Sin Stigmatized, Part 1 · Section 8
§ 8
3 THe Drunkard deprives himfelfe, Drunkards deprive themſelves of ſenſe and motion.not onelyonly of the uſe of his reaſon, but alſo of his ſenſes; not of his underſtanding alone, but of his ſtanding and motion alſo; beaſts have no reaſon, no more have they, but beaſts can uſe their limms, and ſo cannot they: drinke not onelyonly robs him of reaſon and ſpeech (which two things diſtinguiſh beaſt and man) but likewiſe of ſenſe and motion, wherein beaſts excell ſtocks and ſtones, yea, it ſo blockefies him for the preſent, that neither hand nor foote can doe their office, as Terence hath it.
It is no rare thing in our ſwiniſh age, for men to imitate the ancient Perſians, who though they were able to carry themſelves into their banquetting rooms, yet they were alwayes carried out of them; in which caſe they can neither prevent future danger, nor feele preſent ſmart: why, he is gone, according to the Drunkards phraſe, that is gone in his ſenſes, gone in his ſtanding, gone in his underſtanding.
Indeede, as there is a meane in drinking, which is lawfull, ſo there bee degrees of drunkenneſſe: the firſt draught …f wine comforteth the heart and ſtomack, the ſecond inflames the liver, the third fumeth into the head, and makes men fooles, the fourth quite takes away their ſenſes, and makes them to adore their god Bacchus, like beaſts upon all foure, or rather like blockes, as having never a leg to ſtand upon; ſo what is feighned of Proteus, viz. that he was transformed, firſt, into a Lyon, then into a boare, and at laſt into a tree, is really verified in many a Drunkard: as have you not knowne ſome of them towards their latter end, in Cleomenes condition, who carrouſing after the manner of the Scythians; dranke ſo much, that he became and continued ever after ſenſeleſſe.
What ſhall I ſay of a Drunkard? that little mouth of his, hath ſwallowed downe himſelfe, his paunch hath buried the wine, and in the wine is his wit buried, his ſenſes, his ſoule, and perhaps his laſt wealth; yea, hee is dead as well as buried: for you may ring a bell in his eare, hee heares not, much leſſe can he ſpeake, yea ſcoffe him, rob him, ſpurne him if you will, he feeles not, he ſtirres not, much leſſe can he quarrell.
Matheolus writing of the Aſſes of Thuſcia, ſaith, that when they have fed upon Hemlockes, they ſleepe ſo ſoundly that they ſeeme to be dead, in ſo much as the countrymen many times more then flea off halfe their skins before the Aſſes will awake; theſe Drunkards are ſuch Aſſes, when they have drunke ſtiffe, and are fallen aſleepe, you may halfe flea them before they will awake: I have knowne it ſo in effect by one of them, whom no violence, or paine could a wake, ſo that hee is more like a ſtocke or ſtone then a reaſonable or living creature.
Or if he be not ſo dead as a dore naile, yet at leaſt the drinke hath turned him out of dores, for whoſoever would ſpeake with him, muſt ſtay untill hee come home againe to himſelfe: and hereupon, when Cyrus in his childhood was asked by his Grandfather Aſtyages, why at ſuch a feaſt hee dranke no wine? he returned this anſwere, full of witty ſimplicity: becauſe, ſaid he, I tooke it to be poyſon, for I have ſeene it to ſpoyle men of their wit, ſenſe, ſpeech, health, ſtrength, and motion: neither proves it leſſe hurtfull to Drunkards then ranck poyſon, but farre more; for it intoxicateth the braine, benummeth the ſenſes, enfeebleth the joynts and ſinewes, and bringeth a man into a temporary Lethargy, beſides the evill that it brings to the ſoule, which is farre worſe; ſo that a beaſt is a man to ſuch a man: for what is he better then a walking tankard at beſt, as Aurelius called Bonoſus, that quaffing Emperour, who afterward (being overcome by Probus) hanged himſelfe, leaving this to be ſpoken in his praiſe, that he was not borne to leade an Army, but to lift a pot. But in caſe aforeſaid, namely, when they have drunke themſelves deafe, and blind, and dumbe, nay, dead and ſenſeleſſe, to what can I ſo fitly compare them, as to the Idolls of the heathen, which have eyes, and ſee not; eares, and heare not; tongues, and ſpeake not; noſes, and ſmell not (no not their owne vomit) hands, and handle not; feete, and walke not, being as dead men, that can neither ſit, ſtand, nor goe, nay worſe by farre: for hee that is dead, can doe neither good nor ill, but drunkards are dead to all goodneſſe whatſoever; and alive, yea, very active to all wickedneſſe; ſo that their condition is farre worſe then the very beaſts that periſh, Pſal. 49.12.20.
But admit the beſt, namely, that they are beaſts, you cannot but grant that theſe uncleane beaſts, which wallow in the mire of ſenſuality; theſe brutiſh Drunkards, which transforme themſelves through exceſſe; are even thoſe ſwine, whom the Legion carries headlong to the Sea, or pit of perdition, Mat. 8.32.
Or will they have themſelves to be men? Surely to come to drinke, as to a Sacrifice unto the belly, is a moſt baſe end brutiſh Idolatry; and what men are they like, or to whom may they fitly be compared? ſurely unto none, except Epicurus, who maintained, that ſenſuall pleaſure was the only Summum bonum: or Cerinthus the Hereticke, who verily beleived, that the chiefe felicity in Heaven, ſhould be eating and drinking, and ſuch like fleſhly luſts.