shorten the way which he is to keep to arrive at Military Charges without which I should esteem him very unhappy to serve Valour loves not the Crowd it seeks the open Day that it might be seen I have known Souldiers who have made attempts desperate in the highest degree which were never mentioned but in their own Company The scope of a Gentleman ought not to be to gain Esteem onely but also to make his Fortune by his Sword So that he should omit nothing whereby he might obtain such Charges as may expose him to the sight of all people to the end that his Valour being known he might aspire to those recompences which he has deserved The art is to apply himself diligently to his business to perswade himself that he may obtain the chief Employs by passing through the Inferiour to learn the general and particular Orders to remark carefully the Encamping and Decamping of the Army the forms of Battle-array the Storming of places to be with the Engineers at their Circumvallations at the construction of Fortresses and at the opening of Trenches to enter into the Mines and Counter-mines to instruct himself
Philosophy he can render his minde sedate and undisturb'd when he shall endure the afflictions of an extreine Poverty The Philosopher would be very impertinent that endeavours to prove that ragged Clothes will defend me against Cold and that I ought not to be troubled when I have not whereon to dine He may tell me that Nature is contented with a little I confess it but it is according to that degree we are accustomed A Prince would be very poor if he should have no greater Revenue left him than would very well accommodate a private Gentleman From this reasoning I conclude that a Gentleman who has Wit and Wealth according to his condition may live happily whatsoever befals him That he ought to make an attempt to arrive at the great Honours of the State either by the War or by the Services which he shall render to the person of the Prince If he succeeds he will enjoy the benefit of his labours with pleasure if his designes do not prosper he has no cause to despair absolutely being in a condition of living privately in the same splendor his Ancestors lived before him Paulùm sepultae dista◠inertiae celata Virtus There is a great satisfaction in having polish'd his Manners shown his Worth and gain'd Esteem This is a recompense for which it is well worth the hazarding something although he should hope for no other this alone ought to oblige him to leave his house that he might return thither with greater Honour and Renown CHAP. XVIII That the Cassock is more proper to raise a Man's Fortune than the Sword And the Advantages which may accrue to a Person of Quality from thence IF he puts on the Cassock he will meet with many things in the conduct of a Man of the Sword which he ought not to follow His Profession obliges him to a more grave Modesty to a more reserved Conversation to a more exemplary Piety and to more regulated Manners As the Exercises of a Gentleman are of no use to him so Learning is very necessary for him it is a shameful thing for one of that Profession to be illiterate The Sciences never appear with so much grace as in the possession of a Nobleman they have Charms which ravish all people and constrain even the most insensible to love those who know how to serve themselves advantageously thereof 'T is almost an infallible way of arriving at great Employs we have so many examples of this kinde that it would be very impertinent to seek for them in Ages remote from our own knowledge and to understand it aright is it not just that those who can see should lead those that are blinde and who can deny that Learning joyn'd to good natural parts does not qualifie a Person extraordinarily The Sciences lead him in a Path strown with Roses to arrive at Fortune they put a gloss on his Worth they give him entrance into the Councils of Kings they teach him the Art to incline men as he pleases and at last they make him either a great Prelar in the Church or a great Minister in the State Oh what a happy Profession is this and how many persons of Quality would follow it if they knew all the benefits thereof I mean what I have before hinted if they have a natural disposition thereto For indeed it is no easie Enterprize to render our selves learned the Sciences are tedious and painful to be acquired and to have them infused we must be Saints The Poets had reason to lodge them upon the top of Parnassus whose excessive height made the access very difficult The Muses who presided there took delight in being courted and it was a great advantage to be in their favour It belongs to them only to give a satisfaction to the Living and a resurrection to the Dead We should have had no knowledge of Alexander if History had not described him and all the brave Exploits of Julius Caesar and of Xenophon had been buried in an Eternal Oblivion if they themselves had not written them Vertue it self as admirable as it is cannot be without them seeing her true Recompense is Glory and Immortality On whom do you think future Ages will bestow greatest Encomiums either on Cardinal Richlieu or on the Captains who fought in his time His Head gave motion to their hands if they have had good Success the Glory thereof is due to him he was the Cause and they the Instruments and we may say that their Valour could not appear without contributing to the Renown of him that directed them The Orders which he gave at ease in his Cabinet made all Europe tremble his Prudence prevented the bad accidents his Reason penetrated the most obscure things his Judgement was without errour and his Conduct has appear'd so good that we cannot speak of the Grandeur of the King without praising his Worth and Vertue It is very rare that a person of Quality of extraordinary Worth does not make a great Fortune His Sufficiencie imposes a certain necessity on the Prince to employ him who although he has no natural inclination yet the