mischief along with it both to Soul and Body Estate and good Name 1. It doth great mischief to the Soul For 1 It besots and Stupifies the Soul and estranges a mans Heart from God who is his chiefest good Hos. 4. 11. Whoredom and Wine and new Wine take away the Heart We may take Heart here for the Understanding as Rom. 2. 21. Their foolish Heart was darkened And so it is true that Wine takes away the Heart that is it stupisieth the mind it blinds and darkens the understanding and maketh men sottish as Jeremiah complains of the Jews who were much addicted to drunkenness Jer. 4. 22. My People is Foolish they have not known me they are sottish Children and have no understanding they are wise to do evil but to do good they have no Knowledge Or we may take Heart for the Affections and so it is true that Wine takes away the Heart for Drunkenness takes off the Heart from God and all things that are good Drunkards have no Love to God no delight in God no desire of enjoying God no Fear of God no Heart to that which is good Drunkenness is a fleshly lust and fleshly lusts war against and tend to the ruine of our precious Souls 1 Pet 2. 11. Dearly beloved I beseech you as strangers and Pilgrims abstain from fleshly Lusts which War against the Soul 2. It brings great mischief to the Body by the painful Diseases that it breeds in the Body and by the Wounds and Bruises men get by falls when they have drunk so much they are not able to go or to guide the Horses they ride on and also by the wounds they get in quarrels and contentions with their Companions when they are in their Cups Prov. 23. 29 30. Who hath Woe who hath Sorrow who hath Contentions who hath Bablings who hath wounds without cause who hath redness of Eyes They that tarry long at the Wine Not only the Eyes are made red but the whole Body is inflamed and greatly distempered by excessive drinking Isa. 5. 11. Woe to them that follow strong drink that continue till night till Wine enflame them Our Bodies should be the Temples of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6. 19. What know you not that your Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you And it is dangerous defiling the Temple of God with excess of Wine or strong Drink 1 Cor. 3. 17. If any man defile the Temple of God him shall God destroy 3. It brings ruine on a mans Estate Prov. 23. 21. The Drunkard and the Glutton shall come to poverty Many persons by their drunken and sottish courses waste fair Estates that were left them by their Parents Others that have been brought up to Callings spend all they gain by their Callings in excessive drinking whereby it comes to pass that they make no provision for their Families but their Wives and Children are brought into great wants and straits such as these are as bad yea worse than Infidels 1 Tim. 5. 8. But if any provide not for his own and especially for those of his own House he hath denyed the Faith and is worse than an Infidel 4. It blasts a mans Reputation it is a shame for a man to have the brand of a Drunkard set upon him Even Children will hout and deride a drunken ma◠when they see him reel and stagger as he goeth in the Street Arg. 4. Drunkenness is the Cause of many other Sins The greatness of the Sin of Drunkenness will appear from hence that it disposeth a man to many other great and crying sins as for Instance 1. Drunkenness disposeth men to commit Uncleanness Prov. 23. 31 33. Look not upon the Wine when it is red Thine Eyes shall behold strange Women When men are overcome with Wine they are easily drawn to commit the worst of uncleanness Lot though a Righteous man being overtaken with Drunkenness commited Incest twice Eph. 5. 18. Be not drunk with Wine wherein is excess As Beza observes Omnis profusio eaque summâ cum turpitudine conjuncta All excess of riot even that which is joyned with the greatest filthiness No filthiness comes amiss to a drunken man who is shameless whilest he is overcome with strong drink The Jews who were much addicted to Drunkenness were greatly addicted to Whoredom also Hos. 4. 11 18. Whoredom and Wine take away the Heart Their drink is sowre they have committed Whoredom continually Their drink is sowre some interpret of the sowre belches drunkards have after their Cups And another effect of immoderate drinking Wine besides the sowring of it in the Stomach is that it provokes men to Whoredom Hierom hath a smart passage to this effect Nunquam ego ebrium castum putabo I shall never think a Drunkard can be a chaste man 2. Drunkards are easily perswaded to be Idolaters for they making their Belly their God Phil. 3. 19. will easily be perswaded to bow down their Bodies to an Idol and comply with any Religion which will suit best with their Interest Hos. 3. 1. The Children of Israel who look to other Gods and Love Flagons of Wine Dan. 5. 