Sin Stigmatized, Part 1 · Section 6 – Section 7
§ 6.
Drunkards inferiour to beaſts in five particulars. viz.
1 In ſwilling to exceſſe, whereas beaſts keepe within the bounds of moderation.
2 In looſing the prerogative of their creation, wheras beaſts keepe theirs.
3 In depriving themſelves of ſenſe and motion, wherein beaſts excell plants and ſtones.
4 In that they ſubvert reaſon, & prove cruell to themſelves, yea, ofttimes become their owne executioners.
5 In transforming themſelves into the condition of evill Angells, whoſe whole delight is to ſin and make others ſinne, and whoſe portion is in the burning lake.
1 Firſt, it is not ſo bad to be a Beaſt, Beasts know when they have enoughas for a man (who hath more noble endowments) to live like a beaſt, which is the Drunkards caſe, who in their practiſe reſemble beaſts, ſaving that beaſts are therin better then they: as for example, beaſts, whether Horſes, Oxen, or any other brutiſh creature (as knowing when they have enough, when once they have drank ſufficient to quench their thirſt, and to ſatisfie nature) have ſo much reaſon and good manners in them as to forbeare to drinke any more then they neede; yea, they cannot be forced by any violence to drinke againe; which ſhewes that exceſſe is a moſt unnaturall and abominable ſin: whereas the drunkard drinks double and treble, yea, ten times more then hee needs, and not onelyonly ſatisfies nature, but alſo gluts and oppreſſeth it with ſuperfluity, even unto ſurfeit.
Yea, this even one of their owne Poets have confeſt; who, when his wife askt him whether hee were not aſhamed to lye drunke in the ſtreets like a beaſt; replyed, thou lyeſt like a whore, for if I were a beaſt I would not be drunke. I marvell how a Drunkard could give ſo good a reaſon.
Neither is this all, for as beaſts know when they have enough, theſe brutiſh Animals are ſo far from having command over their affections, from putting a knife to their throate when they have taken enough, as Salomon adviſeth, Pro. 23.2. that they will be ready to ſheath it in the Drawers belly, if hee ſhall but offer to ſet bounds to their throats; at leaſt they will unbleſſe themſelves, when meanes, and time, and company, will not permit another Sacrifice to their Bacchus (their belly) ſo that to ſay the truth, and give beaſts their due in this particular, it is a wrong to beaſts, to call drunkenneſſe their ſinne, for generally they are ſober, and theſe ſo much worſe then beaſts, as they ought to be better.
§ 7.
2 DRunkards are worſe then beaſts, Beasis remaine the ſame they were created, but Drunkards ſhame their creation.in that beaſts remaine the ſame they were created; whereas Drunkards ſubvert natures inſtitution, ceaſe to bee what God made them, reaſonable creatures, and ſuffer themſelves to be tranſformed by drinke into ſwine, as Elpenor, one of Vlyſſes companions was turned by Circe into a Hog, ſo ſhaming their creation: and whereas other ſinnes deprive a man of Gods Image, this deprives him of mans, leaving him neither the uſe of reaſon nor ſpeech, without which (but for the name and dimenſions of a man) he is no better then a beaſt, as the Foole ſaid of his Couleſtaffe, when he rid upon it into the water; as good no horſe but for the name of a horſe: yea, the Drunkards ſoule is made a ſlave to his ſenſe, and whilſt this rebells, ſhe that worſt may muſt hold the Candle.
Now a man having loſt the uſe of his ſoule, is worſe then a beaſt which keeps the uſe of his inſtinct; yea, a man that hath loſt his ſenſes, is therein worſe then a beaſt that hath them, as ſure as a living Dog is better then a dead Lyon: wherefore in this regard alſo the Drunkard ſhould have a name inferiour to that of beaſt, and not be reputed ſo good.