abominâ—ble in their doings There lies thâ— cause of their Distemper and shew whence it comes that they are suâ—â— fools and so besotted in their undeâ—standing They are men that drowâ— themselves in the multitude of theâ— iniquities that give themselves â—â— to all manner of sin and vice anâ— of such men it is not to be woâ—dred that they should be easily perfuaded to think and apt to say Therâ—â— is no God no Divine Providence that governs the World none thâ—â— shall judge the wicked actions oâ— men at the latter Day no Judgement to come no account to be given of what we say or do in thiâ— world For all this is natural to them and they hear such lies as these with much ease and delight How many besides these are â—here that daily injure and dishoâ—our God by making a God of their â—ellies through Glutteny and Drunâ—enness How many that with those wicked ones in Job ch 15. v. 25. Stretch out their hands against God â—nd think to strengthen themselves against the Almighty Such a one was â—hat Cassibes the Son of Cyrus who according to the relation of Herodoâ—us would never acknowledge any other God but himself a common Distemper of those mighty Asian and some other Monarchs being so notoriously wicked and impious in his proceedings as that where ever he came he caused all Temples or Places where God was invocated and worshiped to be burnt But as his impiety went not unpunished so let me say it once for all That nothing which these Blasphemers do either speak act or conspire contumeliously against God shall ever escape its due punishment Though you daily see and hear those that every moment and almost at every word profane his most holy and terrible Name by their Oaths and Swearing Though you hear so many Atheists taking the liberty to deny the Deity Providence Power Justice and Goodness of God Though you see so many Politicians and False Chirstians losing themselves in their dissolute lives and perjuring themselves in their Oaths whether by God by his Church by the Gospel of which they are in heart the greatest enemies or by any other kind of Oath though they seem to be very fortunate and prosperous for the present yet shall they not escape deserved punishment Divine Justice will find them out first or last in this world or in the next We see many sad examples how severely God Almighty hath from time to time punished such presumptuous and arrogant people so that we need not seek or take examples out of Holy Scripture to prove and verifie this evident Truth Let us â—ook but into this present age and we shall see that for the most part Those that blaspheme the name of God that rob and vilify his Church pollute and undervalue his holy Sacraments make unjust wars against his Holiness the true Vicar of Christ upon earth Those that take arms against their lawful Sovereings Kings Princes c. that persecute and put to death the true and lawful Ministers of Gods Church have for the most part died shamefully and perished miserably their bodies hanging dead in the aire as unworthy to have their Burial amongst good Christans and their poor souls carried into the deepest pit of Hell there to suffer torment for all Eternity which things ought to give great terror to those that meditate of the judgments of God and the punishment he inflicts upon the Blasphemers of his holy Name It is true God hath sometimes deferred to punish some of these sinnets expecting their happy repentance and conversion but some likewise he hath severely and suddenly punished inflicting pains presently upon their sin As for example he did to one Olimpius Bishop of Carthage who for Blaspheming the Holy and Divine Trinity was suddenly seized upon by a natural fire all over his Body which by little and little burnt and consumed him roaring amidst the excessive pains which he endured Anatolius a great Blasphemer of Christ in the year of our Lord 582 was exposed alive to wild Beasts and by them torn in pieces after which he was drawn to the Gallows and there hang'd all the rest of his Fellows being burnt in a little Ship by artificial fire and so perished both by water and fire Nicephorus lib. 17. cap. 4. says that Nestorius was such another to wit a Blasphemer of the holy Mother of God for which fault Divine Justice so ordaining it his Tongue was eaten with worms being yet alive by reason whereof he suffered extream horrible pain and at last died miserably The Spanish History written by Rodericus Sanctius and others makes mention of divers other like examples particularly of one Alphonsus a great Blasphemer who was suddenly punished by Divine Justice for saying That he could govern the world far better than God if he would undertake it Toletanus lib. 6. de Reb. Hisp saith that Datianus was for the like offence burnt and consumed by Fire from Heaven and that Gunderick was suddenly seized and strangled by the Devil as likewise were Alrorax Attilla and many others that for their blasphemies received present and horrible punishment from the hand of God Procopius lib. 1. de reb gest Belisar testifieth That Hunnerieâ— a most cruel King of the Vandals who was not only a great Blasphemer but also a great Persecutor of Christians was whilst actually Blaspheming suddenly taken with the Plague and died miserably in the place where he was struck Beside if you will take the pains to read Osorius lib. 20. chap. 3. in the Portugal Histories you will find that for the like Crimes the same or like death happened to the Lord of Ceâ—lis who died mad and raging in Blaspemies without end after he had plundered several Churches and burnt the Abbey of Saint Hubert Verily I could alledge here an infinite number of other like sad Examples but these may suffice to make us absolutely believe that never any obstinate and perverse Blasphemer had a happy end and that although some may seem to escape Vengeance in this world yet in the next wrath and indignation to the height will be their portion Sect. 2. Self-love looks alwayes at his own Interests in treating with Neighbours therefore prejudicial to them Having already shewn how God Almighty is vilified undervalued injur'd and blasphemed by the pernicious Disease of Self-love and the evil Effects proceeding from it if we will now consider things well we shall find that our Neighbours are no less injur'd wrong'd and prejudiced by the same because it makes men look at themselves and to seek only their own Self-ends and Interests upon all accounts and occasions as a learned Divine doth well observe saying That Self-love is alwayes in agitation alwayes acting against our Neighbour or against ones self Self-love never leaves our Neighbour long in peace but ever and anon is finding matter to trouble and vex him living almost in perpetual grudg with him and iâ— opposition to him either spiritual oâ— temporal what by
A SOVEREIGN BALSOM TO CURE THE LANGUISHING DISEASES OF THIS Corrupt Age. By C. PORA a Well-wisher to all Persons We and our Fathers languish with such Diseases but thou for sinners shalt be called Merciful 4 Esdras 8. v. 31. PERMISSU SUPERIORUM 1678. TO His Truly and Ever Honoured PATRON MILES STAPELTON Knight and Baronet c. Of Carleton in the County of York AND To his Right Honourable Lady ELIZABETH STAPELTON Alias BARTU Daughter to the Earl of LINDSY c. Peace Health and Happiness MOST HONOURED SIR IF King David one of the greatest Monarchs â—hat ever was in the World sound himself so much obliâ—ed to Abigail for a few Victuals it is no mervail if I be â—â—r more obliged to You â—aving received so many favours innumerable benefits â—nd civilities from your Noâ—â—e Person while I had thâ—â—onour of being one of youâ— Renowned Family Thereâ—â—re do not think me preâ—â—mptuous if I offer to yoâ—â—â—ese Fruits of my Labours which I have judged fit anâ— pâ—oper for the Cure of thâ— Lâ—nguishing Diseases of thâ—â— Corrupted Age. I hope it will not seem strange to You nor to any others â—hat I make so happy choicâ— in presenting this my poor Industry to your Worthy Person to whom in all reâ—pects the right of it belongs having sprung and been partly conceived during â—he time of my abode in â—our Family Receive â—herefore Most Noble and Worthy Patron this my Offer not as a thing worâ—hy of your Deserts but as a small token of my love and affection to You. I do not doubt though my Work be not much polished with Eloquence nor replenished with Courtly Expressions but You will reap some spiritual benefiâ— by it Although You be most Vertuous yet sure I am You do not conceive your self exempt or altogether free from all the Spiritual Diseases and Languishing Distempers of thiâ— present Age. For according to that of our Blessed Saviour in the Evangelist Nemo bonus nisi solus Deus Luc. 18. v. 19. There is none absolutely good save God alone It is not therefore my intention here to extend my self in your praises or to make any long Rehearsal of your known Heroical Vertues and Pious Actions which surpass my slender capacity to express as they deserve I must pass over in silence the manifold Perfections and Graces with which the Holy Ghost hath adorned You. And especially with a great Charity which you extend and practise daily to the Poor in several effects both for their Bodies and Souls And oâ— the great Zeal and constanâ— Practice of your Faith and Religion which neitheâ— Glory nor Persecutionâ— could ever shake in the least Neither dare I be so bold as to honour my Pen with the Relation of your Affinities and near Relations who were most Loyal Subjects and Chief Officers in the Service of their King adventuring both their Estates and Lives in adhering to Him It is in vain for me to declare How they behaved themselves in the last unhappy War how often and how valiantly they fought against those Rebels losing their lives for the just Cause and Quarrel of their Sovereign how often they were taken and re-taken Prisoners your and their Houses plundered themselves wounded and left among the dead Souldiers All these I will leave in silence with many other Valourous Acts done by them knowing your humility to be such that it abhorreth to be praised and other your Allies exalted in your behalf Therefore I will and that most willingly condescend to your humble inclination craving pardon for this boldness in offering so small a Token to your great Deserts And thus with your leave I will cease to write though I will not cease to wish That all Prosperity and Happiness may never cease to You and Yours and with this desire I remain Most honoured Patron Your most humble Servant CHARLES PORA TO THE READER HAving written these Treatises of the Chief Languishing Diseases of this Corrupted Age upon no other account than for my own satisfaction with the sole intention to improve my self as well in the English Tongue as to apply readily the Antidote of all Spiritual Diseases and Languishing Distempers to my poor corrupted disposition