Welfare of his affairs will urge him to it He perceives they cannot be entrusted in better hands and by doing it discharges himself of a multitude of cares which make the Crown as uneasie to him that wears it as it appears glorious to the eyes of those that adore it But suppose he be not so happy as to arrive at this height he is not out of Fortune's way if he be not in the least concern'd in the affairs of State it will be much more easie for him to obtain a good Bishoprick or a rich Abby than for a Man of the Sword of his condition a considerable Government for a reward of his services yet the first walks in a smooth path and almost secure the other in a rugged road full of perils Both have their Fortunes for their Objects but are not equally happy in the choice of the Ways that bring them thither The great unhappiness of Young men is that the heat of their Bloud ferments in their Veins and renders them uncapable of being perswaded to any thing They fancie that there is nothing so brave as the Esteem of a man of Courage and that they ought to parallel the noble Exploits of the Heroes in History They never propound to themselves any thing but the pleasure of satisfying their Passions without having any respect to the difficulties that may occur And if it happens that they are once enamour'd every thing must then give place to their Love that perswades them that the Possession of their Mistris is the only blessing which can render them happy they look then upon the Cassock with disdain seeing it opposes it self to their designe These are sick people who flye the Physicians blinde who refuse to be led and who quit the path of Fortune to pursue that of Pleasure But I would willingly put the Question to a
Levity much more than our Friend It is sufficient for us to do every thing that may be advantageous for his Interest forasmuch as thereby we run a great Risque of being repaid with ingratitude without exposing our selves further to his falshood If he be exempt from these Vices which are to be mistrusted our reservedness does not diminish our friendship and if he at any time abandons himself to this treachery our conduct gives us no cause of fearing him This manner of living seems to me the more reasonable forasmuch as it secures our Interest without prejudicing that of our Friends Prudence is not inconsistent with Freedom but with levity we may comfort our selves with them about the disasters that have befallen us take their advice in our enterprizes rejoyce with them for the Wealth and Honour they have acquired interest our selves in their Affairs be always complaisant and good-humour'd to them assist them with our Cares and Moneys visit them eat with them entrust them with our Purse our Papers the Deeds of our Lands and even expose our lives for their service These are tokens of Freedom which we must not deny them since we have esteem'd them worthy of our friendship These in divers respects may be profitable to us both But our Secret ought to remain in our own hâ—ads and we are guilty of great imprudence if we disclose it seeing it does not concern them True Friendship has more noble and disinteress'd foundations if it be perfect it relies only upon generosity I should love my Friend purely because he is amiable without thinking that he will release me out of Prison if I should be taken Captive but if he should be so unfortunate I should believe my self obliged to loose his Fetters I ought not to consider him as one that will furnish me with money to pay my debts although I should devote my whole fortune to his service If I take the Counter-part it is my self I love and not my friend Amicitia tempori serviens mercatura dicitur Aristot Vulgus amicitias utilitate probat Aristotle says that the Friendship that accommodates it self to the times and to our Affairs ought to be called a Commerce or Trade 'T is after this fashion that the Vulgar sort of people love their Friends their thoughts reflect upon no body but themselvs and as they have no knowledge of Vertue so they have no use of it There is only one Interest in Friendship which can consist with generosity that is to wish that our Friend would love us for a recompence of the good affection we have for him CHAP. IX How we ought to behave our selves towards our Enemies and those that envy us IT is not very difficult to carry our selves well with our Friends Nature is our guide herein as well as Prudence but it is otherwise among our Enemies and those that envy us The best means to make these despair is to oppose a great goodness against them never to behave our selves arrogantly towards them and even sometimes to procure favours for them Courtesies do very often change their hearts Emulation may enter into the Soul of a Person of Honour without destroying in it the beeds of Virtue yet there is no other difference between that and Enâ—y but this Emulation is an arâ—ent desire which is confined to our own Interest of becoming as great in Merit and Fortune as others but Envy has this particular quality that this desire produces in us a regret or grief for anothers good which transports us to undervalue him as much as lies in our power This Vice is a shadow which commonly follows Vertue it ordinarily wishes more hurt than it does and he who entertains it is the worst treated by it â—t is a bad guest who sets fire to his own Lodgings and at last when he cannot have his effect upon another he destroys himself The other Enemies are much more to be feared of which there are two sorts open and hidden The first we ought to repulse with generosity they having no more priviledge to attack us than we to defend our selves The Precepts which incline us to be patient have not bound our hands to let our selves be insulted on Nature teaches us to defend our lives and Reason to preserve our honour I esteem this Maxime worthy of Caesar's Gallantry Neither to give an affront Nec inferre nec perpeti Sueton. nor take one A man