Source identified1
Image design Linen
Read & copy
“I can't but admire Sable's nice discerning on the superfluous cares of mankind, that could lead them to the thought of raising an estate by providing horses, equipage, and furniture, for those that no longer need 'em.”
Meaning & context
Campley mocks the elaborate spending attached to funerals, pointing out the absurdity of building a business around material provisions for people who can no longer use them.
Source details
The Funeral; or, Grief à-la-Mode, represented in Project Gutenberg #55922, Campley speaking in the Covent Garden scene. The first edition was published in 1702 (dated publication in late 1701). This is satirical dramatic character speech, not Steele autobiographical testimony.