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？

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