Turf This sort of Fence will hold good for a Year or two and has this Advantage that as Cattle will not destroy it by brouzing so neither will it be in danger of being diminish'd by Hedge-breakers there being nothing which may tempt them thereunto as in Stake-Hedges where the Tynnel is of much greater Substance This sort of Hedging is of very little Charge and where a Breach is made it is easily repair'd only Care must be took from time to time as the Bank shall wash away into the hollow Road and Ditch on the other side not to repair it by digging new Earth on the Fields-side to cover the Thorns for by this means the Ground will in time be wasted away leaving a deep Ditch or Trench behind The way then must be to cast up the Earth which is mouldred down into the hollow way and so repair the Bank or Bulwark which tho' it be a little more troublesome will preserve the Ground from being wasted by frequent digging CHAP. V. Of Grass rais'd from Foreign Seeds EVery Man that is a Member of a Common-wealth may be consider'd in a double Capacity First as he stands alone and in his Private and Domestick Capacity Next as he is a Member of a Body and in his Relative and Civil Capacity If we consider him under the first Circumstance we must look upon him as a Creature acting upon Self-Interest whether it be in getting and augmenting his Fortune by Industry and Labour by Traffick by Cunning by Study Imployments Preferments c. or by securing himself from Wrong or by providing for and advancing his Family and in a word by gratifying his Desires in all true or imaginary Enjoyments and Contents whether they concern his own Person or those who are nearly related to and dependent on him But then as he is a Member of a Commonwealth his Duty extends it self much farther for 't is with the Body-Politick as with the Body-Natural If any one Member shall refuse to be beneficial to its Fellows it must not expect the like Relief from them by which means there will follow such a kind of Jarring or Discord amongst the Parts of the Body as will draw on a Distemper and perhaps a Dissolution which cannot but be fatal to the disagreeing Members themselves 'T is true it concerns every Man to provide for his own private Affairs in the first place for if he leaves it for others to do it for him he will quickly find himself in a very naked Condition so prevalent is Self-Interest which will first begin and many times end at home And yet all this while a Man whilst he is thus busie about his private Interest differs very little from Brutes For these know very well what is for their own good and will labour always to procure the same many of which are as sagacious and provident for their future Benefit as the most subtle and industrious of Humane Race Duties therefore of this kind may be called Animal or Sensitive as being common with Men and Beasts as they are living Creatures But Duties which concern the Publick are of a higher and more distinguishing Nature as being of a larger Extent and carry some Marks of Divinity on them forasmuch as they level at the General Good by promoting Peace and Justice and serve consequently to render Kingdoms and future Ages stable and flourishing and must be esteem'd therefore to be much more noble than the former as being founded in Reason and Prudence and diffusing their Influence over all the World Now to apply these Notions to the Point in question and first It is questionless the Inclination of every Man to improve his Estate as much as he can by the Arts of Husbandry as we may suppose in our present Case by sowing his Ground with Foreign Seeds such as St. Foin Clover c. But whether it be for the Interest of the Commonwealth to countenance and permit such Improvements may be a Question For if it shall appear that such Plantations are Injurious to the Publick according to what 's already premis'd the Government has Power to restrain Men from pursuing their Domestick and Private Advantage when it shall be to the Detriment of the same Persons as they stand engag'd in a Publick Body or Society The Considerations tempting us to believe that such Innovations in Husbandry ought to be permitted are these viz. Besides the Benefit which a vast Number of Persons reap from Improvements of this nature certain it is that great Numbers of Cattle are rais'd this way and consequently more Corn because more Dung Nor can Clover for the purpose be continu'd but for a little time without Tillage Now the more Corn and Cattle are rais'd the cheaper must all Provisions be which is generally look'd upon to be a Benefit to the Publick This Reason how specious and popular soever it may seem upon the first Appearance will upon a nearer View be found to be very thin and fallacious And first If we consider the Interest of Private Persons what Reason is there that some Private Persons should be suffer'd to grow rich and get Estates by the Loss of a far greater Number of Private Persons no less Industrious and Honest than their Neighbours 'T is true