The Reasonableness of Personal Reformation, Treatise 1 · Chapter 4

The Reasonableness of Personal Reformation · Treatise 1 · Chapter 4

p. 57CHAP. IV.

Wherein Reason and Conscience are again consulted about the Practice of Drunkenness; and their righteous and impartial Censure given upon that Case.

SECT. I.

THough our Souls and Bodies be of vastly different Natures and Originals, yet they do clasp and embrace each other with most dear and tender affection. 'Tis marvellous to behold such a Spiritual and Heavenly Creature as the Soul in all men, fervently loving, and in most men fondly doting upon a lump of Clay, a clod of Earth: It sympathizeth tenderly with it. If the meanest Member of the Body be in pain, the Soul is presently concerned for it, and evidences it self to be so, by commanding the eyes both to watch and weep; the Tongue to complain and moan; the Hands to bind up its Wounds with all imaginable tenderness, and carefully defend it from the least injurious touch… But if the whole be in danger, how do its nobler Faculties of Understanding, Memory and Invention, awaken and p. 58bestir themselves to the uttermost for its deliverance and safety.

Whilst the Soul lives in union with the Body, 'tis filled with assiduous (and too often with exorbitant and distracting) cares for its necessary support and comfort. And when it must be separated from it by death, what strong aversations to death doth it ordinarily discover? The strong tyes and bonds betwixt it and the Body, cannot be loosed without much conflict and strugling, evidenced by these Emphatical groans it sends forth; groans which other men understand not, nor can be supposed to understand, till they themselves come to feel the parting. Pull.

The reason of all which, lies in the intimate relation which is betwixt these different Natures, which God hath married together in the Womb, from which time they have been companions and partners in all the comforts and troubles of life. The Body is the Soul's house in which i… dwells, and still shall dwell, till death dissolve it. 'Tis the Soul's Garment, that clothes and covers it. It hath worn this Garment of Flesh from the beginning, and is to wear it still, till Sickness hath brought it to Rags, and Death stript it from the Soul.

'Tis the Tool and Instrument by which it doth all its Works, whilst it is in this state of composition; and therefore the Soul cannot but love it fervently. No man ever yet hated his own Flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it.

p. 59SECT. II.

The case so standing betwixt the Soul and Body, the wisdom or folly of the Soul is plainly discovered in its way and manner of governing the Body, as the love and prudence of an Husband is in the government of his Wife; Or the Master in ordering the Affairs of his House; or the neat breeding of a Man in the comely wearing of his Garments; Or the skill and care of an Artificer in the brightness, keenness, and sharpness of his Tools.

Some Husbands give evidence to the world of their governing-prudence and ability, in such an allowance of liberty to their Wives, as the Laws of Conjugal Love require, and their Estates and Incomes will conveniently bear, and no more; and in restraining their Extravagances, as well as by encouraging their vertuous Courses, in keeping back no due encouragement to Vertue, nor giving the least encouragement unto Vice.

A well-bred man, that carries with him a becoming-sense of his Quality, and the Decorum he ought accordingly to observe, will wear his Garments decently, and becoming his Rank: They shall be sure to be neat and clean, and sit fit and comely upon his Body. He abhors to wear a Garment tumbled in the Mire, and go like a Beast, without regard to his Reputation.

No prudent Owner and Governour of an House, will let the Rain drop through the Roof, nor choak up the Passage to his Door with a nasty p. 60Dung-hill. His House within shall be neat, and not nasty: The Rooms clean and comely: And yet abhors to suffer superfluous Ornaments, and costly Vanities to swallow up his Estate that should maintain it, and bring Bailiffs (more odious than a Dunghill) to his very Doors.

The curious Artificer neither grinds away the substance of his Instruments to make them bright and glittering, and set an Edge too fine to hold one minutes use; nor yet suffers them to be thrown aside in some neglected corner, where Rust and Flaws shall render them utterly useless, or make him blush at the botches such Instruments will cause in his Work.