Not thinking in the least to let it pass any further in the view of the World yet the earnest intreaties of my friends who accidentally perused the same prevailed so far that I could not but condescend to their desires in the publishing of it Accept therefore Courteous Reader my good will and hearty desire to do something that might tend to the perfect cure of those Spiritual Infirmities that chiefly corrupt this present Age. I confess and you will easily perceive by reading that neither the Stile nor the Conceits are set out to the full yet my hope is that you will never find the language so barren and fruitless but you may find likewise a Balsom for prevention or at the least to give ease to your Languishing Infirmities Expect not Mellifluous Eloquencies Vain Opinions nor Worldly Expressions but the plain Conceits of a well-meaning Mind suitable to the Subject which tends onely for your spiritual good and interest Neither do I pretend to entertain you with Novelties I shall alledge nothing that I can so properly term my own as to exclude all others from any Title to it Know therefore Good Reader that I have selected the substance of these Treatises out of the Sacred Scripture â—ith the confirmation both of the Anâ—â—ent Fathers and of other Learned â—ivines Wherefore if you find any â—â—ing amiss or superfluous as unpoâ—â—shed Phrases hard or harsh Senâ—â—nces any false Orthographics or â—ot true English impute the same to â—â—y own Errors and excuse me as not â—â—â—ing perfect in the English Expressiâ—â—s Thus wishing you the absolute â—â—re of all those Languishing Diseases â—nd Distempers both of Mind and â—pirit here spoken of I do not doubt â—ut by Gods assistance you will find it â—â— the reading of these Treatises or â—â— least some help as well to prevent â—â— to heal the same Adieu The First Treatise OF THE LANGUISHING DISEASES OF CHRISTIANS Proceeding from Self-Love We and our Fathers languish under such Diseases but thou for sinners shalt be called Merciful 4 Esdr 8. 31. SECTION I. Of Self-Love SECT 1. The Introduction to Self-Love 2. Three several sorts of Love 3. Self-Love contrary to the Love of God 4. How Self-Love opposeth the Love of God SECT 1. Introduction to Self-Love IT is not without cause most beloved Reader nor reason thaâ— the Wise Solomon did exalt in his Canticles so highly that which Almighty God did ordain namely Love of which I will say that if the Rules of it be not exactly kept and observed without question it will cause infinite confusion even to the total ruin of Mankind Love in the highest degree and perfection is due to God alone as being that which he absolutely commands us Diliges Dominum Deum tuâ—m ex toto corde tuo c. Deut. 6. v.
desire a greater conquest than to subdue the world and to trample all the deceitful glories and vanities thereof under your feet Can you think any victory more advantageous than that which of Captives makes you Kings for freedom and true liberty and of Slaves to Self-love and sin the Sons of God and Heirs with Christ of Eternal Glory A greater Conquest you cannot reasonably desire than to subdue all your enemies nor Dominion than to be master of your self and this is done by the way I have shewed you Happy therefore I say are those that conquer and overcome their passions yea much more happy are they than those that conquer Kingdoms and Countries but cannot conquer themselves Happy are those that can rule and govern their sensual love concupiscences and appetites so as not to transgress in them or by them Such a one is Lord of a great Empire Lord of this World and Heir of Heaven To be truly humble is a great Trophy and the right way to Jesus Christ is to subdue your own proper will to suffer injuries and other evils not seeking overmuch after any temporal interests or things concerning the Body Be content to suffer with Christ and for Christ and be sure that if you thus suffer you shall also reign with Christ For a little adversity you will enjoy a perpetuaâ— felicity therefore do not think iâ— a troublesome thing nor grieve thaâ— it is requir'd of you to fight with and to overcome your self for how bitter soever it may seem in the beginning the end of it will be sweet and God will fight for you and help you to get the victory only remembring this not to attribute the glory of â—he conquest to your own strength â—ut only to the Divine Majesty whose Grace gains you the Victory and â—et you must do your endeavour too â—or that Gods Grace helps none that â—ill not help themselves as well as â—hey can and you may observe that â—f those who only cry Lord Lord â—nd do nothing else it is said They â—hall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven None shall be crowned but â—hose that fight well and with couâ—age persevere to the end If two Men come to fight being both of â—qual strength courage and skill and â—oth alike arm'd naturally speaking â—t is certain that he that gets help or â— second to joyn with him will get â—he victory In the same manner it â—s between the Body and the Soul continually fighting supposing both equal and alike in strength if we favour and help the Body by idleness over much eating and drinking and will not deny it ought of its sensual desires be sure it will get the victory over the Soul and subdue her to its lure and appetite and so on the contrary if we favour and help the Soul by fervent Prayers to God if we support and uphold her by the practice of Vertues and arm her Cap-a-pe from Head to Foot with the whole Armour of Righteousness Faith Hope Charity Patience Zeal and other good Graces of the Spirit it is not to be doubted but she will have a glorious victory over the Body vanquish all the Vanities of the World and find a saving cure for all her languishings and distempers occasion'd by Self-love SECTION VII How to love God and our Neighbour Sect. 1. How we are to love God 2. How we are to love our Neighbour 3. How we are to love our Enemies 4. In what manner of love we are to love our Neighbour and our Enemies 5. How we may know our selves free from Self-love in loving God and our Neighbour Sect. 1. How we are to love God I must confess that all we have hitherto said or written serves in part to declare how we are to love God namely above all things with all our hearts with all our mind with all our soul and with all our strength This hath been often inculcated by us But such is the thing that whether we consider the difficulty and hardness or the utility and benefit of it it can never be insisted upon too much We cannot be too often called upon or too often put in mind of this duty and therefore I will in short speak a word or two more to that effect that if you desire to attain the Perfection of that Grace to wit of Divine Love I may by the mercy of God be a little helpful to you in order thereto Verily it standeth with great reason that we should love God in the manner above-said both Justice and Natural Reason dictating and commanding with all urgency that we should wholly give and dedicate our selves by love unto God and by lovinâ— him from whom we wholly possess and enjoy our selves to re-pay in some sort our Duty and Obligation Now for the better performance of this my advice is that you follow the counsel of the seraphical and subtle Doctor Scotus who says That we are to love God sweetly prudently and valiantly or with good courage Sweetly that you be not by any bitterness or amarulency that sometimes happens therein averted from loving him Prudently that you be not by the guil of your Ghostly enemy ensnared nor catch'd in any ambuscado of his Valiantly and with good courage that when you come to suffer injuries oppressions affronts for loving him you be not in any manner of wayes drawn or driven enticed or forced from his Divine Love either by the pomp and glory of the world together with the voluptuous Allurements of the Flesh or by the sterner violence of Persecution and Troubles threatned for loving him and being resolv'd for your part thus to proceed towards the Love of God there are Three Things more chiefly required of you The first is You must extirpate out of your heart all Sensual Love all Love that proceeds from Concupiscences all inordinate love of the World and purge your selves of all sorts of Self-love Inordinate Appetites and Passions and of all the sins that proceed from them It is the admonition of Saint Paul Ephe. 4. 22. Deponere vos secundum pristinam conversationem c. That you put off concerning the former conversation the Old Man which is totally corrupt through deceitful and erroneous lusts and be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind putting on the New Man which according to God is created in Justice and True Holiness And again Rom. 13. v. 12. Cast off saith he the works of darkness which are Self-love and Sin and putting on the armor of light which is the practice of Divine Love let us walk honestly as in the day not in Banquetting and Drunkenness not in Chamberings and Impudicities not in Strife and Emulation in a word nor in making any provision for the Flesh in Concupiscences or to satisfie the lusts thereof consonant unto which is that of Salomon Sap. 1. v. 4. In malevolam animam non introibit sapientia c. Divine Wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul nor dwell in a Body that is
