Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)

Philosophical Regimen

1900

"Jealous for thy authority in thy mansion-house and outward family, but not in the least for thy authority within, in thy chiefest mansion, thy principal economy? Are the servants here to talk high and in what tone they please? Must theirs be the last word, their dictates the rules of action? O slave of slaves!"

By whiles this question. Am I talked with, or do I talk? For something still there is that talks within and leads that very discourse which leads in action, and is what we call conduct.--Whence then the conduct? What leading? what control? who governs, or what ?--Thus in a family: Who rules in this house? Who's master ?--Learn by the voices. Who speaks with a high tone? Who decides and gives judgment? Who has the talk, the last word? Is it the servants ?--Then the servants are masters.--And dost thou blush at this?

How is this, man! What! Jealous for thy authority in thy mansion-house and outward family, but not in the least for thy authority within, in thy chiefest mansion, thy principal economy? Are the servants here to talk high and in what tone they please? Must theirs be the last word, their dictates the rules of action? O slave of slaves!

How necessary this counter-discourse with the presenting fancies, and how real it is or ought to be, learn by the too long experience of the other of wrong kind. What ability, promptitude, dexterity in those? As particularly in the cases
(p. 177)

Architecture::Mansion-House Population::Servants Government::Slavery

Reading

See The Life, Unpublished Letters, and Philosophical Regimen of Anthony, Earl of Shaftesbury, ed. Benjamin Rand (London and New York: Swan Sonnenschein and Macmillan, 1900). <Link to Google Books>

07/28/2014