of Courage has no need of Rules in this case he is only to consult his resentment to do his duty if he loves his Honour he will never suffer it to be hurt without satisfaction 't is a place that is very tender among Persons of Quality if it be once wounded it is no easie matter to heal it again To be guilty of one weakness is sufficient to loose it and a hundred worthy actions can hardly regain it Without doubt there can be no-body more miserable than a Courtier who has committed an ignoble act If any one should chance to be so unhappy I would advise him to hide his Cowardise under a Gown or a Surplice Valour is a Virtue so absolutely requisite for a Gentleman that without it he cannot boast of any good quality the way to serve himself of it advantageously is never to make use of any artifice in Quarrels to behave himself so gallantly that his Commence may not reproach him of having been possest with a fear of engaging not to be too curious in the choice of Weapons and to be fully perswaded that it is not enough to be valiant in appearance but to be so in reality Stat contrà ratio secretam gannit in anrem Perseus There are none so equitable Judges of our thoughts as our selves if we are well satisfi'd of our own courage our Enemies will soon enough perceive it True Valour is a Fire Huffing is nothing else but Smoak This displeases all people that is ever grateful to Persons of Honour especially if it enterprises nothing without just cause Justice has this property she infallibly places good men on her side and 〈◊〉 she cannot always give them good success she never refuses them the Credit and Reputation they have deserved I have affirmed Haec est certissima vitae custodia nemint nocere Senec. that as we ought not to give an affront so we must have a care not to put up one If the dispute does oblige us to fight we should observe to put our antagonist on the worst ground for when we have already had the satisfaction to repulse the injury we then keep him in play with his own weapons And if the Affair be accommodated without a Duel he has no cause to laugh at his Proceeding For my part I had rather beg a thousand pardons for having given one box on the ear than see my enemy prostrate at my feet if I had taken it It is more easie to profer excuses than to suffer blows and in this case
rich a great Retinue is requisite that they might be attended as splendidly as great Lords The generality of men being taken more with appearances than realities because they judge of those things onely which make an impression on their Senses They will give more respect to fine Clothes and the retinue of a Nobleman than to his Merit and his Vertue and nothing is worthy of their approbation but Wealth and a vast Revenue These are the Blinde which force the more Prudent to accommodate themselves to their Blindness The enterprize would be Succesless to attempt to render them more discerning A man of Wit makes use of their sottishness to his advantage as Physitians administer Poyson to expel Diseases The imperfections of Nature are not easie to be corrected The Multitude has for ever been obstinate inconstant and ignorant and seeing it began so with the world it self and has not hitherto changed there is great probability it will always continue the same I have not a designe to enlarge my self upon this Subject having nothing to say to those whom I suppose not to be at Court If they are not capable of any preferment they have no need of Counsel That which they ought to take is to live at home and suffer themselves to be directed and governed by one who may keep them from being guilty of ridiculous Extravagancies CHAP. XIV That Marriage contributes to our Fortune And whether a Nobleman ought to prefer a Princess before a Lady of his own quality IT seems to me not to be sufficient for a Person of Quality who designes to raise his Family to think onely upon the favour of his Master and forget all other means that may contribute to his Fortune I conceive that his allying himself is not to be lightly esteemed if he considers of what importance it is to his establishment The Germans want no advice in this point the Laws of their Country forbidding them to mis-ally themselves viz. That in case a Count of the Empire should espouse a Wife beneath his quality His Children must lose their Rank and Dignity Our France has different Customes which perhaps are not better but as I am no Reformer of them it shall suffice me to draw from thence some profitable Observations In Marriages there are three essential things to be considered the Birth the Person and the Wealth I put the Birth in the first place because it is of marvelous weight and gives me occasion to treat of a question which perhaps has never yet been debated viz. Whether a Great Lord who may pretend to the Marriage of a Princess ought to preser her before a Lady of his own quality This Probleme has at first sight such a lustre that dazles our Eyes and without controversie prevails over our opinion we shall meet but with very few who do not suppose it to be too evident to be disputed they will say that the Children of a Princess although no Princes have yet somewhat more than other Gentlemen that their Birth making them related to those Grandees whom the World adores demands some respect from the Nobility and makes them partakers of their greatness That Princes considering them as their own Blood are obliged to promote their Interests at Court and in the Country and to procure them the greatest Charges and the chief honours of the State that even if they should want Natural qulifications yet Princes would be engaged to do as much for them by the care they have of upholding their own Glory Men may adde many other fine Flourishes to adorn this side of the Medail but what would appear if we should turn it seeing all things are Problematical And if they should answer that a Princess being not able to make a Prince she is not able to make a