4. They drank Wine and praised the Gods of Gold and of Silver and of Brass of Iron of Wood and of Stone 3. Drunkenness is accompanied with abundance of Vain Bablings and Foolish and Idle talk which men have together when they are in their Cups Prov. 23. 29 30. Who hath Bablings They that tarry long at the Wine And if any think there is no great hurt in those Bablings and Foolish talking that Drunkards have when they sit together at Inns or Alehouses let such consider 1. That Vain Bablings hardens the Heart and dispose a man to ungodly practices 2 Tim. 2. 16. But shun profane and vain Bablings for they will increase to more Ungodliness 2. Though Foolish Talking and Jesting is made Light of and accounted by many a matter of Mirth yet it is a sin brings down Gods wrath Eph. 5. 4 6. Neither filthiness nor Foolish talking nor Jesting which are not convenient Let no man deceive you with Vain words for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the Children of Disobedience 3. Men must give an Account for every Idle Word at the day of Judgment and without Repentance they shall be condemned for their Idle Words as well as their other sins Mat. 12. 36 37. But I say unto you that every Idle word that men shall speak they shall give an account thereof in the day of Judgment For by thy Words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned 4. There are few Drunkards but they will mock and scost and rail at the Ministers and Servants of Christ and sing Songs of them especially when they are in their Cups Prov. 20. 1. Wine is a mocker that is it makes men Mockers Mercer's note upon that Text is Vini potor derisor Dei hominumque esse solet A Drunkard is wont
Providence which lately befell a young man who for some years was very hopefull for Religion a diligent attender upon God's Ordinances and well esteemed of among the People of God but afterwards being led away by temptation he was sometime overtaken with the sin of Drunkenness and it seemed good to the Holy and Righteous God to cut him off in the Act of sin when he was as is generally reported so far overcome with strong drink that he was not able to go but was led and laid upon a Bed and dyed in a few Hours without coming to himself again HIS MAJESTIES PROCLAMATION AGAINST Vicious Debauch'd and Prophane Persons and against drinking his Health CHARLES R. SInce it hath pleased the Divine Providence in so wonderful a manner and by wayes and means no less miraculous than those by which he did heretofore preserve and restore his own chosen People to restore Us and Our good Subjects to each other and to shew Us a very hopeful Prospect if not to put us already into possession of that Peace Happiness and Security with which this our Kingdom hath been heretofore blessed It will become Us all in our several Stations to acknowledge this transcendent goodness of Almighty God in so seasonable a conjuncture with such a Circumspection Integrity and Reformation in Our Lives that we may not drive away that Mercy which so near approacheth Us by making Our selves wholly unworthy of it And in Order hereunto We think it high time to shew Our dislike of those against whom We have been ever enough offended though We could not in this manner declare it who under pretence of Affection to Us and Our Service assume to themselves the liberty of Reviling Threatning and Reproaching others and as much as in them lies endeavour to stifle and divert their good Inclinations to Our Service and so to prevent that Reconciliation and Union of Hearts and Affections which can only with Gods Blessing make Us rejoyce in each other and keep Our Enemies from rejoycing There are likewise another sort of Men of whom we have heard much and are sufficiently ashamed who spend their time in Taverns Tipling-houses and Debauches giving no other Evidence of their Affection to Us but in drinking Our Health and Inveighing against all others who are not of their own dissolute temper and who in truth have more discredited Our Cause by the Licence of their Manners and Lives than they could ever advance it by their Affection or courage We hope that this extraordinary way of delivering Us all from all we feared and almost bringing Us to all We can reasonably hope for hath and will work upon the Hearts even of these Men to that degree that they will cordially renounce all that Licentiousness Prophaneness and Impiety with which they have been corrupted and endeavoured to corrupt others and that they will hereafter become examples of Sobriety and Uertue and make it appear that what is past was rather the Uice of the Time than of the Persons and the fitter to be forgotten together And because the fear of punishment or apprehension of Our Displeasure may have influence upon many who will not be restrained by the Conscience of their Duty We do declare That We will not exercise just Severity against any Malefactors sooner than