Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	common_a	deal_n	great_a	143	3	2.1542	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A92759	A treatise against drunkennesse described in its nature, kindes effects and causes, especially that of drinking of healths. To which are added, two short sermons of S. Augustine's, De tempore. Faithfully translated, by Matthew Scrivener.	Scrivener, Matthew.; Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. De tempore.; Scrivener, Matthew.	1685 (1685)	Wing S2119; ESTC R201394	52,860	223

same who should be patterns of Honour and Virtue to them Sixthly The not putting the Penal Statutes in execution against Drunkennesse hath given presumption to many to offend boldly herein When Queen Elizabeth gave assistance to the distressed Netherlands these Succours soon learn'd the Art and catched the Disease of Drinking rife in those Countries and transported the same soon after into England where it so far prevailed that in the fourth of King James it was judged necessary a Law with severe Penalties should be made to redresse that spreading mischief But when what the baser sort only as common Soldiers c. at first offended in Men of Estates and Fashion afterward were guilty of the wholesome Laws soon became but as spiders webs and lie still languishing craving as it were new vigor and enforcement answerable to what we read Great Defenders of Virtue and Enemies to this hateful Vice have signally shewed when it became common and contumacious resisting and despising ordinary Remedies And the Reverend Spotwood in his History of Scotland tells us That about the year 970. Constantine Son of Keneth King of Scotland made a Law by which it should be death to be Drunk Which Law if it were in force in England at this day it might for a time make greater slaughter than the greatest Enemies to Drunkennesse could be content to see yet in a short time it may be supposed to prevent more Bloodshed than such impunity as now is allowed For seeing and with horror lamenting the many and foul Murders committed in Drunken Meetings I have been inclin'd to believe That God beholding the abounding of this Vice and the little regard to execute deserved punishment upon such Offenders takes the punishment of it into his own hands and lets these mad Beasts loose to tear one another to pieces and kill one another by frequent Assassinations and suffers an easie way to be open for the Murderers to escape Notwithstanding what the Scripture advises to the contrary Prov. 28. 17. A man that doth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit let no man stay him Which Rule admits only of this Exception that we know viz. When it is offered involuntarily and meerly casually or upon extreme necessity of saving our own Lives which necessities we must not bring upon our selves by becoming first Assailants But when the best account and plea made for offering violence to the blood of a Man shall be that he was Drunk or at least had first offered violence to his own Reason by Wine Ale or Brandy to accept this for Innocency which adds guilt to guilt is to encourage both Murderers and Drunkards by a Clemency which will certainly end in Fury against that Land where such gentlenesse shall be in use if not against the person so pittiful It seems to me more reasonable and just a great deal that the frequent users of Brandy that pernicious Spirit to the Bodies Brains and Souls of men should be brought under the Common Law against such as have to do with Familiar Spirits and suffer the same punishment For Brandy is a Spirit we all know and they who abuse it as now adays it is upon no necessity make it an Evil and Familiar Spirit both and are in this respect more blameable than they who confederate with the Devil For the Devil was evil and so were his petty Imps before Men had to do with them but Brandy as commonly used is made wicked and mischievous by him that corresponds thus with it How evil then must needs that Soul be that so accustoms it self to it that he is not sensible of the evil it brings along with it nor perceives how it wasts and preys upon the Natural and Vital Spirits This surely is an iniquity if any to be punished by the Judges as Job speaks chap. 31. For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction But though I presume upon such just and apparent grounds to determine what such a monstrous and still growing custom deserves I presume not to determine without better Authority and counsel how to give it its deserts but leave it to the severer lashes of others or rather to the Scorpions it carries with it in its own tail SECT VII A Seventh