The prudent Husbandman will neither break the heart of his Ground for want of rest and compost, nor yet over-load it with dressing, which brings forth nothing but rank and useless Weeds; He will in a fit season turn in a stream of Water to his Meadows, like a Cordial-draught to fainting spirits; but will not drown it, and rot the very roots of his Grass, by letting in too much, or by suffering it to lie under Water too long. He will feed his Horse high enough to perform his Journey, and carry him through the Mire; but will not feed him to such an heighth, that the Rider shall neither be able to sit, nor command him.

In all these cases, the common prudence of every man, directs him to that just mediocrity, wherein both his Honour and Profit do apparently lie. And what we say in such common cases and concerns as these, is as true, and much more excellent in the Soul's prudent government of its own Body, unto which it was espoused in p. 61the Womb, and is its dear and constant Partner, both in present and future Good or Evil. 'Tis the Garment it wears, the Instrument it useth, and the Field it cultiva…es. It must neither deny the Body those necessary Supports and Comforts which God and Nature allow it, nor yet surfeit and overcharge it with more than it is able to bear. In either of these Extreams, the extream folly of the Soul is discovered.

SECT. III.

Now the dethroning of Reason, and frequent Oppressions of Nature by the practice of Drunk…nness, is the highest Exaltation of Folly in the Soul of Man; plainly manifesting its ignorance and inability to order and govern the Body, to which it is married by a vital Union.

Here's a foolish Soul by misgovernment, dishonouring, and destroying its vigorous and comely Body, under a pretence of Love and Kindness to it. We account it one of the greatest outward Infelicities in this World, incident to a discreet and virtuous Woman, to be headed and governed by a sottish Fool, neither able to govern himself, or her, nor give a reason of his own Actions or Commands. A Man whose folly shall make her blush in all sober Companies he comes into, and forces her upon such a Course of Life, as she perfectly abhors, and will bring speedy Ruin upon her; all Men pity such a Case as this. And this is the very Case of many a comely, vigorous Body.

Only such a Woman hath two reliefs under her Bondage, which the Body of a Drunkard p. 62wants. She can sometimes withdraw and retire from his Company, and enjoy the relief of her Solitude, which the wretched Body of a Drunkard cannot do till Death, but is tied day and night to the Company of its foolish Soul, which is frequently abusing it, and imposing upon it.

Besides, such a Woman may haply over-live her vicious, abusive Husband, and spend many a comfortable year in the World with a more discreet, sober, and religious Partner of her Life, whose Sobriety, Discretion, Piety, and Love shall make full Compensation for all those years of Misery and Slavery she endured before. But the Case before us, admits no such Relief: For as long as ever the Body lives and breathes, the Soul is, and must be with it, and in it. And tho Death will for a time separate and divorce them, yet the Bodies second Marriage at the Resurrection can be with no other but the same Soul which oppre…sed and ruined it in this World And this second Marriage will be far worse than the first. For tho it were the sottish Souls slave and drudge in this World, and suffered many … sickness, shame, and loss by its Folly; yet in the World to come it must be its Partner and Companion in Hell-torments for evermore, in a… much as it was the Instrument the Soul used i… most of those Sins committed by it in this World And this is the case of all Bodies married to and governed by Souls that have neither Reason▪ nor Religion enough prudently and soberly to order and govern their own Bodies.

p. 63SECT. IV.

Sad and doleful therefore are the Laments and Complaints of the Bodies of Drunkards, against the Folly and Tyranny of their Souls; and as just as sad. Let me therefore here act the part of an Advocate for your Bodies, which is a part of your selves, and to which by the Law of Nature you owe Love, Care, and Honour; or rather by a Prosopopaea, let me bring in the Body sighing out its own Complaints in the Ears of its own Soul, and thus bemoaning it self to it.

Oh, my Soul! I have cause to lament the day that ever I was married to such a sottish Fool as thou art, who art destitute both of Wisdom and Love to Rule and Govern me. I may justly resume Iob's Lamentation upon thy account, and say with him, Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night wherein it was said, there is a man-child conceived. Why died I not from the Womb? Why did I not giv… up the Ghost when I came out of the Belly? For now should I have lien still and been quiet; I should have slept; then I had been at rest.

