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ty, who does not, in the strongest Terms, condemn an avaricious penurious Temper, as a Contradiction to every thing that is noble, generous, wife, and good, in human Nature. Had Cutler and Hopkins lived among Heathens and Barbarians, they would have been despised and condemned, by Men of Sense and Virtue, as a Difgrace to human Nature, and a Reproach to Reason and common Senfe. Contempt of Riches has, in all Ages and Nations, been regarded, by the truly great and noble, as the infallible Mark of agreat and noble Soul, and was the distinguishing Character of all the illuftrious Heroes and eminent Philofophers of ancient Greece and Rome. Seneca is mentioned, by fome, as an Exception from this general Rule; but, whatever his Practice might be, his Principles and Precepts were different; and what Wonder is it to fee a Heathen contradicting his Principles in his Practice, when we daily fee Chriftians do the fame. Riches are then only a Bleffing, and their Poffeffion honourable, when they fall into generous Hands, and are employed to generous and honourable Purposes; in doing good, and making others happy, in supporting the Diftreffed and Miserable, and encouraging and rewarding indigent Merit. But when I fee a Man, without one useful or amiable Quality, exalted above measure on account of his great Riches, without confidering how they were acquired, and how they are employed, who fancies that any thing external to a Man, any thing that may be common to either good. or bad, and which is too commonly the Lot of the moft worthlefs Part of Mankind, can render a Man truly valuable or honourable, he must be a very filly Creature, without any Pretenfions to Greatness or Sound

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nefs of Mind, to true Honour, or good Understanding. A rich Knave or Fool differs in nothing from a poor one, but in the Aggravation of his Guilt, or the Oftentation of his Folly. Would you fee a compendious and beautiful View of all that Wit and Reason can dictate upon this Subject?-You will find it in Mr. Pope's excellent Effay upon the true Ufe of Riches,

LETTER V.

NOR have the Proud and the Ambitious a better Title to Honour and true Greatness of Mind, than the Selfish, the Penurious, and Voluptuous; though, as Salluft long ago obferved, * Ambition has a nearer Refemblance of Virtue than Covetousness, as it has the Appearance of a just and laudable Appetite for Power and Fame, which even wife and good Men are fond of; but Covetousness is a stupid Love of Money, which no Man of Sense or Virtue could ever be guilty of coveting. But whatever Similitude there may seem to be betwixt Pride and Honour, Ambition and true Greatnefs of Mind, they are as far asunder as the Swelling of a Dropfy, from a full and robuft Habit of Body. That the Root of Pride is Folly, that Ignorance is the Mother of Vanity, I fhall endeavour to prove, and whether Ignorance and Folly be confiftent

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Quod tamen vitium propius virtutem erat, nam gloriam, honorem, imperium, bonus & ignavus æquè fibi exoptant: Avaritia pecuniæ ftudium habet, quam nemo fapiens concupivit. Sall.

with true Honour and Greatness of Mind, let the fillieft Reader judge.

Whatever Turn the Folly may chance to take, in whatever Form or Colour it may appear, it is the fame empty Bubble, diverfified by fome accidental Circumftance of Pofition, or the Medium through which it appears. Pride, in every Shape, is but Folly in a different Drefs. It appears in the most ridiculous Light, when it grows out of the external and accidental Advantages of Birth and Fortune, in which, as we could have no Share, fo, by Confequence, we could have no Merit. The Man that exalts himself above measure upon the Antiquity and Nobility of his Family, without thofe ufeful and amiable Qualities, which alone can make Men valuable and honourable, difcovers as great a Defect of Sense, as of true Honour, or Greatness of Mind.

It is certain that the virtuous Defcendants of virtu ous and honourable Ancestors, who not only fupport, but improve and increase, the original Fund of Family Merit, by a Train of correspondent Actions, ftand upon the highest Ground, are placed in the most advantageous Light, and have fairer Opportunities of exerting a juft and decent Superiority, than those, though of equal Merit, who want thofe Diftinctions, and are intitled to all that Efteem and Respect which will ever be paid, by Men of Senfe and Virtue, to thofe, who, in Shakespear's Phrafe, bear their Honours meekly. But if a worthless Wretch grows vain and infolent upon the Merit of his Ancestors, and demands Refpect and Submiffion from wifer and better Men than himself, purely on account of an empty Title, or a fuperior Eftate, the Demand is ridiculous and unreafonable,

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unreasonable, being grounded on no Pretenfions, or Shadow of Merit. A Man of fuperior Knowledge, Strength, or Fortune, which he employs upon all Occafions for the Good and Benefit of others, has a Right to the Efteem and Gratitude of those who receive Protection, Advice, Comfort, or Pleasure from the Communication of his Excellencies; but no Man has any real Merit, or Claim of Refpect, from others, because his Ancestors were great and good Men, whilft he himself wears their honourable Diftinctions to his own Shame. A pompous Title and glaring Equipage may attract the Attention and Reverence of the undiscerning Vulgar, whilst nothing but real Merit, an open, fincere, and generous Heart, can have any Kind of Pretenfion to the Efteem and Affection of the Wife and the Good. A great Soul lies very often concealed under mean Appearances, and many a sad Wretch has glittered with all the external Badges of Honour, who, in a virtuous Age and Nation, would have been thought a Difgrace to the Pillory.

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To fet this Matter in a clearer Light, let us examine a little into the Ground and Foundation of this Family Merit, and fee whether it will be fufficient to fupport that grand Superftructure that human Vanity generally raifes upon it. If the Honour of Families confifts in being able to trace back their Pedigrees to distant Ages, till they lose themselves in the Darkness and Obscurity of an unknown Antiquity, we are all equally honourable in this respect, being all defcended from an Original equally antient, the fame common Father of Mankind; but if it confifts in having our Ancestors diftinguished by honourable Offices, Titles, Pofts, and Badges of Honour, and great Estates, this requires

requires other previous Confiderations in order to settle their Merit upon a juft and folid Foundation. Let it be seriously enquired how these Estates were acquired; how thefe Titles and Honours were obtained. When when we see a vain Man, puffed up with an Opinion of his fuperior Wealth, we naturally turn our Thoughts upon the Methods by which it was raised, and the Uses that are made of it. If it were raised by virtuous and honourable Means, by God's special Bleffing upon the Industry, the Frugality, the Courage, the Knowledge, the Integrity, and the Piety of their virtuous Ancestors, there is a folid Ground of inward Satisfaction, if not of Glory; and if it be employed to fuch, and fuch only, Purposes as Reafon and Religion direct; to Acts of Generosity, Hospitality, and Charity, the Owner of fuch a Fortune has double Reason to rejoice in his Portion, and to expect the Reverence and Affection of those who receive Comfort and Affiftance from the Overflowings of his Profperity: But if, on the other hand, the boasted Fortune were founded in Sacrilege or Blood, Rapine or Fraud, Oppreffion or Vice, private or public Plunder, the Original is corrupt, the Title is criminal, and the Tenure difhonourable; it is (as the Phyficians fay) an Error in the firft Concoction, which can never be rectified in the second; what is unjustly got, is as unjustly detained; whatever is, in its own Nature, wrong, can never, by any Length of Time or Prefcription, be made right; and the Iniquity and Difhonour that cleave to an unjuft Poffeffion can never be done away; though, in the Opinion of the World, they may, by Length of Time, be diminished, or intirely forgotten. So as to Titles, if they were really

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