NUMB. 166. SATURDAY, October 19, 1751.

Pauper eris femper, fi pauper es, Æmiliane,

Dantur opes nullis nunc nifi divitibus.

Once poor, my friend, ftill poor you must remain,
The rich alone have all the means of gain.

MART.

EDW. CAVE.

No complaint has been more frequently re

peated in all ages than that of the neglect of merit affociated with poverty, and the difficulty with which valuable or pleafing qualities force themfelves into view, when they are obfcured by indigence. It has been long obferved, that native beauty has little power to charm without the ornaments which fortune beftows, and that to want the favour of others is often fufficient to hinder us from obtaining it.

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Every day discovers that mankind are not yet convinced of their error, or that their conviction is without power to influence their conduct; for poverty ftill continues to produce contempt, and still obftructs the claims of kindred and of virtue. eye of wealth is elevated towards higher stations, and feldom defcends to examine the actions of thofe who are placed below the level of its notice, and who in diftant regions and lower fituations are struggling with distress, or toiling for bread. Among the multitudes overwhelmed with infuperable calamity, it is common to find those whom a very little

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N° 166. affiftance would enable to fupport themfelves with decency, and who yet cannot obtain from near relations what they fee hourly lavished in oftentation, luxury, or frolick.

There are natural reafons why poverty does not cafily conciliate affection. He that has been confined from his infancy to the converfation of the lowest claffes of mankind, muft neceffarily want thofe accomplishments which are the ufual means of attracting favour; and though truth, fortitude, and probity, give an indifputable right to reverence and kindness, they will not be diftinguished by common eyes, unless they are brightened by elegance of man-, ners, but are cast afide like unpolished gems, of which none but the artist knows the intrinfick value, till their afperities are fmoothed and their incrustations rubbed away.

The groffness of vulgar habits obstructs the efficacy of virtue, as impurity and harshness of style impair the force of reafon, and rugged numbers turn off the mind from artifice of difpofition, and fertility of invention. Few have ftrength of reason to over-rule the perceptions of fenfe; and yet fewer have curiofity or benevolence to struggle long against the first impreffion: he therefore who fails to please in his falutation and addrefs, is at once rejected, and never obtains an opportunity of showing his latent excellencies, or effential qualities.

It is indeed not eafy to prefcribe a fuccefsful manner of approach to the diftreffed or neceffitous, whose condition fubjects every kind of behaviour equally to mifcarriage. He whofe confidence of merit incites him to meet without any apparent fenfe of inferiority,

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the eyes of those who flattered themselves with their own dignity, is confidered as an infolent leveller, impatient of the juft prerogatives of rank and wealth, eager to ufurp the station to which he has no right, and to confound the fubordinations of fociety; and who would contribute to the exaltation of that fpirit which even want and calamity are not able to restrain from rudeness and rebellion.

But no better fuccefs will commonly be found to attend fervility and dejection, which often give pride the confidence to treat them with contempt. A requeft made with diffidence and timidity is easily denied, because the petitioner himself feems to doubt its fitness.

Kindness is generally reciprocal; we are defirous of pleasing others, because we receive pleasure from them; but by what means can the man pleafe, whose attention is engroffed by his diftreffes, and who has no leisure to be officious; whofe will is reftrained by his neceffities, and who has no power to confer benefits; whofe temper is perhaps vitiated by misery, and whofe understanding is impeded by ignorance?

It is yet a more offenfive difcouragement, that the fame actions performed by different hands produce different effects, and instead of rating the man by his performances, we rate too frequently the performance by the man. It fometimes happens in the combinations of life, that important fervices are performed by inferiors; but though their zeal and activity may be paid by pecuniary rewards, they feldom excite that flow of gratitude, or obtain that accumulation of recompence, with which all think it their duty to acknowledge the favour of those who de

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fcend to their affiftance from a higher elevation. To be obliged, is to be in some respect inferior to another; and few willingly indulge the memory of an action which raises one whom they have always been accustomed to think below them, but fatisfy themfelves with faint praise and penurious payment, and then drive it from their own minds, and endeavour to conceal it from the knowledge of others.

It may be always objected to the fervices of those who can be fuppofed to want a reward, that they were produced not by kindness but intereft; they are therefore, when they are no longer wanted, eafily difregarded as arts of infinuation, or ftratagems of felfishness. Benefits which are received as gifts from wealth, are exacted as debts from indigence; and he that in a high ftation is celebrated for fuperfluous goodness, would in a meaner condition have barely been confeffed to have done his duty.

It is fcarcely poffible for the utmost benevolence to oblige, when exerted under the difadvantages of great inferiority; for by the habitual arrogance of wealth, fuch expectations are commonly formed as no zeal or industry can fatisfy; and what regard can he hope, who has done lefs than was demanded from him?

There are indeed kindneffes conferred which were never purchased by precedent favours, and there is an affection not arifing from gratitude or grofs interest, by which fimilar natures are attracted to each other, without prospect of any other advantage than the pleasure of exchanging fentiments, and the hope of confirming their esteem of themselves by the approbation of each other. But this fpontaneous fond

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ness seldom rifes at the fight of poverty, which every one regards with habitual contempt, and of which the applause is no more courted by vanity, than the countenance is folicited by ambition. The most generous and difinterested friendship must be refolved at laft into the love of ourselves; he therefore whofe reputation or dignity inclines us to confider his esteem as a teftimonial of defert, will always find our hearts open to his endearments. We every day see men of eminence followed with all the obfequioufnefs of dependance, and courted with all the blandishments of flattery, by thofe who want nothing. from them but profeffions of regard, and who think themselves liberally rewarded by a bow, a fimile, or an embrace.

But those prejudices which every mind feels more or less in favour of riches, ought, like other opinions which only custom and example have impreffed upon us, to be in time fubjected to reafon. We must learn how to separate the real character from extraneous adhesions and cafual circumftances, to confider closely him whom we are about to adopt or to reject; to regard his inclinations as well as his actions; to trace out thofe virtues which lie torpid in the heart for want of opportunity, and thofe vices that lurk unseen by the abfence of temptation; that when we find worth faintly fhooting in the fhades of obfcurity, we may let in light and funshine upon it, and ripen barren volition into efficacy and power.