Introduction:

Many colonists found consumers’ purchasing habits a cause for concern. Some worried about the indebtedness and poverty that might result from excessive consumption. Others raised more overtly moral concerns. Criticism, like that offered in this excerpt from a published sermon, was a regular feature of public discussions.

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Excerpt:

“Shall I speak of Luxury, or that Propensity there is in us, to gratify our sensual Appetites? Poor as we are, we light high, and fare sumptuously every Day. This destroys our Health, consumes our Substance, enfeebles the Mind, feeds our Lusts, and stupefies Conscience. While we feed and pamper our Bodies, we starve our Souls. – We all agree, that Frugality is necessary, to retrieve us from the Difficulties in which we are involved; but no one is willing to begin, and to set an Example of that, which every one recommends to his Neighbor.”