great Lord it being true he should be such by the onely Quality of his Father that his Merit joyn'd to his Birth will make him to be respected by the Nobility without the addition of a Principality is onely an errour as also to believe that Princes as being his Relations do espouse his Interest For on the contrary as being above him they look upon him as unworthy of the honour of their alliance if he be not inseparably grafted into their Fortune and Grandeur that their Credit is not an infallible way for to obtain the greatest Employs the Court having this Policy that disswades her from bestowing such extraordinary favours by the hands of Princes forasmuch as she makes them more Creatures which she raises up against her own Interest She knows that they will receive to themselves all the acknowledgements and gratitude of those for whom they have procured these Honours And that to gratifie them after this manner is to foment their Ambition and fortifie their Party Therefore there must be always some extraordinary Violence to snatch out of her hands favours of such Importance They may also add that the Court delights not to oblige any but her Favourites we seldom see that Princes possess this Station in the hearts of Kings for if they look upon them as their Relations they cannot easily rid themselves of the thoughts that they may one day revolt and so cannot suffer their greatness without some reluctancie and disquiet All these considerations have made many conclude that such alliances are more inconvenient than advantageous for those who apply themselves directly to the service and person of our Kings Si vis nubere unbe pari that a Family of their own rank may furnish them with a wife of less appearance but of more substance for their fortunes But in case Parents will not follow this Policie being charm'd or dâ—z'led by the glittering of this grandeur but contract their Son to a Princess it is very difficult in espousing her to dispense with the not espousing the Interest of her Family The great Ministers will always suspect him and will never be perswaded that he can disingage him from it fairly and with safety And indeed with what eye can a great Lord behold the ruine of a Prince his neer Relation without centributing to uphold his Fortune when it totters And how can he believe that he shall not be crusht under its Ruines if the unhappiness of his affairs is such that it does fall Does he think that the Ministers for saving himself will have a good opinion of him And if he be wanting to his Relations in an urgent necessity how can they rely upon his generosity Or what reason can they have to put any confidence in the services of one who could forget his Extraction and prefer his private Interest before the Obligations of Civility of Nature and of Bloud There are no Rules so general but what admit of some exceptions Loyalty is necessary I confess it but Generosity is not prohibited and we know it does not appear but in difficult times and on perillous occasions I say moreover it is so much the more to be
all Ages been the reward of generous Exploits performed in the War It was by this means that Princes always engaged the most Valiant in their Service and this just recompence of Honour which was but personal descended afterwards to their Posterity and became Hereditary to Infants who through the imbecility of their age were not capable of deserving it Therefore men cannot deny but it is a great advantage to be born a Gentleman and that Vertue appears with a greater lustre in persons of a good Extraction But I suppose there is no other reason for it than a Custom we have to believe it so We are easily convinced that our Progenitors have raised themselves but received Customs have such a Tyrannical power that they force even our very Judgements For to examine things very well what has Nature done more for the Nobleman than for the Yeoman Nobilitas sola est atque unica Virtus and who can perceive any difference between them when they suck the Breasts of their Nurses If we agree that they have the same Organs the same Temperament and the same Faculties of Soul and Body where shall we finde that difference that exalts the Nobleman to that degree and depresses the Yeoman so unjustly We have an infinity of Examples which would contradict this opinion and make us acknowledge that Vertue and Merit are equally proper to all men When the People of Rome constrain'd the Senate to admit the Plebëans to the dignity of the Consulship as well as the Patricians the Republick did not finde its Puissance lessened nor its Dominions limited We do not read that those Plebëan Consals were ever more guilty of Cowardise or had less Zeal for their Honour than their Colleagues If we consider the men of Learning the greatest Proficients have not been Noblemen Homer's Birth was so obscure Smyrna Rhodos Colophon Salamis Chios Argos Athenae that after his death the Excellency of his Works caused a great contention to arise between Chios Smyrna and five other Cities which pretended every one to the glory thereof When it pleases the King to Nobilitate a Yeoman by vertue of his absolute power do we observe that his Patent encreases his Worth I should have a particular reverence for this Quality if it was the recompence of Vertue Et genus proavos quae non fecimus ipsi vix ca nostra voco rather than the chance of Succession We enjoy with pleasure that which we have acquired we look kindly upon the works of our own hands and cannot justly attribute to our selves any thing but what we have deserved Nevertheless we must follow the general Custom and not strive against the Stream but confess that a man of Honour Wit and Merit findes a wonderful Impediment in bringing himself forth when this qualification is wanting It is to great purpose for him to Philosopâ—â—â— against popular Errours he sees himself exposed to a thousand trouble some rencounters and findes he haâ— so much the more cause to be