Eating or Drinking He makes himself but a Laughing-stock now that either in fear of God scruple of Conscience or other just and lawful Cause forbears his Cups being in company and call'd upon his singularity and that he will not drink till drunk with the rest is matter of great derision and scorn to the Bachanalian Crew who account it an heroick act and cry it up for a point of Valour in their Tavern-contests to exceed others in drinking for which reason also every one of these Sons of Bacchus and the Devil study and strive to exceed each other what they can and he that remains Victor over the rest is so much applauded in his wicked Conquest that nothing pleases him more than to see his Companions lye spewing senseless or dead-drunk before him And which adds to his iniquity and the shame of these times his Devillish Trophies are so divulged and publish'd with such applause amongst all Pot-companions that more than a few are incourag'd to emulate him and to make trial of their strength in overcoming him or some other in the like manner Sect. 2. Drunkenness of Nobility and Gentry This evil Disease is so rife among great Persons both of Nobility and Gentry that I know not whether many of them can be excepted To the great shame and prejudice of Christianity it is doubtless But who can withstand the torrent Evil custom carries all before it and the pleasure of sin takes away the shame of sinning The wise Solomon foresaw the inconvenience of this long since and forewarn'd the world of it once and again as namely Prov. 31. 4. in these words Noli Regibus O Lemuel Noli Regibus c. Give not Wine unto Kings O Lemuel nor to Princes strong drink least they drink and forget the Law c. and Eccles 10. v. 16 17. in these Vae tibi terra cujus Rexpuer est Wo to thee O land when thy King is a child and thy Princes eat in the morning that is are too much given to their gluttonous appetite of meat and drink But Blessed is the Land whose King is the Son of Nobles and whose Princes eat in due season for Strength and not for Drunkenness That 's a thing most unbeseeming Princes and all persons pretending to authority or honour Both which oblige them to Temperance and to carry themselves so as that their good example may be instruction and doctrine to others and also procure authority to their persons for the better and more effectual reproving or correcting such as are addicted to these Vices How much therefore are they to be blam'd who being persons of great Honour and no less Authority in the Publique Government do every day almost by their intemperance put themselves as it were into the rank of Drunkards and Good Fellows as foolish custome calls them greatly undervaluing themselves and little dreaming of the great prejudice that will come upon them and others by this means through the practice of their Mortal and Immortal Enemies I say their Mortal Enemies and by that term understand men like themselves who bearing enmity towards them and watching fit opportunity to execute that Violence which Hell and their wicked hearts prompt them to cannot long want it towards those that are given to Drunkenness A man overcome with Drink is but in bad case to encounter an enemy when it were but to betray himself so much as to face him or be seen of him Did not the Prince Absalon take this advantage to murther his Brother Amnon Intending to kill him in revenge of the injury he had done to his Sister Tamar he first invites him to a Feast or a great Banquet where he would be sure to fill him with Wine and then the business was as good as done having charged his Servants to watch and observe when Amnon should be elevated in Drink and then to fall on him and kill him Mark saith he to his Servants 2 Reg. 13. 28. Cum temulentus fuerit Amnon vino c. As soon as you perceive Amnon to be overcome with Wine and that I say to you strike then fail ye not to strike and kill him and so they did The like occasion will our Enemies take to be reveng'd on us when they find us in like case that is to be deep in Drink for then they know Men are uncapable to resist or make defence either for Body or Soul Sect. 3. Drunkenness of the Richer sort of People Great Persons offend herein Nobility Gentry But are the meaner sort free Is there no excess of Meat or Drink to be observed amongst them Are they temperate and abstemious in all things 1 Cor. 9. 25. as the good Souldier and Servant of Christ should be Nothing less Frequent that I say not daily experience shews the contrary and what great excess there is in this sort of People What supersluity and costliness in Diet What abundance of Wine goes down their Throats What variety of Strong Drinks How do they strive to surpass and out-do each other in the Sumptuousness and even Prodigality of their Feasts and Banquets emulating those of higher Rank and despising them which come short of their Measure Insomuch that what the Prophet spake long since concerning the People of Israel is a very just reproof and ought to be a warning to these present times Vae qui opulenti estis in Sion c. Wo unto you that are Rich saith he Amos 6. v. 1 2 3 c. that live at your ease in Sion Wo to you that approach the Throne of Iniquity you that eat the best Lambs of the Flock and fatted Calves out of the Stall that drink Wine in Bowls and anoint your selves with the chiefest Oyntments Wo unto you for you are not grieved at the affliction of Joseph You pamper your selves you feed your selves to the full with all manner of Dainties but you let the poor starve you have no tenderness nor compassion for them May not all this be said of Christians Are we a whit better in this kind than the Jews notwithstanding that we have been anointed with the Sacred Oyls of Baptism and Confirmation the best Unctions in the World Saint Ambrose gives us a particular account of the Prodigality and Excess of such People in his time and describes the manner of it saying These Men in sitting down to the Table seem to marshal themselves for a Fight encountering one another with their Cups and Glasses as with so many shots of Arrows in a Fought Battel Drinking and taking down all that 's presented to their Hands nevertheless using great Art and Care not to be overtaken with Drink all on the sudden Therefore at first small Draughts serve the turn they begin for the most part with lesser Cups and advance by little and little spinning up their miseries by degrees till being warm'd in their Work and the Fight growing hot they call for greater till at length the largest Bowls are taken off and Long Flats
sold in Taverns but in the Apothecaries Shop Besides it is well known that the Ancient Sages Ethniques did for the most part measure their Drink and would upon no account exceed their stinted Custom saying with Anacharsis the Philosopher That the First Draught which Men drink ought to be for to quench their Thirst the second for nourishment but the third was for Pleasure and the fourth for Madness Pythagoras was somewhat more preâ—ise in this matter living only of Herbs Fruits and drinking Water He would usually say That Grapes afâ—orded three sorts of Wine one whereof quenched Thirst the seâ—ond Troubled the third overthrew â—nd inflamed the Spirits and his practice confirm'd his Opinion for himself was so abstemious that they â—ay of him That he never drank Wine in all his days no more did the Great Orator Demosthenes if reports be true nor many other famous Men of whom the Histories make mention I find that I have dilated my self somewhat largely in making report of the Sobriety and Abstinence of so many particular Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Ancient Fathers and other renowned Men both Christians and those others morally Wise and Vertuous Men among the Gentils Kings Captains Philosophers and others The reason and chief Motive hereof hath been to shew the beastly intemperance of the Men of this present age to whom it seems an unpossible vain and contemptible thing to live in such Sobriety and Austerity of Life saying That there were none but simple Philosophers and melancholike Hermits that lived after this manner To let them see the contrary I have taken this pains They may here behold how much they are mistaken and how in all States Qualities and Conditions of Men even from the greatest to the meanest Sobriety Temperance and Abstinence have been both honour'd observ'd and practised So that in conclusion I may truly say of all the Egyptian Priests of all the Sages of India and Persia yea generally of all Priests that served at the Alters of Jupiter and those other Pagans Deities that they did seldom eat Flesh-meat but never drank Wine which truly may serve for a Subject of very serious reflection to some that hold chief places in the Church of the True and Living God who ought to be as Lamps shining in the midst of the Temple and by their Example as well as Doctrine to guide their Spiritual Subjects in the ways of True Piety and Vertue Not that they have these Gentils only to look upon and follow as Presidents seeing the Holy Catholique Church doth her self by the Grace of God plentifully afford innumerable such in all Christian Provinces that is Men of Holy and Exemplary Lives who had the True Love and Fear of God in them in such eminent manner that their Conversation hath singularly edified the People under their charge and excited them to all Godliness and Honesty So that blessed be God it is not so much for want of good Presidents amongst Christians that we mention Heathens and Gentiles in this Affair but more effectually to convince some sort of People of their shameful Practices who will not be mov'd by nor regard the example of good Christians so well as they ought to do To conclude therefore I wish every one to take notice of a Saying of Socrates that Wise and Worthy Gentile who was wont to say That the Soul which had gotten the habit and custom of Sobriety and was contented with her Estate did pass away her days in this World with as much ease as he that takes a short journey in the Spring through a most pleasant and fruitful Country with great satisfaction to the mind and little labour SECTION III. Drunkenness or the Excess of Meat and Drink a most Pestilent Disease SECT 1. It causeth several Infirmities 2. It causeth the Corruption of the Soul 3. It causeth the Corruption of the Body 4. Sad Examples of Drunkards Sect. 1. Drunkenness or Excess in Meat and Drink causeth several Infirmities IT stands with great reason that if we believe the Vertue of Abstinence to be a preservative of Health as the Holy Scripture makes mention and assure us that it is witness that of Ecclus. 37. v. 34. Qui abstinens est adjiciet Vitam He that is abstinent shall prolong his life it must likewise be acknowledged that the Excess of Drink must be cause of many Infirmities and by them destroy the Body which is also averred in the fore-going part of the Text above cited Propter crapulam multi obierunt By means of Drunkenness many have come to untimely ends The Physician knowing that his Patient hath got a Surfeit whether by Eating or Drinking presently prescribes him Abstinence and 't is a Rule in Physick That Contraria contrariis curantur Contraries are for the most part cur'd by contraries If the root or cause of the Sickness be too much Heat it is cur'd by Cold or rebating the Heat if too much Moisture it is cur'd by Purging dissipating and evacuating the peccant Humour which Saint Hierome also confirms saying We read of many particular Diseases and Infirmities that proceed from the Excess of Drink as Gouts Dropsies Feavers and the like which are cur'd and the Patients recover health again meerly by being reduced to Abstinence and slender Diet avoiding the Superfluities and Excesses which at first caused the Distemper the Drunkards Wine and Strong Drink if I may so speak being in this respect like to the little Book mentioned in the Apocalypse Chap. 10. v. 11 which was commanded to be eaten it is in the Mouth and going down sweet as Honey but in their Stomach and Belly it is bitter and hard of digestion So then if you desire to preserve your selves in Health I speak here only of Bodily Health you must follow the Counsel of Socrates and be careful never to eat but when you are Hungry nor ever to drink but when you are Dry and Thirsty because to do otherwise and to observe no order time and temperance in your Eating and Drinking is the cause of many Infirmities Distempers and Languishing of the Body Pain in the Head Pain in the Stomach Distillations Dropsies and overflowing of gross Humors all over the Body such an irregular Diet tending rather to overcharge than to sustain nature For the natural Heat of the Body not being able to concoct or digest such abundance of superfluous Humors as follow Intemperance or the Excess of Eating and Drinking when it is habitual constant and customary the said Humours must unavoidably remain crude rawish and of a temperament contrary or not agreeable to the temperament of the Body and consequently must be a seminary for Fevers and other Distempers and in fine of an untimely Death where the Art of the Physician or some good Providence of God doth not hinder to the Body With truth therefore we say and in charity admonish all Offenders in this kind that all those who take such pleasure and delight in Eating and Drinking as to
