It is very absurd to slight or insult another upon his wanting a
property which we possess; for he may, for any thing we know, have as
just reason to triumph over us, by being master of some good quality of
which we are incapable. But, in regard to the fable before us, that
which the Peacock values himself upon, the glitter and finery of dress,
is one of the most trifling considerations in nature; and what a man of
sense would be ashamed to reckon even as the least part of merit.
Indeed, children, and those people who think much about the same pitch
with them, are apt to be taken with varnish and tinsel: but they who
examine by the scale of common sense must find something of weight and
substance, before they can be persuaded to set a value. The mind which
is stored with virtuous and rational sentiments, and the behaviour which
speaks complacence and humility, stamps an estimate upon the possessor,
which all judicious spectators are ready to admire and acknowledge. But
if there be any merit in an embroidered coat, a brocade waistcoat, a
shoe, a stocking, or a sword-knot, the person who wears them has the
least claim to it; let it be ascribed where it justly belongs--to the
several artizans who wrought and disposed the materials of which they
consist. This moral is not intended to derogate any thing from the
magnificence of fine clothes and rich equipages, which, as times and
circumstances require, may be used with decency and propriety enough:
but one cannot help being concerned, lest any worth should be affixed to
them more than their own intrinsic value.