waâ— his condition as he has been to well educated If he has much worth if he possesses a great Soul he cannot conceive mean projects his politeness cannot accommodatâ— it self with the rudeness of those oâ— his own rank and his Vertue cannoâ— suffer obscurity yet he lives in thâ— Court as in an Enemies Country 〈◊〉 he findes there more contempt foâ— his Quality than esteem for his Merit and is commonly obliged to embrace meaner Sentiments hiding his lofty humour under the Cassocâ— of a Priest or the Gown of a Lawâ— yer this is the onely means left him whereby he can put himself in aâ— good a condition as those who formerly scorn'd his Company Thiâ— is a Lyon who chains up himself or to speak more properly a Wisâ— man who understands his true Interest The War in my opinion would not be more proper for him than thâ— Court Our Nation cannot bear Yoak that is not painted or gilt â—e are perswaded that they who â—mmand us are born to comâ—and and that we owe nothing 〈◊〉 our equals but all to our Suâ—riors This opinion of the peoâ—e with Time has created the Granâ—ur of the Nobility A person of â—uality has no difficulty to make â—â—mself be obeyed his name supâ—ies even the defect of his Merit â—d men do not enquire if he be complisht when they understand 〈◊〉 is of a good Family CHAP. III. That our Neighbours attribute more to the Merit of a Person than to his Birth and of the Profitableness of Commerce OUr Neighbours do not observe this Maxime We have seen in our days great Men raised from the dregs of the People in the service of the Emperour and the King oâ— Spain In Germany Aldringher from a Clerk became a General of thâ— Army John de Waert from a Servant was made General of the Emperours Cavalry and Beck a Carrieâ— at Brussels obtain'd the principal Employs of the Low Countries Thesâ— Examples which are not very frequent in any place are almost unknown among us so that although one may happen sometimes it oughâ— not to turn a wise man cut of thâ— beaten road I mean that the Employs of the Church and the Law ought to make the profession of 〈◊〉 man of the middle Rank who has Wealth and Wit above those of his â—ondition but if he has a more â—ean Soul Traidng is the way to â—ake his Fortune I have often reâ—ark'd among men of Sense that 〈◊〉 is a very rare thing to finde any â—â—cht by the excellencie of the Arts â—hey have possest The greatest â—ainters and the most famous Staturies have got more glory than proâ—it by their works The admirable Players on the Lute and the most â—xcellent Musitians spend their lives â—n diverting the curious and commonly let slip the occasions of maâ—ing their Fortune I speak this to show that the Common people are not unhappy in their â—ondition seeing there are so many ways of bettering it I speak not of â—he Treasurers nor of the Farmers of â—he Crown-Revenues if they take â—ot a Course that is the most just I â—m well assured that it is the shortest â—nd the most infallible These are Mushrooms which grow up in one â—ight Their progress towards Wealth has something in 't of the nature of Enchantments The people hate them rail against them and curse them but notwithstanding all this they make themselves Great Lords And if it happens that their Children have any wit they advance them to the most honourable Charges they marry them into great Families and assume to themselves the name of one of their best Mannors Time obliterates that of their Fathers and the People forget the oppressions they have undergone by them I cannot but with discontent consider the posture of a younger Brother of a good House who has naturally a generous and noble Soul reduced to the necessity of seeking his Fortune and Livelyhood his Quality which seems to make all his Glory is an Embarras which
I conceive that to be able to continue himself therein is to have attained the greatest perfection of humane prudence For if by his address he causes his Master to escape some dangerous passage he must not expect to have any thanks therefore because his Master is Blinde and neither comprehends the excellency of any Counsels not discerns of what importance the Services are that are rendred him iâ— there can be nothing more difficult than to take right measures with him the most Illuminated Wits are forc'd here to grope out their way all their address cannot secure them from falling into disfavour To believe that he may hope for any considerable advantage when even he has acquired all the credit with his Master he wisht for is an errour which ought to be rejected as very prejudicial Men of little sense are not capable of great Vertues It belongs not to feeble and Vulgar Souls to make efforts which may elevate them above other men The Vertues are habits of the Soul by the which our intellect is rendred fit to conceive well and to act well and he who has no Wit being not capable of reasoning well is so much the less of doing well If this Proposition is false we must necessarily overthrow the principles of Morality and if it is true what ought we to expect from a man that cannot be liberal seeing that Liberality is a Vertue the acquifition whereof surpasses the power of his Wit and it is so much the more out of his reach as it is contrary to the Sentiments of the multitude whose most fervent Passion is to possess Wealth and never to part with it and indeed Liberality is the effort of a Soul who has in it the sparks of all other Vertues It is so noble that it seems to have been made for Heroes alone She presides as a Queen among Courageous Spirits she keeps in her Retinue Justice and Generosity and Prudence marches before her to give her light and to conduct her When men know her Origine they do not admire that she abhors common Souls to give without Judgement is not Liberality we must know how to discern the worth of those on whom it is exercis'd This Vertue is the Sister of Charity the one rewards the Merit of the Vertuous the other comforts the Misery of the Afflicted