I have been a perfect Slave and Drudge to thy unreasonable Lusts and Impositions. I was once an active, vigorous, comely Body, and hadst thou been Wise and Sober, I had been happy. But thou hast been a cruel Tyrant to me, oppressing and loading me with more than I was able to stand under. Thou hast plunged me many times into those puddles of Excess, wherein thou hast drowned thy own Reason, and my Health. My well-mixed Beauty is now p. 64turned into the colour of flaming Fire; my Hands and Legs shake, my Tongue falters; my natural Crasis and Temperament is destroyed. Thou hast made me miserable in this World, and intendest to make me more wretched in the World to come.

Sober Nature gave me my stint and measure. I knew when it was enough, and gave thee sufficient Items and Intimations (amidst thy foolish Frolicks) that I could neither with Honour or Safety bear one Glass more. But thou wast deaf to all my moans, and shewedst more Mercy to thy Horse than me. Sick or well, able or unable, live or die, I must take in the full number of Cups and Bottles thou enjoynedst me to take. Like another Pharoah, thou hast required of me the full tale, whether I had strength to perform it or no. Yea, like another Devil, thou hast sometimes cast me into fiery Fevers, and watry Dropsies; and will next cast me, if thou continue this course, into Hell-fire it self.

Other Souls have set thee a better Pattern in their more sober and prudent Government of their Bodies. They give their Bodies the true Pleasure of the Creature, by keeping them to that happy Mediocrity in which it consists. They devote their Bodies to the Service of God; thou hast devoted me to the immediate Service of the Devil. A Majestick Beauty sits upon their Faces; Sottishness and Folly upon mine. Their Knees are daily bowed in Prayer to God; mine shake and tremble in the Service of the Devil. They enjoy pure and sanctified Pleasures every day; but I am denied the sober Pleasures of a Beast. Their Bodies will be happy p. 65with their Souls in the World to come; but I must suffer Eternally with thee, and for thee. Thou hast both consumed me, and thy Estate given to support me; and now I am like to suffer as much by want, as I have done by excess; and all this through thy misgovernment. These Feet (if thou hadst pleased to command them) would as readily have carried thee to thy Closer, or the Assemblies of God's People, as to an Ale-house, or Tavern. These Fingers would have served to open and turn the blessed Pages, which contain the Oracles of God, as to Cog a Die, or have Shuffled and Dealt a Pack of Cards. This Tongue might have been melodiously employed in singing the Praises of God among his People, as well as in Swearing, Roaring, and Singing among drunken Sots and Fools, if thou hadst been endued with governing Wisdom.

Thou knowest I could do nothing without thee. Thou hast a despotical Power over all my Members. They are at thy beck, and thou at the Devil's. Better had it been for me, had I been the Body of a contemptible Worm or Fly, than a Body animated and governed by such a sottish Soul as thou art.

And now, my Soul, what hast thou to say for thy self? What tolerable account canst thou give to God or me, of these thy vile Abuses of both?

SECT. V.

Now let us hear what the Soul of the Drunkard hath to plead in its own Excuse and Defence for all his wrongs against God, mischiefs to it self, p. 66ruin to his Health, Name, and Estate. They have various Excuses, tho not one sound or rational one among them all. Such as they are, let them be tried by the Rule of Reason, if any Reason by yet left in them, who daily dethrone it by this worse-than bruitish Practice.

That which they have to say for themselves▪ is this,

1. That their Bodies are strongly constituted more capacious to receive, and able to bear greate… quantities of Wine and Strong-drink than other… are; and therefore, why should they not drink down, and glory over those that vye with them.

2. Others say, They would not take that Course they do, but that when they are Sober and Solitary they are so press'd with the thoughts of their Debt… and Incumbrances in the World, that they are upon a perfect Rack, and they find nothing like good-fellowship in a Tavern or Ale-house, so effectually relieving against the Cares and Anxieties of their Minds.

3. Some will tell us, they are drawn into it by the snare of Pleasure, nothing being so grateful to their Palate, as their full load of generous Wine or Strong-drink. And seeing it is so pleasant and delightsome to them, why should they deny and abridge themselves of their Pleasure?

