The Virginia Gazette

From the Town and Country MAGAZINE.

The Effects of
MODERN LUXURY.

IT is generally acknowledged, that Luxury is so universally spread in this Kingdom that the noble manly Virtues for which our Ancestors were celebrated have given Way to false Refinements and artificial Manners: that those hardy Sons of War, who shone so gloriously at Cressy, Poictiers, and Agincourt, have degenerated to be the Defenders of vicious Honour and modern Politeness, and that they appear as despicable in these Days as in the former they were revered.

The amazing Quantity of Wealth, of late Years brought into this Kingdom; will do us as little Service as it did the Spaniards from the Conquests of Mexico and Peru, in the Reigns of Charles V. and Philip II. and our Acquisitions in the Eastern World may prove as dangerous to us as the numberless Provinces in the Western have been fatal to its Spanish Possessors: and already have they gained us as little real Honour as the massacring the unfortunate Indians have obtained the other. If we turn to the Histories of the Transactions of those Times, by the humane Bishop of Chiapas, by De Las Casas, and others, we are astonished, shocked, and terrified; human Nature recoils at the very Idea of the numberless Cruelties and Inhumanities committed by these more than Barbarians. We read of Thousands being murdered, hunted, and torn to Pieces by Dogs, stretched on the Rack, burnt by slow Fires, whole Provinces laid desolate, and all for what? For that Gold which they could not enjoy when they possessed it. It is said that the famous Cortez, infamous for his Cruelties, the Ravager of Mexico, and the Conqueror of Montezuma, when he returned to Spain, could not even have an Audience, though he had added so much to the Domains of Charles V. yet it is also asserted, that one Day he forced his Way through the Crowd to the Emperor's Coach, who asking who he was, Cortez made Answer, "It is One who has given you more Provinces than you have Towns from your Ancestors." The Barbarities the English have practised will not, I am afraid, on Examination, fall far short of the foregoing. We hear of Monopolies and of Famines, of Exactions, of Cruelties, and of Murders. We know of immense Fortunes being made, and of Numbers of them in a very few Years. We may learn, from the Debates of the House of Commons, in what an iniquitous Manner they have been obtained, and we shall feel the Effects of them shortly more sensibly than we do now. The old Standard Families of a County have been obliged to give Way to the upstart Mushroom Race of Nabobs. We see them sprung from the lowest of the Earth, exalted into brilliant Chariots and splendid Coaches; we see them the uppermost in the City, the greatest in the Country, at the Head of the Senate, and received with favourable Smiles at Court. These are the People to whom we are obliged for most of our Misfortunes. The prevailing Taste for Pleasure arises from them; the Dearness of Provisions, and general Dissipation, flow from them also. The Multitude, who are led by Appearances, and see their Superiors in Wealth no Ways in this World outwardly punished for Crimes, follow their Example, and conclude also they shall never be called to Account. Vice raises its Hydra Head, and appears in multiform Shapes; Luxury and Dissipation encourage the Growth, and the Soil is fruitful, being thus well nurtured. Laws after Laws are made to punish the Guilty, and yet they will be ineffectual so long as this Dissipation is general.

Mr. Hume asserts, "That there is an ultimate Point of Depression, as well as of Exaltation, from which human Nature naturally returns in a contrary Progress, and beyond which they seldom pass, either in their Advancement or Decline." And his Reasoning is allowed to be just: The Infancy of a State is governed by few Laws; the Founders are hardy, brave, and generous; as the Power increases, they grow wealthy; then Luxury appears, the Empire soon declines, and sinks despised This has been the Fate of all the Nations of old; the Persian, the Macedonian, and Roman, have each experienced it in Turns; and others rise from the Ruins, shine Meteors of the Age, and drop in a few revolving Years to their former Nothing, their primary Insignificance. This has been the Fate of many Nations, and may be the Fate of this,

Rich with the Spoils of Asiatick Provinces, our Nabobs live like so many Eastern Princes, riot in effeminate Luxury; and as the Taste of Pleasure has reached not only the middling, but also the lower Class of People, we cannot wonder at the Number of Bankrupts among the former, or the frequent Executions in the latter. It leads inevitably to Ruin, and we purchase Destruction, by committing Crimes, instead of that Pleasure we so much wish, and so eagerly run after. It would be becoming the few Patriots of this Age (if there really are any) to endeavour, among the various Grievances they lament, to amend the Morals as well as the Liberties of the Community, for Liberty without Morality is Licentiousness; and one good Way to do so will be to set a proper Example. But at present they seem to vie even with the Ministry in Vices and Immorality, and disagree about those Grievances only which perhaps exist in Imagination; or, if real, are very trifling and unimportant, compared with those I have pointed out.