where Men riotously or sottishly wast their Estates their Neighbours may gather Sticks and into the Bargain make themselves warm by the Fire of them But for the Primitive Ancient and Native ways of Pasturage so useful and necessary to the Nation as those of Graizing and of the Dairy to be supplanted with all the Families thereon depending by the Invasion of Foreigners may be as mischievous to the good old Husbandman as any other Invasion whether of such as assault us by open force or of those more dangerous ones who endeavour to trapan us by fraudulent Cajolery The Plantation of Tobacco in England is a Production certainly which would be beneficial to a world of People both Planters and Smoakers and yet we find that it hath been destroy'd by Publick Order from time to time as fast as ever it grew up and this because it ruin'd others who before were settled in a Trade Why then there should not be the same Reason against Clover St. Foin Rye-Grass and other Foreign Weeds we are yet to learn especially when we consider the Duties or Payments whether Parochial or Publick with which Ancient Estates are burthen'd For tho' it be certainly true that Meadow and Feeding Grounds are fallen at least Fifteen per Cent. since the Importation of these Foreign sorts of Grass yet are they liable to the same Rates or Payments with which they were charg'd before they were impoverish'd by these Outlandish Usurpers whereas Lands which the last Year perhaps were not worth above Five Shillings an Acre after they are sown with Clover or St. Foin are worth yearly Twenty five or Thirty Shillings per Acre and notwithstanding such Advance of Profit are in a manner scot-free
that the Worms most resort and by consequence the Wants who feed upon them so that I have known the same Place choak'd up three or four times afresh during the Winter-Season Ground newly broke up may be sown with some sorts of Pease or Oats Pease are better and must be harrowed in after the Plowing but generally the Crop is not so good as upon temper'd Land forasmuch as it will be subject to Grass and Weeds After Pease the Year following we may sow Barley for there will be time enough betwixt Harvest and Barley-sowing to give the Ground its due plowings After the second Crop it must be fallow'd and dress'd before 't will yield another unless it be sow'd with Oats which will much impoverish the Ground 'T is the best Method therefore to let old Land after it has been broken up to lie fallow the first Year and if in good proof 't will with a little help yield three Crops successively In lesser Inclosures which are converted to Tillage I hold it the best Husbandry in the World instead of head-Lands on which the Cattle turn not to sow them but to let them lie plain for Grass as also a large Meer to be left of ten or fourteen Yards breadth under all the Hedges which inclose the Tillage for these Borders will never bear good Corn especially if the Hedges be quick and high and stor'd with Trees for the Shade of the Trees and Hedges as also the Droppings from the Boughs will destroy the Crop as will also the Birds which lie continually in the Hedges The Roots likewise of the Trees and Quick will rob the Corn of its due Nourishment Let the Borders round about therefore be kept for Grass which as it is most delightful to the Eye and most commodious for walking so is it most profitable For the Washings or Land-Floods running off the Furrows will fatten the bordering Meer in an extraordinary manner and make it as rich as any Meadow-Ground as the Shade likewise of the Trees and Hedges will as well help forward Grass how injurious soever they may be to Corn. After the Crop is in the Barn being hous'd dry the next thing the honest Labourer or Husbandman is to consider of is to turn it into Money Peradventure the safest way will be to thrash it out as soon as the Season does require and to send it to the Market for by long lying in the Barn Rats and Mice will quickly draw their Mines and make large Inroads nor will the Thief be wanting as Occasion shall serve to give a Cast of his Skill to which we may add the Incumbrance of the Barn for the Crop of a following Year To keep it thrash'd in the Granary is altogether as bad for 't will be subject to the Assaults of Vermine and unless often turn'd 't will grow musty Besides 't will contract a great deal of Dust and Filth and the Grains of Corn will shrink or shrivle and lose their bright Colour All which will be of much more Detriment than what may be recompenc'd from the Advance of the Market which commonly does lurch us by sinking lower but rarely rising to that degree as to make amends for the Inconveniences we meet with by keeping in our Corn. But if it be judg'd expedient to keep Grain the best way is in the Straw by putting it into a Rick not rais'd upon Posts or Pillars of Wood or of much Stone as is usual with ordinary Husbandmen but let the Frame of Wood which is to bear up the Rick be laid upon five or nine Pillars a full Yard from the