The Great Evil of Health Drinking, Discourse · Chapter 4

The Great Evil of Health Drinking · Discourse · Chapter 4

p. 66CHAP. IV. Arguments againſt Healthing, and Diſſuaſives from it, general and particular, as it implies Sacrifice and Prayer.

§ 1. I Do preſume, this Ceremony of Healthing had no better Inventer, than the firſt Deceiver, and Inventer of Sin, and his teachable and forward Diſciples joyning with him: He that order'd the Scene, made this Prologue to it, for them that are ſo apt to learn and act. And it is moſt likely to deceive, and take, becauſe it hath the face of Friendſhip, and the good looks of Love and Kindneſs; and he that diſſents from it, looks like ſome odd peeviſh Humoriſt, and unhewn piece of Moroſeneſs, that will not fall in, and cloſe in the ſquare of Society, and therefore is fitter to live by himſelf, and to keep home, than to come abroad. And if the Diſſent breed an Argument, the Conſenters clearly carry it by p. 67the Poll; and they that oppoſe it are judged to wrangle againſt Points of Honour, Civility, Breeding, good Manners, good Nature, yea Innocency, and the received Guſtom of all Sorts and Qualities of well-tempered Men, Men of great Vertue and Accompliſhments. How ridiculous doth that odd Man look, that makes not one among them? as ridiculous as if he wore a high-crown'd Hat, lin'd and fac'd with Scruples, a deep Ruff, and a Fur-gown; as made up of Scruples, Formality and Seriouſneſs. This Ceremony is ſo innocent, that, what can be ſaid againſt it? I ſay, If no more but this, it would raiſe Preſumption into a rational Confidence, that it is not good, becauſe ſo many, that I will not deſcribe, are ſo forward, ſo conſtant, ſo open at it, ſo urgent, and ſo quarrelſom about it; and becauſe others are ſo ready at a call, ſo apt to imitate, ſo conceited and apiſh at it: Whereas, if it were but ſo innocent and vertuous, as ſome paint it out to be, Men would be more averſe from it, not ſo publick in it, and ſoon grow weary of it.

There are many Divine Rules p. 68given us by our heavenly Maſter, that are quite out of uſe in Society, and common Converſe; and we know that Men are ſlow to learn, and very baſhful openly to profeſs and ſhew what is truly good and pious. Healthing implies praying; if Men were called upon to pray without drinking, how mute would Healthers be? But now how forward to begin, how earneſt to exhort and preſs others to it? The reaſon of this is ſo plain, it need not be produced. And whether it ſhould be followed, becauſe vertuous Perſons ſometimes, and in ſome caſes uſe it, or laid aſide becauſe bad Men make an ill uſe of it, may deſerve a Reſolution, ſince it is none of the Vertues of vertuous Men, who do rather ſubmit in Complement, than commend, or approve of it.

§. 2. My buſineſs is to ſpeak of Healths: I have but little to ſay of the Imprecations and Execrations, ſo much in faſhion among evil Men. Their Healths, failly ſo called, are a Teſt, or a Drink-order, ſignificant of a. Faction, and rampant Inhumanity. The very ſound of them ſtrikes Horror through the Ear into every p. 69Heart that is not caſed, or roughcaſt with a Coat of Flint: I will not record them, but heartily wiſh their Conſciences (ſo much as is left) would recollect them, and ſpread them before their Faces, that they may be aſhamed, and repent of them, before the Pangs and Horrors of Death do apprehend them. Could Balaam turn his Tongue to theſe, if it had not been tied up and reſtrained from curſing Iſrael? How gracious had ſuch Men as theſe been with Barak? If theſe Champions had been baptized into Dagon and Aſhtaroth, it would have better become them to curſe in their Drink, as Goliah did David by his Gods. The Jews curſe Chriſtians, and the Pope doth curſe Hereticks. But what are they that drink, and curſe and damn their own Country-men, Fellow-Subjects, and Fellow-Souldiers, liſted under the ſame Banner, in the ſame Proteſtant Church? The Jews hold it lawful for them to be ſo drunk at the Feaſt of Purim, Buxtorf, Synag. c. 24.till they cannot diſtinguiſh between bleſſed Mordecai and curſed Haman: The one they bleſs, the other they curſe, as the Enemy of p. 70their Nation. But do our Damners never miſtake Haman's and Mordecai's? curſe them who deſerve to be bleſſed? If this come in their ſight, I do earneſtly entreat them to look to that Laver in which they were baptized, and remember that they be ſure to renounce none but them, who were renounced in their Names; to read and believe their Creed, the coming of Chriſt to Judgment, the Reſurrection of the Dead, and eternal Life; to read and ſtudy, who are bleſſed in our Saviour's Sermon; to remember the firſt and great Commandment, and the ſecond which is like to it. All theſe written upon their Hearts, will be a greater Glory to them, than all the Epitaphs upon the Tombs of their Anceſtors. And laſtly, If they would believe their own Senſes, that Men are mortal, and that they are Men, and then meaſure the Correſpondency between their Lives and their Belief, their Morals and God's Commandments, their Practices and due Preparations for Death, that by doing thus, they may turn their Tongues to Prayer and Bleſſing. Of whom have they p. 71learnt to drink and curſe? If they think there is no better Life to come, why do they not make more, and better uſe of this? why do they not labour to lengthen this? If there be a Damnation in Hell to come, why do not they turn out of the common Road to it? If there be none, why are they ſo ſinful as to hate their Enemies? and how come they to be ſo moderate towards thoſe they hate, as to wiſh them no worſe than nothing, or that Evil which they do not believe? If you hate them with that mortal hatred, that you would drink and curſe them into Hell, as faſt as you pour down Cups, why will you, by drinking and curſing, throw your ſelves in after them, into the bottomleſs Pit? Do you think they will not be as hateful to you there as here, if you and they ſhould be ſo miſerable as to meet there? But by your Drink and Curſing, you cannot confound nor renounce, nor damn them thither, but you damn your ſelves meritoriouſly, and as effectually as you can. O turn! why will you dye?

