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Show 33~ 1668. v-y-.,.., Chap. XI. f,xek. 18. No CROSS, No CROWN. .VoL. I. §. 11. That People are generally Proud of tiJeir P~~rfo.n s, is too vifib!c and troublefome ~ efpecially if they ha\'e any Pretence en.hcr to Blood or Beaut : The one has raifed many ff<._lltlrrdr. amoug Men , and .rh e. ot~er y Women and Men roo often for chelr Sakes, and at thea Exc1rc· :n~~~t But ro' the firft : What a P?ther has this Noble Blood made in the W ld Anti uity of Name or F11mr!y, whofe Father or .ltlotber, Great Gr~~d~Fatbe!, or Great Gr11nd-Motber, was heft Defcntded or Allyed? W~at Stock, or what Clan, they came of) Whlt _Coat of Ar~s they ga~~? Wlllch h d f Ri{' ht the Precedence? But methmks, nothmg of Mans Folly has l:rs'sbew ~ R.eafon to palliate it. . § UJ fi {1 What Matter is it of whom any one IS Dc.fccntld, that ls n~t 0£ nt:Far:e; fince 'tis his own Jfirtue that mufi R.ai~e. or .Vice deprefs him) An Ancefior's Char:1!ter is no Excufe to a Man s r/1 A[/ tansy but. an A r~vation of his Degeneracy: And fince Virt11e comes not by Gcner,zt zort7 1 gg. h ram the better nor the worfe for my Fore-Farber : To be fure, not in"G~d~s Account; nor fhould it be in Man's. No B~dy would endure In'"' uries the eafier or rejea Favours the more, for commg by the Hand of a Lan well or m'Defcended. I confefs, it were greater Hon<?ur to haye had no Blou, and with an Hereditary Eftate, to ~ave had a Lzneal Dcf~rn~ .or TV. rrb. But that was never found, no, not m the Moll Ble./Jed of . lmll!hu 1,;n Earth, I mean Jibrabmn's. To be J?efcended of Wealth and !t_tles, tills no Man's Head with Brains, or He~rt wah Trurb: Thofe Q.ualmes c~me from an higher Caufe. 'Tis Vanny then, ~nd moft Condemna~Le ~nde, for a Man of Bulk and Charaaer, to defp1fe another of Left Si.;;c In the World, and of Meaner .Alliance for want of them~ becaure _the Iauer tnay have the .iHerit, where the former has only the E.ffellt of a 1n an Ancef!or: And thoue.h the one be Great, by Means of ~ F~re-Father; the other IS fo too, but ..,.tis by his own: Then, pray, whtch IS the Bravejl . ll:lan of the Two) § iv 0 fays the Perfon prouJ of Blood, It wm never good Wo,.IJ, jinct we i10ve. bad Jo many_ Vpftart Gentlemen! But what fhould others h:~.ve faid of that Man's ilnci}lor when he ftarted firft up into the Knowledge oj the World? For he, and aiUHen and Fa~iliu,, ay, a~d ~11 Statt.r .a~d J!ingd~mt too, have had their Up.f1artt, that 1s, the1r Beg_mmngt. Th1s IS hke hemg the True Church hecauie 0/J, not becaufe Good; for Familtes to be Noble, by being Old, a~d not by being Virtuo11.r. No fu~h M:mer : It muit be .Age ln Virtue, or elfe Virtue before .Age; for otherw1fe a Man !hould be Nohle by the Means of his Predece!for, and yet the PredeceJfor lefs. Noble than He bccaufe He w:J.s the Acquirer ~ Which is a Paradox that wlll puzzle :tll th~ir Heraldry to expbin •. Str~n6~! that they f'houl~ be ~ore Noble tha.n their Ancefior, thlt got rhe1r lwb!l11y for them ! But 1f till~ be abfurd, as IC is, then the Upflart is the No~le filan ; the Man that. got It b~ h_Is Vjrtue: .And thofe are only intit.led to hts H.onour, that are l~1tarors at h1s Vutue; the rcft may bear his ]fame from hiS Blood, but that IS an,.. If Vir rue then give Nobility, which Heat!Jtns themfetves a.gree, then Famdus are no longer Truly Noble, thln they are Virruo11.r. A.nd tf Virtue go no~ by Blood, bu: by the ff!...ualijicntions of rhe Defcendentr, 1t follows, Bkod IS excluded: EUe Blood would b:1rr Virtue; and no Man that wanted the one, 1hould he al· lowed the Benefit of the dtber: Which were to fiint and bound i\'obility for want of Antiquity, and make Virtue ufe/e.f$. No let Blood and Ndmt go together; but pray let Xobility and Virtue keep Company, for they are nearejl of Kin. 