that which should save their Souls as well as their Bodies but if they die perish in their Sin and shame with the eternal loss of their poor Souls which the Wise Solomon desiring to prevent forewarneth us of the danger in those words of his Prov. 23. 31 32. which we shall do well often and very often to have in minn Ne intuearis vinum quando flavescit cum splenduerit in vitro color ejus c. Look not upon the Wine when it is well colour'd when the colour thereof shall shine in the Glass for though it goes down pleasantly yet at the later end it will bite like a Serpent and as the Basilisk diffuse and spead its Venome to the Corruption of your Soul Sect. 3. Drunkenness or the Excess of Meat and Drink the Corruption of the Body Thus it appears in some part that Drunkenness is the Corruption of the Soul and how the Soul is said to be Câ—â—rupted I am now to shew that it is likewise the Corruption of the Body and that in a more absolute sense because the Body is absolutely and intirely Corruptible which the Soul is not The very Substance Nature and Essence of the Body may be Corrupted and is Corrupted by Drunkenness but the Substance Nature and Essence of the Soul cannot be Corrupted as we have shewn above Well then we are next to shew that the Vice we speak of Excessive Drinking is the Corruption of the Body And what can be more evident and manifest than this even from daily experience Doth not Experience tell us that it is the original cause of innumerable Distempers and Diseases to Mans Body and by which the greater part of Manknd first or last do perish or find the end of their days in this World Doth not the Wise Man give us a necessary caution concerning this in those words of his Ecclus 37. 32. Noli â—vidus esse in omni epulatione c. In all Feasting be not you greedy nor let loose your appetite to every thing that is set before you For through many Meats come many infirmities and overmuch Feeding encreases Choler By means of Surfeiting by Meat or Drink many have come to their ends People addicted to good Fellowship as they call it when after some excessive Drinking they find themselves not well how many shifts do they use to hide their over-sight and hinder the effect from being charg'd upon the True Cause Their Distemper must not be imputed to the quantity that is to say their Drinking overmuch but to the quality their Drink was not good it was not well brewed it was raw and windy or the Mault was not well made and many such vain pretences do they use adding a lie to their former sin of Drunkenness and all that it may not be thought to be their Drinking so much should cause their Malady Certain it is a moderate quantity of Drink and also of Meat hurteth not but is necessary to satisfie and sustain Nature neither is it the use but the abuse of Meat and Drink to wit when we observe no measure which causeth Diseases when the Golden Mean is observed all goes well but when it is neglected great inconveniencies follow according as Apuleius seems not unhandsomely to express it The first Cup saith he is drunk to the Health of Nature the second causes Cheerfulness Mirth and harmless Pleasure the third relishes somewhat of Sensuality and invites to Disorder and Voluptuousness but the fourth breeds Infirmities and Indisposition of Body and especially if you add the fifth Madness Excess herein makes Man Created to the Image and Likeness of God and Reasonable above all other Creatures of this World to become wholly difform and unlike to God losing his Reason and Understanding The Traveller that wants Wisdom being Thirsty in the heat of Summer as soon as he meets with a Ditch full of Water in his Journey he presently runs to it for to Drink minding only to quench his Thirst and not at all considering whether the Water be good pure clear and wholesom or whether it be not corrupted impure and muddy nor whether it be cold as Water to Drink should be or whether it be not heated with the Sun-beams and made unfit to Drink The unwise Traveller considers none of these things nor what inconveniences may follow but sets himself to Drink as much as he can and so Drinks oft-times his own Death or manifold Diseases and Infirmities But the Wise Pilgrim though he feels as much Thirst as the other yet he moderates his Appetite and will not Drink till he comes at a clear Fountain of Running Water and of this he will Drink with moderation not to overcharge Nature but to extinguish his Thirst In the same manner it is with many that dwell at home and seldom travels farther than the Tavern or Ale-House that they haunt They rush into these Common Drinking Places far more corrupt and dangerous to the Soul by reason of the many Transgressions committed in them than any standing Pool or muddy Water can be to the Body and there fall to Tipple and Drink with as much Discretion and Consideration of what they do as the Beast useth that goes from the Stall to Watering Thus do many run daily to Drink and by their enticements carry others along with them and provoke them to Drink not so much many times as well considering whether the Drink be good or bad Whereas those that are Vertuous and Wise will rather have in scorn such Places and would never with their good will be seen in them Drinking always moderately either at home in their own or abroad at some Friends Houses only to content Nature preserve Health and comply with the devoirs of honest Friendship Sect. 4. Sad Examples upon great Drinkers Gabriel Prateolus in his second Tome of Chronicles at the year 1580 the 24th of July mentions a very sad accident which happened to two great Health-drinkers at a Town called Mackerhoven in Germany These two unfortunate Men came into a Tavern and called for Wine which seeming to them to be weak and little pleasing to their Pallats they insisted for better So having tasted of all sorts they pitch'd at length upon that they found to be strongest and fell smartly to it drinking to the Health of every one they could think of or call to mind upon that occasion Beginning to be elevated the one said to the other To whom shall we now Drink The other replied Drink to the Health of God and you shall see how it shall be answered but he being unwilling and making difficulty at it the wretch that made the motion suddenly snatches the Glass out of his Companions hand and in these words provoketh Divine Wrath upon himself saying O God hear me I will Drink to thee in a full Glass and if you do not pledge me you do me injury His Companion had first ask'd him of which Wine he would drink Fill me of the New replied the wicked
Masters Care nor Pilots Skill nor the Help of all the People in the Ship can save such â—â— Ship from sinking unless they unlade her Such is the case of all theâ— that are surcharg'd with Drink nothing can do them any good so lonâ— as they are Drunk no good thoughts take place in them no inspirations no good counsel no instruction can be given them to any effect neither the fear of God nor the fear of what will come on them at last works ought or prevails with them to cease their Drinking all means used to this proving vain and ineffectual as woful and almost daily experience shews If you would hear more of this Subject viz. what agitations and tossings of mind no less than of Body Drunkards do suffer in the stormy tempests of their Drunken Fits Saint Ambrose will tell you that those who are in Drink are like Men in a Tempest tossed this way and that way and with great unquietness agitated in several respects First they are disquieted with vain and contrary Cogitations their Thoughts and the inclinations of their Mind reel and stagger sometimes to the right Hand sometimes to the left not being able either to discern Truth from Falshood or to resolve what is fit or unfit to be done Their Sight oft-times fails they are unstable in their Goings they Trip and Over-reach and Stumble almost at every Step sometimes Falling and always in danger to Fall in their distemper'd Phantasies imagining that they saw Mountains and Valleys and heard various Sounds and Noises All their Bodies become at length Quagmires of Evil and Corrupt Humors in which their Spirits are so bemir'd and clamm'd up that they find not such free passage as the Health and Constitution of their Bodies require All their Members are as it were disjoynted and out of place so that none of them perform their Office well Their Heads Wag their Tongues Faulter and Stammer their Hands Shake and Tremble as if they were Paralytique or had the Palsie their Knees and Hamstrings Fail their Feet Trip and Strike so long one against the other that at length down they fall Headlong and there the Beast lies till Company come to help him up To this purpose speaketh the Holy Father and by this True Description you may see how dangerous a Distemper Drunkenness is and how prejudicial both to Soul and Body Sect. 3. Drunkenness raiseth a furious Tempest in the Tongue After so great a storm and disturbance to the whole Body the Tempest of the Tongue follows which is a particular but yet an unruly Member as the Apostle saith Jac. 38. and the excess of Drink makes it much more unruly Drunkenness excites and moves the Tongue to all manner of mischief and ill-speaking Hence come filthy lewd and lascivious Expressions hence come lying and false boasting hence come insolent contumelious and provoking Words hence come Envious Malevolent and Detracting Discourse Censorious Language The Tongue of a Drunkard is the most prompt Instrument the Devil has to tempt unto all Evil and to with-draw from all Good The Drunkards Tongue is apt to Swear to Curse and Blaspheme The Drunkard makes no scruple to take Gods Name in vain to boast falsly and vain gloriously of himself and to be extravagant in Speech relating as well to God as his Neighbour whom he spares not uncharitably and causelesly to traduce whether absent or present whether alive or dead And from Evil Words they proceed to Evil Actions for Drunkards