Ground The Pillars must be proportionable to the Burthen being made round and strong and finely plaister'd over and cover'd with flat square Stones four Foot in breadth each to prevent Vermine from running up For if the Pillars be square tho' never so polish'd Rats and Mice will run up the Corners but on a round one they have not the least Hold for their Claws The Rick also must be well thatch'd to prevent Damage from foul Weather and by this means Grain may be preserv'd sweet and entire for many Years There is this Thing farther which I would recommend to the Consideration of every Husbandman especially if he be a Gentleman viz. to avoid as much as possible the Covering of his Barns and Out-Houses with Straw For besides that such Thatch'd Coverings looks mean and beggerly 't is certain that they will prove far more expensive than Tyling in a little Process of Time People are easily drawn to follow the Examples of the Country to avoid a little greater Charge for the present not considering that such Thatch'd Houses will be a continual Reparation and Expence Every violent Gust or Puff of Wind tears them to pieces and makes vast Breaches Unluckey Birds are still pulling them and the Rain Snow and Weather will in a very short time rot such Coverings and considerable Damage be sustain'd before Stuff and Thatcher can be brought in place Whereas the Tiled Roofs tho' a little more chargeable at first will last a long while without Repair and when repair'd it will be done at a quarter the Charge of Straw Roofs 'T is true Thatch'd Houses are a better Security for Corn against Rain and Snow but then 't is known too that they harbour Birds Rats Mice with other Vermine and above all are most dangerous so that many Houses have been burnt to the Ground and whole Families undone by Fire catching in the Thatch But in this and many other Methods Country Fellows will never quit the old Road how Ridiculous and Inconvenient soever it be no more than the Irish can be wean'd from their old barbarous Custom of Tailing their Horses to one another and to draw with them in their Teams CHAP. III. Of Pasturage PAsturage is of several sorts That wherein Sheep thrive best is the Lawnes as also the wide and open Downs such as those in Cotswold and in Wiltshire for what is richer or ranker by reason of the great Dews that lie upon them is apt to beget the Rot also hilly Ground in which are many Springs and little Lakes is very unwholsome For where Sheep bite closest they thrive best unless they be design'd for the Butcher and then they must have a fuller Diet. There is no small Care to be taken in ordering the Pasture of such as are design'd for Breed or Store Let them be kept in the Summer as bare as possible for if they once come to abate their Flesh as certainly they will towards Winter they will be a long time before they will come about but being hard kept in the Summer and dispos'd into thriving Pasture towards Winter they will keep their Fleeces whole upon their Backs and be able to weather out the sharpest of that Season Of the Usefulness of Fallow-Fields we have spoken before Woods and rough Grounds are very hazardous for Sheep for besides the Danger they are in of tearing their Fleeces
would live creditably and in good Fashion from the Profits to be made hereby and that such Profits would be a very great Encouragement and Spur to Industry as the Fruits and Productions reapt from such Enclosures would be of great Advantage to the Publick by furnishing the Markets with more plentiful Provisions whether of Corn or Cattle which New-Enclosed Farms likewise being improv'd upon a Survey and Estimate made of them would be a great Ease to the Nation in time of War by being made to partake and share of the Common Burthen in the Supplies usually required on such Occasions whereas in the State and Condition wherein Commons lie at present the Publick is damnified such Places being generally Seminaries of a lazy Thieving sort of People For what Invitation can there be for Industry and Labour when those who take no Pains shall share in the Profit such People likewise being remote from Neighbours of Reputation and Fortune may be accounted for Heathens and Savages living in a manner without all Knowledge of God there being little Encouragement for able Ministers from a lean and hungry Soil so that living remote from Churches and no Officers or Magistrates being near them they seem to be a Brood of Terrae-Filii or law less Rogues engendring upon one another as from the beginning so on to the end of the World and preserving themselves frequently from starving by stealing of Wood Sheep and Cattle and by breaking of Houses to the great Annoyance of all honest Husbandmen who have the misfortune to live near them And as the Men so are the Cattle which are bred upon such Commons being a starv'd scabby and rascally Race Their Sheep are poor tatter'd and poyson'd with the Rot. Their Cattle and Colts dwarft and ragged For little beggarly Stone-Colts running promiscuously