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Show ~‘i E g W ).. ') .wutllumm'rfi' um (mutant-a ‘ a» :& World confil't? And on the other Hand, when may it be faid, that Men make a wrong and an improper Ufe of it? Surely thefe are very plain (Luel'tions; and yet, plain as they are, had they received tho'fe clear and fatisfaétory Anfwers, which might have been given,~--what a deal of ufelefs Altercations about the Nature and the good or bad Tendency of Luxury would have been fpared! What mortifying Conceflions on the one Hand, and what ill-grounded Triumphs on the other, would have been totally luperfeded by only defining the fingle previous Point: ‘What is Luxury 3' Now this is whatI {hall attempt to doin the following Difcourfe : And that I may the better attend to the more difficult Part of the Argu- ment, I will confider tne SubjeCt before us of uling the World, or of abuling it, only {0 fat as it regards the more collly Ornaments of Life; and thofe Embelifhments which belong to the , l is 3 higher Ranks in Society. FOr if it can be of Grandeur and Magnificence, then furely it will be quite fuperfluous to defcend to the Confideration of inferior Matters. Nay, the mof't zealous Advocates for Extragavance and Prodiigality are not arrived to the Height of Abfurdity, as to maintain, that the middling and the lower ClalTes, the Mechanic, the Labourer, and the Cottager, are doing Service to their Country by {pending more than they can afi‘ord, and mining themfelves and Families. Thefe therefore they willingly allow, ought to keep Within the bounds of Moderation -, becaufe thefe ought to praclice the Virtues of indul'try and Frugality for the Sake of others, as well as of themfelves. To begin therefore with a Subject, and to confine ourfelves within the Limits prefcribed : The firit Charac-"tailtic of Luxury is, when the Expence exC'E‘Eds the Ability 3 that is, when Men. figure away in the great 'vVorid for a Time. and then either fink into fioverty and Obfcurity, 01‘ elfe muit take to bad Courfes to fuppm‘t their Extravagances. _ , THE fecond is, when Perlbns live after fuch a Manner as, tho7 it may iai‘t to their own Time, will neverthelels prevent them from making a Provifion, or at leal't. an adeqt; .te Provifion for the fucceeding Generation. This indeed is little higher *1) more y proved, that Luxury retards the Progrefs even , 13.793!ULJLJ "7 3W "PM"? [ 24 ] Mankind both here and hereafter. And yet {‘0 it hath happened, that this very Doétrine is rarely Ptated with that Clearnefs and Precifion, or defended with that Strength and Fulnefs of Evidence, which the Importance of fuch a Subjeé‘t fhould require. Now the Doctrine itfelf is no other than this,---T hat we are permitted, nay, that we are commanded as a Matter of Duty, to ufe this World, but not to ahafe it. Well then, in what doth the right Ufe of this |