are commonly Quarrelsome and given to Contentions especially in their Drink As great Friends as they will seem to be yet none more apt to fall out none more apt to have wranglings brawlings and animosities one with another Whosoever will not say as they say and do as they do they take it for an affront and resent it when they see opportunity So true it is what the Scripture saith Ecclus 31. v. 39. Ebrietatis animositas imprudentis offensio c. The Animosity that comes by Drunkenness makes the Fool to offend or do something which he should not do it abates Valour and procures him Wounds The Discourse of Drunken Men what is it for the most part but Vaunting or Ribauldry lewd or detracting Speech rash Judgments hard Censures Sin all The Wise Man saith In multiloquio non deest peccatum In much talk there wants not Sin And who more talkative than Men in Drink insomuch as 't is taken for a Prodigy almost or at least for a Disease to observe any of them to be deep in Drink and deep in Silence at the same time if they be awake Saint Ambrose toucheth some of these People to the Quick Saying When Drunkards are got together and set to their Drinking in Taverns and Ale-houses though some of them have scarce a Shirt to their Back or Meat to Eat the next day yet at this time they will have their Verdicts and with equal Folly and Impudence pass their Censures even upon Kings Princes and all others that are above them in Authority or Honour and more especially when Things go contrary to their Will and Mind This vain and contemptible sort of People seem to themselves to Reign and Rule and Command great Armies They seem in their own Conceits io be Rich and Powerful who are in truth Beggers when they are sober While they are in Drink they have all Things in Plenty they give Gold they scatter Silver build Castles in the Air and what not when as perhaps really they have scarce Money enough to pay their reckoning These people are not capable of advice as contemning all good counsel that can be given them being of those whom the Scripture Deut. 21. 20. stiles Contumaces protervos Froward and stubborn Children comessationibus vacantes Giving themselves to Riot and Drunkenness to Feasting and Tipling who when they are once high-flown with Liquor think none so good or so wise as themselves pretending to know allt things when indeed they know nothing as they ought and themselves least of all taking upon them to dispute of all Matters and to determine in all Cases to interpret all Laws Divine and Humane yea to Correct and Controul if the Humour be strong in them for with too many of them it is a Custom not only to drink beyond measure but in the midst of their Drunken Cups to fall into dispute about Matters of Religion and to discuss in that contentious and profane manner things most Sacred So that full well is the Saying of St. Paul 1 Tim. 6. v. 4. verified of them Superbi sant ni hil scientes c. They are Proud knowing nothing but languishing about Questions and strifes of Words whereof cometh Envy Strife Railings Evil Surmizings perverse Disputings of Men corrupt in their Minds and destitute of the True Faith from whom we are to with-draw and with whom we should have nothing to do For without doubt where such indiscreet and blind Zeal is there is none of that Wisdom which
unadvisedly run into those extravagancies and excesses as will infallibly bring great disorder and harm both to Body and Soul if they stop not in time and that the mischief be not prevented by better resolutions Such for the most part are those that haunt Taverns and Alehouses to their great prejudice they expose themselves to all the perils and dangers that usually attend those places which are not few nor of small importance Besides if we call those Naturals who want the use of reason be it by birth by sickness or by any other accident with how much more reason may we stile them so that wilfully and of their own accord will lose their Senses will deprive themselves of the use of Reason Understanding Memory that will voluntarily disable their bodily limbs and render them useless and unserviceable as namely their hands feet c. Can we think such worthy of the name of Reasonable Men yet all this do the Drunkards They for a time disable themselves both as to body and mind they for a time deprive themselves of Reason Understanding Memory Senses they for a time unman themselves and become meer Beasts in the shape of men So that it may seem a Solicism even to call them Naturals They deserve not so good a name doing things so contrary unto and beneath the Dignity of Humane Nature And well it were for them if the want and loss for a time of their Understanding Reason and Senses their being so justly rank'd and compar'd to Beasts with the other corporal prejudices which they suffer for a time could satisfie for their folly and redeem them from further harm But alas it will not The Drunkard is not more odious in the sight of man than he is in the sight of God when he lies like a Beast in his drunkenness vomiting and spewing when he can neither stand nor go he is not more despised by men than he is by Angels Saints and all the Celestial Court of Heaven And a wise custom it was of the Lacedemonians who as 't is reported of them would often shew to their Children drunken men in their fits of drunkenness to the end they might learn betimes to hate and abhor that wicked sin For without doubt there 's nothing more apt to make drunkenness abhorr'd and detested than to observe the filthy and beastly behaviour both in word and deed of those whose Brains are distemper'd and their Stomachs overcharg'd with excess of Wine Sect. 2. Drunkenness makes Men worse than bruit Beasts According to our Seraphical Doctor S. Bonaventure Drunkards are more senseless and unreasonable than bruit Beasts because Bruits do all things according to kind and as their Nature requires whereas Drunkards do all things contrary to and otherwise then their Nature requires of them and the Opinion of that Saint is fully confirm'd by Saint Peter 2 Pet. 2. 13 14 c. where speaking of the Sodomites who were People given to this and all other kinds of lewd Intemperance calls them Irrationabilia pecora unreasonable Bruit Beasts made to be taken and destroyed walking after the Flesh in the Lust of Vncleanness and making a further description of them he saith they count it pleasure or sport to riot in the day time and sport themselves with their own mis-doings while they Feast it having Eyes full of Adultry and that cannot cease from Sin alluring unstable Souls having their hearts exercised with covetous Practices Children of Malediction leaving the right way they follow the way of Balaam the Son of Bosor who loved the reward of Iniquity But received a châ—ck for his Madness the dumb Beast under the Yoke speaking with Mans Voice and forbidding the Madness of the Prophet Thus largely doth the Apostle by the Spirit of God descant upon the wickedness of intemperate lewd People shewing thereby how much worse they are by reason of their Vices than the Beasts of the Field They are in another respect also worse The Brute Beasts have a sense and tenderness at least for those ef their own kind and be moved if not to help them yet to shew a compassion or fellow-sufferance with them Gluttons and Drunkards have no such sense or feeling for those of their kind They are wholly insensible of the wants and miseries of their poor Neighbour Dives his Dogs had more Humanity towards poor Lazarus than their Master His Cruelty shut the poor Beggar out of Doors but the Dogs came and licked his Sores Luc. 16. 21. The Prophet Amos makes the same Observation or Complaint of the Drunkards in his time namely How hard-hearted they were and incompassionate towards such as needed compassion spending largely and superfluously upon themselves but finding nothing to bestow upon the Poor They drink Wine in Bowls saith the Prophet they annoint themselves with the best Ointments but Super contritione Joseph for the Afflictions of Joseph they have no sense no compassion Wine and Drunkenness take away their Heart from being acquainted with any such Thoughts and as Beasts in their Eating and Drinking follow meerly their Appetite without Discretion or Consideration of any thing else so do Drunkards and Gluttons they regard neither time nor season if their Appetite invites nor manner nor measure so long as it pleases their Palate it shall down as long they are able to Swallow never asking the question whether it be necessary or no but seeking only to fulfil their greedy Appetites with all the variety and superfluity of delicious Meats and Strong-drinks they can procure Seneca stiles such as these Abdomini Servientes Belly Slaves and puts them in the rank of Beasts for that reason rejecting them from the society of Men as being unworthy of that Name and truly much less worthy of the name of Christians Sect. 3. Drunkenness causeth the want of necessary Provisions This Subject will not be very hard to be made appear since we see it almost by daily Experience that Riot and Drunkenness consumes the Estates of all it impoverishes the Gentry it wastes the Stock and Riches of the Merchant and brings to want many Able Persons as well in City as Country and to absolute misery such as are of themselves Poor and have nothing but honest industry and frugality to maintain them for of such the saying of Solomon appears to be most true Ecclus 19. 1. Operarius ebriosus non locupletabitur A Workman who is a Drunkard shall not be Rich. It is needless to bring Arguments to verifie this Matter and to prove it by Examples seems less necessary since the pressing wants and needy Condition of so many known Drunkards and Ale-house-haunters as are in all Cities and Towns of Note may sufficiently satisfie us of the Truth hereof And though these Pot-companions should flatly deny this viz. that their Poverty proceeds from their Drunkenness and mis-spending their Time and Money in Ale-houses and should attribute the same to Sickness the Wars Fire Water or other Accidents yet the daily Clamours Lamentations and