Reason of the increase of Drunkennesse Drinking of Healths OUt of the store of Causes or at least occasions of Drunkennesse I have thought requisite to single that of Drinking Healths become so common and familiar to all sorts of Persons and so generally tending to such an evil Event that all endeavors of curing this Epidemical Disease of Drunkennesse must needs prove vain and ineffectual this remaining in its acquired reputation and force which that it may we finde great Wits great Authority yea Grave too not wanting to defend and support this Darling of our Age which we judge more fit to be dashed against the Stones What hurt is in it say some moderately used What Scripture against it say others Phanatically urging for once Do not the greatest say others dignifie it Do not the Gravest grace and justifie it Is it not a good Character divers times to testifie our affection and honour and obsequiousnesse to our Friends to our Betters to our Governours especially our Supream And there are not wanting some who can fetch an Argument from the Church and Religion which yet I am ashamed to set forth at length after the authors and users of it This and much more is alledged hereafter to be considered more directly Here it may suffice in general to render the truest reasons of this to be mens Fansies and Appetites irregular and lastly that which St. Augustine once confessed to be Frailty in him viz. Plus valebat in me inolitum deterius quam insolitum melius i. e. An accustomed evil more prevailed with me than an unaccustomed good as will appear by these following reasons against it And in the first place I argue against it from the Heathenish Superstitious yea Idolatrous original of Healths invented and intended for a fit Worship of false Gods and Demons supposed to be the Souls of some great Hero's departed this Life whom they so remembred but with this extenuating Circumstance That this they did chiefly if not only on Festival days appointed to their honor but the Custom with us is become much worse for there are amongst us that do this every day and scarce ever to omit it where two or three Companions meet together and commonly they joined eating to them drinking to them and feasting at their Tombs They supposed that they were Deified and thereupon so honored them We drink in remembrance of them whom we know to be alive as if we would Deifie them For all Worship given unto such as are at that distance that they cannot receive nor perceive the same done unto them doth imply somewhat in him more than of humane order And yet it missed but a little but such jolly compotations had prevailed in the Church

and Reason and Religion w●●● he discerns into what an unhap●● state of Body which some bo●● glory in he hath brought hims●●● requiring customary Excesses to ●●duce himself by the same methods became exorbitant to the orgi●●● Mediocrity from whence he departe● and that is by retrogradations gradual disuses of such things as are ●●●erfluous as St. Austin after advises ●●ough the rule of the more morti● be this That they who have of●●ded in Superfluities should by way 〈◊〉 Christian revenge upon themselves ●y themselves sometimes such things ●re necessary that is requisite But the cure of this Evil I may speak ●●reafter I now proceed to another sort of 〈◊〉 Drunkards which divers may ●●ok upon as civil and temperate Per●ns but God doth not And such 〈◊〉 they who perhaps are indifferently ●se to Drunkennesse in themselves ●t will be Drunk by a Proxy They 〈◊〉 unwilling to be seen to reel to ●●d fro or to endure the Vertigo in ●●eir own Heads or to faulter and 〈◊〉 in their Tongues and to make ●●●t themselves for such as have a better command of themselves 〈◊〉 they have or to be loathed for sh●ful spewings but all this while ●●tle considering how God is disho●ed by such a sin in another as w● in themselves and the Body 〈◊〉 Brain of their Neighbour confo●●ed can make themselves merry 〈◊〉 be well pleased at the fall of ot●●● little considering the severe Sen●●● denounced by God by his Pro●●● saying Woe be to thee that gives● neighbour drink that puttest thy 〈◊〉 to him and makest him drunken also thou mayest look on his nakedness 〈◊〉 2. 16. Which nakedness may be ●●derstood as well of their Moral as ●●tural nakedness whereby Men 〈◊〉 ●●cover their concealed follies and ●●thered malice and private vain-gl●●●● and all the naughty secrets of 〈◊〉 heart whereby he acquires the s●●● and perhaps detestation of others 〈◊〉 returning to his wonted reason grievously dejected at the recogni●● of his Exorbitancies or if ill ●●●●cipled hardened to out-face all ●●scarriages hoping to defend one ●●ing with another and a third of ●●rse nature until that comes to be ●●ified which Solomon advertises us 〈◊〉 Prov. 14. 