CHAPTERXLIII
OFSUMPTUARYLAWS
Thewaybywhichourlawsattempttoregulateidleandvainexpensesinmeatandclothes，seemstobequitecontrarytotheenddesigned。Thetruewaywouldbetobegetinmenacontemptofsilksandgold，asvain，frivolous，anduseless;whereasweaugmenttothemthehonours，andenhancethevalueofsuchthings，which，sure，isaveryimproperwaytocreateadisgust。Fortoenactthatnonebutprincesshalleatturbot，shallwearvelvetorgoldlace，andinterdictthesethingstothepeople，whatisitbuttobringthemintoagreateresteem，andtoseteveryonemoreagogtoeatandwearthem？Letkingsleaveofftheseensignsofgrandeur;theyhaveothersenoughbesides;thoseexcessesaremoreexcusableinanyotherthanaprince。Wemaylearnbytheexampleofseveralnationsbetterwaysofexteriordistinctionofquality（which，truly，Iconceivetobeveryrequisiteinastate）enough，withoutfosteringtothispurposesuchcorruptionandmanifestinconvenience。
’Tisstrangehowsuddenlyandwithhowmucheasecustomintheseindifferentthingsestablishesitselfandbecomesauthority。Wehadscarcewornclothayear，incompliancewiththecourt，forthemourningofHenryII。，butthatsilkswerealreadygrownintosuchcontemptwitheveryone，thatamansocladwaspresentlyconcludedacitizen:silksweredividedbetwixtthephysiciansandsurgeons，andthoughallotherpeoplealmostwentinthesamehabit，therewas，notwithstanding，inonethingorother，sufficientdistinctionoftheseveralconditionsofmen。
Howsuddenlydogreasychamoisandlinendoubletsbecomethefashioninourarmies，whilstallneatnessandrichnessofhabitfallintocontempt？