Sin Stigmatized, Part 1 · Section 82 – Section 89
§ 82.
THen let no drunkard force thee, Original of the word pledge.either againſt thy ſtomack, or thy inability to pledge his healths: yea, let quaffers quarrell, rage, and ſcoffe, threaten, curſe, and loade thee with a thouſand cenſures, yet hold thou thine owne ſtill. It is true, they will be ſtrangely importunate, what then? a ſhameleſſe begger, muſt have a ſtrong denyall.
Indeed if the word pledge were uſed ſeriouſly, properly, opportunely; and not altogether miſtaken, and uſed in a wrong ſenſe, I ſhould grant it a duty, when any ſhall bee called thereunto. But ſotted drunkards underſtand not what they ſpeake, when they uſe the phraſe: for the word pledge, implies no intention of drinking; as looke we but to the originall, and firſt inſtitution thereof, and we ſhall find, that when in the borders of Wales twelve Welchmen had treacherouſly ſtabb'd 12. Engliſhmen, as they were holding the cups to their mouths; it grew to that, that none would drinke at any publike meeting, except they had ſome friend preſent who would undertake to be their pledge, and carefully ſee that none ſhould hurt them the while; but hee who uſeth the word now, makes himſelfe ridiculous, the occaſion being taken away, for (God bee thanked) we have no ſuch cauſe of feare, having the Lawes of God to guide the vertuous, and the Lawes of the Land to reſtraine the wicked.
Yet their miſtake is no more in this their challenge, then it is in the combate it ſelfe, and the victory they get by it; for whereas they make a ſport of drunkenneſſe, counting him a malefactor in the higheſt degree, that departs without ſtaggering, and fit to be carried before a Magiſtrate, to render an account of his contumacie; and delight to make men drink, till they vomit up their ſhame againe, like a filthy Dog; or lye wallowing in their beaſtlineſſe, like a brutiſh Swine; this is the moſt ſad and woefull ſpectacle that can be to a rectified underſtanding.
And whereas they brag of the conqueſt, when with the weapons of full charged cups, they have overcome the reſt; it is both the baſeſt office, and lamentableſt overthrow to themſelves, that can poſſibly be imagined. For what a barbarous, graceleſſe, and unchriſtian practiſe is this, to take pleaſure in making others drunke? as if it were their glory, and paſtime, and they tooke delight to ſee God diſhonoured, his Spirit grieved, his name blaſphemed, his creatures abuſed, themſelves, and their friends ſoules damned; ſurely ſuch men clime the higheſt ſtep of the ladder of wickedneſſe; thinking their owne ſins will not preſſe them deepe enough into Hell, except they alſo lode themſelves with other mens.
And how ſottiſh is their opinion of victory, In conquering they are moſt overcome.when even in conquering they are moſt overcome: for whilſt they triumph in a drunken victory or conqueſt over their friends, Sathan gets the victory over them: in exceſſive drinking they have overcome all their companions, this they ſee and boaſt of; but they ſee not how they are overcome, ſhamefully foyled, and utterly overthrown by the divell their chief enemy; under whoſe laſh they are like to be everlaſtingly. But let him that delights to make another drunk, reade his doome, Habakuk 2.15, 16. where he ſhall finde, not onelyonly ſhame and ſpewing appointed for his glory, but alſo that a cup of vengeance, even the cup of the Lords right hand is preparing for him.
And laſtly, To bee a tempter the baſeſt office men have.what office ſo baſe as this for men to reſemble Crowes, which live upon carrion, or thoſe wingleſſe Flies, which ſucke a living out of the corrupt blood of uncleanneſſe, is bad enough: but to bee a tempter, to weare the Livery of Sathan, to bee the Pentioner of hell, at the command of that malignant and degenerous Spirit; this is the moſt ignominious and diſhonourable name and ſhame that can be: to be the Hang-mans ſervant, is an honour to it: for to erre is the part of a man; but to ſeduce, is the part of a divell. It is ill to play the wanton, worſe to play the beaſt, worſt of all to play the divill.
But thou wilt ſay. This is true onelyonly of the ruder ſort, An objection anſwered.and more debauched; and ſo pertaines not to thee?
