The Fable of the Bees; Or, Private Vices, Public BenefitsMandeville, Bernard
Philosophy
The Fable of the Bees; Or, Private Vices, Public Benefits
Mandeville, Bernard
Charity-schools -- Early works to 1800; Ethics -- Early works to 1800; Virtue -- Early works to 1800
Some parents put out their sons to good trades very suitable to their
then present abilities, but happen to die, or fail in the world,
before their children have finished their apprenticeships, or are
made fit for the business they are to follow: A great many young men
again, on the other hand, are handsomely provided for and set up for
themselves, that yet (some for want of industry, or else a sufficient
knowledge in their callings, others by indulging their pleasures,
and some few by misfortunes) are reduced to poverty, and altogether
unable to maintain themselves by the business they were brought
up to. It is impossible but that the neglects, mismanagements, and
misfortunes I named, must very frequently happen in populous places,
and consequently great numbers of people be daily flung unprovided
for into the wide world, how rich and potent a commonwealth may be,
or what care soever a government may take to hinder it. How must
these people be disposed of? The sea, I know, and armies, which the
world is seldom without, will take off some. Those that are honest
drudges, and of a laborious temper, will become journeymen to the
trades they are of, or enter into some other service: such of them
as studied and were sent to the university, may become schoolmasters,
tutors, and some few of them get into some office or other: But what
must become of the lazy, that care for no manner of working, and the
fickle, that hate to be confined to any thing?
Those that ever took delight in plays and romances, and have a spice
of gentility, will, in all probability, throw their eyes upon the
stage, and if they have a good elocution, with tolerable mien, turn
actors. Some that love their bellies above any thing else, if they
have a good palate, and a little knack at cookery, will strive to get
in with gluttons and epicures, learn to cringe and bear all manner of
usage, and so turn parasites, ever flattering the master, and making
mischief among the rest of the family. Others, who by their own and
companions lewdness, judge of people's incontinence, will naturally
fall to intriguing, and endeavour to live by pimping for such as
either want leisure or address to speak for themselves. Those of the
most abandoned principles of all, if they are sly and dexterous, turn
sharpers, pick-pockets, or coiners, if their skill and ingenuity give
them leave. Others again, that have observed the credulity of simple
women, and other foolish people, if they have impudence and a little
cunning, either set up for doctors, or else pretend to tell fortunes;
and every one turning the vices and frailties of others to his own
advantage, endeavours to pick up a living the easiest and shortest
way his talents and abilities will let him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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