against Men of dissolute debauch'd and profane Lives with what parts soever they may be otherwise qualified and endowed and We hope that all Persons of Honour or in Place and Authority will so far assist Us in discountenancing such Men that their discretion and shame will perswade them to reform what their Conscience would not and that the displeasure of good Men towards them may supply what the Laws have not and it may be cannot well provide against there being by the Licence and Corruption of the Times and the depraved Nature of Men many Enormities Scandals and Impieties in Practice and Manners which Laws cannot well describe and consequently not enough provide against which may by the example and severity of Uertuous Men be easily discountenanced and by degrees suppressed However for the more effectual reforming these Men who are a discredit to the Nation and unto any Cause they pretend to favour and to wish well to We require all Maiors Sheriffs and Justices of Peace to be very vigilant and strict in the discovery and prosecution of all Dissolute and Prophane Persons and such as Blaspheme the Name of God by prophane Swearing and Cursing or revile or disturb Ministers and despise the Publick Worship of God that being first bound to the good Behaviour they may be further proceeded against and exposed to shame in such a manner as the Laws of the Land and the just and necessary Rules of Government shall direct or permit Dated the Twelfth Year of Our Reign See the Dialogue between Tory and Timothy in the Weekly Pacquet of Aug. 5. 1681. This passage Tory. There are a Thousand of my Companions that are not capable to express their Loyalty any way in the World if they should be barr'd from Drinking of Healths and Huzzaing as if Bedlam were broken loose Tim. Loyalty is the indispensable duty of every good Subject and signifies no more than an obedience and Hearty serving of the King according to Law and I am sure our Most Gracious Soveraign will not be serv'd any otherwise Nor can I understand how a Common Drunkard Swearer Whoremonger c. ought to be accounted either Loyal or a Son of the Church of England since thereby he violates daily the Laws of God Nature and the Land and for the same ought to stand Excommunicated by the Church Such as will not refrain from Intemperate drinking and be reclamed by Scripture Arguments and Examples let the regard of their Bodily Health move them From these weighty reasons of Doctor Maynwaring's shewing how it impairs their Health many wayes Preservaton of Health in the choice of Drinks and Regular Drinking DRink for necessity not for bad fellowship especially soon after meat which hinders due fermentation of the stomach and washeth down before digestion be finished but after the first concoction if you have a hot Stomach a dry or costive Body you may drink more freely than others or if thirst importunes you at any time to satisfie with a moderate draught is better than to forbear Accustom Youth and strong Stomachs to small drink but stronger drink and Wine to the infirm and aged it chears the Spirits quickens the Appetite and helps Digestion moderately taken but being used in excess disturbs the course of Nature and procures many Diseases for corpulent gross and fat Bodies thin hungry abstersive penetrating Wines are best as White-Wine Rhenish and such like For lean thin Bodies black red and yellow Wines sweet full bodied and fragrant are more fit and agreeable as Malaga Muscadel Tent Alicant and such like For Drink whether it be wholsomer warmed than cold is much controverted some stifly contending for the one and some for the
in this sense that when they were in affliction they besought the Lord God and humbled themselves greatly before the God of their Fathers For this great Offendor could often say He could never be humbled enough Upon the 13 of August when he was arraigned at the Sessions in the Old-Baily he pleaded Guilty to the Indictments with very much shame confusion of face and sorrow of heart And on Friday the 15 of August he demeaned himself very humbly before the Bench heartily submitting to the Sentence of death that then passed upon him saying He had destroyed the Image of the Eternal GOD alluding as I verily believe to those words in Gen. 6. 9. For in the Image of God c. After his Sentence he was conveyed back to prison penitently acknowledging that he had neglected the good Word of God and therefore was the longer kept off through ignorance of the Gospel from closing with Christ Jesus But after a few dayes discourse with several Ministers and others who opened the Scriptures to him he began to understand through the Grace of God the Word of Grace And though he had many good Books brought to him by divers visiting Friends yet he chiefly looked into the holy Scriptures themselves and found very much advantage light and peace by these following passages out of the Old Testament viz. 2 Sam. 12. 