p. 72But to be ſhort with you; there is no doubt, but all ſuch Healthing as imports, or is attended with marks of Faction, Hatred, Wrath, Bitterneſs, with Execration or Damnation, is as bad as Hatred was in Cain, or Murder, or any of thoſe Sins which are evil in themſelves, and damnable in their Merit. Yea more, you that have the Obligations upon you to be Chriſtians, ſin in theſe things worſe than Heathens; yea, they are worſe in you, than in that Devil, who ſets up School to perfect Men in theſe Works of Darkneſs. For you ſin againſt ſolemn Vows, againſt endearing Obligations, againſt Means and Methods of Grace, and many other Circumſtances of Aggravation. Such kind of Healthing as this, is down-right Sin, and ſo much the greater, as it is ſometimes in your Sport and Frolicks, and not always in your Exceſs and Madneſs. And your Huzza's, Songs, Muſick, Drums and Trumpets, are to ſtill the Cries and Tremblings of Conſcience, and your Fleſh and Joynts, or to keep down your Hair from ſtanding on end with Horror; p. 73as the drumming about the Idol Moloch, did drown the Cries of poor Infants that fried in the brazen Arms of that Idol. If you ſpice your Healths with any gratings of Impiety, Blaſphemy, Malice, Luxury, or any other Sin, they are materially and formally Sins, as any that are committed by the Sons of Men, and muſt be repented of, or elſe you would wiſh your ſelves out of Hell again, upon condition you might lick the Sores of a poor Lazarus, and fare as ill as he did at the rich Man's Doors. O therefore ceaſe to do evil, and learn to do well; and put away this Evil far from you, or certainly God will put you far from him! Whether you will or no, die you muſt, and perhaps by Drunken Clubs, one at anothers Heels, one this Week, and another the next, and ſo on, till all are gone, as ſome have done. There are ſome Sins, which are Peccata tacenda, and ſo there are Pocula tacenda, Healths not to be named, and they that drank were carried away as with a Tempeſt, where they drunk no more.

p. 75§. 3. Having rid my Hands of thoſe groſſely depraved Cups; I will take in hand thoſe that have a fairer outſide: and with Reflection upon what hath been obſerved of the Cuſtoms of the Heathens, I frame my firſt Argument and Diſſuaſive from thence.

Chriſtians ought not to drink, and converſe by drinking, after the manner of the Heathen. Their inſcribing and entitling, or dedicating of their Cups was not a natural Action, for the Service of Nature; not a Dictate of natural Light and Reaſon, but idolatrous and ſuperſtitions, and a pleaſure to the Fleſh. Whatſoever they do, as purely natural and moral, may be done by us: but their Sacrificing, and Dedications of Cups were none of thoſe things. And even thoſe Actions which are as natural as eating and drinking, by Chriſtians muſt be regulated by the Word of God. Grace muſt be the Principle, God's Law the Rule, God's Glory the Intention, or the end of it, according to that of the Apoſtle, Whether you eat or drink, or whatever elſe you do, do p. 75all to the Glory of God. 1 Cor. 10.31. No Man liveth to himſelf, nor dieth to himſelf: Rom. 14.7. therefore no Man ſhould do any of the Actions of Life, to pleaſe himſlf, or to himſelf, as his End. Whether Healthing, conſidered in its proper Notion, can be to the Glory of God, is put off till afterwards.

That Chriſtians are to live ſingularly by their own peculiar Laws, is plain from the Apoſtles Doctrine, and not to do after the manner of the Heathen, under that very Conſideration of their being Heathens. Walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the Vanity of their Mind: Epheſ. 4.17. Not in the Luſt of Concupiſcence, as the Gentiles that know not God: 1 Theſſ. 4.5. The Vanity of Mind, and Luſt of Concupiſcence are Sins in all Men, but the Exhortation is enforced from the Perſons, as the Gentils do, and one reaſon ſerves for all: We have not ſo learned Chriſt: Epheſ. 4.20. And becauſe of our Calling: 1 Theſſ. 4.7. And theſe Reaſons bind us, that live remote from, and unmixed with Gentiles; and therefore cannot be a Scandal to them. And the Oppoſition p. 76is carried on in other places: Ye cannot be partakers of the Table of the Lord, and Table of Devils; ye cannot drink the Cup of the Lord, and the Cup of Devils: which may be extended beyond a local Communication with them, to an imitation of them at the fartheſt diſtance from them: 1 Cor. 10.21. The famous Mr. Mead ſaith, That Stephanus in his Theſaurus found ſome, who thought the foreign, in the Text did allude to that Cup foreign, uſed among the Gentiles; and further ſaith, This was the Tenet of the Gentiles, that the Soveraign and Celeſtial Gods were to be worſhipped only purâ mente, and with Hymns and Praiſes, and that Sacriſices were only for Daemon; out of Porphyry, Triſmegiſt. Apuleus de Daemonio Socratis. He therefore that had given himſelf to the Lord, the only Potentate, to the one and only Mediator Jeſus Chriſt, muſt have no Communion, no part in the Service of the many Mediators, Lords, or Daemon-Gods of the Nations. So far that excellent Man, in his Apoſtacy of the latter times, c. 6. See alſo, if you pleaſe Conſtant. p. 77Lexicon. Verb. foreign. The Ancients, when the Tables were removed and taken away, did drink the Cup of the good Genius, like our Grace Cup, by which ſome underſtand Mercury, or Jupiter Soter, as was obſerved above. To us there is but one God, the giver of Health, and all other Mercies; and one Mediator Jeſus Chriſt, through whom we ask and obtain. Now except we have ſome Intimation, that we may offer a Cup, a Health to God for any Perſon, through the Mediation of Chriſt, it is the ſafeſt way to forbear. This way of arguing is not new, nor only an Apoſtolical Preciſeneſs, but uſed by others. There is in the Works of St. Auguſt. a Tract de Rectitudine, of the Rectitude of Catholick Converſation, where the Author runs over abundance of Heathen Practices, which Chriſtians muſt abſtain from, and this is one, Nullus in Convivio cogat alium plùs bibere quàm oportet: let no Man make another drink more than he ought (and Healthing is a kind of Conſtraint, as will appear by and by.) And St. Auguſtin did adjure p. 78his Auditors by the dreadful Day of Judgment, that they abandon from their Feaſts, that filthy Cuſtom of drinking without meaſure, as the Poiſon of the Devil, and Obſervations of Pagans. Serm. de Temp. 232. & eadem Dominica, S. Serm. 2. Deny to our ignorant, unreformed, nominal Chriſtians, any …riviledg of Chriſtians, how will they fly upon you? what, am I a Pagan? what, am I a Heathen? And is there no force in an Argument drawn from our Diſtinction from Pagans, both in the Reaſon of the Learned, and common Senſe of the Vulgar, beſide the Divinity of the Apoſtle? How frantick would a Feaſt of Anna Perenna, Healthing, and praying for many Years, be to a ſober Chriſtian? And what is healthing Health after Health in too common Meetings? Was it fooliſhly done of Heathens? and how wiſely is it done of us?