Yes, it doth. For though thou doeſt not force men to pledge thy healths; yet thou wilt intreat, and perſwade them to it, by all the Art and oratory thou canſt uſe; and in caſe they ſtill refuſe, thou wilt think the worſe of them, cenſure them in thy thoughts, and beare them an inward grudg and ſplene in thine heart, if not ſlander and revile them with thy tongue. Nay, doeſt thou not, like the Graecian drunkards, uſe ſome ſuch phraſe as this? let him drinke, or elſe be packing, let him carrouſe, or carry him out of the houſe, whereby a further wrong from others is occaſioned; ſo imitating the Epheſians, who, (as Cicero reports) having baniſhed their Prince Hermodorus, made proclamation, that none ſhould excell another, or if he did ſo, that hee ſhould no longer there dwell, but elſe where inhabit. How ever it likes thee well enough, that others of thy company ſhall by violence enforce them, and this alone makes thee as guilty, as i… thou didſt it thy ſelfe; ſo that to come fairely off, even from thy company, and neither drink nor quarrell, is impoſſible, or, at leaſt, a wonder.
§ 83.
ANd thus you ſee, To damne their owne ſoules the leaſt part of their miſchiefe.that drunkards not only traffick to enrich hel with their owne ſoules, but others alſo: yea, that they are ſo pernicious, that to damne their owne ſoules is the leaſt part of their miſchiefe, for they commonly draw vengeance upon thouſands, by ſeducing ſome, and giving ill example to others.
O the multitude of drunkards that one true drunkard makes! What a multitude of drunkards one true drunkard makes.eſpecially if he be well accompliſhed with ingenuity, and gifts of nature: as when Achitophel's head ſtands upon Simon Magus his ſhoulders, there is a world of miſchiefe towards. A will bent to doe harme, and a wit able to proſecute it, like Cannon ſhot, makes a lane where it goes. For tryall, let ſuch an one tell me, if he can, how many hee hath drawne into the ſame ſinne with him? were he willing, I feare his memory would faile him, though his conſcience hereafter will not faile to evidence the ſame againſt him, with the ſeverall aggravations of each circumſtance. As Ovid ſaid of himſelfe; I am ſecond to none in trifles: ſo the drunkard may truly ſay, I am ſecond to none in tempting, yea, tell me, who are ſuch pandors to ſinne, ſuch factors for hell, as theſe men? who doe the Divell ſuch ſervice, who deſerve ſo great pay from him, as drunkards? A true drunkard is like the Bramble, Iudg. 9.15. which firſt ſet it's ſelfe on fire, and then fired all the Wood: or like one ſick of the Plague, who (as they ſay) is carried with an itching deſire to infect others that are cleare: or like a houſe on fire in the midſt of a City, which (if the winde blowes vehemently) ſtayeth not in the burning of an houſe, or two, but ſets on fire al adjoyning, one, on this ſide; another on that; a third, behind it; a fourth, over againſt it; neither doth the fire ceaſe there, but every one which it hath ſet on fire, kindles as many more, and ſo one another, till, it may be, half, or all the whole City bee conſumed: for this is the drunkards caſe directly, who is the bane of many poore ſoules, beſides his owne. It is S. Baſil's obſervation, that one whore makes many fornicators; but experience ſhewes, that one drunkard makes ten times as many drunkards.
Yea, the more they can ſeduce, the more they glory: as when Theudas had got foure hundred followers, he thought himſelfe a jolly fellow, Acts, 5.36. But this is no other, then the ſetting a mans owne houſe on fire, it burnes many of his nighbours, and hee ſhall anſwer for all the ruines. And ſurely he who gives a man wine to deceive him, is firſt drunke in ſoule, before he can procure the others bodily diſtemper: and to glory in giving weake braines a drench, to ſee them wallow in their filthineſſe; is but to brag how far they are become the Devils children.
§ 84.
TOuching their manner of ſeducing. If the Devill would ſurrender his place it ſhould be to ſome good fellow or other.A drunkard (as if his braines were fired with all the plots, projects, and cunning Stratagems that Hell can yeeld) is as rarely gifted in drawing to ſinne, as the Devill himſelfe; and is become the child of Hell, by as proper a right: ſo that if Sathan would change his office, or were to ſurrender his place to any man alive, it ſhould be to ſome good fellow or other, for as the Chamaeleon can change himſelfe into any colour that it ſits upon, but white and red; or as the Polypus can change colour at the ſight of every object, but blew onelyonly: ſo a drunkard can be any thing, ſave good; he hath learned to handle a man ſo ſweetly, that one would thinke it a pleaſure to be ſeduced; yea, theſe Aſpes will ſting a man ſo, that he ſhall dye ſleeping. The falſeſt hearts, will have the plauſibleſt mouthes; like to Salomons Curteſan, their lips drop as an Hony combe, and their mouth is ſmoother then Oyle; but their end is bitter as wormewood; and ſuch faire and ſmooth communication, is no other then a trap or ſnare of Hony, as Diogenes calls it. Their cuſtome is, with a pleaſing breath, to waft a man into Mare mortuum, tole him on to deſtruction, as we tole beaſts with fodder to the ſlaughter houſe: and to take away all ſuſpition, they will ſo mollifie the ſtiffeneſſe of a mans prejudice, ſo temper and fit him to their owne mold, that once to doubt them, would require the ſpirit of diſcerning.
