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do. In fhort, if you banish Modefty out of the world, fhe carries away with her half the virtue that is in it.

After these reflections on Modefty, as it is a virtue; I must observe, that there is a vicious Modesty, which justly deserves to be ridiculed, and which those persons very often difcover, who value themselves most upon a well-bred confidence. This happens when a man is afhamed to act up to his reafon, and would not upon any confideration be furprised in the practice of those duties, for the performance of which he was fent into the world. Many an impudent libertinê would blush to be caught in a serious difcourfe, and would scarce be able to fhew his head, after having disclosed a religious thought. Decency of behaviour, all outward fhew of virtue, and abhorrence of vice, are carefully avoided by this fet of fhame-faced people, as what would difparage their gaiety of temper, and infallibly bring them to dishonour. This is fuch a poornefs of fpirit, fuch a despicable cowardice, fuch a degenerate abject state of mind, as one would think human nature incapable of, did we not meet with frequent inftances of it in ordinary converfation.

There is another kind of vicious Modefty which makes a man afhamed of his perfon, his birth, his profeffion, his poverty, or the like misfortunes, which it was not in his choice to prevent, and is not in his power to rectify. If a man appears ridiculous by any of the aforementioned circumstances, he becomes much more fo by being out of countenance for them. They should rather give him occafion to exert a noble spirit, and to palliate thofe imperfections which are not in his power, by thofe perfections which are; or to use a very witty allufion of an eminent author, he should imitate Cæfar, who, because his head was bald, covered that defect with laurels.

By ADDISON, Chelsea.

C

+++ At Drury Lane, Nov. 26. "Sir Courtly Nice," or "It "cannot be." Sir Courtly, by Mr. Cibber; Surly, by Mr. Keene, Lord Belguard, by Mr. Mills; Hothead, by Mr. Pinkethman, fen. Teftimony, by Mr. Johnfon; Crack, by Mr. Pinkethman; Fare-" well, by Mr. Bullock, jun. Leonora, by Mrs Oldfield; Violante, by Mrs. Bicknell; and the Aunt, by Mrs. Powell. SPECT. in folio.

Monday,

N° 232 Monday, November 26, 1711.

Nibil largiundo gloriam adeptus eft.

"By bestowing nothing he acquired glory."

Μ'

Salluft.

Y wife and good friend, Sir Andrew Freeport, divides himself almoft equally between the town and the country. His time in town is given up to the public, and the management of his private fortune; and after every three or four days spent in this manner, he retires for as many to his feat within a few miles of the town, to the enjoyment of himself, his family, and his friend. Thus bufinefs and pleasure, or rather, in Sir Andrew, labour and reft, recommend each other. They take their turns with fo quick a viciffitude, that neither becomes a habit, or takes poffeffion of the whole man; nor is it poffible he should be furfeited with either. I often fee him at our club in good humour, and yet fometimes too with an air of care in his looks: but in his country retreat he is always unbent, and fuch a companion as I could defire; and therefore I feldom fail to make one with him when he is pleafed to invite me.

The other day, as foon as we were got into his chariot, two or three beggars on each fide hung upon the doors, and folicited our charity with the ufual rhetoric of a fick wife or husband at home, three or four helpless little children all ftarving with cold and hunger. We were forced to part with fome money to get rid of their importunity; and then we proceeded on our journey with the bleffings and acclamations of these people.

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Well then, fays Sir Andrew, we go off with the prayers and good wishes of the beggars, and perhaps too our healths will be drunk at the next ale-houfe: So all we shall be able to value ourfelves upon, is, that we have promoted the trade of the victualler and the excifes of the government. But how few ounces

' of

of wool do we fee upon the backs of thofe poor creatures? And when they fhall next fall in our way, they 'will hardly be better dreffed; they must always live in rags to look like objects of compaffion. If their families too are fuch as they are reprefented, 'tis cer'tain they cannot be better clothed, and must be a great deal worfe fed. One would think potatoes should be all their bread, and their drink the pure element; and then what goodly customers are the farmers like to have for their wool, corn and cattle? Such cuftomers, and fuch a confumption, cannot choose but advance the landed intereft, and hold up the rents of the gentlemen.