19. Fools make a mock 〈◊〉 sin But all this while it is not duly ●●nsider'd by the prime Author of this ●●agicomedy that as the sport so the 〈◊〉 will be owing to him before the ●●ghteous Judge of Heaven and ●●rth If a man hath a curious I●●ge or but a pretious Glasse or o●●●r Vessel valued by him which ●●ing in suddenly he finds defaced broken to pieces doth he not en●●re with rigour who did that or broke this and finding it to be 〈◊〉 of his own servants makes him 〈◊〉 well for it So doubtless God 〈◊〉 Master of this his Family of this w●● especially of the Houshold of F●● beholding how his Image in M●● defaced by immoderate Drink 〈◊〉 demand an account Who did it AS● Who battered his Vessel of Ho●● meet for the Masters use 2 Tim And if it be found that one of 〈◊〉 own servants did it he shall be 〈◊〉 to smart for it and that as guilt 〈◊〉 the same Sin though not in the same manner with him who lab●● in that distemper But adde we another sore and ●●●quent evil effect of urging on● snaring or tempting another 〈◊〉 Drunkenness and you shall finde 〈◊〉 a double guilt often stains the ●●tended innocency of plotters of ●●ief to others And the Prophe● malediction of the Psalmist hath ●e a most proper and just event ●●z His mischief shall return upon his ●●v head and his violent or cunning ●●●ing shall come upon his own pate ●●al 7. 16. He is caught in his own ●●are His own head turns round ●●s brain akes and his pate is quite 〈◊〉 order intending nothing more ●●an to bring another into those un●●ppy and sinful Circumstances Not ●nlike the ill luck often befalling the ●●bassines in their Wars as Godignus Hist●r Abess ●odignus relateth who in ●●ch cases were wont to ●●rry about with them Lions in ●ens which when they were to en●●ge with their Enemies they used 〈◊〉 let loose and put them on a●●inst them but the wilde Beasts ●ot rightly disciplined oftentimes besides intention returned upon th● Masters and destroyed them so t●●● they were forced to leave off t●●● stratagem Strong drink is a moc●●● and wine is raging and whosoeve●●● deceived thereby is not wise saith S●●mon Prov. 20. 1. And if so W●● doth it differ from a wild Bea●● And how are they shamefully mo●●ed who letting it loose and sett●●● it on others find themselves sei●●on and spoiled thereby SECT III. The commmon Excuses used by Drunkards considered BUt for the better clearing the point of Drunkennesse and 〈◊〉 kinds theref●●● before I directly ●arge it with the notorious evil of 〈◊〉 against God and plagues upon Man for the same I shall prepare ●●e way yet farther by taking no●●ce of some fine and smooth defen-●●s Men are wont to make against ●●at severity they will asperse this ●●●●ine undertaking with as the ef●●cts of a sower nature and morose●●sse in excesse on the other hand ●he sum of the most principal ex●ses is this Wine and strong Drinks say they are Gods Blessings and Creatur●● and therefore must needs be good Wine saith the Scripture is that wh●●● cheereth God and man and had No●● that righteous Person for its Invent●●● And Janus whom Learned M●● make the same with Noah with o●● Face looking to the World past a● with another towards the World 〈◊〉 come after him had his name fr●● Wine and was reputed a God A● Ale say some English Criticks h●● its name Ab Alendo from nour●●●ing Besides God and the wisest a●● gravest men in all Ages and Natio●● have not only allowed but institu●●●● days of rejoycing and hilarity 〈◊〉 common recreation which canno● without Wine or the best of Drin● as well as of Meats to heighten ●● Spirits and tune them for mirth Again They will tell you of ma●y good Men and some eminent ●●es in Holy Scripture who have ●●en overtaken with Wine some●●mes and yet have not lost the e●●●em or reputation for Great and ●●ghteous Men in their Generation 〈◊〉 that to exceed sometimes and 〈◊〉 somewhat overcome doth not ar●●e a Man to be a Drunkard or vi●●●us in that kinde Lastly there wants not Scripture 〈◊〉 an Apology in this case and that ●●r ought I know as validly and ●roperly used as Sectaries use it a●●inst all discrimination of Meats ●ll the Creatures of God are good ●●ing used with thanksgiving and Not that which goeth into the man de●●leth the man but that which proceedeth ●ut of the mouth that defileth the man Whereby it may be they mean that Drinking doth not defile the man but Vomiting it up again doth I● doth so These are some of the Allegations used by those who are rather good Fellows than good Men to which we shall not strictly and Scholastically but more largely and as