| Citation |
BG.747.027
10 Nov 1747:11,12 (1338)
From the Gentleman's Magazine for May 1747.
Sir, The expence of the publick being very high, and our
taxes, how necessary soever, very heavy; industry ought to
be as much encouraged as possible, and every thing capable
of lessening it ought to be the object of censure. It is
our industry that changed the face of this country from what
it was,and proved thereby the source of our liberty and
property; it is our industry that is the basis of domestic
and foreign trade, and consequently the soule fountain of
our riches; in short, it is our industry that must maintain
us, enable us to do justice to others, and to live happily
ourselves, for without it we can do neither.
But of late so many inventions are started up to defeat
this great principle of our freedom and felicity, as seem
loudly to demand the notice of the publick. In the winter,
balls, concerts, operas, assemblies, masquerades, and twenty
other diversions, to the very names of which I am a
stranger, continually solicit people to be idle. In the
summer, there is no stirring at any corner, without meeting
with places consecrated to amusement, or, in plain English,
drinking away all thoughts of private oeconomy, or of
publick spirit;. . . [5 lines].
I am very far from pretending, that all diversion should
be suppressed; but the reason of mankind, and the sense of
the legislature, plainly prove they ought not to be indulged
without restriction: Otherwise, why was an act of
parliament made to restrain the number of playhouses ? Why
have the justices put down May, Welch, and Tottenham-Court
fairs ? And, if there was wisdom and justice in this, why
should other contrivances, equally pernicious, be suffered
to seduce those who ought to work, to think work a burden
and a slavery ? Our ancestors had holidays; with us it is
holiday all the year round. Formerly, people danced now and
then of an evening: Now, Sundays excepted, people dance
every morning of the week. Evening collations and some
reason; but for publick breakfasts, dinners with musick, and
afternoon entertainments, what reason can be given, or what
must be our future condition, who in our present bad
situation, think only of the means of forgetting it, and
consequently, of letting things become daily worse and
worse. . . [2 lines + 2 paras] Henry Hint.
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