He is ſuch a pleaſing murtherer, that he tickles a man to death, and makes him (like Salomon's foole) dye laughing. O how many are there, that hate their other enemies, yea, and their friends too, and yet embrace this enemy; becauſe he kiſſeth when he betrayeth; and indeed what fence for the Piſtoll that is charged with the Bullet of friendſhip? Hilary compares it to a Razor in the hand of a counterfeit Barber: as when Vriah was ſet in the forefront of the battell, and honour pretended, murther was meant. Which is the ſole cauſe, that drunkards ſo ſwarme in every corner of the land, as where ſhall a man come, and not finde one of theſe ſeducers.
§ 85.
INdeed, How drun kards fwarme in every corner.heretofore they were as rare as Wolves; but now they are as common as Hogs: heretofore it was the ſinne of Tinkers, Oſtlers, Beggers; &c. now of Farmers, Citicens, Eſquires, Knights; &c. heretofore S. Pauls ſpeech was currant, they that are drunken are drunken in the night; now they feare not the light, the Sunne-ſhine, no, they make no difference of nights or dayes; except this, that drunkenneſſe moſt rages on the Lords day: heretofore S. Peters argument was more then probable, theſe are not drunk, for it is but the third houre of the day; now men are growne ſuch husbands, as by that time they will returne their ſtockes, and have their braines crowing before day, or at leaſt if you will finde many men ſober, you muſt take them in their beds, for they riſe up earely to follow drunkennes: formerly men were ſo unacquainted with inſatiate drinking, that the divell himſelf was called Robin good-fellow; now a man is hated as bad as the devill; if hee refuſe to bee a good fellow (id eſt, a drunkard) There was a Streete in Rome called Vicus Sobrius, Sober-ſtreet, becauſe there was never a drinking houſe in it; finde ſuch a Street in any City or populous Town in England, and ſome good man or other will put it in the Chronicle: yea, if England plies her liquor ſo faſt as ſhe begins, Germany is like to looſe her Charter, for drunkenneſſe, and the French diſeaſe, are upon termes of quitting their Countries aleagiance, and to be made free deniſons of England; nay, have they not already given up the bucklers to the Engliſh; who as in faſhions, ſo in vices, will needs bee the Ape of every Nation. It is a diſeaſe, whereof this Nation and generation is ſicke at the very heart,
Yea, woe is me, how is the world turned beaſt? what bowſing and quaffing, and whiffing, and healthing, is there on every bench? and what reeling, and ſtaggering in our Streets? what drinking by the yard, the Dye, the dozen? what forcing of pledges, what quarrells for meaſure, and forme? how is that become an excuſe of villany, which any villany might rather excuſe, I was drunk? How hath this torrent, yea, this deluge of exceſſe in drinke drowned the face of the earth, and riſen many Cubits above the higheſt mountains of religion and good lawes? Yea, would to God I might not ſay with a Reverend Prelate of ours, that which I feare, and ſhame, and grieve, to ſay, S. Hall.that even ſome of them which ſquare the Arke for others, would not inwardly drowne themſelves, and diſcover their nakedneſſe hereby. That other inundation ſcowred the world, this impures it, and what but a deluge of fire and brimſtone, can waſh it from ſo abominable filthineſſe?
O the drunkenneſſe that is in one day in this Land, yea, in this City, yea, at ſome Fayre, or Market to bee ſeene. For goe but to the Towns end, where a Fayre is kept, and there they lye, as if ſome field had been fought; herelyes one man, there another; yea alaſſe for woe! a woman, nay, a ſwine with a womans face: or goe into the backe-Lanes, and there you have them, among Frogs and Toades, their fit matches. And in all probability, this infectious vice of drunken good-fellowſhip is like to ſtick by this Nation; for ſo long as the multitude of offenders benumes the ſenſe of offending, a common blot is held no ſtaine. Drunkenneſſe is as odious with us, as Adultery is in that State, wherein no body is chaſt.
§ 86.
BUt to goe on (though I dare not ſhew all their ſlights they have to draw men on, leaſt in reproving, Drunkards like Iulian who never did a man a good turn but it was to damn his ſoule.I become a teacher, as it fared with another in the like caſe.