amongst the Herd beget a miserable shotten and Bastardly Breed and generally 't is that Horses nabb upon such wild and desert Places half famished by which means the Race of our Horses becomes tainted and base whereas the English Horse when he comes of a good Kind and being carefully lookt to when a Colt may be esteem'd the best perhaps in the World I mean for all the uses of a Horse whether for drudging and fatigue or for the Pad Our better sort of Horses being generally swift and easie Goers and fit for the Chace and for Running as well as for the Road. Foreign Countries indeed yield better Horses for some particular uses as the Low Countries or Flanders for the Draught and Coach Naples for the Great Saddle Barbary and Arabia for Shape and Fleetness But the true English Horse is serviceable in more respects than one where the Breed I say is not poyson'd by Commons Upon which account it is that our Hackneys are so much esteemed Beyond-Sea Nor are Commons only injurious to the Race of Horses but also of Cattle The increase of such Places being nothing but a sort of starv'd Tod-bellied Runts neither fit for the Dairy nor the Yoke so that a Common upon the matter is nothing but a Naked Theater of Poverty both as to Men and Beasts where all things appear horrid and uncultivated and may be term'd not improperly the very abstract of Degenerated Nature But notwithstanding all this much may be said on the behalf of Commons as first that they are more productive of People For a Common or Waste of six hundred Acres will maintain thirty Cottages of Four to a Family which if inclos'd would not amount to above Eight Farms each Farm containing about seven Persons one with another Now 't is for the Interest of a Nation that it should abound rather with Men than Cattle and that such Men are poor matters not so they be not indigent or such as stand in need of Relief from the Parish For were it not for these poor Labourers the Rich themselves would soon become poor for either they must labour and Till the Ground themselves or suffer it to ly waste and in the end Common Now such poor Cottages being inur'd to all manner of Hardships prove excellent good Labourers where they are kept in order and as they are exceeding serviceable for the Country Affairs in Times of Peace so are they most useful in Time of War for the same reason of being bred hardy and when reform'd by Discipline will make good rough cross-grain'd Soldiers enough fit to kill or be kill'd This we see exemplified in Switzerland Sweden and Scotland which as they are the poorest Countries so do they yield the bravest Soldiers in the World Whereas the Commonwealths which are rich and Traffick are no way considerable upon this score their Men generally being foggy and resty Spain 't is true is in the main a poor Country and yet in no such Reputation for Martial Men as heretofore their Great Ones which should make Officers being men too much abandon'd to Pleasures and if the meaner sort of them make not their Fortunes this way 't is to be imputed to the Genius of the People who being naturally proud and haughty will rather starve like Dons than take pains like Men. But this Consideration possibly might be of greater Moment under a Government which thirsts after the Enlargement of Empire than in a Monarchy such as the British is whose Empire being Insular it can never be its Interest unless by way of Diversion to make a War upon the Continent where sudden Invasions cannot be made in which principally consists the Success of such Wars and for Invasions or Transportations of Armies they are things of vast Expence Embarrass and Noise and subject to many fatal Disasters from the Winds and Weather or the Resistance which may be made by the Enemy and other Difficulties in Landing But let us suppose the Aggressors be so fortunate as to set footing upon the Continent they could not expect long to keep Possession unless they were certain to have their Allies the Seas the Winds and a vast Treasure always at Command and to be able to send Recruits as quick as we can Letters by the next Return of the Pacquet-Boat Nevertheless in a Defensive or Civil War such hardy Rogues as are bred usually upon Commons may prove excellent good Food for Powder It must be confess'd 't is true that such Commoners or Cottagers are generally Savage and Paganish If honest Ministers were appointed to over-see these Goats some small good possibly might be done but much more might be expected from a vigilant and severe Justice of the Peace taking in to his Assistance some Constables of the like Mettle For we are not now to expect Miracles in the Conversion of such Heathens by Preaching a good strong pair of Stocks and a Whipping-post will work a greater Reformation than Forty Doctrines and Uses Nor truly will the Pastors themselves much care to be troubled with such an unregenerate and barren Flock which will yield neither Milk nor Cloathing However the Matter stands the Fault is not
