(L.) —— —— —— While Luxury
Employ’d a Million of the Poor,&c.
: Page 10. Line 12.
IF every thing is to be Luxury (as in strictness it ought) that is
not immediately necessary to make Man subsist as he is a living Creature,
there is nothing else to be found in the World, no not even among the
naked Savages; of which it is not probable that there are any but what by
this time have made some Improvements upon their former manner of Living;
and either in the Preparation of their Eatables, the ordering of their
Huts, or otherwise, added something to what once sufficed them. This
Definition every body will say is too rigorous; I am of the same Opinion;
but if we are to abate one Inch of this Severity, I am afraid we
shan’t know where to stop. When People tell us they only desire to keep
themselves sweet and clean, there is no understanding what they would be
at; if they made use of these Words in their genuine proper literal Sense,
they might soon be satisfy’d without much cost or trouble, if they did not
want Water: But these two little Adjectives are so comprehensive,
especially in the Dialect of some Ladies, that no body can guess how far
they may be stretcht. The Comforts of Life are likewise so various and
extensive, that no body can tell what People mean by them, except he knows
what sort of Life they lead. The same obscurity I observe in the words
Decency and Conveniency, and I never understand them unless I am
acquainted with the Quality of the Persons that make use of them. People
may go to Church together, and be all of one Mind as much as they please,
I am apt to believe that when they pray for their daily Bread, the Bishop
includes several things in that Petition which the Sexton does not think
on.
By what I have said hitherto I would only shew, that if once we depart
from calling every thing Luxury that is not absolutely necessary to keep a
Man alive, that then there is no Luxury at all; for if the wants of Men
are innumerable, then what ought to supply them has no bounds; what is
call’d superfluous to some degree of People, will be thought
requisite to those of higher Quality; and neither the World nor the Skill
of Man can produce any thing so curious or extravagant, but some most
Gracious Sovereign or other, if it either eases or diverts him, will
reckon it among the Necessaries of Life; not meaning every Body’s Life,
but that of his Sacred Person.
It is a receiv’d Notion, that Luxury is as destructive to the Wealth of
the whole Body Politic, as it is to that of every individual Person who is
guilty of it, and that a National Frugality enriches a Country in the same
manner as that which is less general increases the Estates of private
Families.
I confess, that tho’ I have found Men of much better Understanding than my
self of this Opinion, I cannot help dissenting from them in this Point.
They argue thus: We send, say they, for Example to Turkey of
Woollen Manufactury, and other things of our own Growth, a Million’s
worth every Year; for this we bring back Silk, Mohair, Drugs, &c.
to the value of Twelve Hundred Thousand Pounds, that are all spent in our
own Country. By this, say they, we get nothing; but if most of us would be
content with our own Growth, and so consume but half the quantity of those
Foreign Commodities, then those in Turkey, who would still want the
same quantity of our Manufactures, would be forc’d to pay ready Money for
the rest, and so by the Balance of that Trade only, the Nation should
get Six Hundred Thousand Pounds per Annum.
To examine the force of this Argument, we’ll suppose (what they would
have) that but half the Silk, &c. shall be consumed in England
of what there is now; we’ll suppose likewise, that those in Turkey,
tho’ we refuse to buy above half as much of their Commodities as we used
to do, either can or will not be without the same quantity of our
Manufactures they had before, and that they’ll pay the Balance in Money;
that is to say, that they shall give us as much Gold or Silver, as the
value of what they buy from us exceeds the value of what we buy from them.
Tho’ what we suppose might perhaps be done for one Year, it is impossible
it should last: Buying is Bartering, and no Nation can buy Goods of others
that has none of her own to purchase them with. Spain and
Portugal, that are yearly supply’d with new Gold and Silver from their
Mines, may for ever buy for ready Money as long as their yearly increase
of Gold or Silver continues, but then Money is their Growth and the
Commodity of the Country. We know that we could not continue long to
purchase the Goods of other Nations, if they would not take our
Manufactures in Payment for them; and why should we judge otherwise of
other Nations? If those in Turkey then had no more Money fall from
the Skies than we, let us see what would be the consequence of what
we supposed. The Six Hundred Thousand Pounds in Silk, Mohair, &c.
that are left upon their Hands the first Year, must make those Commodities
fall considerably: Of this the Dutch and French will reap
the Benefit
as much as our selves; and if we continue to refuse taking their
Commodities in Payment for our Manufactures, they can Trade no longer with
us, but must content themselves with buying what they want of such Nations
as are willing to take what we refuse, tho’ their Goods are much worse
than ours, and thus our Commerce with Turkey must in few Years be
infallibly lost.