4. Others will profess they had never taken this Course, which they find upon many account… pernicious to them, but that they are not able in Civility to deny their intimate Friends and Companions, especially such with whom they have concerns in Trade and Business, and they must drink as they do, or suffer loss in their Trade, and beside that, be stigmatized for Phanaticks.

p. 675. They will also say, they are obliged in point of Loyalty to pledg him that Consecrates (as they Catechrestically call it) the first Glass to the King, or Persons of Quality and Honour.

6. And lastly, some will tell us, They have plentiful Estates that will bear such Expences; and since their Pockets are full, why should not their Heads and Stomachs be for too?

Beside these six Apologies for Drunkenness, nothing falls into my Imagination pleadable for this Sin. We will weigh these that are pleaded, in the common Ballance of the Reason of Mankind, and try the validity of them one by one. And for the

Excuse I.

And first, to what you say of the Capacity of your Bodies, Strength, and Ability of your Constitutions, to receive and bear greater Quantities of Wine and strong Drink than others can; and therefore, why should you not give a proof of it when challeng'd, and get Reputation to your selves by drinking down, and glorying over such as vye with you?

To this I reply three things, which must be laid in the Counter-ballance, and let the Ballance be held in the upright Hand of your own Reason.

1. A strong and vigorous Constitution will be readily acknowledged to be so great an external Blessing and Mercy, that no Man of sound Intellectuals ought to do any thing to destroy it; but is obliged to use all proper Methods for the Preservation of it. If therefore Temperance shall be found to preserve it, and excess to impair and p. 68destroy it; let your own Reason judge which o… these two Courses you are obliged to take. Consult either the best Physicians, or your own, and other Mens Experience, and they will tell you, that Apoplexies, Palsies, Gout, and innumerabl… other Diseases, are bred by such Excesses in the soundest and strongest Constitutions, and Death it self hastened by such intemperate course… ▪ whereas Temperance and Sobriety might hav… made your Lives more comfortable and durabl… As strong as you are, frequent Drunkenness wi… bring Cain's Curse upon your vigorous Bodies, and make you go shaking and trembling (as he did) about the World.

2. Let it be demanded of your own Reason▪ Whether it do really judg that God bestowed more Strength and Vigour upon your Bodies, than he hath upon others, to Arm a stronger Enemy than others are, to fight more vigorously against him, than others do, or can do? Or whether it were not designed by him for greater Use and Service to his Glory in the World, than other… of his People (how willing soever they be) can do for want of that strength you have? I am confident no Man of sound Intellectuals will dare to assert the former, or deny the latter.

3. And lastly, for your glorying in Drinking down, and conquering others, you will certainly put your own reason to a blush, by offering such a Plea as this to it. You are not yet arrived to Impudence enough to deny Drunkenness to be a Sin, and your Reason is yet sound enough, easily and naturally to infer, That by how much the more any Man exceeds and goes beyond others in Sin, by so much the greater Sinner that Man is.

p. 69And as for the Honour and Glory you talk of in exceeding others in your Abilities to drink, your Reason will quickly make you ashamed of that Glory; and prove, as well as assert it to be a Mark of basest Infamy.

Do you think that Lombard was really honoured, or stigmatized, whom Tiberius C…sar dub'd a Knight for drinking off three Gallon of Wine at one Draught, and Sirnamed him Tricongius, that is to say, the Three Gallon Knight; Pliny Nat. Hist. Lib. 14. Cap. 22.which Story Pliny in his Natural History relates to the perpetual Infamy of them both? Or, think you it added to the Glory of Tiberius himself, who Knighted this Three Gallon (not thrice Gallant) Knight, to have his Name changed among the People, from Tiberius into Biberius, as afterwards they did the Name of that Monster Nero into Mero?

Gentlemen, I appeal to your own Reason, if the vast Continent you have within you for Wine and strong Drink, be really your Honour; whether the Butt or Hogshead whence you have it, be not for the same reason much more honourable than you? Your Reason will plainly give the Conclusion.