so much in the Men but something also in the Government and more in the Circumstances of these uncultivated Places which naturally incline Men to Barbarity and Ignorance As for the Sterility of Commons something might be said against it were we sure to have a good Utterance for the Fruits of such new Improvements But as the Case now stands we want rather Men to be fed than Meat to feed them and where there is Plenty of Provisions if there be not Wealth proportionable 't will quickly cloy or turn to Surfeit For Men may be poor that is without a Penny in their Purses in the midst of full Crops and Herds of Cattle since we are not in the Primitive Golden Age of the World when that Metal was least in Request and when all things were procur'd by Barter or Trucking but rather in the Silver one where whatsoever we stand in need of can no otherways be obtain'd but by the Divinity of Money The Horses which are bred upon such Commons must be confess'd likewise to be shriveling and grubbish but withal being hardy they are fit for all sorts of meaner Drudgery to which better Flesh might not willingly be expos'd So that if two of these little Garrans go to the making up of one tolerable Horse there is no greater Loss than for a Man to have two Six Pences instead of one Shilling which as they are of equal Value so are the lesser Pieces more useful for Change and Barter And he who gains his Livelihood by the Labour of such cheap Carrions if one of them come to a Mischance the Loss is not great whereas the Death of one good Horse would be the utter Ruine perhaps of a poor Man's Family And although our Cottagers are found generally to be too lazy and void of Morality yet we may observe that there is rarely any one of these Huts or Cabins but has its little Inclosures lying round about it As for Example a pretty Plot of Ground like a Meadow from whence he mows a Modicum of Hay to keep his Cow or a few Sheep against the Injuries of the Winter as likewise a little Rib of Tillage for Bread-Corn or perhaps a slender Orchard or some other Plantation of Trees to shelter him from the Extremities of the Weather so that every such Cottage seems to be an Epitome of a more Voluminous Farm which is so much the more pleasant to the Eye not of the Owner I mean but of the Spectators by how much the Variety of the Landskip is contracted into a lesser compass And I have oftentimes stood and paus'd a while in viewing these Rural Mansions considering with my self within how small a Circle the familiar Enjoyments and the most innocent Delights of the Earth may be confin'd and how little may suffice to relieve the Necessities of Nature As for the Suppressing of Cottages as it would be unpolitick so would it be most unjust without a due Regard first had for the Maintenance of the Inhabitants which would be no Injury but a Benefit to such People who having liv'd Time immemorial in such Places they have as good a Title to their Habitations as if they had continu'd there from the Beginning of the World I know in Cases of a General Necessity the Rights of Particular Persons may be impeach'd for the Preventing of a greater Evil as it is lawful to blow up a House without the Owners Leave to prevent a Conflagration or in case a Ship be ready to sink 't is lawful likewise to cast a Private Person 's Goods into the Sea to lighten the Burthen But this only holds good then when a particular Man's Concerns is so twisted with that of others that all must either sink or swim together But to invade any Man's Private Interest without his Leave or due Compensation had for his Loss and for the Benefit purely of others wherein the Loser himself is not concern'd this is against Reason so that we are carefully to distinguish between a Necessity and a Convenience In Cases I say of Common Necessity 't is better a Part than a Whole should suffer but in Cases of Convenience 't is not so For no Man ought to suffer for the Advantage of Others when the Person suffering partakes not of that Advantage Where by the way we may take leave to glance a little at the Behaviour of some Lords of Mannors whose Bailiffs many times wheedle in the Cottages as depending perhaps upon his Lordship for their Imployments allowing them Liberty to build upon the Wast and to inclose Ground perhaps giving them a Tree or two to carry on the Design upon Condition they will take a Lease of such Cottages for Three Lives paying only some Six Penny chief Rent Upon the Expiration of which Term his hungery Lordship swallows the poor Cottage with all its Members and Dependencies at a bit which by the Sweat and Labour of the poor Defunct and his Predecessoâ—s was improv'd to a kind of Competency out of Nothing whilst the Remains of the poor Family are expos'd to the naked World or else forc'd to pay a good round Fine for the Renewal of that which was so dearly purchas'd by their own Pains and Industry By which sly Methods the Commonage will be engross'd in Time and many whole Families be devour'd to serve the Appetite of an unsatiable Patron