Hor.

I am wonderfully pleased when I meet with any Passage in an old Greek or Latin Author, that is not blown upon, and which I have never met with in a Quotation.  Of this kind is a beautiful Saying in Theognis; Vice is covered by Wealth, and Virtue by Poverty; or to give it in the Verbal Translation, Among Men there are some who have their Vices concealed by Wealth, and others who have their Virtues concealed by Poverty. Every Man’s Observation will supply him with Instances of Rich Men, who have several Faults and Defects that are overlooked, if not entirely hidden, by means of their Riches; and, I think, we cannot find a more Natural Description of a Poor Man, whose Merits are lost in his Poverty, than that in the Words of the Wise Man. There was a little City, and a few Men within it; and there came a great King against it, and besieged it, and built great Bulwarks against it:  Now there was found in it a poor Wise Man, and he, by his Wisdom, delivered the City; yet no Man remembered that same poor Man.  Then said I, Wisdom is better than Strength; nevertheless, the poor Man’s Wisdom is despised, and his Words are not heard.[1]

The middle Condition seems to be the most advantageously situated for the gaining of Wisdom.  Poverty turns our Thoughts too much upon the supplying of our Wants, and Riches upon enjoying our Superfluities; and, as Cowley has said in another Case, It is hard for a Man to keep a steady Eye upon Truth, who is always in a Battel or a Triumph.

If we regard Poverty and Wealth, as they are apt to produce Virtues or Vices in the Mind of Man, one may observe, that there is a Set of each of these growing out of Poverty, quite different from that which rises out of Wealth.  Humility and Patience, Industry and Temperance, are very often the good Qualities of a poor Man.  Humanity and Good-nature, Magnanimity, and a Sense of Honour, are as often the Qualifications of the Rich.  On the contrary, Poverty is apt to betray a Man into Envy, Riches into Arrogance.  Poverty is too often attended with Fraud, vicious Compliance, Repining, Murmur and Discontent; Riches expose a Man to Pride and Luxury, a foolish Elation of Heart, and too great a Fondness for the present World.  In short, the middle Condition is most eligible to the Man who would improve himself in Virtue; as I have before shewn, it is the most advantageous for the gaining of Knowledge.  It was upon this Consideration that Agur founded his Prayer, which for the Wisdom of it is recorded in Holy Writ. Two things have I required of thee, deny me them not before I die.  Remove far from me Vanity and Lies; give me neither Poverty, nor Riches; feed me with Food convenient for me.  Lest I be full and deny thee, and say, who is the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. [2]

I shall fill the remaining Part of my Paper with a very pretty Allegory, which is wrought into a Play [3] by Aristophanes the Greek Comedian.  It seems originally designed as a Satyr upon the Rich, though, in some Parts of it, ’tis like the foregoing Discourse, a kind of Comparison between Wealth and Poverty.