But they’ll say, perhaps, that to prevent the ill consequence I have
shew’d, we shall
take the Turkish Merchandizes as formerly, and only be
so frugal as to consume but half the quantity of them our selves, and send
the rest Abroad to be sold to others. Let us see what this will do, and
whether it will enrich the Nation by the balance of that Trade with Six
Hundred Thousand Pounds. In the first Place, I’ll grant them that our
People at Home making use of so much more of our own Manufactures, those
who were employ’d in Silk, Mohair, &c. will get a living by the
various Preparations of Woollen Goods. But in the second, I cannot allow
that the Goods can be sold as formerly; for suppose the Half that is wore
at Home to be sold at the same Rate as before, certainly the other
Half that is sent Abroad will want very much of it: For we must send those
Goods to Markets already supply’d; and besides that there must be Freight,
Insurance, Provision, and all other Charges deducted, and the Merchants in
general must lose much more by this Half that is re-shipp’d, than they got
by the Half that is consumed here. For tho’ the Woollen Manufactures are
our own Product, yet they stand the Merchant that ships them off to
Foreign Countries, in as much as they do the Shopkeeper here that retails
them: so that if the Returns for what he sends Abroad repay him not what
his Goods cost him here, with all other Charges, till he has the Money and
a good Interest for it in Cash, the Merchant must run out, and the Upshot
would be, that the Merchants in general finding they lost by the
Turkish Commodities they sent
Abroad, would ship no more of our Manufactures than what would pay for as
much Silk, Mohair, &c.
as would be consumed here. Other Nations would soon find Ways to supply
them with as much as we should send short, and some where or other to
dispose of the Goods we should refuse: So that all we should get by this
Frugality would be, that those in Turkey would take but half the
Quantity of our Manufactures of what they do now, while we encourage and
wear their Merchandizes, without which they are not able to purchase
ours.
As I have had the Mortification for several Years to meet with
Abundance of sensible People against this Opinion, and who always thought
me wrong in this Calculation, so I had the Pleasure at last to see the
Wisdom of the Nation fall into the same Sentiments, as is so manifest from
an Act of Parliament made in the Year 1721,
where the Legislature disobliges a powerful and valuable Company,
and overlooks very weighty Inconveniences at Home, to promote the Interest
of the Turkey Trade, and not only encourages the Consumption of
Silk and Mohair, but forces the Subjects on Penalties to make use of them
whether they will or not.
What is laid to the Charge of Luxury besides, is, that it increases
Avarice and Rapine: And where they are reigning Vices, Offices of the
greatest Trust are bought and sold; the Ministers that should serve the
Publick, both great and small, corrupted, and the Countries
every Moment in danger of being betray’d to the highest Bidders:
And lastly, that it effeminates and enervates the People, by which the
Nations become an easy Prey to the first Invaders. These are indeed
terrible Things; but what is put to the Account of Luxury belongs to
Male-Administration, and is the Fault of bad Politicks. Every Government
ought to be thoroughly acquainted with, and stedfastly to pursue the
Interest of the Country. Good Politicians by dextrous Management, laying
heavy Impositions on some Goods, or totally prohibiting them, and lowering
the Duties on others, may always turn and divert the Course of Trade which
way they please; and as they’ll ever prefer, if it be equally
considerable, the Commerce with such Countries as can pay with Money as
well as Goods, to those that can make no Returns for what they buy, but in
the Commodities of their own Growth and Manufactures,
so they will always carefully prevent the Traffick with such Nations as
refuse the Goods of others, and will take nothing but Money for their own.