On the contrary when an ingenious person falls into the hands of a wise and understanding Prince he can never want satisfaction 'T is the property of homogeneous things to unite themselves together we love naturally those who have inclinations like to our own or have some relation to us A Learned man takes great delight to be with Sonolars a Warlike man with Shoudiers a Merchant with those that trafick There are none but Universal Wits agreeable to the whole World because they have the advantage of transforming themselves into all shapes without trouble as Protheus They are Lawyers in company of Advocates Divines with Doctors of the Church Captains and Engineers with men of Martial Affairs so that they seem to be born and bred to all the Professions of a Civil life As these Wits are rare so men cannot esteem them sufficiently but notwithstanding they have received from Nature these admirable dispositions to acquire an extraordinary Merit yet they obtain it not without vast pains Long studies are requisite frequent Speculations learned Conferences painful Voyages to expose themselves to many Perils and to have a consummate experience of all the Professions of the World and then must make great haste to arrive at the perfection before the age of fifty years CHAP. VIII That the sublime Sciences do rather prejudice than advantage a Gentleman of the Sword What he ought to know And that Application is necessary to succeed well in all Affairs LEarning has somewhat of the nature of a Dropsie Quo plus sunt potae plus si tiuntur aquae it causes an alteration in those that love it and sometimes puffs them up The more men know the more they would know The Sciences are so linkt one to another that the first draws on the second and that the rest that follow This happens because we know nothing but by our Senses which present to us the Images of things successively Plato assured us that our Souls were naturally knowing and that the Objects which made their impressions on our Senses served only to display the consus'd notions which were innate in us As when men present us with two bedies of the same matter of the same form and of the same weight we say they are equal and this relation which is found within us makes us remember and conclude at the same instant that there is an Universal term called Equality And when we behold things which appear beautiful we think there is such a term as is called Beauty These inferences and consequences cannot be made but by successive gradations which lead us from one Science to another and as they always remount towards Universal terms they carry our understanding so far that it can never meet with limits to its curiosity This Proposition has often caused me to make reflections upon this that sublime Wits are more commonly rich in Esteem and Reputation than in the gifts of Fortune And I conceive the reason to be that the Powers of the greatest Soul in the World are bounded and have nothing of Infinity but when she addicts her self to the Sciences with a vehement desire to comprehend them she applies her self so eagerly to that she is about that her Speculations possess her entirely and the more force and light she has the more she abstracts them from matter spiritualizing the Objects of her knowledge From hence it comes that being flown above things purely material she meets with Charms in her Speculations which hinder her from descending to reduce into practise those things she has conceiv'd The Cassock is comparably more suitable to these soating Wits than the Sword because it furnishes them with many occasions of making themselves admired The Pulpit would cause them to be followed by all people and we seldom see a famous Preacher grow gray without a Benefice The Bar also might prove very advantageous to them Esteem and Wealth do continually accompany their eloquence Moreover they have the satisfaction to speak before such as are as well able to judge of their Learning as of their Frocess But to consider it aright to what purpose serves this lofty Science in a Military man but to render him poor by hindring him from applying himself to his Fortune What profit can he draw from the Philosophy of Aristotle and Plato or from the Rhetorick of Quintilian I do very well approve of his studying them until he comes to the age of Sixteen or Seventeen forasmuch as before that time he is not fit for any thing But when he shall have acquired that at the Colledge which a good Scholar might have learnt he should share out his time
the King that it is a token of his Wrath and Indignation Quaedam remedia tristiora sunt ipso morbo Plu. If the War which I wage be a Remedy 't is more intolerable than the Disease God never departs from mediocrity to go into Extremes without Chastising some body It is a signe of his love to the people when he inspires but ordinary Souls into Kings He who is not framed out of the purest mould cannot conceive any grand projects Glory and Ambition leave him to his repose if he applies himself to his affairs his dominion is the more happy if he discharges himself of his cares upon one of his Subjects to whom he imparts his Authority the worst that can happen is that he encreases his Fortunes at the expence of the Publike that he imposes some Subsidies to raise moneys whereby to advance his Friends and that he causes his equals to grumble who can hardly brook his Power but these Evils are very inconsiderable if compared with those which the humours of a haughty Prince produce The excessive Passion which he has for Renown by destroying his own repose does necessarily oblige him to deprive his Subjects of the same He cannot endure any equals in the World he accounts all his Enemies who will not be his Vassals This is a Torrent which makes all places desolate through which it slides and by carrying his Arms as far as his Hopes he fills the world with Terrour Misery and Confusion Victory is the effect of Ambition and War is the