Literature , 6?r. with Commerce. 9 
the laws of his country impofe ! A tafte for po¬ 
lite literature, and the works of nature and of art, 
is effentially neceffary to form the Gentleman, 
and will always distinguish him more completely 
from the vulgar, than any advantage he can de¬ 
rive from wealth, drefs, or titles. Thefe external 
decorations, without thofe refined manners which 
proceed from a proper Study of books and men, 
ferve only to render his ignorance more confpi- 
cuous; whereas a man of a polite imagination, 
not only fecures himfelf a favourable reception 
in the world, but as Mr. Addifon obferves, “ is 
let into a great many pleafures that the vulgar 
are not capable of receiving. He can converfe 
with a picture, and find a companion in a Statue. 
He meets with a fweet refreshment in a defcrip- 
tion, and often feels a greater fatisfadtion in the 
profpedt of fields and meadows, than another does 
in the poffefiion. It gives him a kind of pro¬ 
perty indeed in every thing he fees, and makes 
the mod rude and uncultivated parts of nature 
administer to his pleafures.”* 
Affluent circumstances and abundant leifure 
give the Gentleman great advantages over his 
inferiors, in the more refined Studies. The cold 
and heavy hand of poverty chills and repreSTes 
the efforts of genius; wealth cheriShes, and, if 
I may be allowed the metaphor, manures and 
* Spedlator, No. 411. 
puShes 