But above all, they’ll keep a watchful Eye over the Balance of Trade in
general, and never suffer that all the Foreign Commodities together, that
are imported in one Year, shall exceed in Value what of their own Growth
or Manufacture is in the same exported to others. Note, that I speak now
of the Interest of those Nations that have no Gold or Silver of their own
Growth, otherwise this Maxim need not to be so much insisted on.
If what I urg’d last be but diligently look’d after, and the Imports
are never allow’d to be superior to the Exports, no Nation can ever be
impoverish’d by Foreign Luxury; and they may improve it as much as they
please, if they can but in proportion raise the Fund of their own
that is to purchase it.
Trade is the Principal, but not the only Requisite to aggrandize a
Nation: there are other Things to be taken care of besides. The Meum
and Tuum
must be secur’d, Crimes punish’d, and all other Laws concerning the
Administration of Justice, wisely contriv’d, and strictly executed.
Foreign Affairs must be likewise prudently manag’d, and the Ministry of
every Nation ought to have a good Intelligence Abroad, and be well
acquainted with the Publick Transactions of all those Countries, that
either by their Neighbourhood, Strength or Interest, may be hurtful or
beneficial to them, to take the necessary Measures accordingly, of
crossing some and assisting others, as Policy and the Balance of Power
direct. The Multitude must be aw’d, no Man’s Conscience forc’d, and the
Clergy allow’d no greater Share in State Affairs than our Saviour has
bequeathed them in his Testament. These are the Arts that lead to worldly
Greatness: what Sovereign Power soever makes a good Use of them, that has
any considerable Nation to govern, whether it be a Monarchy, a
Commonwealth, or a Mixture of both, can never fail of making it flourish
in spight of all the other Powers upon Earth, and no Luxury or other Vice
is ever able to shake their Constitution.—But here I expect a full-mouth’d
Cry against me; What! has God never punish’d and destroy’d great
Nations for their Sins? Yes, but not without Means, by infatuating their
Governors, and suffering them to depart from either all or some of those
general Maxims I have mentioned; and of all the famous States and Empires
the World has had to boast of hitherto, none ever came to Ruin whose
Destruction was not principally owing to the bad Politicks, Neglects, or
Mismanagements of the Rulers.
There is no doubt but more Health and Vigour is to be expected among a
People, and their Offspring, from Temperance and Sobriety, than there is
from Gluttony and Drunkenness; yet I confess, that as to Luxury’s
effeminating and enervating a Nation, I have not such frightful Notions
now as I have had formerly. When we hear or read of Things which we are
altogether Strangers to, they commonly bring to our Imagination such Ideas
of what we have seen, as (according to our Apprehension) must come the
nearest to them: And I remember, that when I have read of the Luxury of
Persia, Egypt, and other Countries where it has been a reigning
Vice, and that were effeminated and enervated by it, it has sometimes put
me in mind of the cramming and swilling of ordinary Tradesmen at a City
Feast, and the Beastliness
their over-gorging themselves is often attended with; at other Times it
has made me think on the Distraction of dissolute Sailors, as I had
seen them in Company of half a dozen lewd Women roaring along with Fiddles
before them; and was I to have been carried into any of their great
Cities, I would have expected to have found one Third of the People sick
a-bed with Surfeits; another laid up with the Gout, or crippled by a more
ignominious Distemper; and the rest, that could go without leading, walk
along the Streets in Petticoats.
It is happy for us to have Fear for a
Keeper, as long as our Reason is not strong enough to govern our
Appetites: And I believe that the great Dread I had more particularly
against the Word, to enervate, and some consequent Thoughts on the
Etymology of it, did me Abundance of Good when I was a Schoolboy: But
since I have seen something of the World, the Consequences of Luxury to a
Nation seem not so dreadful to me as they did. As long as Men have the
same Appetites, the same Vices will remain. In all large Societies, some
will love Whoring and others Drinking. The Lustful that can get no
handsome clean Women, will content themselves with dirty Drabs; and those
that cannot purchase true Hermitage or Pontack, will be glad
of more ordinary French Claret. Those that can’t reach Wine, take
up with worse
Liquors, and a Foot Soldier or a Beggar may make himself as drunk with
Stale-Beer or Malt-Spirits, as a Lord with Burgundy, Champaign
or Tockay. The cheapest and most slovenly way of indulging our Pas-sions , does
as much Mischief to a Man’s Constitution, as the most elegant and
expensive.
