SERMON XXVI. 369 verty." A wanton indulgence of the taste will tempt men to re- velling and riot, thence follows a neglect of all business; and many a prodigal, who had a fair estate, is by this means become a beggar or a prisoner. Let us be watchful therefore when we sit down at a plentiful table, and put a knife, as it were, to our throat, if we feel the danger of a sharp and wanton appetite; let the guard of our virtue be as sharp and active as our thirst or hunger. Let us not be desirous of feasting ourselves with dain- ties, for they toe) often prove deceitful meat : And though they are neverso tempting to the palate, yet they may disturb the health of the body, or indispose the mind for the service of virtue. But this leads me to the nextgeneral head, and that is, To con- siderhow the light of nature condemns this vice, this sort of im- purity. . If it weremy business to make a flourish with learned cita- tions, it were an easy matter to bring the Greeks and Romans hither to pass sentence upon the glutton and the drunkard, and all the luxuryof the taste ; for it is too mean an indulgence either for a man or a christian. It does not become humannature to endanger the welfare of all itspowers,-and enslave them all to the single sense of tasting, " I amgreater, says Seneca, and born to greater things, than to be a slave to this body, or to livemerely to become a strainer of meats and drinks." The wisest of men, and the best writers of all ages; even in the heathennations, Kaye passed their heavy censures on these impure and brutal follies, whereby we are reduced to the rank of beasts that perish,or per- haps sunk below them by the practices of intemperance ; for there are but few of that lower rank of creatures, who swill themselves beyondthe demands of nature ; or, at least, beyond what nature is able to bear. Let us argue a little upon this head from the principles of reason, and consider that the chief designs of food are these two, the support of.our nature, and the refreshment of our spirits. Therefore give food to himthat is hungry, that life maybe main- tamed : Give drink to himthat is thirsty, to assist thé supports of life, and to refresh it. Give strong drink to him that is ready to faint, that his spirits may be recruited : and wine to him that is heavy of heart, that he may forget his sorrows ; Prov. xxxi. 6, 7. It is evident that every thing, which goes beyond the mere neces- sity of nature for its support, does not presently become sinful; because the refreshment of nature is also one end and design of our food. Remember that the supports of nature are designed by the God of nature to make us fit for all the services and duties of life, and the refreshments of it areordained by the same Au- thor of nature, to render us chearful in the discharge of those du- 8b2
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