Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 10.djvu/88

 82

NOTES AND QUERIES.

[iis. x. AUG.

nature of this vanity to debase or deprave the mind, though it be a prejudice of a weak, and illiberal nature.

The pride of Power is of a sterner and more insolent temper ; but this, when founded in fair authority, must be granted to the infirmity of human nature ; and by a judicious allowance, may be employed to gain respect and obedience from the vulgar to the weakness of human institu- tions.

The pride of cultivated talent, or great acquired knowledge, is of a very different nature. Con- cealed with propriety, or decently subdued, it mav serve only to give spirit to science and inde- pendence to Genius ; or, though it should degene- rate into a disgusting and arrogant self-sufficiency, yet no base or cruel effects are to be apprehended from it ; for the pursuits of learning and genius do in themselves meliorate and liberalize the heart, implanting in their progress, qualities to compensate every vanity which their success can impart.

But the pride of wealth can in no case, nor under any circumstances whatever, admit of the smallest justification, or lead to any possible good. He who takes pride in his Riches will covet to preserve them, and " the covetous (we are told by the Psalmist) are those whom the Lord most abhorreth." If his Riches come to him by In- heritance, he hath not even the pretence of skill or industry to ground his pride on, but makes it a part of liis pride that he is born above the need of either of those qualities. And, if from a mean estate he becomes preposterously possessed of such disproportionate wealth, it is more than probable that the illiberal drudgery through which he has toiled for it and the mean caution with which he has amassed it, have driven every just and worthy feeling from his mind ; and of this his oppression and insolence to the poor and humble of spirit will be a sufficient confirmation. But the needy shall not alway be forgotten, The expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.

Hence, it is that our Saviour announces that seemingly partial and hyperbolical judgment against the wealthv : " That it is easier for a Camel to pass thro* the eye of a needle, than for the rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven " ; not that Riches are in themselves Crimes, but that the means by which they are, for the most part, acquired, pollute and corrupt the heart, so that the Possessor, " through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God."

It is to be considered beside, that the actions of the rich man are scanned and judged by a dif- ferent line from those of the poor Man whose occupation is toil and whose chiefest Virtue must be resignation and abstinence from evil. But the situation of the rich man is critical in propor- tion to the power he has of doing good ; it is not sufficient in him that he abstain from evil : every day, every hour of his existence has some duty of benevolence attached to it, the omission of which is a reproach and crime in the eyes of the Lord, who has entrusted him with the means of procur- ing blessings on his Providence.

For these considerations I would say to such of you who hear me, and whose hard lot in this world is poverty and oppression, from the pride of the more fortunate, that to the haughtiness of the high-born your humbleness need make no reply ; the day shall come when the lowly shall be

exalted. To the insult of the powerful prudence- will dictate to you to submit perhaps the power you shrink from today, may at another time be your protection. Or, should the learned and Knowing Man rebuke you, though his vanity be his reproach, yet take shame that you have not better cultivated your own -mind, and respect in him the improvement of the nobler part of your nature. But when the " rich man persecutes the poor," when he says to you in his pride, " bow down to me, for thou art poor, and I abound," boldly deny his claim say to him, " are we not equal ? " Or if he would be thy superior let him praise the God who gave him the most blessed Means let him relieve thee ; but if his churlish heart refuses, he abuses thee, and Heaven that views his mean presumption : while thou mayest say, with David, " though I am poor and needy,, yet the Lord careth for me ! "

Before I conclude I must repeat that as Man is- ordained to Labour, no degrees of misery and penury, if brought on by the sluggish or wasteful habit of the Sufferer, will entitle him to this benign regard and commiseration of the Al- mighty. Poverty in that case becomes the punishment of evil, and, though God's mercy delights to comfort the afflicted, it is not consistent with his justice to cherish the disobedient.

But [let] whosoever with a manly and persevering industry hath struggled with calamity, combating to delay the hour of helpless adversity, though not dismayed at its approach to him at the last,, in confident resignation commit himself to God's protection, and the Lord will " set him in safety from him that puffeth at him, and for the oppres- sion of the poor, for the sighing of the needy >r icill he arise.

The grace of Crewe which passeth, &c.

Frances Anne, daughter of Fulk Greville,. married in 1776 John afterwards Lord Crewe. To her Sheridan dedicated ' The School for Scandal.'

Moore, in a note on p. 444 of the ' Memoirs/ says :

" The Rev. Mr. O'B (afterwards Bishop-

of ) having arrived to dinner at Sheridan's-

country-house near Osterley, where, as usual, a gay party was collected (consisting of General Burgoyne, Mrs. Crewe, Tickell, &c.), it was pro- posed that on the next day (Sunday) the Rev- Gentleman should .... give a specimen of his talents as a preacher in the village-church. On his objecting that he was not provided with a sermon, his host offered to write one for him, if he would consent to preach it ; and, the offer being accepted, Sheridan left the company early, and did not return for the remainder of the

evening. The following morning Mr. O'B

found the MS. by his bedside, tied together neatly (as he described it) with riband : the subject of the discourse being the ' Abuse of Riches.' Hav- ing read it over and corrected some theological errors (such as ' it is easier for a camel, as Moses says,' &c.), he delivered the sermon in his most impressive style, much to the delight of his own party, and to the satisfaction, as he unsuspectingly flattered himself, of all the rest of the congrega- tion, among whom was Mr. Sheridan's wealthy neighbour, Mr. C.

" Some months afterwards, however, Mr. O'B perceived that the family of Mr. C ,