A39678:264
The reasonableness of personal reformation, and the necessity of conversion
The reasonableness of personal reformation, and the necessity of conversion; the true methods of making all men happy in this world, and in the world to come Seasonably discoursed, and earnestly pressed upon this licentious age. By J.F. a sincere lover of his native country, and the souls of men.The reasonableness of personal reformation, and the necessity of conversion; the true methods of making all men happy in this world, and in the world to come Seasonably discoursed, and earnestly pressed upon this licentious age. By J.F. a sincere lover of his native countrey, and the souls of men.
London: printed for Thomas Cockerill, 1691
THE REASONABLENESS OF Personal Reformation, › Chapter 4 › Section 5 › Excuse 1: Excuse I.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
And first, to what you say of the Capacity of your Bodies, Strength, and Ability of your Constitutions, to receive and bear greater Quantities of Wine and strong Drink than others can; and therefore, why should you not give a proof of it when challenged, and get Reputation to your selves by drinking down, and glorying over such as vie with you?
And first, to what you say of the Capacity of your Bodies, Strength, and Ability of your Constitutions, to receive and bear greater Quantities of Wine and strong Drink than others can; and therefore, why should you not give a proof of it when challeng'd, and get Reputation to your selves by drinking down, and glorying over such as vye with you?
To this I reply three things, which must be laid in the Counter-balance, and let the Balance be held in the upright Hand of your own Reason.
To this I reply three things, which must be laid in the Counter-ballance, and let the Ballance be held in the upright Hand of your own Reason.
1. A strong and vigorous Constitution will be readily acknowledged to be so great an external Blessing and Mercy, that no Man of sound Intellectuals ought to do any thing to destroy it; but is obliged to use all proper Methods for the Preservation of it. If therefore Temperance shall be found to preserve it, and excess to impair and ⟨p. 68⟩destroy it; let your own Reason judge which o• these two Courses you are obliged to take. Consult either the best Physicians, or your own, and other Mens Experience, and they will tell you, that Apoplexies, Palsies, Gout, and innumerable other Diseases, are bred by such Excesses in the soundest and strongest Constitutions, and Death it self hastened by such intemperate course whereas Temperance and Sobriety might hav made your Lives more comfortable and durabl As strong as you are, frequent Drunkenness wi bring Cain's Curse upon your vigorous Bodies, and make you go shaking and trembling (as he did) about the World.