Wesley Corpus

Whether by choice or necessity, their dress is as plain as their food; and so is their furniture. We may farther affirm, that even lewdness is not yet universal in England; although we are making swift advances toward it, by playhouses, masquerades, and pantheons. 9. And even where luxury in food and dress is most prevalent, yet it is not constant. Both the one and the other are laid aside, at particular seasons, even by Gentlemen and Noblemen. How many of these are, in time of war, regard less both of food and apparel! Yea, what a contempt of both did they show even during the shadow of war, while they lay cncamped in various parts of the kingdom ! 10. Neither is luxury peculiar to the English nation. What is our luxury in dress to that of the French 7 And luxury in food is carried to as great a height even in Germany; and to a much greater in France: The French scorn to stand on a level herein with the dull Germans. In the northern kingdoms, too, there are as many gluttons as in ours, and at least as many drunkards. And as to the basest branch of luxury, if we may give credit to eye-witnesses, (I cite Dr. Johnson in particular, and Lady Mary Wortley Montague,) what is all the lewdness of London, to that of Vienna, Paris, Rome, and all the large cities of Italy? English ladies are not attended by their cicisbys yet; nor would any English husband suffer it. So that, bad as we are, we are sober and temperate, yea, and modest, in com parison of our neighbours. 11. But if sloth and luxury are not, what is the present characteristic of the English nation? It is ungodliness. This is at present the characteristic of the English nation. Ungodliness is our universal, our constant, our peculiar character. I do not mean Deism; the not assenting to revealed religion. No ; a Deist is a respectable character, compared to an ungodly man. But by ungodliness I mean, First, a total ignorance of God; Secondly, a total contempt of him. 12. And, First, a total ignorance of God is almost universal among us. The exceptions are exceeding few, whether among the learned or unlearned.