A drunkard for kindneſſe is another Iulian, who was oftentimes bountifull, but how? he never did a man a good turne, but it was to damne his ſoule: hee ſo confirmes the profeſſion of his love with vowes, proteſtations, and promiſes (as a large complement, for the moſt part, uſhers in a cloſe craft that you would thinke Ionathan's love to David was nothing in compariſon, as no faces look lovelier then the painted. But accept of gain from him, and you are loſt for ever; for, with Siſera, you can no ſooner taſt of this Iael's milk, but you ſhall feele a nayle in your Temples; ſo that the wickedneſſe of a man which feareth God is better, then the good entreaty of a drunkard; his proffers are like the Fowlers ſhrape when he caſts meat to birds, which is not out of charity, to relieve; but out of treachery, to enſnare them, they lay waite, ſaith Ieremy, as he that ſetteth ſnares; and make a pit to catch men, Ieremiah 5.26. or like Traps wee ſet for vermin, ſeeming charitable, when they intend to kill: and thou mayeſt anſwer theſe curſed tempters, which delight in the murther of ſoules, as the woman of Endor did Saul, wherefore ſeekeſt thou to take me in a ſnare, to cauſe me to dye? 1 Sam. 28.9. Hee, and the Uſurer loves alike, for their charity is no better than cruelty; if they reach you bread with one hand, be ſure there is a ſtone in the other to do you a miſchiefe; for under the taſt of Nectar, hee will poyſon you with the water of Styx; he is another Abſalom, who made a feaſt for Amnon, whom hee meant to kill; like ſome prurient lecher, who provides a rich banquet for one whom he meanes to corrupt and defloure; or like the Ivie, that by embraceing the tree ſucks out the heart of it; and ther is no ſubtilty like that which deceives a man, He whom the Lord loves ſhall be deliveeed from their meretricious allurementsand hath thankes for the labour; for as our Saviour ſaith; bleſſed is the man that is not offended at their ſcoffes, Matth. 11.6. ſo, bleſſed is the man that is not taken with their wiles: for herein alone conſiſts the difference, hee whom the Lord loves, ſhall bee delivered from their meritricious allurements, Eccleſ. 7.26. and he whom the Lord abhors ſhall fall into their ſnares, Prov. 22.14.
§ 87.
NOw if they cannot ſeduce us, they wil envie and hate us.
Firſt, they will envie us, If they can not ſedute us they wil envie and hate us.becauſe wee will not run with them to the ſame exceſſe of ryot, 1 Iohn 3.12. Prov. 29.27. Pſalme 69.12. Every man is borne a Caine, envying that good in another, which hee wants himſelfe; but a ſwiniſh drunkard delights to ſee the temperance, ſobriety, 1. How drunkards envie the ſober and cenſionable.and other eminent graces of him that feares God, and will not doe as he doth; as fore eyes delight to look upon the Sun. Lot vexed himſelfe, becauſe hee ſaw men bad; theſe, becauſe men are good; not that God's Law is broken, but becauſe others keepe it better than themſelves.
It is true, envie knowes what it will not confeſſe; but experience ſhewes that ſordid drunkards are as full of envie, towards ſuch as will not conſort with them, as a Serpent is full of poyſon. And you may know it by this token, doe they not make it their Grace, both before and after dinner, to diſgrace ſuch an Innocent? O that ſo many Loaves and Fiſhes, as did feed five thouſand in the Wildernes, would but ſtop their mouths, that envie and ſpeake evill of ſuch as they know no other fault by but their vertue; they pick their owne ſorrowes, out of the joyes of other men; and out of others ſorrowes likewiſe, they aſſume their owne joyes: whereas worth begets, in thoſe that are magnanimous, emulation; in baſe minds, it contrarily begets envie; will you know the reaſon? Hee that hath loſt all good himſelfe, is vexed to ſee it in another, and can no way be pacified, except that other become as bad as himſelfe: as Demonides having himſelfe crooked feet, and loſing both his ſhoes, to be even with him that had found them, deſired the gods, that the parties feete might be as crooked as his ſhoes were. But how juſt is it with God, that this fire of enuy, ſhould be puniſhed with the fire of Hell?
§ 88.
2 SEcondly, as is their enuy, 2 How they will ha…e them.ſuch is their hatred and malice: they hate the good, becauſe they will not be ſo evill as themſelves, Micha. 3.2. Mathew, 10.22. Iohn, 15.19. 1 King. 22.8. Proverbs, 29.27. The temperance and ſobriety of a good man, is as great a vexation to them; as their converſation is to him: for as if Nature had made them antipathites to vertue, they ſo hate righteouſneſſe, that they will hate a man for it, and ſay of good living, as Feſtus did of great learning, it makes a man mad; but they cannot know who are ſober, that are mad themſelves.