A Thing to which the Parliament of this Nation ought to have a special Regard the Members whereof many of them tho Lords of Mannors yet is it to be hop'd that they will act like Men of Trust and Honour and not suffer Frauds attended with so much Inhumanity how conducible soever they may seem to their private Interests to go without Correction Concerning which as also many other Points touch'd upon in this Discourse tho' the Definitive Judgment belong to them yet every Man endu'd with Understanding has a Judgment of Discretion to know what is agreeable to Reason which Reason will still carry a Sway over the Minds of Men by a kind of Influence not inferiour to that of Authority CHAP. VII Of Coppice-Wood THE Third General Thing about which the good Husbandman must be conversant is Planting To which I shall speak under these Particulars First of Woods or Coppices next of Trees useful for Husbandry and lastly of Fruit-Trees In planting of a Coppice great Care ought to be had to the Situation of the Ground The Ground then ought to be a little rising to the East for that is held the best for Timber and all Under-wood likewise thrives best the more 't is expos'd to the Rising-Sun It is no way profitable to suffer Timber-Trees to grow in Coppice-Woods unless on the skirts or out-sides where they may spread their Branches without Injury to the Coppice and receive the Benefit of the Sun but where they grow amidst the Coppice they hurt one another For if Timber-Trees be lopp'd they grow knotty and bare and if unlopp'd the Droppings of the
Forms Hence it is that Men are much in the dark as to the Qualification of theâ—r Servants taking them upon trust oâ— perhâ—ps like Vagabonds at the Doors For should a Man stand upon the Niceties of the Statute he might sooner starve than be furnish'd with a Servant It highly concerns therefore the Gentlemen of a County to whom these Matters are referr'd as Judges to see this good Law executed which if duly observ'd would quickly bring Servants to that Sense of Duty as would make all Affairs of a Country Life both profitable and pleasant To this End and Purpose it would be expedient that no Servant I mean such as are to be imploy'd in Husbandry should be suffer'd to hire himself in any other County than that he was born in For by this means the Actions of his Life would easily be inspected and the Servant himself be prevented from wandring like a Vagabond escaping the Punishment due to the Rogueries he might commit in one County by shifting into another Secondly It would be very expedient likewise that of Servants against whom there is sufficient Proof made of their ill Behaviour there should be a Record or Memorandum of such Offences entred into a Register and to be kept by the Church-Wardens of every Parish For by this means they would be still bridled from playing the Rogue And in the last place 't would be expedient that it might have the Power of the Bench at their Sessions or rather of the Judges in their respective Circuits to limit and determine the Wages of Hinds for the Purposes not to exceed Four Pounds per Annum and of others proportionably making all Transgressions of such an Order whether Masters or Servants to be obnoxious to a Penalty These Three Points duly executed would quickly make the Servants honest and industrious and fit consequently to be trusted By these means likewise the Masters would become wealthy and able to provide for their Families and supply the Publick Exigence upon occasion and in like manner the Servants themselves when married would betake themselves to their honest Labour and thereby provide for their Wives and Children and for themselves too in Time of Sickness and Old Age and not leave themselves a Burden upon the Parish nor liable to be prosecuted for ill Courses as being bred up Strangers to them in their youthful Days For he who has been a wastful pilfering or idle Servant will never make an honest Labourer in his declining Years but go on from Roguery to Roguery as on the other hand one who has been acquainted with Frugality and has been found true when a Servant will have something to help them forwards in the World by taking of a Farm and by his former Actions gain Trust with his Landlord and Credit in his Dealings And because Rewards sometimes are found to have as great or a greater Force upon some Natures than Punishments it might not be improper if some Privileges or honorary Marks were conferr'd upon such Servants as should continue Seven Years in a Service the same being to be entered into the Parish-Register for the Reputation and future Advantage of such Servants such Memorandums Gratuities and Privileges being a good Fund of Credit upon which Servants might begin the World it being no way to be doubted but that one who has liv'd some Years in a Service will use his utmost Endeavours by a faithful and diligent Behaviour to preserve to the End of such a Term of Years as would be so advantageous to him Labourers whether Artfiicers or such as