But, oh! consider not only what Reason saith, but what God the Fountain of that Reason saith in Isa. 5. 22. Wo to them that are mighty to drink wine▪ and men of strength to mingle strong drink. Methinks it should make you sit in as little ease upon the Tavern, or Ale-house Bench, as that Court-Parasite sat at a rich Banquet, furnished with variety of Dainties, and all sorts of generous Wine, over whose head Dionysius caused an heavy p. 70Sword to be hanged with the Point downwar… by a single Hair, every moment ready to dro… perpendicularly upon it.

Excuse II.

As for those that throw themselves into thes… Excesses on purpose to delude those anxious Car… and Thoughts, which cruciate and oppress them▪ whenever they are Sober and Solitary: I sha… only propound three plain Questions to the sma… remainders of Reason in them, which yet … presume sufficient to determine rightly upon them.

Quest. I.

Whether they think that which greatly encreaseth Want and Poverty, be a rational Cur… ▪ and proper Remedy of it? And whether a Jar o… Oyl be not as fit to quench a Flame, as Tavern and Ale-house Scores and Reckonings are to buoy u… a sinking Trade, and keep Bailiffs from Men doors? Certainly none but a sottish Fool ca… think it to be otherwise. Your own improve…dence, or God's afflictive Providence have brough… you into other Mens Books; and certainly yo… cannot think, if you be in your Wits, that Chamberlains Bills for so many Bottles of Wine, an… Flaggons of Beer, will be accepted by your Creditors for good Bills, to quit your Scores wi… them. Were you Sober, Frugal, and Industrious you would put your selves thereby into a better way to obtain a Blessing from God, and Respects, and Forbearance from Men, than in the Course you now take.

p. 71Quest. 2.

Nor can you without manifest impudence propound such a Question as this to your own Reason, Whether the addition of Injustice to Prophaneness, be a rational Plea or excuse for it? And is not that the very case here? Whose Money is that you so lavishly and prodigally waste out of your consuming Estates? 'tis either your Creditors, or the small remains of your own. Whether the one or the other, methinks that Wine and Drink should not go down very pleasantly, which must be mingled with manifest injustice, or with the tears, and (in a sense) the Blood of your Wives and Children. If your Reasons can allow these things for Lawful Excuses, then you are excused, else self-condemned.

Quest. 3.

I shall trouble your Reason with the decision but of one Question more, and 'tis briefly and plainly this▪

Whether the addition of far greater troubles, or causes of troubles to the inner man, be a proper expedient to alleviate and ease the loads and burdens of your outward troubles, already grown almost too heavy for you to bear.

I dare venture all that I am worth, upon sound Reason's side, that it will never allow or comprobate such an absurdity, as the affirmative part of this Question draws along with it.

Believe it, Sirs, all the outward necessities, cares and fears, which now oppress you upon the score of worldly affairs (which frame not to your minds) are much more tolerable, and comparatively p. 72light and easy, to the Stings, Wounds, and Lashes of a guilty Conscience: But when all these inward Troubles shall be superadded to your outward Troubles, they will in conjunction make a burthen too heavy for Man to bear.

What ever Cares or Troubles Providence involves any good Man in, in the honest and painful pursuit of his civil Calling, he may in a great measure relieve his burthened Spirit under them, by the comfortabel Testimony of his own Conscience, and his free Addresses to God in Prayer. These will sweetly support him under his othe… Intanglements and Perplexities in the World. But the Course you take, does not only strike away these props from under your Minds; but doubles and trebles the burthen upon them. Were Men but once acquainted with that relie… and cheariness of Spirit which a good Conscience, and a Spiritual Address to God in Prayer, afford in the midst of Troubles, they would run to then Closets, rather than to Taverns and Ale-house… to divert and cure their Troubles. I leave it therefore before your own Reason to consider▪ what weight or validity there is in this Second Excuse for Drunkenness.

Excuse III.

Others plead they are drawn into this Sin by Pleasure and Delight, whose Charms are too strong for them to resist.

In this, as in all the former, I resolve to make you your own Judges. Give me leave but to state the Questions right, and let your own Reason freely determine them. And what f…irer dealing p. 73can men that exercise Reason expect? And let the first Question be this;

Quest. I.