by the Evangelist condemn them for what he knew them to be But to us the inward secrets of the Heart are covered and unknown and therefore where we see outward appearances and shews of good though they be in reality no better than those of the Pharisees Hypocritical and seigned we ought to judge the best and not hastily to censure or condemn them for Hypocrites or to suspect them for unchaste persons Fornicators Adulterers or Sinners in any other kind We are to judge charitably of every one especially where there is no Evidence to the contrary and to think and speak of them according to the good which we see and not according to the evil which we see not To reassume therefore our chief purpose I say that if Christ our Saviour according to the Evangelist reprehends so severely and even curseth those that only entertain and foster Carnal Concupiscence in their hearts though they proceed not to the outward acts of that foul sin how much are they to be reprehended and reprov'd and what Curses are due to them that give themselves up to the acts of filthy Lust abounding in all kinds of Carnal Sensuality and committing uncleanness even with greediness as the Scripture speaks of them being wholly defiled in their thoughts in their words and in their deeds that are become impudent in sin taking pride and even glorying in that which is most vile This made the Apostle complain writing to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 5. 1. Omnino auditur inter vos Fornicatio c. There is plainly heard talk of Fornication among you and of such Fornication as is not found amongst the Heathen And hereof they were so far from being asham'd or sorrowful for as they ought that they even bragg'd and boasted of it as appears v. 2. Inflati estis instead of being humbled for your sin ye are puffed up you swell with pride and vain-glory upon that account and v. 6. Haec gloriatio vestra non est bona Your glorying herein is not good This was their sinful condition but the Apostle took such a course with them as soon brought them to a better posture of mind and so should the Pastours of the Church now do if the Spirit of true Apostolical Zeal and Charity were strong and vigorous in them and not suffer this vile passion to reign and rage amongst those that are called Christians so as it does even to such a height of insolency and impudence as to contemn and brow-beat all Authority both Divine and Humane that should repress it Wherefore to avoid the curses and maledictions pronounced against this Sin follow the counsel of Saint Paul 1 Cor. 6. v. 18. Fly Fornication abominate the practice of all carnal vileness whatsoever For as much as every sin that a man sinneth ordinarily speaking is out of the Body that is it is exercised and done by the abuse of some external or outward thing not pertaining to the Body whereas he that commits Fornication or any other Carnal Villany sinneth against and abuseth his own Body he does that which is oft-times very hurtful and prejudicial to the health and sanity of his body and also commits sacriledge in violating the Temple of God For the Body of every faithful Christian is Gods Temple the habitation of the Holy Ghost a thing which Christ our Lord with that price of his precious bloud hath purchased for his own possession according as the Apostle testifieth in the same place v. 19 20. An nescitis Do ye not know saith he that your Body is the Temple of the H. Ghost who dwelleth in you which ye have of God and that ye are not your own to use and dispose of your Body as you list For ye are bought with a price Christ hath purchased you Body and Soul with his own Blood Therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods Will you take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot God forbid What can be more unworthy of your selves and injurious to God! So that by all it appears what a great and heinous sin Fornication is and considering that the right of our bodies in so many respects belongs wholly to God it also appears how much we are bound not to abuse our bodies by any kind of forbidden filthiness but to keep them pure and entire to God in all Chastity and Holiness glorifying God in them and casting away the works of darkness to live and converse chastely soberberly and devoutly in this present world as the Apostle requires Tit. 2. 12. knowing and having alwayes in remembrance what the same Apostle likewise saith Ephes 5. 5. That no Adulterer no Fornicator or Vnclean person hath inheritance in the Kingdom of God No they are to be shut out Witness Christ himself in the Apocalypse chap. 22. 15. Without shall be Dogs Whoremongers Sorcerers c. Their portion is to be in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone for ever chap. 21. 8. unless they repent which on bended Knees every day we beg that God would give them the grace to do Sect. 6. A Serious Admonition to Sensual Livers Let not so much good counsel given by the Apostles Evangelists Ancient Fathers and others be as water spilt upon the ground or words spoken in vain Let us reflect seriously and consider how much it behoves us to cleanse and purify our selves from the filthiness of the Flesh with the tears of true contrition and penitence How should we drown our hearts in floods of Godly sorrow and Sighings for all the sinful and vile pleasures we have taken and for all the wicked and foul actions that we have committed in this kind against God our Neighbour and our Selves How should we abhorre and detest all thought all desire all memory and imagination concerning those vile and beastly sensualities which we have heretofore hunted after and pursued with all greediness of uncleane appetite How should we hate with what solicitude ought we to declaime and avoid those hooks those baits of Lusâ— and Sensuality whereby Satan drawâ— so many souls unto him every day to their eternal perdition Carnal Concupiscence what is it but the Mother of all Sin the spawâ— of all wickedness Wantonness of thâ— Flesh what is it but the sting of Deatâ— Lust what is it but Nurse to thâ— worme which never dieth and Fâ—â—el to those Eternal Flames which for the present sootheth men with the pretence of pleasure and delight agreable to corrupt Nature but after a short time strangling and empoysoning their souls it makes them repent for ever Thou shalt mourn at the last saith Solomon speaking unto and instructing a Brothel-hunter when it is too late when thy Flesh and thy Body are consumed then thou shalt mourn and say How have I hated instruction and my heart dispised reproof and Sap. 5. 7. they are brought in making their fruitless moans one to another in these words Lassati sumus c. We
wearied our selves in the ways of wickedness and perdition unbridling our lusts and appetites to all lewd â—ctions conceiving that to be a pleaâ—ure which we now find to be pain we now find to our grief and sorrow â—hat a Woman is more bitter than Death being the snares of Hunters â—nd her heart a net to intangle men He that pleaseth God shall avoid her Company But he that continues in sin shall perish by her Finally it is in respect of Carnal Concupiscence and the overspreading prevalency of those sins of the Flesh Fornication Adultery Vncleanness Incest and the like the Angel in the Apocalypse Chap. 18. 2. Crieth with such a loud voice Cecidit cecidit Babilon c. Babilon the Great is fallen is fallen and is become the Habitation of Devils the Hold of every soul Spirit and a Cage of unclean and hateful Birds meaning the Universal Society of Fornicators Adulterers and other incestuous and lewd Sinners in whom the Devil dwells and whose filthy fellowship is carefully to be avoided by all the Servants of God according to thaâ— which follows v. 4. Exite de illa c Depart from her my People comâ— out of her quit your selves of heâ— communion or fellowship in sin thaâ— you receive not of her Plagues SECTION II. Reasons why Carnal Concupiscence is prohibited SECT 1. By it many are corrupted at the same time 2. By it the Temple of God is vilified and polluted 3. Malediction upon Transgressours 4. Serious Admonition to Sensual Livers 1. By it many are corrupted at the same time THere be many good reasons to be given why the sin of Carnal Concupiscence is so strictly forbidden by God yet we are to observe according to St. Bonaventure that the chief reason is because it is so advantagious to Satan who destroys more Souls by it than by any other sin This sin brings him always double gain whereas other sins brings him only single gain By the wicked Act of unlawful Copulation he gets two Souls at least if not more by other sins unless by chance and per accidens he gets but one Soul at a time Fornication Adultery Incest and the like sins of Carnality are seldom committed but besides the two principals there are other persons accessary thereto as commonly some Old Bawd withered with Age and ill Practices and others that by connivence consent procurement assistance or occasiongiving do lend their help and serve instead of Bawds to the lewd business In other sins there is no such need of help they may be all committed solitarily as I may say or by one single person alone by himself For this cause I say it is the opinion of some that the immortal enemy of Souls takes more pains and is more industrious and vigilant to induce and tempt mankind to sins of Carnal Concupiscence than to any others and to this agrees the observation of Saint Isidore who affirms Humane kind to be more subdued and made more slave to Satan by means of Carnality and Sensuality than by any other Vices whatsoever And verily it stands with great reason For as St. Augustin positively â—avers ' There is no Vertue no Goodness no Wisdom or Sound Judgment that can abide with the sins of the Flesh And saith not the Scripâ—ure the same Is it not said Sap. 1. 4. Into a malicious Soul Wisdome He means Divine Wisdom or that which comes from God shall not â—nter Nec habitabit in corpore subâ—itio peccatis nor be found dwelling â—n the Bodies that are subject unto â—n Such Bodies are not the Temples of God but of Satan and we know who hath said 2 Cor. 6. v. 15. What Concord or Cohabitation is there betwixt Christ who is God Blessed for ever and Belial who is the proper Spirit or Devil of Lewdness and Dishonesty Upon this account it is that like a Roaring Lyon this wicked Spirit runneth about night and day never ceasing to assault mankind with temptations agreeable to his lewd and devillish disposition to wit by presenting carnal or unchaste objects whether of persons or actions to his eyes wanton discourse or filthy speech to his ears lascivious thoughts to his mind after this manner he is continually hunting for his Prey and seeking to devour unhappy Souls it is his whole imployment by a thousand arts and wiles to draw mankind into the snare and inslave him to this filthy Vice He is an adversary that wakes and watches perpetually to do us mischief he sleeps not being incessantly attent to his imployment which is first to deceive and then to destroy us So that we may rightly say of him what the Holy Job said of his Afflicters Job 30. v. 17. Qui me comedunt non dormiunt They that consume me do not sleep They consume they make me weary of my Life by the constant pursuit of their temptations and sleep not that is they give not over their tempting so much as for a moment The Chariot of Concupiscence like that of Jehu 4 Reg. 9. 