The greatest Excesses of Luxury are shewn in
Buildings, Furniture, Equipages and Clothes: Clean Linen weakens a Man no
more than Flannel; Tapistry, fine Painting or good Wainscot are no more
unwholesom than bare Walls; and a rich Couch, or a gilt Chariot are no
more enervating than the cold Floor or a Country Cart. The refin’d
Pleasures of Men of Sense are seldom injurious to their Constitution, and
there are many great Epicures that will refuse to eat or drink more than
their Heads or Stomachs can bear. Sensual People may take as great Care of
themselves as any: and the Errors of the most viciously luxurious, don’t
so much consist in the frequent Repetitions of their Lewdness, and their
Eating and Drinking too much, (which are the Things which would most
enervate them) as they do in the operose Contrivances, the Profuseness and
Nicety they are serv’d with, and the vast Expence they are at in their
Tables and Amours.
But let us once suppose that the Ease and Pleasures the Grandees and
the rich People of every great Nation live in, render them unfit to endure
Hardships, and undergo the Toils of War. I’ll allow that most of the
Common Council of the City would make but very in-different
Foot-Soldiers; and I believe heartily, that if your Horse was to be
compos’d of Aldermen, and such as most of them are, a small Artillery of
Squibs would be sufficient to rout them. But what have the Aldermen, the
Common-Council, or indeed all People of any Substance to do with the War,
but to pay Taxes? The Hardships and Fatigues of War that are personally
suffer’d, fall upon them that bear the Brunt of every Thing, the meanest
Indigent Part of the Nation, the working slaving People: For how excessive
soever the Plenty and Luxury of a Nation may be, some Body must do the
Work, Houses and Ships must be built, Merchandizes must be remov’d, and
the Ground till’d. Such a Variety of Labours in every great Nation require
a vast Multitude, in which there are always loose, idle, extravagant
Fellows enough to spare for an Army; and those that are robust enough to
Hedge and Ditch, Plow and Thrash, or else not too much enervated to be
Smiths, Carpenters, Sawyers, Cloth-workers, Porters or Carmen, will always
be strong and hardy enough in a Campaign or two to make good Soldiers,
who, where good Orders are kept, have seldom so much Plenty and
Superfluity come to their Share as to do them any hurt.
The Mischief then to be fear’d from Luxury among the People of War,
cannot extend it self beyond the Officers. The greatest of them are
either Men of a very high Birth and Princely Education, or else
extraordinary Parts, and no less Experience; and whoever is made choice of
by a wise Government to command an Army en chef, should have a
consummate Knowledge in Martial Affairs, Intrepidity
to keep him calm in the midst of Danger, and many other Qualifications
that must be the Work of Time and Application, on Men of a quick
Penetration, a distinguish’d Genius and a World of Honour. Strong Sinews
and supple Joints are trifling Advantages not regarded in Persons of their
Reach and Grandeur, that can destroy Cities a-bed,
and ruin whole Countries while they are at Dinner. As they are most
commonly Men of great Age, it would be ridiculous to expect a hale
Constitution and Agility of Limbs from them: So their Heads be but Active
and well furnished, ’tis no great Matter what the rest of their Bodies
are. If they cannot bear the Fatigue of being on Horseback, they may ride
in Coaches, or be carried in Litters. Mens Conduct and Sagacity are never
the less for their being Cripples, and the best General the King of
France has now, can hardly crawl along.