Whether the Pleasures of Temperance do not far excel those of Intemperance? If they do, then this your Plea is vain and irrational. For you foolishly choose a lesser Pleasure, and refuse a greater and sweeter one. And that you do so in this case, no wise man can deny or doubt.

For temperate drinking refreshes the Body, and no way burthens it, as excessive drinking doth. And that which burthens Nature can never be equally pleasant with that, which yields nothing but due refreshment. Temperance doth not vitiate, but raiseth the pure and ordinate Appetite of Nature to its just pitch and height; in which temper, and at which height, it is most capable of the sweetest pleasure from the Creature. As the Strings of a Lute give us the sweetest and most delicious Notes when they are not let down too low, but are all sixed at their due height.

Temperance gives us the most pleasing Enjoyment of the good things of this Life, still leaving the Mind free and fit for the more Spiritual and sweet Enjoyments of a better and more excellent Life; which Excess never did, nor can do.

Moreover, Temperance maintains the manly grace and majesty of the Countenance, but Excess totally disguises it. It draws the lines of Drunkards faces into a form much like those ridiculous Dutch Pictures, which some set upon their Chimney-pieces, to move laughter in those that behold them.

p. 74Now by the vote of universal Reason, that Pleasure which ref…eshes the Body, but no way burthens it, which raises the ordinate and unvitiated Appetite of Nature to its just pitch and due height, which gives Nature the sweetest refreshment, leaving it always fitter and freer for higher and better pleasures, which maintains the manly grace and majesty of the Countenance, and makes not a wise man look like a Fool or an Antick, must needs be better than the lower and flatter Pleasures of a burthened Body, and vitiated Palate, which draw after them so great a train o… present mischiefs (which Temperance avoids) besides far heavier and more durable ones in the Life to come.

Quest. 2.

But if the present Pleasures of Temperance were in some respect inferior to those of Excess (which I have proved they neither are, nor can be) I demand in the second place, whether the loss of your Honour and Health, your Time and Estate, your present Peace, and future hopes, do not make such sensitive Pleasures base and inferior, compared with those of Temperance and Sobriety? Do you in good earnest think a Glass … two above what satisfies and refreshes Nature, can recompence for all that shame, sickness, poverty …nd guilt that follows it? If you think so, sin hath turned you into Brutes, and made you utterly uncapable of all Arguments and manly considerations to reduce and recover you.

p. 75Excuse IV.

You say you would not haunt Taverns and Ale-Houses as you do, but that you are drawn in by Company and Business, which you cannot well resist or avoid, and should you do so, it would be to your loss; and besides that, you should be branded for Phanaticks.

I deny not but there is a Snare in vain Company; yet give me leave to propound a few, plain and easy Questions to your Reason.

Quest. 1.

Why must the importunity of Good Fellows (as you call them) be an irresistible Temptation to you, and deprive you of all power to deny them, whilst you discern the Snares and Mischiefs they draw you into? This seems to be a thing unaccountable to Reason. Suppose you were allowed to spend the longest Summers Day in the highest gratifications of all your Senses together, or successively one after another, upon condition that you would endure the Torments of the Rack till that day twelvemonth came about again; do you think the importunity of all your intimates in the world would prevail with you to accept the Pleasures of a day under such a condition as this? And yet what are the Torments of a year upon the Rack, to the Torments of Hell for ever and ever? Or to come lower; suppose one of those lewd Companions, not worth a Groat if every man had his own, should request you to lend him an Hundred Pound upon his own security, p. 76could you find no power (think you) to deny him, especially if the loss of that Hundred Pound would certainly ruin you? If you would deny him (as I doubt not but in such a case you would) tell me then, why you should not find power to deny him when he asks a far greater matter than an Hundred Pound, even the Peace, Purity and Safety of your Souls, as well as the Health of your Bodies, and Honour of your Names? Why then should you be so easy and flexible when they ask the latter, and so stiff and unperswadable to the former?

Quest. 2.

