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
OBSERVATIONS AND ADVICES OECONOMICAL Infelix nimis cujus domicilio ignavia adhaeret LUKE 8. 16. No man when he hath lighted a Candle covereth it with a Vessel c. LONDON Printed by T. R. for John Martyn Printer to the Royal Society at the sign of the Bell without Temple-Bar 1669. The Preface A Short Work needs little Preface and this Work is both short and slender so as it may be easie to make a Gate large enough for the City it self to run out at A Iourney cannot be too little nor the Way too plain for a person of Body tyred and Spirits spent by past travell and I may well professe my self such having in my dayes galopped so many Post-stages In the prime of my youth I past or rather lost some few years at the Vniversity of Cambridge Then I came to have a tast of the Court but my Father soon called me from thence knowing by dear experience the Air of that place to be such as few elder Brothers can long breath there without falling into a Consumption Afterwards I lived with my Parents at their London habitation and having no employment I surfeited of Idlenesse taking my pastime with some of the most corrupt young men of those dayes By Gods grace I quickly found this unfit for continuance and therefore I prevailed with my Father to send me beyond Sea to travel where in lesse then two years I had a view of the best part of Italy France and Spain being present at Madrid and Paris when the several Marriages for our then Prince of Wales were treated on in those Courts and so I became a partial witnesse of the artifices and uncertainty of such Negotiations From thence I was employed as a Soldier in Holland about three years Commanding a Foot Company in our Sovereigns Pay And there I ran hazard again of being lost in debauchery and especially in the Vice-rampant of that People But by Gods grace I came home scot-free though I served under a Scotch Colonel Then I became a Married man and was speedily called to Publick affairs being elected to four successive Parliaments where the Service and approaches were excessive chargeable and of no profit as to my particular One of these was that fatal Parliament which set the whole Kingdom on fire seeking to enervate or unsinue all Government and that it might the better be effected divers of us their Members were by Club-law forced from our station Yet it pleased God even by that Parliament when we were re-admitted to put all again in such a way as the old Government was perfectly restored in a succeeding Assembly Then I made my full retreat into the Countrey which renewed my experience in businesses relating to that course of life and now at last I am come to reside at the chief Mansion-house of our Family where I have no other ambition then to end my dayes with a peaceable and pious dissolution So much of my self tyred and retired which I may well be since the World can scarcely shew me any thing new Now a word or two about my approaches to this little Inventary Being overtaken with old Age and by divers infirmities rendred unfit for action I entertain my self frequently by turning over old Books whereof I have good store in several Languages without any fixed Study and among them I lately perused one consisting of certain politick and prudential Considerations written by three distinct Italian Authors in an articular way and as I was reading it fell into my thoughts that the same might profitably be done in Oeconomicks which is a path not much travelled in Thence I took occasion to turn my meditations that way and having spent same little time therein I put my materials together and so this small Work received being without any further trouble by way of Method As for the Subject though not of any sublime consideration I conceived it fitter for me to embrace then Nâ—tes in Politick Government as not having coversed sufficiently with Sovereign Princes and taking it to be a high presumption for private persons to give them instructions Yet the government of private Families may be considerable even with Princes because their Principalities are composed of Families and they who are known to have well governed their private fortunes are the rather judged fit for Publick Offices Oeconomy is a subject that entertained the Pen of Learned Aristotle himself but it yieldeth little occasion for pleasant conceits or curious terms wherefore I must advise all persons of nimble fancy to forbear reading least it become a kind of torture to them happy it is for this Discourse that it came into the World so seasonably for never was there more need of good menagery then now at a time when Revenues of the Gentry are fallen beyond what could have been imagined of late years and they are most likely to continue so if not to incur a farther diminution I meddle not with small Families which are concerned in the mysteries of Agriculture and petty Huswifery matter 's no way suitable to my mind or experience and there was no need for divers persons of peculiar knowledge in those matters have written of them But it may be demanded why I having been so great a straggler do undertake to give Rules in Oeconomy To which I answer That at times I have been a House-keeper a great part of my dayes and more especially in these my latter years at which time Men are accustomed to take matters into consideration more maturely then when distracted with pleasures of youth Indeed my nature is not so perverse but I receive great contentment in being beneficial to others for In minimis prodesse juvat better do a little good then none at all Neither am I so ill opinioned of this my Brains production as to think it altogether uselesse and therefore such as it is like a Knight errant it shall travel about to seek adventures Perhaps it may yield assistance somewhere and so I leave it to its fortune I expect to be Censured in all and not to escape in this Introduction as having said too much of my Self and too little of Oeconomy our Subject But my Face being masked the blushes cannot appear and therefore I may content my self to be a patient hearer OBSERVATIONS and ADVICES OECONOMICAL I. OUr first Observation shal be touching the importance of Oeconomy wherefore let us bring it to the Balance for tryal Though a Family which is its general object be very small in comparison of the State whereof it is a member yet is it not like an Epicurean atome unexposed to sense but an aggregation capable of Government and the good government is of such Concernment as a State cannot subsist without it for Agriculture Manufactures are dependant upon families and a Nation can neither be fed nor defended without these since publick contributions receive their life from them There were very evident marks of Domestical thrift among the Roman
