Of wisdom three books / written originally in French by the Sieur de Charron ; with an account of the author, made English by George Stanhope ...

CHAP. LXII. Of Riches and Poverty.

THese are the two Foundations and Beginnings, the Root and Source of all the Troubles and Calamities, the Disorders and Disturbances, that confound, and put the World out of Course: For excess of Plenty and Riches exalts and puffs up the Possessors, renders them haughty and insolent, swells them with Pride and Disdain, prompts them to, Luxury and Extravagance, to Sensuality and all manner of unlawful Pleasures; encourages them to use their Inferiours contemptuously, and to insult over their Wants and their Miseries; makes them bold and daring, and in con••idence of their Power, puts them upon seditious and dangerous Attempts. The extreme Poverty of Others subdues and dejects their Spirits, poysons them with Envy and restless Jea∣lousie, with Indignation and Spight, Discontent and Despair; and, since Matters, they think, cannot be worse, provokes them to try their Fortunes, and make a desperate Push, in hopes they may be bet∣ter. Plato calls the Poor the Bane and Fl••gne of a Commonwealth. So that both these sorts of Men are very dangerous; but whether of the Two is more so, Considering People have not agreed. Aristotle is of Opinion, that Abundance is more formidable to the Publick, than Want; for the State hath not much to fear from Them who desire no more than a bare Subsistence; but it hath reason to be jealous of Those, whose Wealth makes them Ambitious and Aspiring; and whose Interest and Authority,

upon the account of that Wealth, gives them Power and Opportunities to be very troublesome. Plato thinks Poverty the worse; for when Poor People are grown desperate, they are furious and terrible Creatures; when they are irritated and enrag'd with want of Bread, and cannot live upon their Work; when Trading is dead, and they are overburden'd with Taxe; then Necessity, (which is a great Mistress, and finds her Scholars very apt) teaches them That, which they would never have ventur'd upon in better and more easie Circumstances; and this makes them bold as Lions: For tho' each of them single can do little or no hurt, yet their Num∣bers are always great, and these give them Confidence. But whatever the Disease be, 'tis certain the Remedy is more ready at hand, and the Cure easier, for the Poor than for the Rich; this Mischief is quickly re∣strain'd, and may be timely prevented. For so long as they have Necessaries, so long as they can carry on their Trades, and maintain their Families by them, they are generally contented. And therefore it highly concerns all Governours to preserve and encourage Trade, because in so doing they are sure to keep good Order among the laborious, and hardy, and most ne∣cessitous; which to be sure are generally the most nu∣merous part of their Subjects. In the mean while, we may observe this very remarkable Difference between them, that the Rich have the Temptation within Themselves, and are formidable upon the account of their own Personal Vices, and the Circumstances they are in; but the Poor are not so from Themselves, nor their Condition, but if ever They min••ster just cause of Fear, it is commonly thro' the Indiscretion or the Cruelty of their Governours, who suffer them to be driven to the last Extremities; and when these pinch hard, and are no longer supportable, they are provok'd to play a desperate Game in their own Defence.

[unspec 2] Now several Lawgivers, and eminent Politicians have apply'd their Minds to contrive proper Methods for the keeping off, and securing the States they for∣med,

or presided over, from the Inconveniences atten∣ding each of these Extremes; and such as so vast a Disproportion of Estates and Fortunes will naturally expose the Publick to. They have been therefore de∣sirous to bring all nearer to a Level, to reduce the one, and raise the other; so that there should be a kind of universal Mediocrity, and pretty near an equal Scant∣ling: When Things stood upon this Foot, they pro∣mised Themselves a sure Foundation of Peace and A∣mity, and good Correspondence, by removing all the Grounds of Contempt on the one hand, and of En∣vy and Jealousie on the other, quite out of the way. Others have stretched this Project yet further; they are for introducing a common Stock, and leaving no peculiar Rights or Properties at all. But this is im∣practicable, and fantastical, and never can exist long any where, but in Men's own Brains and Imaginati∣ons. Nor is that other Design of Equality any more practicable, or indeed at all possible. For tho' Men's Income be alike, yet their Expences and Occasions will be far from being so. These may vary upon a Thousand Accidents; but it is enough that every body is able to see and instance in one, which is perfectly unanswerable; and that is the Number of Children, which we all know neither do, nor ever can increase in every Family alike. And therefore it must needs be insufficient, and the Design lost, where the Ne∣cessities are not, nor ever can be equal. All the At∣tempts that have been at any time made toward the putting in practice this Levelling Principle, have scarce ever been able to set it on Foot: It costs more than the Thing is worth to come to it; and if Men could arrive at it, yet it is highly inexpedient, and not at all to their Purpose. The End they aim at is never thus to be compassed; for after all, this is at last but to open another Door, and let the very Mischief in the back way, which we take so much Pains to keep out. For if Hatred and Contention be the Evils we are afraid of, where do we find These more frequent

