wife unworthily treated. Juft and alarming are the pictures of this vice; they are fet before us in this ftrong colouring, to warn us of our danger, for that most furely can never be too much avoided, that is, compared to the venomous bite of a ferpent, which leads to the commiffion of the fouleft crimes, which moveth the heart to contrive and execute all manner of mifchief, which refemble a man asleep in the midft of the waves, and threatens him with momentary deftruction, or which describes the ftroke of death fo near, as though one flumbered on the top of a maft. Thus is the drunkard painted, who glories in his fhame till he falls a rotten carcafe, and pollutes the very carth that covers him, while his foul or spirit mixes with fuch as are under équal condemnation, who are referved in pains and darkness for the final judgment and punishment of the wicked.

Various are the shapes in which men fuffer and expose themselves to danger, through wilful living in fuch fins, for they are thereby moved to commit all manner of ungodlinefs with greedinefs: for when deprived of reafon, they are reduced either to a ftate of folly or of madnefs. From all that has been faid upon this fubject, none hardly can be fo dull as not to see the miferable condition of thofe who ftill devote themselves to fenfual excefs. No one will venture to deny but that wilfully to deprive ourselves of the ufe of any limb, would be justly reckoned as a very finful action; but is not drinking till we are void of understanding, a ftill more dreadful thing, fince without our fenses we cannot use our limbs? The prophet Hofhea obferves, iv. 2. that excess of wine corrupteth the heart; and furely it is a melancholy reflection that men fhould fo disguise and drown their nobleft faculty, as to retain no power to direct their speech or actions! Wine and women, faith the wife fon of Sirach, xix. 2. will make men of understanding to fall away:

I

Even

Even heathens were earnest in condemning this vice, efpecially when it difgraced the conduct of thofe in power. One of their moft celebrated philofophers (Plato) judicioufly obferves, that the habit of drinking to excefs in magiftrates, inclines them to feverity inftead of justice, and was apt to produce an unfeeling heart, by which they were likely to govern according to fits of paffion and blinded will, and not by rules of equity and reafon. Doubtlefs intemperance deftroys the equal balance of the mind; and agreeable to the fame remark, Solomon thus fpeaks, Prov, xxxi. 4, 5. It is not for kings 10 drink wine, nor for princes strong drink, left they drink and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. Such general decifions on this fubject, confirm the aggravation of the fault in all to whom authority is committed; for the intemperate magiftrate not only encourageth evil by his own example, but under a clouded understanding may do injury to the innocent: and when a man is incapable to govern himfelf, how can he be qualified to pafs judgment upon others? Another dangerous confequence attending upon this vice to thofe in power, is that it difqualifies from keeping counfel. An intoxicated perfon can feldom keep a fecret; he publishes what he knows to all alike. It expofes the wifeft man that thus tranfgreffes to utter foolish and wicked fpeeches; and as another moral heathen (Seneca) well obferves, by putting a stop to fhame it encourages every latent difpofition to evil, and provoketh to all manner of mifchief. Thus when wine hath taken full poffeffion of the brain, the proud man fheweth the depth of his pride, the hard-hearted his cruelty, and the envious his malice. The outward behaviour and the thoughts of the heart appear equally contemptible. The man is ignorant of himself, he flammereth with his fpeech, he staggereth with his body, and his eyes and fenfes do equally betray him.