Those that are immediately under the chief Commanders must be very nigh of
the same Abilities, and are generally Men that have rais’d themselves to
those Posts by their Merit. The other Officers are all of them in
their several Stations obliged to lay out so large a Share of their Pay in
fine Clothes, Accoutrements, and other things by the Luxury of the Times
call’d necessary, that they can spare but little Money for Debauches; for
as they are advanced and their Salaries rais’d, so they are likewise
forced to increase their Expences and their Equipages, which as well as
every thing else, must still be proportionable to their Quality: By which
means the greatest Part of them are in a manner hindred from those
Excesses that might be destructive to Health; while their Luxury thus
turn’d another way serves moreover to heighten their Pride and Vanity, the
greatest Motives to make them behave themselves like what they would be
thought to be. (See Remark (R.)
There is nothing refines Mankind more than Love and Honour. Those two
Passions are equivalent to many Virtues, and therefore the greatest
Schools of Breeding and good Manners are Courts and Armies; the first
to accomplish the Women, the other to polish the Men. What the
generality of Officers among civiliz’d Nations affect is a perfect
Knowledge of the World and the Rules of Honour; an Air of Frankness, and
Humanity peculiar to Military Men of Experience, and such a mixture of
Modesty and Undauntedness, as may bespeak them both Courteous and Valiant.
Where good Sense is fashionable, and a genteel Behaviour is in esteem,
Gluttony and Drunkenness can be no reigning Vices. What Officers of
Distinction chiefly aim at is not a Beastly, but a Splendid way of Living,
and the Wishes of the most Luxurious in their several degrees of Quality,
are to appear handsomely, and excel each other in Finery of Equipage,
Politeness of Entertainments, and the Reputation of a judicious Fancy in
every thing about them.
But if there should be more dissolute Reprobates among Officers than
there are among Men of other Professions, which is not true, yet the most
debauch’d of them may be very serviceable, if they have but a great Share
of Honour. It is this that covers and makes up for a multitude of Defects
in them, and it is this that none (how abandon’d soever they are to
Pleasure) dare pretend to be without. But as there is no Argument so
convincing as Matter of
Fact, let us look back on what so lately happen’d in our two last Wars
with France.
How many puny young Striplings have we had in our Armies, tenderly
Educated, nice in their Dress, and curious in their Diet, that underwent
all manner of Duties with Gallantry and Chearfulness?
Those that have such dismal Apprehensions of Luxury’s enervating and
effeminating People, might in Flanders and Spain have seen
embroider’d Beaux with fine lac’d Shirts and powder’d Wigs stand as much
Fire, and lead up to the Mouth of a Cannon, with as little Concern as
it was possible for the most stinking Slovens to have done in their own
Hair, tho’ it had not been comb’d in a Month;
and met with abundance of wild Rakes, who had actually impair’d their
Healths, and broke their Constitutions with Excesses of Wine and Women,
that yet behav’d themselves with Conduct and Bravery against their
Enemies. Robustness is the least Thing requir’d in an Officer, and if
sometimes Strength is of use, a firm Resolution of Mind, which the Hopes
of Preferment, Emulation, and the Love of Glory inspire them with, will at
a Push supply the Place of bodily Force.
Those that understand their Business, and have a sufficient Sense of
Honour, as soon as they are used to Danger will always be capable
Officers: And their Luxury, as long as they spend no Body’s Money but
their own, will never be prejudicial to a Nation.
By all which I think I have proved what I design’d in this Remark on
Luxury. First, That in one Sense every Thing may be call’d so, and in
another there is no such Thing. Secondly, That with a wise Administration
all People may swim in as much Foreign Luxury as their Product can
purchase, without being impoverish’d by it. And Lastly, That where
Military Affairs are taken care of as they ought, and the Soldiers well
paid and kept in good Discipline, a wealthy Nation may live in all
the Ease and Plenty imaginable; and in many Parts of it, shew as much Pomp
and Delicacy, as Human Wit can invent, and at the same Time be formidable
to their Neighbours, and come up to the Character of the Bees in the
Fable, of which I said, That
Flatter’d in Peace, and fear’d in Wars,
They were th’
Esteem of Foreigners,
And lavish of their Wealth and Lives,
The Balance of all other Hives.
(See what is farther
said concerning Luxury in the Remarks (M.) and (Q).