drudge in Husbandry at Day-wages are another sort of Servants as being hir'd at a certain Price to labour for us The Tricks and Shifts of Workmen are too many to be particularly spoken to Therefore they who deal with such ought to be cautious and prudent 'T is the common Use of Workmen to undertake more than they ever intend or are able to perform and this they do that they may have many Strings to their Bow to serve them upon all Occasions which infallibly puts them upon a Necessity of breaking their Words for several times perhaps one after another and of leaving what they undertake unfinish'd frequently to the great Damage of those who are concern'd with them In which case a Man must hold his Tongue within his Teeth for to prosecute their Neglect would be such an Alarm to others of the same Profession that a Man might very well rest assur'd with himself never to get any of this kind to come hear him for usually they all combine and hang together There is one Notorious and Common Cheat practis'd by all Labourers or Workmen such as Carpenters or Masons I mean in the Countries who usually hire some vagabond or indigent Boys or Fellows which they call Journeymen or Labourers These the most ignorant of their Trade must have Wages as tho they had serv'd an Apprenticeship so that 't is common and I have found and do daily find by Experience That a Mason shall take up half a Starv'd Rogues and Boys to serve them subducting clandestinely Two Pence a day out of their Wages pretending for the purpose that they pay a Boy Six Pence per diem and receive the same of their Masters when by under-hand Contract they pay such Boys but a Groat and so of Men-Labourers So that a Mason or Carpenter shall by this way of Cheating get his Half Crown a Day if he has many Underlings And when such Boys or Labourers are tired with their Slavery they pick up other lazy and Indigent Vagabonds who being shortned in their Maintenance pilfer and watch all opportunities of stealing where-ever they are entertained 'T would be very prudently done therefore if the Gentlemen of the Bench would have a more especial Eye to this Abuse and 't were to be wish'd that they were impower'd to settle Apprentices upon such Artifices as are most necessary for the Country a Plowrights Carpenters Masons c. that so there might be some train'd up still to serve the Country in these necessary Occasions whereas Masons Plowrights and the like rarely take Apprentices that so they may keep the Husbandman in continual dependance on them and engross all to themselves so that a Man may hunt some Miles many times and wait many Weeks for such sort of Engineers and Court and Sneek for fear of displeasing them And when any such knavish Workman chance to die there 's a mortal Breach or Gap made in all Country Business so that a Man's Husbandry may cool upon his hands before he shall have the good Fortune to be reliev'd There are four sorts of Labourers who when hir'd by the Day-labour for 12 or 14 d. per diem as the Work is or as the Rates run commonly in the Country in which they live and yet the same men when they undertake Work by Task shall gain twice as much in a day which shews plainly that when they wrought by the day they did not
Possessions or Lands heretofore bestow'd by the Christian Emperors upon their Soldiers and Attendants were not conferr'd upon them as Marks of Dignity and Honour but by way of Stipend thereby binding them to follow such Princes in their Expeditions as it is at this day practis'd by the Turks I say in reference to their Timariot Horse From whence it follows That as Men were not enobled by such Fee-Farms so neither were they degraded from the Range in which they were born by the want of them It being utterly repugnant to Reason and contrary to the Opinion of all wise and learned Men That a Person should be more or less honourable and praise-worthy from the number of his Acres or Baggs which are the scatterings of blind and un-discerning Fortune and which fall indifferently upon the Good and Bad and many times are not in the power of the best Men to acquire or preserve Nay rather such Blessings are frequently contemn'd by them But in case a Gentleman be reduc'd to Poverty by his own Prodigal Courses or by his infamous and idle life there is no reason he should have a place amongst those of his own Birth and Quality since hereby his Blood and Honour may as well be stain'd as by his making profession of any servile Handicraft For all Mechanick Arts have been ever accounted to be servile and base forasmuch as the Professors of them like Horses and Beasts of Drudgery acquire their Livelihood by the Sweat and Labour of their Bodies No less base or ignoble are they accounted in the Civil Law who follow any nasty or sordid Trade as Butchers Tanners Chandlers Hatters Curriers Cordwainers Coblers c. And above all They have been ever lookt upon as vile to the utmost degree who gain their Livelyhood by irreputable and scandalous Professions such as Hangmen Pimps