§. 4. Chriſtians ſhould eat and drink, and converſe as becometh Chriſtians, but ſuch are we, (it is our greateſt Glory and Prerogative): This Argument is an Appendix p. 79to the former. As we may with admiration and praiſe, ſay, as our Saviour ſaid upon another occaſion, We have Bread to eat, which the World knows not of: So we ought to uſe ſuch a way of eating and drinking together, at our ordinary Tables, and common Viſits, as becomes thoſe that have a Table by our ſelves, always in the ſight of our Heavenly Father, and King of Kings. Our ordinary Meat and Drink do feed and refreſh thoſe Bodies that are joined to the Lord, and to riſe again in Glory: And therefore as we live for a peculiar Service proper to Saints and Chriſtians, and die to riſe to a ſuperlative proper Glory; ſo certainly we ſhould eat and drink in ſuch a manner, not as thoſe Dogs do, that ſhall not eat of the Childrens Bread. And as we ſhould be careful to waſh the Heart from all defilement, that that which cometh out of us may not defile us, or others; ſo what we eat and drink ſhould be in a ſanctified manner, to a holy uſe. If this Divinity be too ſtrict, all I will ſay is, the Glory of that Diſtinction which Grace makes between us and Heathens p. 80and Infidels, is too great for us. Kings Children do not find fault with the reſtraint, that they may not live like Beggars or common People. St. Luke, in the holy Story of the Infancy of the Church, informs us, that the Believers did eat, (which contains their drinking alſo) with gladneſs and ſingleneſs of Heart. Acts 2.48. And when in the rich City of Corinth, their Love-Feaſts were polluted to Drunkenneſs, the Apoſtle reproves, and reforms that prophane Abuſe of their Feaſts, and God viſited them with Sickneſſes and Death for it, 1 Cor. 11. If any think they are tied too hard, ſeeing they enjoy Eſtates and Plenty, and are Gentlemen, except they may drink according to their quality and plenty; the Corinthians might plead the ſame, for ſome of them were wealthy. The more bountiful God is to us, the more careful ſhould we be not to offend him. We ſhould eat and drink as holily, as if we were to vindicate our ſelves from the Slanders of Heathens, becauſe we are to give an account to God, and do eat in his ſight, when far enough from the cenſorious p. 81Eyes of Infidels. Tertullian, in his Apology relates the Chriſtian Cuſtom. Non priùs diſcumbitur, quàm oratio ad Deum praeguſtetur; editur quantum eſurientes capiunt, bibitur quantum pudicis eſt utile; ita ſaturantur, ut qui meminerint, etiam per noctem adorandum Deum ſibi eſſe. They ſat not down before Prayer to God was firſt taſted; ſo much is eaten, as ſatisfied the hungry; ſo much is drunk, as is good for chaſt Perſons: They are ſo filled, as thoſe that remember they muſt worſhip God in the Night. Adverſus Gentes, c. 39. Such was their Feaſting. The Heathens defam'd their private Suppers, as infamous and profuſe; and the ſame Tertullian replies, as Diogenes ſaid of the Megarenſes: Megarenſes obſonant, quaſi craſtinâ die morituri; that they did eat, as if they were to die next day. And Minutius Felix vindicates the Chriſtians from ſuch Aſperſions. Convivia non tantùm pudica colimus, ſed & ſobria; nec enim indulgemus epulis, ut convivium mero ducimus, ſed gravitate hilaritatem temperamus. We do not lengthen our Feaſts with Wine, but temper our Mirth with gravity.

p. 82Theſe Primitive Fathers and Chriſtians took it for a Scandal and Diſhonour to be intemperate.

And Clemens Alexandrinus gives us an account of their Way, and ſaith, Let us exhort one another with a twofold Invitation out of the Law, Thou ſhalt love the Lord thy God, and then thy Neighbour. — Let the ſecond be with an honeſt Converſation. — As before we eat, it is fit we praiſe the Lord, the Maker of all things; ſo when we drink, it becomes us to ſing unto him. Padag. I. 1. c. 4.

