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MADAM,
YOu were pleased in your last Letter to tell me, that you had been in the Country, and that you did almost Envy the Peasants for living so Merrily; it is a sign, Madam, they live Hap∣pily, for Mirth seldom dwells with Troubles and Discontents, neither doth Riches nor Gran∣deur live so Easily, as that Unconcerned Free∣dom
that is in Low and Mean Fortunes and Persons, for the Ceremony of Grandeur is Constrain'd and bound with Forms and Rules, and a great Estate and high Fortune is not so easily manag'd as a Less, a Little is easily order'd, where Much doth require Time, Care, Wis∣dom and Study as Considerations; but Poor, Mean Peasants that live by their Labour, are for the most part Happier and Pleasanter than great Rich Persons, that live in Luxury and Idleness, for Idle Time is Tedious, and Luxu∣ry is Unwholsom, whereas Labour is Healthful and Recreative, and surely Country Huswives take more Pleasure in Milking their Cows, ma∣king their Butter and Cheese, and feeding their Poultry, than great Ladies do in Painting, Curl∣ing, and Adorning themselves, also they have more Quiet & Peaceable Minds and Thoughts, for they never, or seldom, look in a Glass to view their Faces, they regard not their Com∣plexions, nor observe their Decayes, they Defie Time's Ruins of their Beauties, they are not Pee∣vish and Froward if they look not as Well one day as another, a Pimple or Spot in their Skin Tortures not their Minds, they fear not the Sun's Heat, but Out-face the Sun's Power, they break not their Sleeps to think of Fashions, but Work Hard to Sleep Soundly, they lie not in Sweats to clear their Complexions, but rise to Sweat to get them Food, their Appetites are not Queazie with Surfeits, but Sharp'ned with Fast∣ing, they relish with more Savour their Ordi∣nary
Course Fare, than those who are Pam∣per'd do their Delicious Rarities; and for their Mirth and Pastimes, they take more Delight and true Pleasure, and are more In∣wardly Pleased and Outwardly Merry at their Wakes, than the great Ladies at their Balls, and though they Dance not with such Art and Measure, yet they Dance with more Pleasure and Delight, they cast not Envious, Spiteful Eyes at each other, but meet Friend∣ly and Lovingly. But great Ladies at Pub∣lick Meetings take not such true Pleasures, for their Envy at each others Beauty and Bravery Disturbs their Pastimes, and Ob∣structs their Mirth, they rather grow Pee∣vish and Froward through Envy, than Lo∣ving and Kind through Society, so that where∣as the Countrey Peasants meet with such Kind Hearts and Unconcerned Freedom as they Unite in Friendly Jollity, and Depart with Neighbourly Love, the Greater sort of Persons meet with Constrain'd Ceremony, Converse with Formality, and for the most part Depart with Enmity; and this is not onely amongst Women, but amongst Men, for there is amongst the Better sort a greater Strife for Bravery than for Courtesie, for Place than Friendship, and in their Societies there is more Vain-glory than Pleasure, more Pride than Mirth, and more Vanity than true Content; yet in one thing the Better Sort of Men, as the Nobles and Gentry, are to be Com∣mended,
which is, that though they are oftener Drunken and more Debauch'd than Peasants, having more Means to maintain their Debau∣cheries, yet at such times as at great Assemblies, they keep themselves more Sober and Tempe∣rate than Peasants do, which are for the most part Drunk at their Departing; But to Judg be∣tween the Peasantry and Nobles for Happiness, I believe where there's One Noble that is truly Happy, there are a Hundred Peasants; not that there be More Peasants than Nobles, but that they are More Happy, number for number, as having not the Envy, Ambition, Pride, Vain-glory, to Cross, Trouble, Vex them, as Nobles have; when I say Nobles, I mean those that have been Ennobled by Time as well as Title, as the Gentry. But, Madam, I am not a fit Judg for the several Sorts or Degrees, or Courses of Lives, or Actions of Mankind, as to Judg which is Hap∣piest, for Happiness lives not in Outward Shew or Concourse, but Inwardly in the Mind, and the Minds of Men are too Obscure to be Known, and too Various and Inconstant to Fix a Belief in them, and since we cannot Know our Selves, how should we know Others? Besides, Pleasure and true Delight lives in every ones own Delectation; but let me tell you, my Dele∣ctation is, to prove my self,
Madam,
Your faithful Fr. and S.