but laying obligations upon them; and it may very
reasonably be concluded, that if it were put into a due balance,
according to the true state of the account, many who believe themselves
in possession of a large share of dignity in the world, must give place
to their inferiors. The greatest of all distinctions in civil life is
that of debtor and creditor, and there needs no great progress in logic
to know which, in that case, is the advantageous side. He who can say to
another, "Pray, master," or "Pray, my lord, give me my own," can as
justly tell him, "It is a fantastical distinction you take upon you, to
pretend to pass upon the world for my master or lord, when at the same
time that I wear your livery, you owe me wages; or, while I wait at your
door, you are ashamed to see me till you have paid my bill."

The good old way among the gentry of England to maintain their
pre-eminence over the lower rank, was by their bounty, munificence, and
hospitality; and it is a very unhappy change, if at present, by
themselves or their agents, the luxury of the gentry is supported by the
credit of the trader. This is what my correspondent pretends to prove
out of his own books, and those of his whole neighbourhood. He has the
confidence to say, that there is a mug-house near Long Acre, where you
may every evening hear an exact account of distresses of this kind. One
complains, that such a lady's finery is the occasion that his own wife
and daughter appear so long in the same gown: another, that all the
furniture of her visiting apartment are no more hers, than the scenery
of a play are the proper goods of the actress. Nay, at the lower end of
the same table, you may hear a butcher and poulterer say, that at their
proper charge all that family has been maintained since they last came
to town.

The free manner in which people of fashion are discoursed on at such
meetings, is but a just reproach for their failures in this kind; but
the melancholy relations of the great necessities tradesmen are driven
to, who support their credit in spite of the faithless promises which
are made them, and the abatement which they suffer when paid, by the
extortion of upper servants, is what would stop the most thoughtless man
in the career of his pleasures, if rightly represented to him.

If this matter be not very speedily amended, I shall think fit to print
exact lists of all persons who are not at their own disposal, though
above the age of twent