§. 5. Arg. 3. The Occaſions of Sin, and innumerable evil Effects and Conſequences, are carefully and conſcienciouſly to be avoided: but Healthing is the apparent and known Occaſion of many Sins and Miſeries. I muſt prove every Branch of this Argument, becauſe I bring my Argument and Impeachments againſt this Uſage before Parties and Judges, that are corrupted, and bribed, and pre-ingaged.

p. 831. That Occaſions of Sin have ſome kind of Cauſality, as the Object and Matter, is plain enough, but grant a difference between them: Yet as they are Occaſions, they are carefully to be ſhunn'd, or elſe we fall upon wilful Sins, by a wilful taking the occaſions of them. They that wait for Occaſions and Opportunities, do ſtay no longer out of the Snare, than the Snare is making for them, and lie in wait for their own deſtruction. But if Men have any fear of Death and Judgment, or any common averſion from Sin, they muſt not go in at the door of Occaſion, which the Devil and his Porters hold open to them. Solomon doth adviſe and charge us, that we ſhould not look upon the Wine when it is red, and giveth its colour in the Cup, when it moveth it ſelf aright: For the Colour will inflame the Appetite, when it is look'd upon in earneſt; and then when the inflamed Appetite muſt be fed, Sin preys upon the enſnared Sinner; when it ſmiles in the Glaſs, it bites and ſtings like a Serpent in its Effects. Prov. 23.31, 32. It is not required that we muſt drink p. 84blindfold, we may ſee what we drink; but if the ſparkling of the Wine makes us dote upon it, and exceſſively covet it, then we are poyſoned by it, and it goes down ſmoothly, but bites like a Serpent, and ſtings like an Adder. The Miſchiefs of it are very ſenſible and great, yea, deadly. The Wine that was red, was turn'd into an Adder or a Serpent; and a Man ſhould forbear fondly to look on the briskneſs of his Wine, as it is a Temptation, as he would refuſe to drink off that Cup that had a living Serpent in it. The wiſe Man doth dehort us from Occaſions and Temptations, becauſe of the deadly Effects thereof. If any deſpiſe Solomon in this, they deſpiſe both him that was the greateſt and wiſeſt of Kings, and the only wiſe God, who is infinitely greater than he, and he gives them warning. And what demonſtration can be ſo ſenſible, as what is taken from ſuch Effects? And they that feel not the point of the Argument, are in danger of Inſenſibleneſs and Stupidity, deſcribed in the laſt Verſe: They have ſtricken me, ſay they, and I was not ſick; they have beaten me, and p. 85I felt it not. A deadly Diſeaſe doth ſeize upon the Conſcience; the Heart is untouched with the ſmartneſs of God's Judgments, until the Sting of Death take that faſt hold, that it can never be taken out. A prudent Man foreſeeth the Evil, and hideth himſelf; but the ſimple paſs on, and are puniſhed. Prov. 22.3. & 27.12.

I could be too tedious, to prove that Occaſions of Sin are to be eſchewed, as the Doors and Entries into Sin. I will paſs from this to the Effects of Healthing, which are exceeding many; and becauſe the ill Effects are ſo many and notorious, they ſhould not be retain'd amongſt Men and Chriſtians. And if it be any Motive to us, as it ought to be, we have the Examples of Churches and Ages, who diſuſed and laid aſide an ancient, primitive, Chriſtian Cuſtom, becauſe it was an occaſion of much Diſſoluteneſs and Immorality. The Agapae, or Feaſts of Charity, which commenc'd with the firſt Aſſemblies of Chriſtians at the Lord's-Table, and were continued for ſeveral Centuries in ſome Churches, were reproved, and put down, becauſe of p. 86the Exorbitance of ungoverned People, and prohibited to be uſed in Churches, by ſeveral Canons of Councils. And after that thoſe Love-Feaſts were changed into Fealtings at the Memorials of Martyrs, and Dedications of Churches,Ep. Ang. Aurel. ſupra citat. Serm. de Temp. 232 S. 2, &c. they were met with there alſo, by the Zeal of holy Men, offended with the diſorders of thoſe Meetings, after the manner of Heathens. Their uſe, abuſe, and reaſons why they were prohibited, may be ſeen in ſhort, but fully, in learned and laborious Hornbeck, Vetera & Nova, l. 1. c. 20. item Exam. Bullae de Feſtis.

If ſuch a Cuſtom, well begun, and continued for good uſes, was reproved and vacated, becauſe it was abuſed and corrupted into Sin; ſhall we retain that which had no better an Inſtitution than you have ſeen, and is ſo pregnant of evil and terrible Effects, which grow greater and greater, and worſe and worſe, almoſt every day? They that retain it ſtill, in defiance of the many Proclamations from Heaven againſt it, ſeem to be reſolved to continue in their Sins, whatever it ſhall coſt them or others.

p. 87I will not undertake to reckon the common Products of this fair-faced, inſinuating Cheat; it looks like Health, but it brings forth a Spawn of Deformities. 'Tis confeſſed, if this were not, as long as the Hearts of the Sons of Men are evil, theſe Streams of Iniquity will break out; but then this is a very plauſible occaſion for them, and gives colour and reputation to them, which without it, would nakedly appear uncomely Vices: Quid enim delectant damna ſine gratiâ?

