Whoever spends upon superfluities what he must want
for the necessities of life, is luxurious; and excess, therefore, of
distilled spirits may be termed, with the utmost propriety, the luxury
of the poor.
This, my lords, appeared to be the opinion of the noble lord who spoke
so copiously on this question at the beginning of the debate; of this
opinion was the reverend prelate when he observed, that _necessity
itself was become luxurious_, and of this opinion must every man be
who advises such a duty to be laid upon these liquors as may at once
debar the poor from the use of them; for such a proposal evidently
supposes them unnecessary, and all enjoyment of things not necessary
is a degree of luxury.
To tax this luxury, which is, perhaps, the most pernicious of all
others, is now proposed; but it is proposed to tax it only to suppress
it, to suppress it by such slow degrees as may be borne by the people;
and I hope a law so salutary will not be opposed only because it may
afford the government a present supply.
The duke of NEWCASTLE then rose up, and spoke to the following
effect:--My lords, I am of opinion that this debate would have been
much shorter, had not the noble lords who have spoken in it suffered
themselves to be led away, either by their own zeal, or the zeal of
their opponents, from the true state of the question, to which I shall
take the liberty of recalling their attention, that this important
controversy may have at length an end.
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