Neither is this of theirs an ordinary hatred, VVhichWhich hatred is the moſt bitter and exorbitant of all othersfor they even eate their owne hearts in anger, that they cannot eate ours in revenge; we pray for the opening of their eyes, and they pray for the pulling out of ours; we deſire the turning of their hearts, and they wiſh the cutting of our throats: no ſuch concord, no ſuch diſcord (ſaith one of the Learned) as that which proceeds from Religion; My name, ſaith Luther, is more odious unto them, then any thiefe, or mutherer; as Chriſt was more deteſtable to the Iewes then Barrabas. Behold ſaith David, mine enemies, for they are many, and they hate me with a cruell hatred, Pſal. 25.19. yea, ſo cruell, that it makes their teeth gnaſh, and their hearts burſt againe, Acts, 7.54. which made the truth's adverſaries give St. Paul ſtripes above meaſure; and the Heathen Emperours to deviſe ſuch cruel Tortures for all thoſe, which but profeſt themſelves Chriſtians.
You cannot anger a ſotted drunkard worſe, then to doe well; yea, he hates you more bitterly for this, and the credit you gaine thereby, then if you had cheated him of his patrimony, with your owne diſcredit.
That there is no hatred ſo virulent and bitter, as that which is occaſioned by vertuous living, and profeſſing of Chriſt's name, our Saviour himſelfe proves copiouſly, Math. 10. Luk. 21. where he ſhewes, that it makes them forget all naturall affection; whether it be that which deſcends, as of Parents to children; or that which aſcends, as of children to Parents; or that which is mutuall, of Friends, Kindred, or Brethren one to another; ſo that be they never ſo neere allied, they ſhall betray each other, and cauſe them to dye, even for his names ſake, as the Text hath it.
Neither doth their malice extend it ſelfe to this or that perſon onelyonly, but theſe Hamans ſo hate the Religious, that they wiſh, as Caligula once did of the Romans, that they had all but one head, that ſo they might cut it off at a blow, were it in their power, Eſter, 3.6.8.9.13. Micha, 3.2. Pſal. 83.4. But our comfort is, they have not ſo much authority as malice, reſembling the Serpent Porphyrus, which abounds with poyſon, but can hurt none, for want of teeth.
§ 89.
How their envy and hatred vents it ſelfe at the mouth and hands.NOw you muſt know that this envy and hatred of theirs is too ſtrong to containe it ſelfe, within the heart, and thereupon breakes forth at their mouth and hands.
Beſides ſeeing the former ſtratagems will not prevaile, and that they cannot allure, nor perſwade to drunkenneſſe, and the like ſinnes, and ſo worke their wills upon the ſober and conſcionable by ſubtilty & faire meanes; they wil ſeek to compel and enforce them to do as they do: like as when luſtfull Amnon could not winne Tamer by faire meanes, he deflowers her by force. For as the Devill, who raignes as a Prince in the world of the ungodly, Eph. 2.2. is for ſtrength, a Lyon, and a Fox for wit: ſo is the world it ſelf, if it cannot infect us, it will afflict us; if it cannot corrupt our ſoules, it will taynt our good names; it is (not like ſome baſhfull Suter) eaſily anſwered, but ſo impudent, that while we have breath, it will never give us over, thinking that ſo long as there is life, there is hope.
Now to effect their end, and bring about their purpoſe, they uſe divers and ſundry meanes, venting their hearts at their mouthes in words, and by action in their hands: with their mouthes they wil cenſure, ſcoffe at, revile, raile on, nicke-name, ſlander, falſely accuſe, curſe, threaten &c. and with their hands they will (at leaſt if they may be permitted) impriſon, ſmite, hurt; and laſtly, if all this will not doe, they will kill us; as there be more wayes to the wood then one.
To reckon up all the trickes they doe, and would uſe, if the law reſtrained them not, and to reckon up how many Creatures in the Vniverſe, were a taske equally poſſible and endleſſe: beſides, it would overmuch ſwell the heape; and the Pages, like fiſh, would grow into a multitude, wherefore I will ſelect out onelyonly two verball properties of their enuy and hatred, and paſſe over the reſt.
The malice and enuy of drunkards vents it ſelfe at their mouthes, either.
1 By cenſuring
or
2 By ſlandering
us