Firſt: Healthing is an Invitation, a Provocation, an Engagement to drink, not only as a Sign of Welcome, and hearty Friendſhip, but an Obligation to drink, for drinking ſake. And according to the intention and affection of them that engage together, the Current of Evil that flows from it, is either higher or lower. If Men are prepared for a Debauch, for a Revenge, for a Victory, for Sport with the Infirmities of ſome, then Healthing can never be waſh'd clean from their Iniquities: if it be in Pride, Oſtentation of Generoſity, if to make a Party, p. 88to pick a quarrel, to give offence, or to make an occaſion of quarrel, or diſcrimination of Affections and Parties, Healthing is as great a Sin as any of theſe are, and can be no more excuſed than any of the Works of Darkneſs. And as Healthings do multiply among us, as they do to a great exceſs; ſo the Peſtilence of contagious Manners breaks out, and a Man cannot come among them that have the Receipts and Arts of Poyſoning, but his Soul and Body are in danger of preſent Death. Whatſoever the Sin is that Healthing is an Introduction to, and ſo made uſe of, Healthing is forbidden in that ſame Commandment in which that Sin is forbidden, that Men by Healthing fall into: for it is a known Rule in the Expoſition of the Commandments, that in what Commandment ſoever any Sin is forbidden, the Occaſions of that Sin are forbidden in that ſame Commandment. All the Sins that are drawn on by Healthing, run into it, and it is tainted with them, and therefore can never be acquitted from Pollution and Guiltineſs. It hath the ſame tendency to p. 89Drunkenneſs, which is againſt many of God's Commandments, and other Sins, as the giving of a Lye, or a box of the Ear to a Quarrel, and that to drawing Blood and Murder: it hath the ſame tendency to the Sins that are drawn after it, that Wantonneſs and Dalliance hath to Fornication and Adultery.

Secondly; It is plain, by and in common Practice, a flattering Preface and Dedication before a whole Tome of Sins, and in particular, if not to down-right Drunkenneſs, yet to an Exceſs in Drinking. Thus indifferent Men take it, and ſo Parties find it. And this I prove by theſe Evidences.

1. It is manifeſt, when Men intend a Debauch, they begin with a Health, and proceed from ſome great one to give credit to the Work: and to deny a Health, is as much as to deny Duty or Honour to the Patron of that Cup, to whom the Dedication is made; ſo it was of old, and ſo it is ſtill. As St. Auguſtin relates the manner of it. Then they drink to ſeveral Names or Perſons, not of the Living only, but of the p. 90Dead, of Saints, of Angels, thinking they pay them Honour: Serm. de Temp. de Ebriet. §. 2. So Ambroſe above quoted. Apud Germanos Ebrietatis contilianda gratia, ſaith Wendelin. Lib. ſupra citate: When the Germans deſign a drunken Bout, eſpecially in Princes Courts, they have their Pocula Soteria, their Healthing Cups, which they drink to the Health of their Princes, and which they can by no means refuſe. So that ingenious Mercurius Britannicus, ſaid to be the moſt Reverend Biſhop Hall, in his Mundus alter & idem, deſcribes the Service of Bacchus, l. 1. c. 3. One of the Gueſts having put off his Garland, with bended Knees, as if he were at Prayer, takes a Cup, holding a Pint and half, and ſaith, Here's a Health to Caguſtrius, the moſt Potent Arch-Duke of Crapulia, (that is Drunken-Land): every one from the higheſt to the loweſt, with the ſame Cup, Action, Geſture, approves himſelf a faithful Citizen, and well affected, or which he had rather, a ſtout Drinker. Another riſes up preſently after, and ſaith, Benè vos, benè nos, all Happineſs to p. 91you, and to us, and to the moſt famous and imperial City Zouffenberga. — A third drinks in Honour to Yurania, and the Nobles, and every one adds ſomething to allure the Company to new Draughts.

2. It is an Engagement to drinking, if you conſider the Perſon that begins it, who, as he expects to be pledged, ſo they that follow, hold it Civility to follow their Leader.

3. If it ſtayeth, the ſtop or neglect is looked upon as a Default, and he that neglects, is called upon as to do his Duty; it muſt not die upon his Hands, or at his Door.

4. It is often taken as an Affront, a Slight, a matter of wrangling, if not of Duelling and fouleſt Murder.

5. It is looked upon as a Debt in the Bond of Civility and Courtſhip, and paid as duly as a How-do-you: if one begins your Health, you muſt thank him, and call for his.

Object. But what if it be an Engagement? what then? what harm is there in that?

p. 92Anſw. No ſeeming harm at all to them that ſwallow Sins, and it never ſtays with them to make Conſcience ſick; but to them that walk and live nearer the Light of God's Law, it is apparently a Treſpaſs upon Holineſs and Goodneſs.

1. He that begins, makes himſelf a Debtor to pledg all that pledg him, as oft as any of them can hold out. He opens his Boſom to the Tempter, and all his Angels and Agents; they lay by their Armour, and take off their Watch againſt the Aſſaults of the Devil, or drinking Men to a wet Encounter, when they lay by their Hats out of Reverence to this Paganiſh Devotion.

2. They who cannot bear much Drink, or are not forward to it, do by their Fear and Compliance give Countenance to the moſt ſhameleſs Soker, and harden him in his Sin, and are acceſſary to all his Exceſs, and juſtify his drinking many, by their drinking ſome.

3. By this means the worſt of Men have an opportunity to take in others, into a Partnerſhip in this p. 93trade of breaking, and going behindhand in all manner of Goodneſs: no Man ſhall carry away one Mite of Sobriety, but the beſt is become as bad as the worſt. A Man of a large Appetite, and profound Veſſel, that is an Infundibilum, Equites aurei dolii Mer. Brit. Aelian vere Hiſt.a Tunnel, as one great Knight of the Golden Tun was called in Aelian. This Man who dies his Face to a Scarlet above a modeſt Bluſh, may be aſhamed to drink all, or moſt himſelf: Modeſty may make him take a turn in the Air, divert himſelf with ſome Diſcourſes, or Exerciſe, and come to his Element by leiſure, even as Ducks that come ſometimes to Land. But when Healthing is up, he drinks but in a mode, hath a fair Pretence, even the Rule of the Company, for his pouring down, and all that can bear it are as bad as he. And where can you ſee a difference between one and another, while Healths are called and pledged, except that one can bear more than another.