9. Where Nathan spake sharply to David for despising the Commandment of the Lord to do evil in the sight of the Lord in killing Uriah the Hittite with the Sword vers 13. David said to Nathan I have sinned against the Lord and Nathan said to David The Lord also hath put away thy sin From hence he understood the readiness of God to forgive confessing repenting sinners though they are guilty of innocent blood Job 33. 27 28 He the Lord looketh upon men Oh that men would look after the Lord and if AN T say I have sinned and perverted that which was right and it profited me not he that is the Lord will deliver his Soul from going into the pit and his life shall see the light Isa. 45. 18 19. I said not unto the seed of Jacob Seek ye me in vain Isa. 55. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord and he will ABUNDANTLY pardon The word abundantly he used to pronounce with an emphasis for he saw his eyes being now anointed with spiritual Eye salve that he had multiplied sins exceedingly and that he stood in absolute need of the Lords abundant multiplied pardons whereof he had good hope through this good word of Isaiah Ezek. 18. 23. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die saith the Lord God and not that he should return from his wayes and live 30. Repent and turn your selves from all your transgressions So iniquity shall not be your ruine 31. Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby ye have transgressed and make you a new heart and a new spirit for why will you die O house of Israel 32. For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dyeth wherefore turn your selves and live ye Ezek. 33. 11. Say unto them As I live saith the Lord here the poor Prisoner would note to his comfort that a repenting sinner had not onely the Word and Promise of God for forgiveness but the Oath of God to give such a sinner the greater assurance of pardon I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his wayes and live Turn ye turn ye see the importunity of God with poor sinners for the good of their souls from your evil wayes For why will ye die O house of Israel Micah 7. 18. was a place pleasant to his Soul Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage He retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy Vers. 19. He will turn again as one doth when his anger is gone he will have compassion upon us he will subdue our iniquities and thou wilt cast ALL their sins into the depth of the Sea Now I shall give you a short List of some New-Testament Texts whereby the Lord conveyed Counsel and Consolation to this doubting staggering poor Wretch Mat. 18. 11. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost Joh. 3. 14 15 16. And as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life for God SO loved the WORLD that whosoever this word whosoever he spake with joy believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Now saith Nathaniel Butler I am one to whom this word speaketh and therefore God gave the Lord Jesus Christ for my Soul I believe in him and therefore I trust to live eternally through him according to the gracious terms of the Gospel John 6. 37. And him that cometh to me I will in no wise here he would repeat and reiterate these words in NO WISE CAST OUT in NO WISE in NO WISE cast out 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief 1 Tim. 2. 5 6. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time In hearing reading and conferring upon these and many more Scriptures he would often say to me and others These are good Scriptures brave Scriptures are they not brave Scriptures He would make very diligent and frequent search into his Soul concerning the sincerity of his Sorrow and would not easily believe that his Repentance was true or that he had right to the precious Promises of the Gospel But by much speaking to him by many good people that he would apply Christ and also by seeking unto God for a spirit of Faith for him he did begin to act a faith of recumbency and adherence being as he often said perswaded the Lord Jesus Christ was able to save to the uttermost and willing to save such as come unto God by him yet he could not come up to that full assurance of hope and confidence as he desired and we also desired heartily on his behalf Yet for some certain dayes before his suffering death it pleased the God of all Comfort to give him Joy and Consolation and sometimes strong consolation insomuch that he would at times express very great inward gladness which all that knew his former mournings were glad to see and glorified God for giving him the Joy of his Salvation for he was so satisfied concerning the favour and mercy of God towards him in Jesus Christ that he rather now desired Death then feared it as seeing death through Jesus Christ without