The works of George Berkeley, D.D. late Bishop of Cloyne in Ireland. To which is added, an account of his life [by J. Stock] and several of his letters to Thomas Prior, Esq., Dean Gervais, and Mr. Pope, etc

발행: 1784년

분량: 705페이지

출처: archive.org

분류: 미분류

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more inclined to hate sor those articles Wherein me differ, than to loveone another for those Wherein we agree. But is we cannot extinguim, let us at least suspend our animosities, and Argetting our religious seu df, consider ourselves in the amiable light of countrymen and neighbours. Let us for once turn our eyes on those things, in Which we have onecommon interest. Why mould disputes about faith interrupi the duties of civit life t or the disserent roads we take to heaven prevent our taking the fame steps on earth t Do we not inhabit the fame spot of ground, breathe the fame air, and live Under the fame govertament i Why thenmould we not conspire in one and the fame design, to promote the common good of our countrytWe are ali agreed about the u fulnest os meat, drin k, and clothes, and without doubi, we ali sincerely wim our poor neigh bours were betterlupplied with them. Providence and nature have done their pari; nocountry is beller quali fied to furnish the necessaries of lise, and yet nopeOPle are worse provided. In vain is the earth fertile, and the climato benign, is human labour he wanting. Nature supplies the materiais, whicli art anil industry improve to the use of man, and it is the want of this industry that occasionS ait our Other Want S.

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description in the proverbs; I πent, faith that wise hin g, 6 the seld in the soth id, and θ the Uin ard of the man void os undefandiet, and lo f

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A Word to the Wise. raged in this vagabon d life by the miserable liospitali ty they meet with

in every cottage, whose inhabitanis expect the fame hin d reception in their turn, when they become beggars them selves ; beggary being thelast refuge of these improvident creatures. Is I stem to go out of my province, or to prescribe to those who mustbe supposed to know their own business, or to paint the lower inhabitants of this land in no very pleasing colours, you wili candidi y forgive a wellmeant geal, whicli obligeth me to say things, rather u sesul than agreeabie, and to lay open the fore in order to heal it. But whate ver is se id must be so talien, as not to reflect on persons ofrank and education, who are no way inferior to their neigh bours; DOry et to include ali even of the lowest sori, though it may we'l extend tothe generali ty, of tho se especialty in the western and sola thern paris of the kingdom, where the B1 itisi manners have lesi prevalled. We takeour notions from What we see, mine are a Dithsul transcript stom originals abo ut me. The Scythians were noted for wandering, and the Spani L sor stoth and pride , our Irisu a re belli rid ne i ther of the se nations Dom whicli theydescend, in their respective character isti cs. Better is he that labourub and

hit clien-wench refused to carry out cinders, hecata se me was descendedfrom an old Irisi stoc Ne ver Was there a more monstro us conjunction

in almost every part of this hingdom. At the fame time these proudpeopte are more destitute than s ages, and more abject than negroes. The negroes in Our plantations have a saying, IV negro Nas not negro, Vo L. II.

. Ch. X. ver. 27.

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men, and the insuffciency of severat methods set on ot to reclaim them, I have re urse to Four ReSerenoes, as the dernier resori. Mahe them to underfland that you have their interest at heari, that you persuade themto work for their own saltes, and that Go D liath ordered matters so asthat, they who will not work for thenaseives, must work sor others. The terrors of debi, sta very, and famine mouid, o ne would think, drive themost stollisol to labo ur. Malle them sensibi e of the se things, and that the ends of Providen ce and order of the worid require industry in humancreatures. Man goeth fortb to his πori, and to his labour untii the eveniet,

as an armed man. t

Ali nature will furnim you with arguments and examples against stoth, go to the ant thou suggred, cries Solomon. The ant, the bee, the beelle, and e very insedi but the drone reails a lesson os industry to man. Butthe mortest and most effectuat lesson is that of St. Paul, is andi man wHInuet coori ueliber Rould he eat. This command was et oined the Thessalonians, and equat ly respects ali Christans, and indeed ali man in , it be-ing evident by the light of nature, that the whole creation wossis triether for good, and that no part was designed to be uselesse; as there rethe idie man is of no use, it follows that he hath no right to a subsistence.

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agreeabie, reconciling men even to the roughest exercise. By praetice,

pa ins become at first easy, and in the progress pleasant; and this is so triae that whoe ver examines things will find, there can be no sicli thing as ahappy life without labo ur, and that whoe ver doth not labour With his hands, must in his own defence labo ur with his bra in s. Certa in ly, planting and tilling the earili is an exercise not lese plea singthan useful; it talies the peasant hom his smoahy cabin into the fremair and the open field, rendering his tot far more desi rabie than that of the nuggard, who lies in the stra , or sits whole days by the fire. Convince your peopte that not ora ly plealare invites, but necessit y also drives them to labour. Is you have any compassion for these poor creatures, put them in mind how many of them perimed in a late memorable distress, through want of that provident care against a hard senson, observable not ora ly in ali other men, hut even in irrationat animal s. Sethesere their eyes in lively colours, their own indigent and sordid lives, compared with those of other people, whose industry hath procured themhearly od, warm clothes, and decent dwellings. Mahe them sensi ble

et Thess. ch. iii. Ver. I 2.1 Ps. cxxviii. Ver. 2.