4. It is a Temptation to many weak Men, quickly to loſe themſelves by yielding.

p. 945. It is a very plauſible Excuſe for loſs of Time, bad Hours, and an hundred Faults, for in Civility they could not break off, nor refuſe, it would be ill taken, &c.

6. Let him look to it that begins; for tho all that pledg are guilty, yet they all lay the evil Conſquences upon him; as he that begins a Fray, is blam'd of all; they make his beginning the great Fault, and their following too little to be repented of.

7. Many particular Perſons have been ſpoiled by it; and it hath been the beginning of many a Man's being given to Drink, and by that to his Ruine. Many Men were modeſt and ſober, and ſeem'd religious in their private Capacities, but being call'd to Office muſt be modiſh, and drink Healths, and according to their place begin them too. They have in time been throughly wet with a ſhower of Sin, gone home with Shame, and what then? either they muſt repent of it, and do ſo no more; and then they are Wh— or elſe they muſt turn it. into a leſt, and make little of it, and ſo become p. 95hardned in that, and other Sins. Healthing now is become one of the genteel Qualities of an Office.

8. It corrupts or divides Society. If a Man drink according to the meaſure and pleaſure of Companies, if he do not renounce and abjure Reverence of God, Modeſty, and Temperance, he muſt put them off for a time. To refuſe Healths, looks as ill as a Truly founds meanly. We are miſerably disjoynted; and there is not any one thing that keeps us out of joynt more than factious and contradictory Healths. And if a Man be not of the ſame Party, he muſt drink, and groſly diſſemble his Diſaffection, or hear of it. Holy, ſober, modeſt Perſons muſt keep home, for they are not qualified for publick Company.

9. The Evil of Healthing hath been ſo great a Sin and Provocation, that ſome have loſt their Lives by it, ſome have repented of it in particular, as a great Sin; ſo did Mr. Francis Cartwright: See Mr. Bohon's Directions. And one of the greateſt, and worthieſt of Honour, that ever this Nation bred, vow'd againſt it, and p. 96kept his Vow, and that was the great Sir Matthew Hale: See his Life, p. 14. And tho he was afterwards preſt to drink Healths, (I wonder who had ſo little Reſpect or Reverence for him) particularly the King's, which was ſet up by too many, as a diſtinguiſhing mark of Loyalty, and drew many into great Exceſs after his Majeſties happy Reſtauration, but he would ne're diſpenſe with his Vow, tho he was ſometimes roughly treated for this, ſaith the Reverend Dr. Burnet. And now let any Man of never ſo much Wit, ſhew as much for Healthing, as ever theſe two Inſtances againſt it, and he will ſay ſomething to bring up the Objection again to receive further Anſwers, when theſe are enervated.

To conclude this Argument, I ſay confidently, that Healthing falls under the Imputation and Charge of all thoſe Faults, and fatal Conſequences that are occaſioned by it, and in probability had not been at thoſe times, but through it.

§. 6. But ſuppoſe it never had been attended with thoſe foul Effects p. 97of Drunkenneſs, or any other, take it ſimply in its own Nature, as it is a kind of Sacrifice or a Prayer, and let it appear as it is.

1. Take it as a Sacrifice to Health for any Perſon, and it is ſo putid, a heatheniſh, irrational Vanity, that I will not ſtand to expoſe it. Salus and Aeſculapius were helpleſs Deities of the blind and deluded Heathen: they had a God for every thing, for every State of Man; one to be a Midwife, another to rock the Cradle, and ſo on, as St. Auguſtin runs them over. Lib. 4. c. 11. But to us there is but one God, as the wiſeſt of the Heathens alſo thought, that one Jupiter was in all thoſe Powers which the more ignorant adored. The ſimple and ruder ſort of Chriſtians carried their Banquets to the Sepulchers of the Martyrs, to be bleſſed by them; but did no Sacrifice to them. The Papiſts, like the Heathen, built Altars and Temples to Saints, and had a Saint for every Artificer, for every Diſeaſe, &c. Homily of the Peril of Idolatry, 2d Part. But while we have the Reaſon of Men, and the Revelation from p. 98God, let us not come near in Imitation to Heathens and Papiſts: Or, if it be a Sacrifice for Health, who is it offered to? the God that gives it? Where hath he required it? Or rather, is it not offered to the Stomack and Belly of him that drinks it? I loath to think of ſo vile a Sacrifice, it looks ſo like an Imitation of them that ſacrificed among the Pagans.

But the Notion I fix upon, is that which I think none can deny, that when we drink an Health, we ſignify our good Wiſhes to the Party, and think this Interpretation of it, doth juſtify and excuſe it, and rather commend than condemn it. But if this Notion will bear a Trial, I will try it, and ſearch into it.

Let it be granted, that drinking to any Perſon is a Signification of Federacy, Love, Friendſhip, Peace, of Favour from a Superior to an Inferior, of Reſpect and Honour, if due Circumſtances be obſerved, from an Inferior to a Superior; and alſo we have ſeen Perſons of great Civility to drink what they think beſt to another, with a deſire that he drink p. 99the ſame, becauſe it is thought to be the beſt, and by that the Stranger is encouraged to a Freedom, and that the beſt is for his Service. But when Healths are called for, and delivered, theſe things are quite altered, and I think perverted.