Recreation of Conquerours 't is an evil which entertains a multitude of others in its retinue and there is not one to be found comparable to it The Quarrel of Caesar and Pompey hath formerly interessed all the States of the World because they both pretended to an Universal Monarchy their Courages were so undaunted and their Vertue so equal that Valour not being able to determine the point left the decision thereof to Fortune The Enterprizes of great Princes are always grievous to their own Subjects their Lawrels cast such shadows as Blast the smaller Plants and produce none but hurtful Fruits themselves By this Reasoning we may conclude that Providence which watches perpetually over us never brings forth a haughty Prince but from time to time to curb the Licentiousness of the People and her bounty is much greater in bestowing mean and ordinary than ambitious and extraordinary Spirits on Kings and Princes And for my part I assert from the like consequence that the same Justice is conspicuous in the distribution of Favours among all sorts of men for as she gives to no-body all perfections together so she produces not one altogether uncapable of Discipline and it is but reasonable that she should bestow less Wit on those who are born rich than on such as a low Extraction or an unhappy disaster has impoverished The first have need onely of an ordinary Conduct to live happily the last must be owners of extraordinary Merits to supply their necessities It was the saying of a Greek Poet That Indigence awakens Arts and Poverty is the Mother of Invention there is great pobability that this Author did not elevate his thoughts to the first cause of this effect Poverty of it self does nothing that 's worthy but it is the temperament which God has made in the Soul of him who is filled with Light and understanding as Simplicity and Ignorance are ingredients in the Souls of those who abound in Wealth and Riches CHAP. XI That he may be advanc'd from the service of a Great Lord to that of the King or Prince And that a Master ought to treat a Gentleman courteously I Have spoken in my first Part of the wonderful progress which persons of Quality make in the Court when their wit and judgement are equal to their Riches and Fortune I have nothing more to say to them my designe being only to advertise a Gentleman that as I have set no bounds to his Worth so he ought to prescribe none to his Fortune One of our Constables had no cause to complain of changing his Master the support of the Trunk is ever more firm than that of the Branches There is not the least imprudence in passing from the retinue of a great Lord to the service of a King or of some other soveraign Prince provided that it be done fairly and without treachery If he loves us he will be extremely glad of our preferment and if he does not love us we do not owe him that dull complaisance of consuming our life under the tyranny of his ingratitude and injustice Our services ought to be sincere and faithful but not perpetual Our condition would be worse than that of a slave if we were obliged to do all for him and nothing for our selves Reason and Nature teach us to pursue our Interests when they are not contrary to the Maximes of Honour For my part I am well satisfi'd with a Great Lord who is not naturally liberal when he gives his Servants the good words which they deserve although he does them no other courtesie This testimony of his friendship is obliging and may become profitable in time but I meet with nothing more rare in the mouths of persons of Quality than this sort of Commendation they will rather praise the Horses paces than the Teachers skill and if a Gentleman by his discreet management makes their affairs prosper they will attribute the cause thereof to some other circumstance rather than to his conduct This Injustice as a contagion is communicated from Parents to Children 't is an antient tradition of which husbands and their wives make a mystery and it passes for a politick Rule in Noble Families But I cannot forbear proving that this Maxime is as erronious as it is ungrateful and it ought not to be entertain'd by any generous or noble Soul Can any one deny that Praise and Esteem are the true and essential rewards of Vertue And that the Antient Heroes did not propound to themselves Glory as their Object Si Virtus oculis cerneretur mirabiles sui amores excitaret Cicero Laudataque Virtus crescit immensum gloria calcar babet Ovid when they enterpriz'd to eternize their memory by their brave Exploits Cicero says that if Vertue could assume a body to present it self to our eyes she would even to admiration ravish the hearts of all Spectators And Ovid says that Praise nourishes her and Glory has a sharp spur which excites and animates the most slothful Therefore if she deserves our esteem and our applause is it not an errour to believe that men ought not to speak well of those that possess her and if an inferiour employs his Vertue only to serve his Master more advantageously can he conceal it without being guilty of ingratitude and baseness Why does he not take as great pleasure in extolling the Merit of a Gentleman that serves him as in boasting of his fine Horses or in describing
