An essay upon publick spirit; being a satyr in prose upon the manners and luxury of the times, the chief sources of our present parties and divisions. By Mr. Dennis:

THE PREFACE.

THE following Essay contains a bold, but a gene|ral, and therefore I hope an inoffensive Satyr; especially since 'tis writ with an Intention to hurt none, and to do good to all. It neither reflects upon Persons nor Parties, but is levell'd at Vices, and not Men. The Design of it is to shew what Publick Spi|rit is, and in what Condition it has been for several Years amongst us; and that 'tis only to be retriev'd by that Reformation of Manners which the late King and Her present Majesty have often, with so much Wisdom, as well as with so much Religion, re|commended from the Throne.

The Restoration of Publick Spirit is certainly of the utmost Importance to the Duration of Publick Li|berty, of which 'tis the only solid and lasting Basis. And tho' Liberty is at present perfectly secure under the Reign of the Best of Queens, tho' it is threaten'd with no Danger from the Immediate Protestant Suc|cessors, 'tis yet the Duty of so great, so wise, and so brave a People, to transmit to their latest Posterity the Rights and Privileges which they have receiv'd from their remotest Ancestors; and they ought to take the more Care of this at a Season, when such contagious Distempers rage throughout Europe, as may make a great Alteration in the Line of Succession in a little time.

The modern Statesmen and Legislators of free Na|tions seem to me to have been for the most part em|ploy'd, rather in remedying than in preventing great Disorders, and to have been more taken up in provi|ding against the immediate Political Occasions of them, than in removing the Moral and the Natural Causes of them, especially those two important ones, the Edu|cation of Youth, and the restraining of Luxury in the elder sort, of which the wise Ancients took such pecu|liar Care.

'Tis morally impossible that Liberty and Luxury should live any where so long in so strict a Consederacy as they have done at Venice; which is secure from Faction by the Harmony of its Orders, and from In|vasion by its Scitution. But in a mix'd Monarchy like curs, where we are neither secure from Division by our Constitution, (tho' that Constitution may for ought I know be the best that we are capable of) nor from Invasion by our Scituation, both which are too evident from History and Experience, Luxury that

nourishes our Passions, and augments our Wants, must of Necessity inflame our Factions, and augment our Divisions, and cannot be with too much Care repress'd.

If what is here publish'd is favourably receiv'd, I shall endeavour to shew in a Second Part the mighty Mischiefs that the Introduction of foreign Manners and foreign Luxury hath done to this Island, and to the rest of Europe; and the proper Methods that are to be us'd to restrain Luxury, and to retrieve Publick Spirit.

I must confess the Reformation of Manners ought to be one of the peculiar Provinces of the Clergy: But at a time when they too often stoop from their Sera|phick Contemplations, and the high Dignity of their Function, to intermeddle in Human Affairs, they give us strong Temptations to make Reprisals upon them, and to entrench upon an Office which is properly theirs. I believe it will appear by the following Draught of the Publick Manners, that 'tis not for want of Bu|siness proper to their Function, that they pollute the Church with Matters peculiar to the State. Which Proceeding is the more difficult to be accounted for, because by doing their own Business, that is, by con|verting the Souls, and reforming the Manners of Men, they would make an admirable Provision for the Safe|ty and Quiet of the Government; whereas by their medling in Civil Matters, they never fail to inflame Mens Passions, to corrupt their Manners, to heighten their Animosities, to augment their Divisions, and to raise Convulsions in the State.