To make out this Notion more diſtinctly:

1. It is clear to us, that no Prayer is accepted with God, but what is according to his Will; and that he is the only Object of our Prayers, becauſe the Giver of all things.

2. Health, if it be taken largely, for all manner of outward good things, beneficial to Life and Health, or for ſpiritual Well-being, which comes within the Signification of Salus, or for that particular Bleſſing of bodily Health and Soundneſs; Health in all theſe Acceptations is an invaluable Mercy, and the loſs of it a very great Affliction and Miſery.

Hence I conclude two things.

1. That no Man is fit to drink a Health, but he that at that time is p. 100fit to pray to the Holy God, the God of Heaven, by Jeſus Chriſt.

2. No Man is fit to pray, or to drink a Health, but he that is truly ſerious, and conſiders what he doth.

The reaſon of both is plain, becauſe drinking a Health, in the moſt innocent Notion of it, doth intimate, or is attended with a Prayer, or a good Wiſh to them they drink to; and that Prayer is, or ſhould be to the merciful God only, for one of the greateſt outward Mercies that Mankind can deſire or enjoy.

If any Man ſay, This carries the Notion too high, for no Man deſigns to intereſt or concern God at all in a Health. (Truly it may be ſo, that it is furtheſt from the Heart of many.) But how can you drink a Health and not intereſt God in it? for if you wiſh well to the Perſon whoſe Health is drunk, and wiſh him ſo great a Mercy as Health is, in its loweſt Signification; you muſt wiſh it of God, for none can give or continue it but he; and if you do not ſeriouſly and heartily wiſh it of God, you do but delude, or mock, or hypocritically complement your Friend, p. 101whoſe Welfare you pretend ſolemnly to wiſh: you wiſh him Health, but do not intend therein to pray to God to give it. Here's now a Trial of the great Love of Healthers! But if you do heartily deſire that Mercy from God, how can you do it and not be ſerious? and make it a piece of your Devotion? It is ſeriouſly to be pray'd for, or not at all, for you ought not to diſſemble in the matter. If it be a ſerious good Wiſh or Prayer then, Procùl hinc, procùl ite profani, ſancta ſanctis. Healths are only to be drunk by holy and ſerious Perſons: And I think they will hardly be brought to it upon the Premiſes, and what's yet to follow.

Firſt; Either you muſt joyn Drink and Prayer, or ſeparate them.

1. If you joyn Drink and Prayer, whether mental or oral in a Health, then by whoſe Inſtitution do you drink and pray? by God's? or by Man's, by what Man, or what kind of Men? Doth Prayer ſanctify that Cup? or doth the Cup pollute the Prayer? or do you ſeem to pray for the Drink's ſake, and drink for your own pleaſure, or another's p. 102Health? I grant, and I wiſh it were more common, that we may pray and praiſe God as we drink: But then by what Authority of Inſtitution do I drink that Cup, ☞to that end that it may be to the Health of another Perſon? or what kind of ſign is it that I wiſh the Health of another, when I drink? or what Efficacy hath any drinking upon anothes Conſtitution? If it had any Virtue at all to give, reſtore, or continue Health, either naturally, or by Inſtitution. I would adviſe all Phyſicians and Apothecaries to forbear it, becauſe it hinders them; and to adviſe againſt it, or to uſe it as the laſt Remedy, when they have had as many Fees as they deſire, before they try it: But they know it hath no virtue to that end, but rather the contrary, as ſometimes they find it to their Profit. What help doth their drinking afford to their Prayer? What, is it like Water to a Mill? Drink turns about the Wheel of their Affections to make them more ardent in their Requeſts for Health? Or, is it becauſe they cannot wiſh well to others, but when they are p. 103pleaſing their own Senſe and Appetite? or then their Devotions are as violent as Raptures, when they are tranſported, and in an Elevation? What a kind of carnal Fanaticiſm is this?

2. Or, though you do joyn Drink and Prayer, yet their Virtue is diſtinct and ſeparate; Prayer goes one way, and Drink another. Indeed I think they are better parted than joyn'd; and leſt God be diſhonoured by ſuch kind of Prayers, as the Generality diſhonour him and themſelves by ſuch kind of drinking; it were plain dealing for them to ſpeak the naked Truth, and ſay, when they drink, Here's to my ſelf: or, Here's to my own Health, and drink no more than will conſiſt with their Health, and promote it, and not hinder their holy and fervent Prayer for themſelves and others. Moderate drinking doth promote their own, but can never promote anothers, much leſs doth immoderate ſave either, but endanger one at leaſt. When you pray, pray ſo that God may mercifully hear you; and when you drink, drink ſo that p. 104God may mercifully bleſs you. But away with theſe profane, uninſtituted, carnal Sacraments, leſt the Sin of Drinking cry louder than your Prayers. We have often ſeen how Drinking hath drowned Prayer, and carried away all ſenſe of God and Duty before it.

What? whether God hear you, yea or no, you care not for that; drink you muſt, and drink you will! It is a Cuſtom and a Complement in faſhion, and if you keep Company, you muſt do as Company do, and you look no further. This is moſt like to be true. But if any be reſolved to perſiſt in their way, I am alſo reſolved to proceed to argue againſt it, and dehort from it; and ſome Arguments are humbly preſented to the moſt ſober and innocent, and ſome earneſtly ſubmitted to the wiſe and diſcerning, and all to them that are highly guilty, to reclaim them if poſſible.