Latine and yet teaches us how we should make use of those two Languages we finde it in Palaces we meet with it among Princes and great Lords it intrudes into Ladies Bed-chambers it takes delight in the society of Souldiers and contemns not Merchants Artists or Mechanicks 't is that men commonly call the knowledge of the World whose guide is Prudence and Tutors are conversations and experience of affairs It renders the same office to the other Sciences that a Lapidary does to unpolisht Diamonds who by his art gives them their beauty lustre and estimation Ut fuerit melius non dedicisse sibi And truly can there be any thing more impertinent than a man of St. James's quarter who never saw the Louvre but from the other side of the Seine To what purpose do his Greek and Latine serve but to render him ridiculous among accomplisht persons and make thâ—m profess that he is more ignorant in the knowledge of the World than the most stupid are in that of the University The Colledge gives us the first notions of things it heaps together Materials for the structure of a beautiful Palace but 't is the knowledge of the World which teaches us the Architecture which shews us the order and connexion of all the parts which makes us appear accomplisht without affecting the vanity of being accounted Learned which polishes our discourse and our Manners which renders us discreet in our conversations and agreeable to the whole World Without it Learning becomes barbaroas and displeasing and 't is the reason why persons of a mean extraction to whom Nature has given Wit and the University Learning finde it so difficult a matter to get their Bread they almost ever appear such as they are because they receiving a tincture from the filth of their education which having no resemblance with that of persons of Quality cannot conceal their natural difference The greatest art to purge a Gentleman of this Intection is to bring him forth early into the World to prescribe him select discourses to oblige him to make his Court to persons of Quality to make him observe all the Punctilio's of a gentile and courteous deportment to give him a certain boldness in all his actions without impudence or affectation to render him civil without debasing himself and complaisant without flattering others to enjoyn him the conversation of Ladies and permit him to carry on some intrigues with them Truly the most prudent and learned receive oftentimes very useful Lessons from the ignorant of this Sex It seems that Nature created it not onely for our delight but also to give us Rules whereby we might become more agreeable Beauty has a certain efficacious power whereby it renders us wise and discreet as much by hazard as by any result of our Reason And as that has right to charm us so we suppose that we have the same to please it and not being able to satisfie our selves without the fruition thereof we most servently embrace all the means that may render us amiable This Passion instructs us much better than Rhetorick the art of perswading and discovers to us all the graces of Eloquence It compares our actions it regulates our Steps it makes us gentile it quickens our Fancy it polishes and a wakens our Wit and it is very profitable when it runs not into excets it is like to that liquour which exhilarates the better sort but intoxicates the Rabble Therefore I do not permit it to any but good Wits who take it as a means to perfect themselves in the knowledge of the World and not thereby to become Vicious The most excellent things are corrupted by a bad use 't is in our power not to render our selves faulty by our moderation Our Condition would be worse than that of the Beasts if we should abstain from every thing that carries danger along with it The Fire which warms us may also Burn us the Air which we Breath may be Infected and the Wine which comforts and nourishes us may in like manner make us Drunk And from hence would it be reasonable to conclude that we ought to be deprived of the use of Fire Air and Wine It 's the same with our Passions as with our Arms they serve for our defence when they obey us but they have a contrary effect when they pass into the hands of our Enemies We represent them as Monsters for want of knowing them their force proceeds from the weakness of our Reason let us give it leisure to examine them throughly it will easily subject them 'T is then that it will appoint them to good uses and that Love it self as dangerous as it is will cease to be hurtful The most Renowned Antient and Modern Captains have found out a way of adjusting this with their Employments they have accounted it onely a slight Barricado which could not put a stop to the success of their Enterprizes nor to the progress of their Glory The Learned have pursued it as the Soul of Nature the Bond of civil society and the Father of Pleasure and Peace The Devout have made it a necessary Vertue and the principle of Charity which unites them with their Neighbour And for my part I propound it as a light which heating the Heart enlightens the Minde to discover the Excellencies of this Knowledge of the World which I esteem so necessary for an accomplisht Person CHAP. XVI That Conferences are more prositable than the Reading of Books DIogenes the Cynick being one day at Dinner and seeing Aristippus pass by his Tub said to him Aristippus if you could content your self with Bread and Garlike as I do you would not be the King of Syracuse's Slave And you replyed the Courtier if you knew how to live with Princes would not make so bad chear It is true that this Morose and Pedantick Philosophy is not design'd for Gentlemen they are born to be sociable and ought to understand all the Maximes of the World Complaisant humours assisted with this practical knowledge gain and ravish the friendship of all people because they know how to set forth gracefully and pertinently the Talents of Nature and the advantages of the Sciences which they have acquired I say moreover that it has often made accomplisht persons without the assistance of Learning The World is a great Book which instructs us continually Conversations are living Studies which are not at all inferiour to Books Good Conferences are like Flints which from a cold and dark heap produce heat and light if men strike them one against another The familiar Discourses of two or three good Wits may be more advantageous to us than the empty disputations of all the Pedants of the Universities together they vent more Matter in one day than we read in a Library in three The action and air of the Countenance have certain Charms which have a great influence on our minds for every one confesses that an Oration spoken by a good Orator