Sin Stigmatized, Part 1 · Section 39 – Section 40
§ 39.
BUt to make it undeniable that Drunkards are fooles: Drunkenneſſe either findes them fooler makes them fooles that uſe is.ſee how drunkenneſſe either finds men fooles, or makes them fooles that follow it. Firſt, it commonly finds them fooles, for exceſſe, is a true argument of folly, Plutarch was wont to laugh at thoſe, that would be counted wiſe as Plato, and yet would be drunke with Alexander.
Indeed we uſe to ſay when the drinke is in, the wit is out; but ſurely if the wit were not firſt out, drinke (in exceſſe) would not be admitted in. A wiſe man will moderate his appetite, maſter his unruly affections, gaineſay all unreaſonable requeſts; whereas to be overcome with exceſſe, and overſwayed by every idle ſolicitor, is the cognizance of a foole. Yea, who more ſottiſh, then he which refuſeth to be a Saint, that he may be a beaſt? who more fooliſh, then thoſe prophane Eſaus, that will ſell their birthright, reaſon, and the bleſſing of grace here, and glory hereafter, for a meſſe of pottage, a little ſenſuall delight, and with Adam, part with their ſalvations for an Apple? Yea, Eſau was a foole for ſelling away his birth-right, but in ſelling it away for a meſſe of pottage, he was twice a foole. What greater folly and madneſſe, ſaith St. Gregory, then for a little worldly pleaſure, to looſe an eternall kingdome, and then reſt in torment for evermore?
Many cenſure Herods groſſe impotencie, and yet ſecond it with a worſe; giveing away their pretious ſoules for the ſhort pleaſure of ſinne; for what is halfe a kingdome, yea, the whole world to a ſoule? ſo much therefore is there madneſſe greater, as their loſſe is more.
Yea, the Drunkard is a foole touching temporalls. I would faine know, whether is wiſeſt the prodigall waſter, or the covetous griper; he that with a wanton eye, a liquoriſh tongue, and a gameſome hand, indiſcreetly, ravells out his Aunceceſtors faire poſſeſſions, it may be a hundred pounds per Annum in three yeares, and then leads the reſt of his dayes in priſon, there to repent at leiſure, having for his attendants, ſorrow, griefe, diriſion, beggery, contempt, &c. or he that to get a hundred pounds per Annum, and onelyonly poſſeſſe, not uſe the ſame, after he hath got it, perhaps three yeares, is content to be weeping, and wayling, and gnaſhing of teeth in the priſon of Hell for evermore? without queſtion theſe two are both fooles alike.
In a word, what greater folly then for a little tickling of the palate, a kinde of running banquet, to hazard the loſſe of eternall comfort, and expoſe ones ſelfe to a devouring fire, an everlaſting burning? Iſay. 33.14. ſurely in this caſe if a man were not either fooliſh, or drunke before hand, he could never yeeld to be made drunke.
Secondly, or in caſe they have wit, and other good naturall parts before, and thoſe well improved; yet this vice makes them become fooles, for drunkenneſſe baniſheth wit.
Reaſon is ſo clowded with thoſe fogs and miſts, which aſcend up out of the kitchen of the ſtomacke to the braine, that their wits runne a wollgathering, as the ſaying is.
A full belly makes an empty braine, when a maſſe of moyſture (like the firſt Chaos) is in the ſtomacke, all the faculties of the ſoule are void and without forme, and darkneſſe is upon the face of it, untill there be another fiat, even a voice from Heaven commanding a new light.
Drunkenneſſe takes from men wit, memory, and all other their good parts; as how many of theſe quagmiriſts have loſt their ſoules ſight by overmuch drinking, as Dionyſius the Tyrant did his bodily? How many old men through a long cuſtome in this vice, are grown ſottiſh and ſtupid, as if their ſpirits were buried in beefe-pots? whom wee may fitly compare to the people of Pandorum, a Country in the Indies, who (as they ſay) have white heads in their youth, which turne cole black in their old age.