1. All Prayer for Health, and all other temporal Bleſſings, is to be preſented to God through our Mediator Chriſt, with Underſtanding, Intention of Mind, and Faith and Reverence, p. 105in ſubordination to the hallowing of God's Name, and concurrence with doing his Will on Earth as it is in Heaven. But is drinking of Healths accompanied with ſuch a Prayer? I propoſe my Aſſumption by way of ſerious Queſtion, whence every conſidering Man may conclude,

2. We ought to wiſh very well to our Neighbour, and to wiſh Health to them that want it, with Submiſſion to the Will of God, and a ſanctified Health to them that have it? And when ever we wiſh it, to be in a Diſpoſition of Mind to pray for it. But in drinking Healths, do we mind or regard theſe things? The Phyſician is ſerious in many Years hard ſtudy, in cautious Preſcription: The ſick and languiſhing are ſerious and patient in their Applications: And will not you be ſerious in wiſhing it?

3. All Mercies that are wanting and deſirable are to be ſought for by proper means of divine Appointment and Bleſſing. But ſeriouſly, Is drinking a Health, or Healths, a proper, a natural, a moral, an inſtituted Means? a Means and Method p. 106that God ever bleſſed to ſo great an end? The Phyſician applies proper natural Means; the Chriſtian and the Divine uſes, and ſhould only uſe inſtituted Means to procure it; and is drinking Healths a proper, or a likely means to obtain it? Then Healthers, heal your ſelves of Gouts, Feavers, Surfeits.

4. When you drink a Health, do you mean that particular and ſingular Mercy, or a Collection of Spiritual and Temporal Mercies? If the firſt; then why do you ſeek that above all? is it becauſe you place Felicity in it? know we not that Sickneſs brings us as near Felicity? or do you make Health your top-Mercy and your Idol? How many have you ever known attain Health that drunk it, (if you have, adviſe the ſick to drink Healths to themſelves in Sack and Claret, or Brandy, or any other ſtrong and pleaſing Liquor.) If under Health, you comprehend ſpiritual Welfare and Salvation, (which you ought to wiſh continually for all you love and Honour) is drinking Healths a ſpiritual Means to procure it? If Healthing be a p. 107Means, why do you ſend for the Miniſter to pray? and deſire your Friends to pray by you when you are ſick, and not for your Companions to drink by you? God is more diſhonoured by one days healthing, than he is honoured, or Salvation promoted by a Lent of Prayers, except they for ſake their Drinking. If a Conception of Devotion ſpring within them, it is made away like the Male Children of the Iſraelites, by the cruel Hands of Healthers; it is drown'd and ſmothered under this Cover.

5. Do not we plainly ſee there is a Repugnancy between theſe two? do not we ſee, that thorow-drinking doth caſt off all thorow-Prayer? or effectual thorow-Prayer doth pray away Healthing? Where there is a ſenſible Repugnance, can there be a true Conſiſtence, and Co-operation?

6. That which God diſlikes, ſhould not be followed; and do not we ſee how God diſlikes theſe Practices? How Men are given up to the ſtrong Deluſions of Wine and Strong-Drink? to the Mockage of Wine? ſee we not how Men are given up to p. 108fill up their meaſure of Iniquity, and cut ſhort their precious Lives? Do not we hear what Organs play at theſe Devotions? Do not we know and hear what Songs, inſtead of Pſalms? what Blaſphemy and Atheiſm, inſtead of God's Fear? what Curſing inſtead of Bleſſing? what Affronts are offered Heaven? and what Violence is offered to Hell? Are not Healthers commonly given up to Debauchery and Senſuality? like Men forſaken of God, and poſſeſt of Satan? And how can any Men that have a Reverence, or Tenderneſs, or Zeal for God, give Countenance to Healthing, any more than to any other Sin, whether Whoredom or Murder? See in conſtant Obſervation at all Feaſts of Companies, Pariſh-Meetings, Elections for Parliaments, &c. who begin firſt, or hold out longeſt, and go through the whole Service, they that pray moſt, or ſwear moſt? that love their Neighbour, or hate him? Why will you joyn and imitate, or countenance ſuch Men in ſuch things? As you ſhould hate the Garments ſpotted with the Fleſh, ſo you ſhould hate the Tables, Floors, Cups that are more p. 109than ſpotted with theſe Libations: Iſa. 28.8. For all Tables are full of vomiting and filthineſs, ſo that there is no place clean. If you thought ſo well of your earthly Tabernacles, as you do of your Halls, Houſes, Shops, you would no more ſet your Bodies on fire, than your Houſes: why will you partake in that Levity, Profaneneſs, Scorn, and Deriſion of true Seriouſneſs and Goodneſs in that ribbald, py-bald Wit and Folly, in the Factiouſneſs, and other Ingredients that make theſe Cups bitter to any Soul that hath any Senſe and Taſte? Theſe are ſome of the things that are mingled with your Prayers for Health, and Proſperity, and I know not what.

And in my Mind, theſe things are highly aggravated, that they ſhould be the common uncontrolled Practice in many publick Meetings, at a time, when very many are proſecuted to the utmoſt, for not receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and when many croud in, whether fit or unfit, and when ſo many Officers are by Law obliged to receive the Sacrament, as a Teſt againſt p. 110Popery. What can come nearer the holy Inſtitution of our bleſſed Lord, than bleſſing of Cups, hallowing them with Prayers, handling and delivering them with Prayers? (doth God take them ſo?) receiving them bare, and often either kneeling or ſtanding up? And who is this Service done to? and what more unlike to the holy Sacrament than this? what more contrary in Effects? and inconſiſtent with the Uſe and End of that divine Communion! — But I muſt ſmother many other Conſiderations to make an end.

10. Which do you chieſly intend in Healthing, whether Praying, or Drinking? if Drinking, why will you prophane Prayer by a carnal Subordination of it to the Fleſh? if Prayer, why do you drink ſo much? &c.