and fierce than between Equals? How can we indeed reasonably expect it otherwise, where Men think Themselves a Match for one another, where there is no Distance or Respect to Temper, no Fear to curb and bind them to the Peace and their good Behaviour? If Envy and Jealousies arise against Superiours, so do they likewise among Equals; and this latter sort is the Seed of Disturbances and Confusions, Seditions and Civil Wars. Some Disproportion therefore is ab∣solutely necessary, but such as is moderate, and may keep the Balance even and steady. Order is like Har∣mony; if all Sounds wee the same, there could be no Musick; but yet it is necessary these different Notes should agree in general Cords, and retain some Proportion to make the Composition regular and sweet. But a perfect Level is like a continu'd Uni∣son; and nothing is more flat,* 1.1 nothing more unequal than an exact Equality.

[unspec 3] This so very great Disparity of Estates and Possessions prceeds from several very different Causes; but more especially from Two. The One is unjust Borrow∣ings, and hard Loans; when Men are forced and content to take up Money at any rate, and submit to all the unconscionable Interests that Griping Usurers put upon them; by which means those Unjust Cre∣ditors eat into their Estates, gnaw out their very Heart and Bowels, and by degrees swallow all, and so grow fat upon the Substance of other People. To such as These may that Complaint of the Psalmist not improperly be apply'd,* 1.2 They eat up my People as they would eat Bread. The Other is by Disposals of Estates, and that either by Men during their own Life-time, in A∣lienations, Dowries, and Portioning of Children when they Marry, or set up in the World; or else by last Will, and Bequest at the time of their Death. By all which Means, and by the Frugality and good Ma∣nagement of some, and the extravagant Profuseness

of Others, it comes to pass, that some Men's Fortunes are prodigiously increased, and others sunk and crum∣bled into nothing. A Prodigal Heir makes all fly, and his Posterity continue poor after him: A great Fortune marries with a vast Estate; and here one Heap is pil'd upon another: A rich Heiress carries off the Estate and Paternal Seat, incorporates it into another House, and so the Wealth and Name of her own Fa∣mily is either dreadfully maim'd and enfeebl'd, or cut off and quite extinct at once. These are plain and obvious Reasons, why some Men gain such mighty Advantages over Others; and shew us how some Fa∣milies are reduced to nothing, and others again flou∣rish as much, and are wonderfully strengthen'd and exalted. Now all these things should be taken into Consideration, and other Measures taken to regulate and reform the Mischiefs that grow from them. For tho' a perfect Equality be impracticable, yet a con∣venient Moderation is not: And if all be not Even, yet there is no necessity that all should be in Extremes; we may, and it is reasonable we should bring Matters nearer together, and make some tolerable Approaches towards such a Mediocrity as is reasonable. Such an one as is reasonable, I say; for an entire and tho∣rough one is neither reasonable, nor expedient, nor honest. This may be effected in some good Degree by private Persons, in the management and dispo∣sal of their Own Affairs: And it may be advanc'd higher by the wholsom Constitutions and Counsels of Those in a publick Capacity: And both are con∣cerned to have Regard to it. But of this we shall have some occasion to speak more at large, when the Virtue of Justice comes to be treated of.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Nihil est aequalitate inaequalius.
• * 1.2

  Psal. liii. 5