Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1855-04-04

ates from tho LoafsIaturc' lung that ono
ienSes n sS4%emoriaiist p tEs9, ,o%Onfdentivy' o with
ssnsptuayy IG0s. Aud the has prayeS S1sl
after him with their dictionarie9ol bows M
he flies to England for his sumptus.,
he finds that they relate to 'piked and
square.toed shoes, and short coat tails and
long coat tails And thus driven to the
wall, in despair, he calls out: Where is
Waugh Where would you like to lie Just
then, gentlemen Will you stand byS -FOUR
friendY Will you encounter the boys and
the dictionaries Will you discou sAdpon
'piked and square-toed Shoes and show
their relation to the enormous evils enume.
rated in your second paragraph? And show
how England launched her bark upouG e
untrled sea Of long coat tails and short coat
tailsY Oh what a beautiful figure of
speech Is that in your Report-'thc untried
sea OF 'piked and square-toed shoes. and
long and short coat tails!' There is SO much
to be learned sometimes by reference to
an ~allusion +
have treated this part of your Report
half in jest and halfin earnest. And really
1 know not how else to treat it. You are
Obliged to sec that it has nothing to do
with the object of the memorialists, aud
get, as set forthin your Report, it is cal
culated to injure them aud therefore l
could not pass over it. As you do not seem
to understand the history or meaning of
sumptuary laws, l will devote a moment
seriously, to their consideration. And
LIST. 1t is error to suppose that every law
which intcrfcres with what a man eats.
drinks or wears, is a sumptuary law. A
mau chooses to appear in public naked
but the law Furnishes him if he does, and
compels him to wear clothes. Would you
call this a sumptuary Law The law pre-
scribes what a prisoner shall have to eat
what soldiers shall eat and drink. Would
you call these sumptuary laws? If they
are, then s%umptuary laws are not only al
lowable, but necessary. IF they are not,
then my first proposition is established, that
is to say, 1t is not every law which inter-
feres with what a man eats, drinks and
wears that is a sRmptuary law. What then
are sumptuary laws? / refer you to the
definitions already given. End. 1t is error
to suppose that sumptusry laws are, of
themselves, improper. Almost every ma
ton IN the world, that existed for any
length of time, has had sumptuary laws.
Sometimes but not often, they have been
enacted wantonly and without any public
necessity. This, of course, was wrong.
Most generally, they have been enacted
because the public good required it and
this, OF course, was right. %Israel's law
giver prescribed them, and of course they
were right for that people at that time.
Rome had them Greece had them {; almost
every nation has had them. They are
proper at Que time and improper at another,
Tor the same people. And therefore we
lind a people e%nacting them at one time
and repeating them at another. This is
the illustration a government finds her
people abandoned to luxury. They do not
count the cost Of any thing they want as
IN Rome when they gave one hundred ro-
mar denarii for u pitcher of Falernian
wine and four hundred for q barrel of
salt meat from the kingdom of Pontus.
The Injuries they prize most are imported
from a foreign country ; and are obtained
at a price to the enriching of that country
and the impoverishment of their own /; the
foreign country is at enmity and only awaits
an opportunity to attack. Is it not essen
tlal to the very existence of the govern
ment, that the people should be forbidden
to drink talernian wine, or eat the meat
from Pontus ? There is no reason now
why we should not buy and wear French
SILKS but 1t France alone made silk, and
we, from some strange fancy or fashion,
would wear nothing but French silk and
that at such cost as would impoverish us
and enrich France, and France was threat
ming war, would you maintain that it would
be wrong to prevent by law the buying
and wearing French silk? And SO a gov.
ernment may be in such stress as to require
not only all the public, but all the private
wealth for her defence and while so. would
1t not be prudent in her to regulate by law
the economy of her subjects2 Again, a
country may be in such condition as to re.
quire exactly n different policy on the part
OF the government. The great mass of the
people may be poor and in want a few
are very wealthy aud inclined to hoard
their wealth in this case, it is the policy
OF the government to encourage luxury and
extravaganza on the part of the rich. in
order that their abundance may be distrib.
uted among the poor.
From these and many other considera-
lions, il will appear that sumptuary laws
arc either right or wrong, proper or i'm
proper, according to the particular circum.
stances OF any given country. Our relations
with the world are such as not to REQUIRE
any sumptuary laws in regard to our for
eign relations, and eur wealth is so equally
distributed and necessaries are so abundant.
that we need no ~sumptuary laws in our
domestic relations. Nor did the memorial
lists ask for any
You not only refer US to England but to
New England, the land of steady habits. ,
and you say they have been Intellectual
there. You refer here, no doubt, to the
Liquor laws which have been passed in
New England and other States within the
last few years. That there are substantial
objections to some Of the laws passed in
those States-that their execution has been
attended with difficulties, and that thew
have not get accomplished all that their
friends desired, | admit. But to say, as
you do, that they have had no other effect
than to increase crime, espionage jealousy,
and to array in open contest the worst
passions Of our nature is false. If what
you say is true, why are not the laws
repealed, after a fair trial? They are a free
AAAAl- M