Travellers with Raree-Shews Tumblers Players Rope-Dancers Common Fidlers Vintners Alehouse-keepers and the like so that if a Gentleman once makes a practice of these Arts tho he acquire never so great Riches by them he is utterly degraded from his Post of Honour And yet in this degenerate Age if a Man can but get Wealth tho in never so vile a way he is without more ado esteem'd a Gentleman especially amongst the poorer sort A petty Shop-keeper or Retailer shall cringe sneak flatter humbly protest swear and forswear perhaps to get a half-penny and when by the studied and repeated Methods of a vile Condescention with other Shifts and Artifices peculiar to Tradesmen he shall get an Estate he is reckoned amongst the Topping-Men and may arrive possibly to the Dignity of Knighthood So likewise may we observe every where a great number of those whom they call shrew'd or Notable Men that is such as have a good long Reach in bargaining trucking and in managing other Mens Estates and Business who at length come to be celebrated Usurers and Purchasers of Fair Estates themselves These I say are accounted Capital Gentlemen and ought doubtless to be advanc'd to Civil Offices So that if a Man can by a Trick of Legerdemain Juggle an Estate out of the hands of an easie Gentleman he deserves to be taken notice of under Characters of great Respect it being usual with the Fox as 't is reported by his stinking Tricks to poyson out the Badger from his Hold which with much labour he had made and then Earth himself in the others Habitation I have heard of a Practitioner in the Law who tho he were not very eminent in the knowledge of it became exceeding rich by puzzling and entangling the Titles of his Clients and then buying their Estates And such truly is the Method of subtle Time-serving Knaves whilst many an honest poor Gentleman lies under fatal Necessities either from the Extravagances Number and Education of or Provisions for his Children or by the Incumbrances upon his Estate or by the heavy expence of a tedious vexatious and disastrous Suit at Law or perhaps he suffers purely for a good Conscience in his constant adherence to the Rights of his lawful but unfortunate Prince as we have seen too many Examples of this Nature within our own Memory Let us come now to the Poor who by the Laws of our Land are declared Poor and for whom they have made so good Provision especially in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth and particularly that Act for the Relief of the Poor by a Parish Rate or Assessment was a very charitable Design preventing the indigent and needy from wandring about the World expos'd to Misery and Famine the many other provisionary Acts likewise as of binding poor Children Apprentices of setting up Work-houses or Houses of Correction of punishing Vagabonds and the like were supplementally made to promote the General Design of relieving the Necessities of Human Nature But so it is that notwithstanding all these provisions the Necessities of the Poor are as great as ever and the Parishes themselves to which such Poor belong are at a more than ordinary Charge for want of a true Care and prudent Management of a Work of this Importance When any poor Persons or pretending to be Poor shall think of seeking Relief from a Parish away they Post him to the next Justice of the Peace who easily mov'd with their Importunities and Complaints or the intercession possibly of Friends too easily and frequently grants his Order to the Overseers of the Parish for the Relief of such a pretended poor Person without enquiring into Circumstances 'T were much more equitable if the Justice at such time as the Overseers bring their Books to them to be Signed would take their measures from the Parishioners or Officers themselves who certainly must be best acquainted with the Necessities and Course of Life of such as pretend to be in Want and by this Means many idle Bodies who have wasted their Fortunes and are still fit for labour would be made to work towards the support of themselves and Families I hold it likewise very expedient that in Corporations and Market Towns No Mercers Victualers Bakers cum aliis ejusdem furfuris be suffered to execute this Charge It being too well known that such Chapmen make their own Markets and Advantage thereby in obliging the Poor to take their Dues for the purpose in Bread or Ale at their pinching Measures whereas did they distribute their Alms in Money such poor Men or Women could manage and lay it out with more Frugality and Profit for such things as they should most stand in need of so that 6 d. or 8 d. will procure a Peck of Mault sometimes and be a Provision many days which when taken out in Ale will be consum'd easily at a sitting So likewise may we observe of Mercers and such petty Merchants that they will put of their worst Commodities whether Linnen Woollen or other little Necessaries and herewith furnish the Poor out of the Parish Stock and at such Rates as they think fit In which case the Poor