My Readers of this Class will, I am afraid, be apt to mistake me, and think I design to keep them in a low dependent State; such an one as they call being unhappy; far from it: I would not have undertaken this Treatise at all, had I not designed the real, the universal Good of Mankind. Without Vanity I can say it, no one has a more disinterested, a more general Love of human Nature than myself; thousands have superior Abilities, but few, perhaps none, have superior good Wishes for the Happiness of Society; and should this very Performance prove a Trifle, the Fault may be in my Head, but it is not in my Heart: my Intention is good, if my Power is weak. Let this then serve as an Apology to all my Readers, but let those of this Class in particular be persuaded, that my Design is to augment the Happiness of their Children, not to lessen it. But then, they must resolve to seek Happiness where it can be found; if they wander into a Maze of Difficulties, and get into a Sphere they are utter Strangers to, they will most probably miss of it; but if they confine themselves within their own proper Orb, they need not fear to find it. Still there is Reason to apprehend, that Men of every Rank, and even among the lowest, will value themselves not for what they are, but for what they have; and while People mistake Head for Brains, and Money for Merit, the best Advice will often be useless.
But great as this Folly is, there is a much greater reigning. Money, as I have already observed, is extremely apt to intoxicate Mankind; and it’s Influence is but too visible both in high and low Life: but there are thousands of this Class of People who pride themselves in educating their Children learnedly and expensively, without the least Pretensions upon Earth. If a Gentleman upon the Decay can get his Son educated suitable to his Birth, Regard to his Family, and Regard to his Education, may obtain him a genteel and profitable Employment: so too, if a Man in an inferior Station is convinced he can purchase his Son a Place or a Commission suitable to his superior Education, there is certainly room to justify him, tho’ we blame his Vanity; but that People without the least Expectations, that are conscious they cannot give their Children a Shilling, who have not the Honour of a Family to support, nor a Reputation to maintain, should run these strange Lengths, is amazing! The Truth is, Pride and Ignorance are their Guides; they scorn to be outdone by their Neighbours, tho’ all the while they really don’t know what it is they are doing.