You say you have Business and Concerns in Trade to dispatch in such Places and Companies, and this draws you into the Snares of Excess. I will not deny but men may lawfully transact their Business in such Places, and there may be a conveniency, and sometimes a necessity for it: But that's not the Case. The Question referred to the determination of your Reason, is this, Why Drunkenness must accompany Business? and whether a man be not more fit to transact his Business, and drive Bargains of the greatest value, whilst his Body and Mind are cool, sober and temperate, than when his Reason is beclouded and deposed, by Drunkenness? How many men have undone themselves, their Wives and Children by Drunken-Bargains!

Besides, I must tell you, that in all such Drunken Meetings, the Devil comes to drive his Bargain with you, as well as your other Customers. He bids for your Souls, and offers you such Pleasures p. 77as you there find in exchange for them, and is content to make your dying-day the time of your delivering them into his possession. How do you like such Trading as this, Gentlemen?

Quest. 3.

You say, should you refuse to accompany them, and do as they do, you should be branded for Phanaticks. I would fain know, whether such a Plea for Drunkenness as this, doth not justly cast the greatest reproach of Phana…icism upon your selves, and set a Mark of true Honour upon those men whom the world unjustly stigmatizes with that Title? Gentlemen, I do assure you the Phanaticks (as you call them) have reason to thank you for the Honour and Justice you have done them, in acknowledging them to be none of the Members of your hellish Society, but Persons of a more sober and honourable Character. And I appeal to your Reason, whether it would not be more for your Honour, to wear the unjust Title of a Phanatick, than the just censure of a Drunken Sot.

Excuse 5.

You say you are obliged in poin… of Loyalty to pledge him that consecrates the first Glass to the Health of the King, or any Person of Eminency. I leave it still to your Reason to be Judge,

1. Whether the King have cause to account the manifest breach of the Laws by which he governs, to be a signal expression of his Subjects p. 78Loyalty to him? Is not his Royal Authority his Honour and Safety in his Laws? And is he not finely honoured, think you, by such drunken Loyalty as this? Gentlemen, you have a King over you of sounder Intellectuals, and more exemplary Temperance and Sobriety, than to be thus imposed upon.

2. Can you think he reckons his Health in the least degree advanced or secured by the ruin and subversion of his Subjects Health? No no; Did the genteelest Drunkards in England enquire, they would quickly find, it would more please him, if they would consult their own Health better, and pray for his more sincerely and fervently than they do.

Excuse VI.

Your last Excuse is, That you have plentiful Estates that will bear it; and since your Pockets are full, why should your Heads or Stomachs be empty?

Question.

The only Question I would here state, and leave your own Reason to determine, is this, Whether you think the expence of the redundancy and over-plus of your Estates in Excess and Drunke…ness, be the very end and design God aimed at in bestowing those things with such a bountiful hand upon you? and whether the expence of it in this way, will please him as well, as if you clothed the Naked, and fed the Hungry with it, and p. 79brought the Blessings of them that are ready to perish, upon you and your Families? Ah, Gentlemen, you must come to a day of reckoning. Your Reasons and Consciences can never tell you, you can make up as comfortable an account with God by setting down so many Hundred Pound in Wine and Strong Drink more than was necessary or beneficial: Item so many Thousand Pounds lost in Play: So much upon Whores; as if yo… set down so much to feed and cloath the Naked and Hungry. So that all your Excuses for this Sin, are bafled by your own Reason; and it was easy to conclude, that such a Traytor to Reason as Drunkenness is, which hath so often d…throned it, could not possibly receive a more favourable Judgment and Sentence than this now given upon it.

Let all Drunkards henceforth consider what a voluntary madness the Sin of Drunkenness is, how it unmans them, and sets them below the very Brutes. A Grace Father calls it rightly

'Tis a Sin at which the most sober Heathens blushed. The Policy of the Spartan… was more commendable than their Piety, in making Men drunk, that their Children might gaze upon them as a Monster, and be scared for ever from such an horrid Practice. He that is mastered by Drunkenness, can never be Master of his own Counsels. Both Reason and Religion condemn this Course. Make a Pause therefore where you are, and rather throw that Wine or Beer upon the Ground, which else will cast thy Body upon the Ground, and thy Soul and Body into Hell.