However, neither the Clergy, nor the Lay-Societies for the Reformation of Manners, can employ the most effectual Method, I mean according to Human Ap|pearance, for the immediate Suppression of bare-fac'd

Luxury, the spreading Contagion of which is the greatest Corrupter of the Publick Manners, and the greatest Extinguisher of Publick Spirit. That Method can be only practis'd by the joint Authority of the Queen and her great Council, that is, by the whol|some Severity of sumptuary Laws, or Publick Taxes upon Luxury. And it was partly in order to shew the Reason, if not the Necessity of such Taxes, that the following Essay was begun. For whereas most of the Taxes which have been hitherto laid, have been laid upon our Necessaries or our Conveniences; and the Money that is gather'd from both these, substracts so much from the general Stock of Trade, and conse|quently weakens and discourages Industry: A Tax upon our Superfluities and our Luxuries, will by ren|dring us frugal, and consequently industrious, have a Tendency to the augmenting the National Stock of Trade. Besides 'tis plain, that a Tax upon our Su|perfltities and our Luxuries will do good to the whole Community, without being burdensome to any part of it; for few will pay their Money upon such a Tax, but they who are able to pay it, or who will be ani|mated and supported by their Pride at least to pay it chearfully; and so Luxury, that is naturally an E|nemy to Government, will be made subservient to it: And they who do not pay their Money upon such a Tax, will be the more enabled to pay all the other Taxes; which will reconcile such a Tax or such Taxes to all the sober, frugal, and industrious part of the Nation, especially since we have shewn above, that nothing will more contribute to the uniting our Minds, than the restraining our Luxuries; upon which Account no Tax can be more effectual for the finishing this important War, which our Divisions prolong. And as there will be more Occasion for such a Tax upon a general Peace than there is now, be|cause Luxury unrestrain'd by Law will in all likelihood

then encrease, and the Encrease of Luxury will endanger this Island more, than the most dangerous Foreign War; Upon this Account it will be hard to invent a Tax more proper to be continued for the paying the Debts of the Nation, than a Tax upon our Vanities, our Superfluities, and our Luxuries. For which Reason the Act for prohibiting Immode|rate Gaming, and that for preventing of Duelling, which are two of the fatal Effects of Luxury, the latter of Luxury and Pride, and the former of Ava|rice and Luxury complicated, will be glorious to this Parliament, among all to whom the Prosperity of their Country is dear, among all to whom Law and Publick Liberty are dear. How inglorious has it been hither|to to this Island, which is and has always been govern'd by Law, that we have so long conniv'd at a cruel Custom; a Custom so Gothick, that there is no Instance of it either in Grecian or Roman History, and so Destructive, so Arbitrary, and so Barbarous, that Tyranny it self in a neighbouring Kingdom has not been able to endure it; as if the Tyrant had look'd upon it as an Usurpation of his own Tyranni|cal Power, that his Slaves should have the Lives of their Fellow-Slaves at their Mercy. If any of our Princes should have taken the Life of a free born Subject, even upon the greatest Provocation, without Process of Law, what a terrible Outcry would that Arbitrary Proceeding have caus'd? And yet a Subject not only dares, but thinks himself oblig'd to attempt the Life of a Fellow-Subject on a foolish Punctilio, and on a senseless Whimsey. To what purpose is it to make wholsome Laws for the Security of Property, when Life, the very Source and Fountain of Property, is every Moment in Danger? This Parliament there|fore has laid the greatest and highest Obligation upon all their Fellow-Subjects, that Man can lay upon Man, by rescuing them from the Tyranny of a Barbarous Custom, and making it scandalous to do

that for the future, which before 'twas infamous to refuse; so that all their Fellow Subjects owe the Se|curity of their very Being under God to them. By how precarious and how fantastick a Tenure has Life been held till now, when we were oblig'd to hazard it, against all Reason, against all Justice, at the Will of every contemptible Wretch in order to preserve Honour, as if Honour could be different from Reason and Justice, and from the Laws of our Country? With how much Satisfaction do all who love that Country see, that tho' Publick Spirit in other Parts is sunk and fallen so low, yet we may hope once more to see it rise, since it still flourishes in the Illustrious Representative of the British Nation, whose Members are so remarkable, and several of them so renown'd for their undaunted Courage, that Malice it self must be oblig'd to own, that there could be nothing pri|vate and nothing selfish in the Inducement to this Bill, which could be introduc'd by nothing but that God-like Motive of an universal Good.