Yea, drunkenneſſe beſots the ſtrongeſt braine, and beaſtiates even the braveſt ſpirits. When the Grecians (that ſage Nation) fell to this vice, they mightily decayed in braine: and take this for a rule; while Bacchus is a mans chiefe god, Apollo will never keep him company.
Neither are men rob'd by it of their naturall parts only; but drunkenneſse darkens the light both of nature and grace, and ſo yeelds men over unto Sathan, to bee led, as it were blindfold, into all manner of ſinne and wickedneſſe, as we ſhall ſee anon.
Yea, (which is moſt remarkable) this may ſeeme to be the drunkards ayme; for being at it, he will never give over drinkking, till hee hath laid reaſon his keeper to ſleep, and blown out that little light which is left in him, and deſperately drowned the voyce and cry of conſcience.
§ 40
BUt before I go on, An objection anſwered.an objection would bee anſwered; for me thinks I heare ſome impatient drunkard reply to what hath beene ſaid; that his wits (God bee thanked) are as freſh as ever, and although he hath beene drunk a hundred times, and ſo deprived himſelfe both of reaſon and ſenſe for the preſent yet his wits have alwayes returned againe: which I grant in part, for I confeſſe it is not ſo with them all, at all times; every drunkard is not wholly forſaken of his reaſon, wit, and memory, (though there wits at the beſt be but as it were aſleep) but ſure I am, it is ſo with the beſt of them at certaine times.
We read that Philip King of Macedon, a Prince both wiſe and juſt, being drunk, Many examples of drink beſ…tting me…gave a wrong ſentence againſt Machetas, and condemned him being innocent; which hee perceiving, made his appeale from King Philip drunke, to King Philip ſober; who being come to himſelfe, and better conſidering of it, reverſt his former ſentence. And I have my ſelfe ſeene ſitting in a Grocers ſhop (for ſuch men I ſeldome meete in a Taverne) a Scholler and a witty man, being ſomewhat gone in drink, take up a Sand barrell, in ſtead of a boule of Beere, and (having ſaid, here Coſen to all our friends) hold it to his mouth, untill a good part of the ſand ran in betweene his teeth; and have beene told of many the like; as, that one being abroad late, ſeeing the ſhaddow of a ſigne-poſt croſſe the ſtreet, ſtroue to lift his legg over, but geſſing the matter impoſſible, he fell to chafeing and curſing, that the City was no better ordered; that another fell to cuffing of a poſt for not giving him the wall, and being told that it was a poſt, made reply, he might have blowne his horne then: that another ſeeing the Moone ſhine bright through a round hole, would needs light his candle at it: that another being fallen down in Fleetſtreete, ſhould reply, when ſome admoniſhed him, and offered to lift him up, what can I not bee quiet in mine owne roome? And you have heard what Athenaeus relates, how a Tavern was, by the fancy and imagination of a drunken crue, turned into a Gally; who having a tempeſt in their heads, cauſed by a ſea of drinke within, verily thought this taphouſe on Land a Pinnace at Sea, and the preſent ſtorm ſo vehement, that they unladed the ſhip, throwing the goods out at window, inſtead of overbord; calling the Conſtable, Neptune, and the Officers, Tritons; whereupon ſome got under the tables, as if they lay under hatches, another holding a great pot for the Maſte; all crying out, that ſo many brave Gentlemen ſhould be caſt away.
And could this be, if drunkards were not ſtupendiouſly beſotted? yea, furely if their wits did not dwell in a fenne, they could not have ſuch muddy conceits: but ſo it is, as I have prooved by ſundry, and thoſe ſtrong, evidences
I confeſſe it is the better for them that they are fooles, the caſe being rightly conſidered: for what Owen ſpeakes in the Epigram, may bee applyed to ſundry drunkards,
Good Wine, they ſay, makes Vinegar moſt tart:
Thou the more witty, the more wicked art.
Yea, had they been born meere naturals, they had either beene in no fault, or in a great deale leſſe fault, then they are. And ſo much of the drunkards wit; now of his memory.