20. marcheth furiously as it needs must Belial himself the Prince of Impurites driving it it goeth through all Countries and Kingdoms never stopping or staying long in any place It is in the Court it is in the Country it is in Cities it is in Towns it is in every poor Village all in a moment and being made of Hell-Fire it casts abroad Sparkles of Concupiscence and unclean Desires on all sides a bit goes which inflame lustful hearts and set them on fire to work wickedness Thus go Drabbers commonly by Troops to Hell the Devil drves them like so many Herd of Swine as they are and more filthy into the infernal Lake where they perish for ever whereas other sinner go either single or in small companies thither Again generally speaking all other sins are proper to some particular Persons or States of Life As Pride for example seems most proper for People in high place and for great ones it being a strange indecorum that people of low and mean rank should be proud Covetousness should not be found any where but amongst professed Usurers and such as make Gold their God and the like is to be said of other sins only this sin this vile sin of Lechery or Carnal Concupiscence is common to all All sorts of People High and low Rich and Poor Young and Old Church-man and Lay-man all of them more or less have a smack of it and are too generally tainted with it There goes a story that the Devil had a Wife of whom he had begotten Seven Daughters very much resembling their Father all which when they were grown up he bestowed upon several sorts of People His Eldest Daughter was called Pride Madam Pride whom he bestowed upon Women not doubting but she would be well received by that Sex whose minds he knew were so given to Vanity Costliness of Apparel and tricking up themselves no small Symptomes of Pride that they seem to spend the greatest part of their time except
when they are in Bed or at the Table in consulting their Looking-glasses combing and plating their false Hair or some other way trimming and making themselves fine The Devils second Daughter was called Vsury and her he bestowed upon Citizens Burghers of Great Towns and some Rich Chubs in the Country that look't after her His Third call'd Felony and Robbery he bestowed upon Highway-men casheer'd Souldiers and Cadets Men commonly of high Spirits but low Fortune His fourth Daughter call'd Simony he commended to certain Church-men whom he knew much more willing to hold the place than to discharge the Office of a Bishop Cure c. The fifth called Hypocrisie he bestowed upon Bigots and Professors a sort of People successors to the Old Pharisies in outward behaviour and Shew very Demure and Seeming-Good but inwardly in Heart and private Practice far otherwise His sixth a Meager Girl call'd Envy he could not tell what to do withal she was so ill favour'd that he thought none would receive her unless she could change her Countenance so he sent her to the Universities to be bred up â—mongst Young Students whose Emulations pass for Vertues and are not counted Vice till they be come â—o full Age. His seventh was named Luxury or Carnal Lust and her he bestowed upon all sorts of People knowing that she would be welcome to all of what condition soever and to Women as well as to Men. You will easily moralize the Fable and learn by it how general and over-spreading this sin is and that whereas other Vices are as it were peculiar and proper to some persons and more frequently observed in some sort of People than in others the Vice of Lust and Carnal Concupiscence possesses all sorts pursues and molests all sorts and finally masters and prevails upon all sorts insomuch that as I have already intimated above it is the Opinion of some Considerative and Good Men exercised in the Care and Conduct of Souls that by means thereof our Ghostly Enemy intraps and gains more Souls than he does by any other or even by all other kind of sin notwithstanding it is so expresly forbidded by God and so much spoken against by all that ever spake to the World in Gods Name that is to say by Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Evangelists Ancient Fathers Bishops and all Good Pastours of the Church Avoid it therefore repent of your sin break off your abominable custom of sinning as many as are concern'd in what I speak least ye perish with the rest Sect. 2. By Carnal Concupiscence the Temple of God is defiled Domum tuam decet sanctitudo Domine in longitudinem dierum Psalm 92. 5. Of the Temple of God the Psalmist saith Holiness becometh thy House O Lord for ever And the Apostle adds 1 Cor. 3. 16. Siquis templum Dei violave rit c. If a Man defile the Temple of the Lord him shall God destroy That which is Holy must not be profan'd and when it happens to be so God threatens to vindicate the Profanation Now we have been taught above that our Bodies no less than our Souls are the Temple of God even of the Holy Spirit The Apostle tells us so 1 Cor. 6. 19. Know ye not that your Bodies are the Temple of the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in you Doubtless therefore to defile this Body of ours by Lust and Uncleanness must needs be a great and grievous sin Why Because it is a great and grievous Violation of Gods Temple which is a thing so Holy and whereof he is so tender and chary that it be kept Holy Upon this Ground the Holy Doctor Saint Augustin observing to his great grief and sorrow so many of his People addicted to Carnal Concupiscence and plunging themselves daily in the deep mire of Lust he could not refrain crying out in his Admonition to them and saying What do you mean ye unhappy ones what do you intend to do with the Temple of God which you do so pollute and profane by your lustful Concupiscence It would trouble you much you would be offended if a Church Chappel or any other Place dedicated to Gods Worship and Service should be taken and made a Brothel-house or Stews a place for the publickly-known and free committing of Adultery Fornication and other like Carnal Lasciviousness You would think it hugely strange to see the Actions of wicked unlawful voluptuousness openly perpetrated and done in any part of the Sanctuary You would be ready to say What can be compared to such Wickedness to such abominable Practices And truly you judge not amiss for nothing can be more detestable in the sight of God than to see his Holy Temple so hrribly polluted and profaned But why then will you not remember why will you not lay to heart what the Apostle tells you 1 Cor. 3. 16. Templum Deo es tu You your selves are the Temple of God Your Bodies and Souls are the Temples of Holy Ghost wherein he delighteth to dwell Why will you defile these Temples of the Living God and make them Temples of Satan by your sins and uncleanness How much ought you to fear and dread least the Holy Ghost displeased with your abominations and turpitude should forsake you for ever Saint Isidorus for this only reason concludes Luxury to be one of the chief or the chiefest Capital sin because that by all such Transgressions the holiness of Gods Temple is so greatly violated And indeed what can be more injurious and contumelious to Christ than to take his members to wit your own Bodies and make them the members of a lewd Woman a Harlot For he that is joyn'd to such a creature becomes one Body with her as if it were in lawful and holy marriage Qui adhaeret meretrici unum corpus efficitur saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 6. 16. Shall we dare to commit such a vileness God forbid Or can we do it and not expect the plague and vengeance of God to fall upon us Flie therefore Fornication Flie Adultery Flie all sins of Carnal Concupiscence as you would flie from a Serpent that bites and stings to death Abominate hate abhorre that foul Spirit of Belial that haunts you Bless your selves from him resist him by the grace of God and he will flie from you It is the absolute will and command of God that you do so and if you will not hear and obey wrath from God attends you and will find you out first or last to your shame and confusion according to what he hath in all ages from time to time comanded the holy Prophets and Apostles with all their lawful Successors to proclaime and publish to denounce and threaten in his name to all offenders to wit that under pain of his displeasure and of judgments Temporal and Eternal we forbear all Carnal Uncleanness whatsoever whether in Expressions Words whether in Imaginations Thoughts and whether in Actions or Works that we abstain from all Carnal Sensualities Wantonness of Behaviour
we promise our selves in the end any better issue of our Lust than that we shall with Solomon become insensible both of Conscience and Honour and be given up to do and act in all things contrary to Reason contrary to Prudence contrary to all Vertue and Honesty yea unless Gods Mercy save us even with Nabuchodonosor to degenerate into Bruit Beasts Dan. 4. 33. through the prevalency of lustful Passions and the extream blindness of Mind and perversion of Judgment which they cause being overlong indulg'd unto and that God in wrath delivers impenitent obstinate Sinners up to them according as by the testimony of Saint Paul he did the Gentiles of whom it is written Rom. 1. 24 26 28 c. that God for their sins of Whoredom Idolatry and Uncleanness Corporal and Spiritual gave them up to a Spirit of Vncleanness to Vile Affections to a reprobate mind void of all sound Judgment and to do things that were not convenient and all to teach us what the horrid effects of unbridled lust are upon the minds of Men destitute of the Grace of God and given up to the power of Satan The Luxurious Man is so senseless that for the prosecution and obtaining of his Lust he puts all other Concerns in Oblivion and does things without any consideration or reason He gives his poor Soul to the Devil and Eternal Damnation for nothing Can any thing be more unreasonable He loses the Kingdom of Heaven and Eternal Glory for nothing he brings upon himself everlasting misery for nothing I say for nothing or for a thing of no value with good and wise men If some Temporal Kingdom or Principality were exposed to sale or sold away for a small inconsiderable sum of money I suppose no body would taxe me if I should say such a Kingdom or Principality were sold or given away for nothing because the price was not in any reasonable sort comparable or proportioned to the thing sold So when I say the Adulterer Fornicator the Incestuous and Vnclean Person sells his Soul to the Devil for nothing gives away his Portion in the Kingdom of Heaven Eternal Bliss Eternal Glory for nothing I am sure I speak Truth no man can justly blame me for what I say seeing all this is done for a momentary short vile pleasure or delectation of the Flesh and for the satisfaction of a sensual Appetite which no wise man that is Master of himself values neither should any well-instructed Christian admit or think of but in order to some higher and more vertuous ends viz. the lawful procreation of Children to be brought up in the Knowledge and Fear of God and for the Conservation of Conjugal Fidelity and Amity Saint Augustin is of the same mind with me and confirms what I have said by his own Testimony saying That whoever for a little short pleasure of this world he means the pleasure of a Voluptuous Carnal Act gives away that for which Christ gave himself to death to wit his Soul there can be no doubt made but in doing so he forfeits his reason quite and at the same instant shews himself to be an unreasonable senseless bruitish person scarce deserving the name of man Which considering also another most learned Divine compares a lasciâ—ious lustful Man to a foolish and unskilful Merchant who undervalues his own Merchandise and sells things that are of great worth and estimation for an inconsiderable price applying to this purpose that which is said Prov. 6. 