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what a re proach it is, that a nation which mahes se great pretensions toantiqui tu, and is se id to have flourimed many ages ago in aris and learn-ing, should in these our days turn Qui a laety, destitute, and degenerate

Ralse your voices, Reverend Sirs, exert your influence, mew your authori ty over the multitude, by engaging them to the practice of an honestindustry, a duty necesiary to all, and required in ali, whether Protesanti, or Roman Catholici, whether Christans, yems, or Pagans. Be so goodamong other potnis to find room for this, than which none is of more concern to the fouis and hodies of your hearers, nor consequently deserves to be more amply, or frequently insisted on. Many and obvious are the motives that recommend this duty. Upona subject so copious you can ne ver be at a lose sor something to say. Andwhile by these means you rescue yOur countrymen Dom want and misery,

troduced; neigh bour, neverthelesi, Will emulate ne igh ur, and the contagion of good eae ample will spre ad as surely as of bad, though perhapsnot so spee lily. It may be hoped, there a re many that would be allured by a plenti sui and decent manner of life to tali e pains, especialty whenthey observe it to be alta ined by the industry of their ne ighbours, in nosori beller qualisied than them lues.

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Whon se many Circumstances provolie and animate your peopte to la-hour, when their private wanis, and the necessities of the public, whenthe laws, the magistrates, and the very country calis Upon them, yOUcannot think it becomes you alone to be silent, or hindinosi in every project sor promoting the public good. Why mould you, whose influenceis greatest, be least activet why mould you, whose words are most lihelyto prevali, say least in the common causet Perhaps it will be seid, the discourage ments attending those of your

communion a re a bar against ali en dea uours for exciting them to a

laudabie industry. Men are stirred up to labo ur by the prospeci of bet-tering their fortunes, by getling estates, or employmenis; but those whoare limited in the purchase of estates, and excluded fro in ali civit em Ploymenis, a re deprived of those spurs to industry.Τo this it may be an Mered, that admitting the se con siderat tons do, in me mea re, damp industry and ambition in persons of a certa in rank, yet they can be no let to the industry of poor People, or supply an argument against en deauo uring to procure meat, drin k, and clothes. It is not proposed, that you mould persuade the better seri to acquire es ales, or quali 0 them se lues sor becoming magistrates; but only that you mould set the lowest of the peopte at work, to provide them selves With necessaries, and supply the wants of nature. It

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It will be alloged in excuse of their idieness, that the countsy people ant enco uragement to labour, as not having a property in the lands. There is smali encouragement, say you, for them to bui id, or plant uponanother's land, where in they have only a temporary interest. To whioli I an Mer, that litis it self is but temporary; that ali tenures a re not of the fame hind; that the case of our Englisi and the original bipb is equat in this respect; and that the true Aborigines, or natural Irim a re noted for vant of industry in improving even on their o n land 8, Whereos theyhave both possession and property. How many industrious persons are there in ali civili ged countries, without any property in laiads, or any prospect os es lates, or employmenis tIndustry ne ver fatis to reward her votaries. There is no One but can earna litile, and litile added to litile mahes a heap. In this fertile and plenti l istarid, non e can perim for want but the idie and improvident. Non ewho have industry, frugali ty, and foresight but may get into tolerable, is

not wealthy circumstances. Are not ali trades and manufactu res open tothose of your communioni have you not the sanae free use, and mayyou not malae the fame ad vant age of fairs and marhet S as other mentdo you pay higher duties, or are you liable to greater impositions thanyour fellois subjects t and a re not the public premi unas and encoui age-ments gi ven indisserently to artists of ali communions t have not, in fact,

those of your communion a very great mare of the commerce of this

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not to be pilied; they a re to be looked on and trealed a s drones, the pestand disgraco os society. It will be Oid, the hardnese of the landi ord cramps the industry of the tenant. But is rent be high, and the landiord rigorous, there is more need os industry in the tenant. It is weli linown that in Holland, taxesare much higher, and rent both of land and houses far dearer than in be-land But this is no objection or impediment to the industry of the peΟ-

who have nothing to improve upon, nothing to begin the world with tI an Mer they have their four quarters, and sive senses. Is it nothing to possest the hodily organs found and entiret That wonderiat machino thehand , was it formed to be id te twas there but will to work, there a re not wanting in this istandei ther opportunitieS, or enco Uragement S. Spinning alone might employali idie hands children as weli as parenis) being seon learned, east ly performed, and ne ver Diling of a martiet, requiring nei ther wit nor strength, hut sui ted to ali ages and capacities. The public provides utensilis, and persons for teaching the use of them; but the public cannot provide aheari and will to be industrious. Theso, I will not de ny, may be found in severat persons in seme other paris of the kingdom, and where verthey a re found, the com rtable esse is sme them selves. But seldom very seldom are they found in these fouthern people, whose indolen cefigureth a lion in the way, and is proos against ali encouragement. But

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light, is not by day-light. Labor ipse voluptas, Lith the poet, and this is

veri fied in se R. In England, when the labour of the sield is over, it is usual sor mento beta ke them selves to me other labour os a disserent hind. In thenor thern paris of that industrious land , the inhabitants meet, a jolly cre , at One another'S houses, where they merrtly and frugalty pasi the longand dark winter evenings; severat families by the fame light, and thes a me sire, working at their disserent manufactu res of wool, flax, or hem p; company mean while mutuatly cheering and pro vo king to labo ur. Incerta in other ' paris you may see, on a summer's evening, the commonia bourers sit ting along the streets of a town, or village, each at his owndoor, with a cus hion besore him mahing bone-lace, and earn ing more in an even ing's pasti me than an Iri familγ would in a whole day. Thosepeopte instead os clossing the day with a ga me on greasy card s, or lyingstretched besore the sire, past their time much more chearfulty in semeusti ut employment, whicli custom hath rendered light and agreeable. But admittin g, for the various reasons above alleged, that it is impossi-ble for our cottagers to be rich, yet it is certa in they may be clean. Now bring them to be clearaly, and your work is half done . A liti lewashing, scrubbing, and rubbing, bestowed ora their persons and houses,

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