From

1

From all these pointed obfervations of different wife men, both fervants of God, and those who had only the light of nature to direct them, it is very evident, that the temper of man is fubject to the greatest disorder from yielding to excefs; which is the natural foe of reafon and difcretion: Wine (fays Solomon) is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whofoever is deceived thereby is not wife. And here again, the fame union of fentiment directs the opinion of the ancient fage; whofoever (fays Seneca) hopeth to have the right ufe of his faculties, while he continues a flave to irregularity, he may as fenfibly expect to drink poifon, and not to die; for the certain effect of having the spirits fo agitated, and the nerves fo unbraced, is that the mind becomes unfit for close attention and found judgment. But grievous is it, that in thefe times men are indifferent as to the decorum of behaviour, or the character of their understanding. So that they can procure fufficient wealth for the gratification of their vain defires and fenfual appetites, they think it no difgrace to expofe themselves in the most degrading state, to which a rational being can defcend, or any reflexion upon manhood to act the part of fenfelefs fools and madmen. If they are not ftraitened in the means of exercising their extravagance, and escape the galling reproach of being thought poor, they are eafy as to the opinion of the fober-minded, nor in the leaft concerned for the cenfure which their conduct merits. But as riches make themselves wings, and cannot laft for ever, any more than conftitution, it would be wife therefore in all who are too much devoted to these hurtful habits, to attend to Solomon's repeated cautions, Prov. xxi. 17. and xxiii. 20, &c. He that loveth wine fhall not be rich. Be not amongst wine bibbers, among ft riotous eaters of flesh, for the drunken and the glutton fball come to poverty.

What

What but want, can be the end of thofe who fpend all they have in the indulgence of their appetites, and confume more in a day than they earn in a week? There is a filly and ungodly obfervation which the ignorant and thoughtlefs are often ready to offer upon fuch occafions, viz. whom doth this moft concern but the perfon himself? And he is no one's enemy but his own; but this is fpeaking without reafon or religion: for it hath been abundantly fhewn, that fuch perfons are not only in continual danger, and the certain way of injuring themselves in many shapes, but that they alfo corrupt Jociety by their example. They are a nuisance to all who happen to meet them; they offend the modeft and temperate by their indecent converfation, and brutal difhonoring of their nature: they are tempted to commit all manner of outrages, that are contrary to peace, and the fafety of their neighbors, even actions of the moft grofs and iniquitous defcription. They affift in spreading vice wherever they go, and while they wafte their fubftance in feafting others, and furfeiting themselves, they frequently permit their near connexions to endure the greatest difficulties, and their families and dependants to become liable to long and bitter experience of their ruinous extravagance. In fhort, they are not only ufelefs but pernicious members of the community; fince the bleffed means of foftening the cares and relieving the neceffities of those who expect and merit their fupport, are all confumed in corrupting themselves and fellow creatures. A thorough fot is the most contemptible and unprofitable creature that exifts. He is incapable either of ruling, or obeying. But above all, fuch characters bring heavy scandal upon the church and congregation to which they belong; and for which reafon St. Paul ranks them with the very vileft of all finners, and forbids chriftians even to eat with fuch as are thus depraved.

From

From all that has been advanced, in order to diffuade mankind from living in habits of any intemperance, let us humbly hope (through God's bleffing on our prayers to him for help) that all who have hitherto been addicted to these fins, may have grace to ftrive from this moment to break their chains, and to cultivate the profitable virtues of temperance and fobriety, that they may find ftrength to check every inclination to indulge their appetites further than is confiftent with the religious enjoyment of God's good creatures. Nay, rather than be fubdued by the fins that do most easily beset them, that they may rather have recourse to occasional abstinence, to keep under the body, and not wilfully give up to the dominion of ungodly lufts. This will prepare the mind for better application to God in holy exercifes, as prayer, hearing and reading God's word, and obtaining fpiritual comforts from above.

To conclude, whofoever valueth the health of his body, or the quiet of his mind, nay even length of days; whofoever honoreth the rich gift of understanding by which man is diftinguished from the beafts that perish; whofoever dreads the confequence of ungovernable paffions; whofoever efteems the credit of a fair name, or the respect and friendship of good men; he who would avoid the fure road to poverty and contempt; who is unwilling to fubject his neighbor to any offence or injury, but wishes to approve himself a useful member of the fociety in which he lives. And laftly, whofoever truly values the bleffed title by which he is called, who would be a CHRISTIAN, without caufing flander and difgrace to the church of CHRIST, let him carefully refrain from all manner of excefs; let him obferve the rule that is given by St. Paul to all confiderate chriftians, whether he eateth or drinketh, or whatsoever he

doth,