'Tis thus pofited by God himfetf, that belt knows how to Apportion Things with an Equal and ]ufi Hand. He neither likes nor difiikes by Dcfcent ; not docs he rcg.:uj what .People were, but are. He remembers not the RigbteoJJfnefS of any M:to that leaves his RigbteoJJfnefS ; mucb left any Vnrigbteortt .ill an fur t be Bigbt~ oufneft of bit.Anct flor. . §. V. Hut if thefe .illen of Blood pleafc to thlnk themfel\'eS concerned t.o Believe.an~ Reverence God in His Holy Sc.R£t~res, they may Ie.un, Tbutrn the Begznmng, lie made of One Blood, alL ttlrons of .iUrn, :o dzrr!J upon1b~ VoJ.. I. No CROSS1 No CROWN. tbt Face of the Eart~; an.d,, that 'lve all Dcfccndcd of One Farber and .itl'oiber. A more certam Ortgmal th:m the belt of us can aflign. From rhence go down to NoMb,, who was the Sccon_,d Planter of Humane Race, and wt: are upon X>me. Cerramty for our Fore-1'(/tbtrt. W~ . .:tt Violence has r:~.p'd, or Vutue meuted fince, and how far we thlt are alive are concerned in either will be hard for us t? dete~mine but a ' 'cry few Ages olf us. ' §. VI. But, methmks, It fhou1d fi1ffice to fay, Our owri Eyes fee that Men of Blood, out of their Gur and Trappings, Wirhour their }i:arbers :tnd Finery, ~a~e n~ more. Marks of Honour by Nature ibmp'd upoh l:h'em, than their mfenor Ne1ghbours. Nay, themfelves heing Judges rhey will frankly tell us, They fetl all thofc Paflions in their Blood thar :nake th em like other Men, if not farther from the Virtue that trulY dignifies. The lamentable Ignorance and f?ehaHcbery that no~ r:tges among roo m:t ny of our Greater Sort of Folks, ts too clear and cathng an E'·idence in the Point : And pray tell me,_ Of what Blood are they come) • §. VII. How.bett, when I have f:~id all this, I intend not, by Dcbajing one Falfe Quality, to make lnfolent another that iS nor true. I would not be though~ to fet the C~url upon the prefent Gentleman's Shoulder ; hy no Means: Hts Rudenefs wlll nor mend rhe Matter. But what I have "-'rir is to .give Aim to all, w~ere True Nobility dwells, that every ohe may ar;l r t! at a by the Ways of Vutue and Goodnefs. But for all this, I mufi allow a great Advantage to the Gentleman; and therefore prefer his Station, juft as the Ap~ft~e Pau{. Who,. afrer he had humbled the JcniJ', that infUlred upon the Chri}1tans wuh the1r Law and Ritc.r, g:~.ve them the Ad\'anrage upon all other Nations in Stat'!tet and ]t~dgmcmt. I mult gr.:mr, that the Conditi..; on of o~r Great Men IS much robe preferr'd to the R:~.nks of Inferior People. For, Ftrfl, ~hey ~~ve more Power to do Good : And, if their Hearts be equal to thetr Abtlay, they are B1eflin~s to the People of any Coumrv. S~condly, .The Eyes of the People are ufually direaed ~o them; and if thCy w1ll be Kmd, Juft, and Helpful, they fhall haYe their AfFeE\:ions and Services. Thirdly, They are not under equal Straits with the inferior Son . and. confequcntly they have. more Help, Leifure, and Occafion, to poJWi theu Paffions _and Tempers wuh Boo~s and Converf:ttion. FoJtrtb!y, Thef h~ve more Ttme .to obferve the Aa10ns of other Nations; ro travel and \'Iew the L~ws, Cultorns a~d lnrercfts of other Countries, and bring Home whatfoever IS Wort by or 11111tahle. And fo an eafier '¥ay is oren for Gre:J.t Men to get Honour; and fuch as love True Reputation wil embrace the' ~eft Me~ns to i.t. But becaufe it too often happens, that Great Men do: ltttle rnm_d to g1~e God the Glory of their Profperity, and to live anfWcr.: able t.o hts Mere1cs; but on t.he comr.ary, live witbout Go:/ in the World, futfilh~g t~e .Lufls thereof, h.1s Hand ts often feen, either in i111povuijhing <lt Extmguijhmg rhem. and rading up Men of more Virtue and. Humiliry to th~ir Eflates and Dignity. However, I muft allow, that among People of thlS Rank, there have been fame ofrhem of more than ordinary Virtue whofe Examples have given Light to their Families. And it has beenfOme: thin$ Natur~l for fome.of their l?cfcendeots, t~ endea~ou~ to keep up rht! Credrt of the1r Houfu, m Propor11on to the Jl1ent of rlmr }omtder. And ro fay true, i~ there be any Advantage in fuch Defcent, 'tis not from Blood but Educatton: For Blood has no Intelligence in it and is often Spiirio11: and Uncertain; _but E'd~cari~n has a mighry ln}lue'nce, and !hong Byif.r upon the Affc8:~oos and .A81ons of Men. In this, the Ancient l\'obles 1tnd Gentry of thu Kingdom dzd Excel: And it were much to be wifht that our Great Peopl~ would fet about ~o ~ec?ver the 41/Cient Oeconomy of ;heir Hott.:. fe.r, tl1e Strtfl an.d Virru_or1s DifCJplmc of rlmr .Anceflon, l\lhen Men were .Honoured for theu Atc.hJevements, and when nothing more e~pofed a Mari to Shame, tbaJt his bo ng Born to a };ability t bat be bad not a T!irrue to Jupport. §. Vlll. 0 but I hJve an higher Motive I The G!orioiJI Go!}d of] ESl' S CHRis-r:, w~ic~ haYmg taught this J\'orrhern1;Ie, and ail Ranks ptofeffing to believe 1n It, let me prevail upon you> to Jeek tHe Honoltr that it li::is 1668 . ~ Chap. XI. |