within his own Family and shall do well to take order for the external and publick Service of God there twice a day and in case any of the Servants especially those whose businesse lyeth within doors be negligent to give attendance at the Chappel or other place assigned for that duty he must either by himself or his Chaplain who is his substitute in spiritualibus if he have one reprove them for it and so for scandalous courses that any of his Family shall give themselves over unto XXXIX There was a piece of managery heretofore which is now wholly out of use and yet might be beneficial It is the having of a Wardrobe in considerable Families wherein was kept such Houshold-stuff as seldom came into use and there was also preserved all the old Vestments of the Master and Mistris which had been any thing costly This was a Store-house out of which might be taken at any time materials towards the making of new house Furniture and Saddles or such like things but now it is grown a shame with us to preserve any such frippery as they call it XL. Having in the last Observation mentioned Vestments or Apparrel I cannot think it improper in this place to take that matter further into consideration The most natural uses of Apparrel are these to defend against the injuries of Weather and to be a Covering for the obscene parts of the Body which last was the occasion of our Father Adams first piece of Clothing by Fig-leaves But certainly it may also be used for ornament or else our Saviour would not have said that such as wear soft Cloathing are in Kings Houses nor S. Paul have spoken of bestowing more abundant honour on those members of the Body which we esteem least honourable Excesse in bravery of Apparrel causeth much waste and therefore some Rules should be given to prevent it There can be little said in general the condition of persons being so different in respect of Age Quality c. As for those who are aged especially in a retired way they cannot be too moderate for much vanity and great age should be incompatible Most indulgence is to be afforded to people in the flower of their age who may find advantage many wayes by adorning their persons I knew a Noble-man whose course was this to apparrel his Daughters in very plain Habit till they became Marriagable and then he trimed them one by one in Garments of more cost which succeeded very well all of them being seasonably and fitly disposed of The same course may be proper for Male Children and the way is not irrational for persons so trained up will return with lesse reluctation to plain attire if need be In the general it is a good Rule to defer the making of new Apparrel as much as may be which at the long run becomes a great saving of charge And on the contrary those who must have many Suits of Clothes at the same time find themselves at great losse since the Fashion cannot but alter before some of them have had their full wearing That wise and frugal People the Venetians have a way to distinguish the quality and degree of persons by the form and not the bravery of their Habit which of necessity must become a great advantage to their State in general But the wiser part of every Nation must submit it self to the common usages of the whole yet prudence ought to be shewed in affecting rather moderation then affectation for men are not sooner concluded to be defective in judgement by any thing then by their Apparrel and moderation is incomparably the best governour of expence and no lesse so in this then in other particulars XLI The Master and not onely he but his steward ought to govern as much by Example as by Command for how indecent must it be for a man to reprove another for excesse of Drinking or any other habit of Vice whereunto he himself is given over Longum iter per precepta breve per exempla the way by Precept is long and that by Example short And if the Example of Superiours be attractive up the cragged rock of Vertue it cannot be imagined but our course after them will be speedy and somewhat tending to precipitation on the smooth down-hill of Vice when we are spurred forwards by our own depraved inclinations Such persons as are Leaders had need be very cautious in the choyce of their way since they have no small share in others faults XLII It is a common precept that the Master of a Family must be last in Bed at night and soonest out of it in the morning for so he may see good order kept and that the Servants not onely attend their businesse but observe fit times for it Yet in great Families the Masters dignity is such for the most part as that and other personal activities are fitly transferred to the Stewâ—rd XLIII The Master shall do well to take his Stewards Accompt once in a Year at the least and to be very punctual and curious in it or seem to be so This is good also for the Steward for by that means he may the more easily satisfie his Master as to particular disbursements and the Masters seeming care will make the Steward fear to be discovered if he use any underboard play XLIV Masters of Families are much favoured in our Law for their houses are termed their Castles and have the priviledge not to be forced by publike Officers but in prosecution of high treason felony present breach of the peace within dores and some other extraordinary cases XLV The good government of Families is very profitable to the Prince or State for Servants well trained up in obedience and free from Idlenesse become good members of the Common-wealth and none more fit for Soldiers then they but especially those of the better sort who by their breeding attain to a kind of generosâ—ty of spirit which renders them most fit for the Martial profession and I am fully perswaded that the great actions performed by our Kings in forrain Countreys heretofore were chiefly acted by the Nobility and Gentry who being obliged by tenure of their Lands to attend their Prince in person carryed with them their Servants and these had not their heart so much at a home of their own as members of the Traind-Bands in our dayes XLVI It is necessary for Fortresses and Families to have a years provision before hand the first to be in readinesse for Siege and the latter to prevent losse by a year of Dearâ—h but as well in Corne as in most other provisions of store within dores the damage will be very great if sufficient care be not taken in custody of them XLVII Money is said to be the Sinew of War and it is little less in the way of Oeconomy for if the Housholder have not money in hand he must bear much losse Provisions will almost double their price if they be not bought in