g.Sefl. i o. 7-he fpiritua& eui[sivhicb . drunkcnne11ë bringetb. Gal ß.st. ant1z3. 9 8That the drunkardfinneth. me?grieuoufy afainthimfe f è declineth. It is true allo that the rnother-earth is-infeebled with muchbearing, &bath her flrength much abatedwith fo innumerable child-births, and besing now come toher coldmelancholy age,cannot bring forth hcrfinites fo full ofvertue and flrength,and fo fit for the nourifhment of our bodies,as fhe did in former times ; but that there fhould be fuch a change fo fuddaine and fo extraordinary, and that there fbould be fuch great difference inhealth,and ílrength; and long life, hetweene this our age, and that which went next before;it can be imputedveto nothing more then this, that nowdrunkenneffe and intemperance is after an extra- ordinarymanner increafed, whereby the naturalt and vitall beate amends drowned and extinguifhed, before it bee neere fpent, like a candlecall into the water, before it be halfe burned.Ifthen we thinke it. a fearefull finne for aman to murther himfelfe, and by laying violent hands on his owne perfon to (hor.ten his life ; then let vs not efleeme drunkennes as afmall offence,fecing it produceth the fame effe&s, though by other meanes and inflruments, andbrin- geth our bodies to the famnevntimclydeath, although it be by a diuers way. And thefe are the ternporaIl.euilswhich, the drunkard bringethvpon himfelfe,which though they be manifold & grieuous, yet are theynot to be compared with thofe fpiri- tuall euils , into which through a wilfull neceflity bee is plunged, euenwhilefl lie continueth in this life. For firfi by this finne he exciudethhimfelfe out,ofthe number ofthofe children who are bornevntoGod byregeneration& newe birth, and is feparated from lefus Chrifl, fo as bee path no communionwithhimnor part in hisbenefits;for thofe who are regenerate are begotté unto Godbyhis fpirit dwelling in them, &where the fpirit ofGoddwelleth, there it Phew- eth it Idle, bothby mortifying the oldmean, and fubduing the luflsof the flefh, indbyquickening thenewe man, and bringing forth the fruites ofthe fpirit. Now gluttony and drunkennefïee are the workes of the old man, and fpeciall finites ofthe flefh,as appeareth, Ga1.5.21, from the which Gods fpirit dothpurge & cleanfe vs, as foone as he lEaketh :hoicc
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