A39678:286
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
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.
Quest. I.
Whether the Pleasures of Temperance do not far excel those of Intemperance? If they do, then this your Plea is vain and irrational. For you foolishly choose a lesser Pleasure, and refuse a greater and sweeter one. And that you do so in this case, no wise man can deny or doubt.
For temperate drinking refreshes the Body, and no way burdens it, as excessive drinking doth. And that which burdens Nature can never be equally pleasant with that, which yields nothing but due refreshment. Temperance doth not vitiate, but raiseth the pure and ordinate Appetite of Nature to its just pitch and height; in which temper, and at which height, it is most capable of the sweetest pleasure from the Creature. As the Strings of a Lute give us the sweetest and most delicious Notes when they are not let down too low, but are all fixed at their due height.
For temperate drinking refreshes the Body, and no way burthens it, as excessive drinking doth. And that which burthens Nature can never be equally pleasant with that, which yields nothing but due refreshment. Temperance doth not vitiate, but raiseth the pure and ordinate Appetite of Nature to its just pitch and height; in which temper, and at which height, it is most capable of the sweetest pleasure from the Creature. As the Strings of a Lute give us the sweetest and most delicious Notes when they are not let down too low, but are all sixed at their due height.