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But of all men living, we merchants who live by buying and felling, ought never to encourage beggars. The goods which we export are indeed the product of the lands, but much the greatest part of their value is the labour of the people: but how much of these peoples labour shall we export whilft we hire them to • fit ftill? The very alms they receive from us, are the wages of idleness. I have often thought that no man fhould be permitted to take relief from the parish, or to ask it in the ftreet, until he has first purchased as 'much as poffible of his own livelihood by the labour ' of his own hands; and then the public ought only to ⚫ be taxed to make good the deficiency. If this rule was ftrictly observed, we fhould fee every where fuch a multitude of new labourers, as would in all probability reduce the prices of all our manufactures. It is the very life of merchandise to buy cheap and fell dear. The merchant ought to make his out-fet as cheap as poffible, that he may find the greater profit upon his returns; and nothing will enable him to do this like the reduction of the price of labour upon all our manufactures. This too would be the ready way to increafe the number of our foreign markets. The abatement of the price of the manu facture would pay for the carriage of it to more diftant countries; and this confequence would be equally beneficial both to the landed and trading interefts. As fo great an addition of labouring hands would produce this happy confequence both to the merchant

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• and

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and the gentleman; our liberality to common beggars, and every other obftruction to the increase of labourers, muft be equally pernicious to both.'

Sir Andrew then went on to affirm, That the reduction of the prices of our manufactures by the addition of fo many new hands, would be no inconvenience to any man: But obferving I was fomething startled at the affertion, he made a fhort paufe, and then resumed the discourse. It may feem, fays he, a paradox, that the price of labour should be reduced without an abatement of wages, or that wages can be abated without any inconvenience to the labourer, and yet nothing ⚫ is more certain than that both these things may happen. The wages of the labourers make the greatest · part of the price of every thing that is useful; and if in proportion with the wages the prices of all other things fhould be abated, every labourer with lefs wages would still be able to purchafe as many necef'faries of life; where then would be the inconvenience? But the price of labour may be reduced by the addition of more hands to a manufacture, and yet the wages of perfons remain as high as ever. The admirable Sir William Petty has given examples ⚫ of this in some of his writings: One of them, as I remember, is that of a watch, which I fhall endeavour to explain fo as fhall fuit my prefent purpose. It is certain that a single watch could not be made fo cheap in proportion by one only man, as a hundred watches by a hundred; for as there is vast variety in the work, no one perfon could equally fuit himself to all the parts of it; the manufacture would be tedious, ⚫ and at last but clumfily performed. But if a hundred ⚫ watches were to be made by a hundred men, the cafes may be affigned to one, the dials to another, the wheels to another, the fprings to another, and every other part to a proper artist; as there would be no need of perplexing any one perfon with too much variety, every one would be able to perform his fingle part with greater skill and expedition; and the hundred ⚫ watches would be finished in one fourth part of the time of the first one, and every one of them at one fourth part of the coft, tho' the wages of every man

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were equal. The reduction of the price of the manu'facture would increase the demand of it, all the fame

hands would be ftill employed and as well paid. The • fame rule will hold in the clothing, the shipping, and ⚫ all other trades whatsoever. And thus an addition of hands to our manufactures will only reduce the price ⚫ of them; the labourer will ftill have as much wages, and will confequently be enabled to purchase more • conveniencies of life; fo that every intereft in the 'nation would receive a benefit from the increase of our working people.

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• Befides I fee no occafion for this charity to common beggars, fince every beggar is an inhabitant of a parish, and every parish is taxed. to the maintenance of their own poor. For my own part, I cannot be mightily pleased with the laws which have done this, which have provided better to feed than employ the poor. We have a tradition from our forefathers, that after the first of thofe laws was made, they were infulted with that famous fong;

"Hang forrow, and caft away care,
"The parish is bound to find us, &c.

And if we will be fo good-natured as to maintain them without work, they can do no lefs in return than fing us THE MERRY BEGGARS.

What then? Am I against all acts of Charity? • God forbid! I know of no virtue in the Gofpel that is in more pathetic expreffions recommended to our practice. I was hungry and ye gave me no meat, "thirsty and ye gave me no drink, naked and ye clothed

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me not, a ftranger and ye took me not in, fick and "in prison and ye vifited me not." Our Bleffed Sa⚫viour treats the exercife or neglect of Charity towards a poor man, as the performance or breach of this duty towards himself. I fhall endeavour to obey the will of my lord and mafter: and therefore if an induftrious man fhall fubmit to the hardest labour and coarseft fare, rather than endure the fhame of taking relief from the parish, or asking it in the street, this is the hungry, the thirsty, the naked; and I ought to • believe

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