26. Pretium scorti vix est unius panis c. The price of a Harlot is scarce worth a loaf of Bread it hardly comes to so much and yet such a Woman catches the precious Soul of Men. The meaning is what we have already said That such as joyn themselves to Harlots do pawn their Soul the most precious thing they have in the world for that which is worth just nothing The Luxurious Man therefore besides his transgressing Gods Commandement does great injury to Christ in presuming to sell that at so mean a rate which he thought worth the purchasing at so great a price Besides he sells that which is not at his own disposing he sells that which he hath not power to sell or give for according to the Apostle 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. Our Souls are not our own we are bought with a great price Bodies and Souls we have both our Souls and Bodies of God our Bodies and Souls are the Temples of the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us and therefore we ought by our chaste and holy Conversation to glorifie God both in our Souls and in our Bodies Sect. 3. By reason of Carnal Concupiscence Men abide or remain in Sin and entangle themselves more and more therein Have you never observed the Snails how that naturally for the most part they lie bathing and soaking themselves in their own Jelly or filthy Pickle and if they put out at any time they carry their Shell on their Backs into which upon the least disturbance or hinderance that they met with they presently shrink and shut up themselves being of the slowest motion of any Creatures that move This sordid Creature is a perfect Emblem of a Voluptuous Man who is or by his good-will would be always wallowing in the filthy Mire of unclean Lust a loathsome Creature both for Body and Soul slow to any thing that is Good and most of all to that which would be his greatest good True Repentance and breaking off his evil custom of Sinning which is as it were the Shell upon his Back in which he resides for the most part of his Life and whither upon every little Temptation yea sometimes to divert himself from other Griefs he retires and makes an unhappy retreat He is more filthy and stinking than any Dung-hill by reason of his frequent and vile uncleanness He is a Swine that delights in nothing more than to be lying on a Dung-hill or wallowing in some Miry or Dirty Puddle placing his whole Felicity in Lustful Pleasure and satisfaction of his Inordinate Appetites in that kind persevering therein too often unhappy Man that he is till Death seizes upon him and carries him in a moment to Hell There is a saying of the Prophet Joel Chap. 1. v. 7. to this purpose Computruerunt jumenta in stercore sua The Beasts are rotted in their own Dung Upon which passage of the Holy Scripture Saint Gregory Commenting teaches that by the Beasts here said to be rotted together or putrified in their own Dung may well be understood Voluptuous Carnal and Sensually-minded Persons who Perish and Corrupt Bodies and Souls in the Dung of their own filthy Actions that which made Pope Innocent reflecting upon the same words to cry out Oh the extream turpitude of Sensuality which not only defiles Body and Soul but renders them unsavoury makes them stink and to be abominated in the Sight of God Angels and all Men that are not Beasts like themselves In which sense also it
being so that he is most applauded that can speak the greatest evil of himself it makes this mad Crew ambitious to be thought superlatively wicked and to fear nothing more than to be counted Sneaks and poor-spirited Fellows not worthy of the name of Hectors by this Brotherhood of Hell Neither is it any new thing Thus it hath been of old The good Father S. Augustin in his Books of Confessions doth no less than report and confess this fault to have been his own before his Conversion He humbly acknowledges of himself that hearing his Companions boast of their wicked exploits and seeing that they rendred themselves more glorious in the opinion of their Fellows by how much they could speak beastly and dishonestly of themselves and being perpetually amongst them he could not forbear doing as the rest did not for any appetite which he had to the thing whereof he boasted but meerly for the complacency which he took in being applauded for the same by his Companions who gave credit to what he feignedly and falsly spake of himself I was fain saith he to counterfeit the evil which I had not and to seem as if I had done it I durst not be thought innocent for fear of being disesteemed and rejected for a worthless Fellow I was loath to be thought sober chast or continent least chastity and sobriety should make me condemned by them and the world Thus doth this good Father make publick and penitent confession of himself in this and some other kinds of sin which his Youth and ill Company through intemperance had made him for some time while he was young subject unto Oh that his good example could be followed Oh that we could be perswaded to break off this devillish custom of boasting and glorying in sin and that there might be no such people found among us as S. Jude speaks of feeding themselves without fear no such sports in our feasts no such raging waves foaming out their own shame That we would dread the Judgment that is threatned to such quibus procella tenebrarum servata est in aeternum Woe unto them walkers in the way of perdition walkers after their own lusts to whom the blackness of darkness and the Hell of misery is reserved for ever Jude 11 12 13 16. Sect. 4. The excess of Meat and Drink causeth filthiness and uncleanness There is a double or twofold kind of filthiness here to be taken notice of The one which is only sordid and offensive to the eye of the Body The other is sinful and offensive to the eye of the Soul when she judges right and which is more to the Eyes of God They both attend drunkenness or the excess of meat and drink when it is immoderate The Drunkard shews himself a filthy Beast in respect of this first kind of uncleanness viz. that of the Body witness their frequent vomitings spewings and castings out of that which they had intemperately taken in For when their Stomachs those devouring Sepulchres those Bellies of Harpies which raven all by gluttony and excessive drinking have been in the day-time overcharg'd with all sorts of luscious meat and strong liquors it seldom happens but in the night they discharge themselves by shameful vomiting and spewing Thus it was with the people of the Jews The Prophet Isaias complains of it in these terms Isa 28. 7. Omnes prae Vino erraverunt c. All have erred through Wine saith he and through strong drink all are out of the way All Tables are so filled of vomit and filthiness that there is no place clean Is it not a deplorable thing to see Christians at this day behave themselves worse than the bruit beasts they know when they have enough the bruit beasts neither eat nor drink till they vomit all up again they eat and drink till Nature is satisfied and when they have arrived to that point all the art and all the means you can use shall not make them go further till hunger and thirst prompts them Only Man only unhappy and unwise man eats and drinks to such excess as he is forced to his shame were he not past all shame to cast up his so unduly and indiscreetly receiv'd sustenance Of all the Creatures that God hath made Man only will drink to vomit and vomit O strange O devillish distemper to drink again as to my knowledge is true Secondly there is the filthiness and uncleanness of sin going along with drunkenness filthy and unchast thoughts filthy and unclean desires filthy and unclean phantasies and imaginations of things filthy and unclean designs projects purposes filthy and unclean speech discourse songs filthy and unclean actions fornication adultery incest pollution All these filthinesses and uncleannesses attend the Drunkard and are the constant relicks and remains as it were of his Feasts So that S. Chrysostom doth here again rightly pronounce Ebrietas scortationis mater Drunkenness saith he is the Mother of Whoredom all filthy and lewd concupiscence proceeds from it And again Nothing saith he is more pernicious than gluttony nothing more ignominious than to exceed in drink nothing more detestable than both as dulling the spirit and blinding the understanding not permitting those who are addicted to them to foresee and beware any thing that is hurtful to their soul or body but subjecting them to a slothful idleness both spiritual and corporal For which cause in the Gospel of S. Luke Christ our Saviour admonisheth us in these words Luc. 21. v. 34. Attendite vobis ne forte graventur corda vestra in crapula ebrietate c. Take heed and look well to your selves least perhaps your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness c. and so that day meaning the day of Judgment come upon you unawares He that is so overcharg'd can think of nothing that is good either for himself or others he has lost the use of his understanding together with that of his limbs his head hands and feet failing him he falls and without help there lies in his filthiness to his deserved shame and confusion SECTION VI. Excess in Meat and Drink the cause of several other inconveniencies and miseries SECT 1. It causeth a voluntary madness 2. It causeth Men to be worse than Beasts 3. It causeth want of necessary provisions 4. A sad ezample upon that account 5. Remedies against Gluttony and Drunkenness 6. Reflexion upon the foregoing matter Sect. 1. Drunkenness causeth a voluntary madness IT stands with all reason that if we call them Wise Men who in their infirmities whether of Body or Soul help themselves and procure the best and speediest remedies they can for their disease to that end taking the advice of the ablest Physicians and Doctors for their corporal Maladies and following the good counsel of their spiritual Directors for the health of their Souls So on the contrary we may justly call and account them fools or mad people who being in health and good disposition of body will