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A
DISCOURSE
OF
Drinking Healths,
WHEREIN
*The great Evil of this Prevailing Custom
is fhewn; And the Obligation which
lieth upon all good Chriftians to Sup-
prefs and Difcountenance it to the ut-
moft of their Power*
By Peter Lord Bifhop of Cork and Rojfe.
LONDON:
Printed for Henry Clements, at the
Half-Moon in St. Paul's Church-Yard.
mdccxvi.
T O T H E
READER-
"DEfore the Reader Enters into the following
■*-* Tract, it will not be amifs to remove
fomefew Prejudices that may lye in his Way.
It may be thought no great Prudence to
write againfi a Cuftorn fo generally received,
that it muft make Each of the Two mofl con-
fiderable Parties among us my Enemiesj for
that all agree in Drinking Healths: But it is
better to difoblige Both; than not to be an
Impartial Friend to Each Side, and to the
Truth. It is a ftire Indication of an Abje£t
Spirit to make the Serving of a Party the
main Principle of a Man's Actions^ hecaufe it
Cancels all Title to the Reward of his befl Per-
formances in another World: I Write not a-
gainft any Party, but againfi the Sins of Men)
and if 'Thefe prevail more in One Party than
Another, it is not amifs that they take the Re-
proof to themfelves. They have done fo ac-
. cordingljy and it hath fallen to my hot to fuf-
fer their Indignation, not having confultedfo
much the Politick, as the Religious Part;
becaafe I have obferved that too much Caution
A 2 in
iv To the READER.
in Matters of Duty, and Religious Politicks
are among the Reigning Bins of ths Time.
It is a ready and Vulgar Turn to Brand
this Trafr with the Name of Quakerifm.
'But that-the Quakers decline All Healths ii
Praife-worthy in them; nor is it likely they
will ever be Tempted by the Wicked one to
the contrary, while they continue to Renounce
the Two Sacraments; the Refurre&ion of
the fame Body; and All Scripture, without
immediate Infpiration in themfelves, From
being a Rule of* Faith ot Practice. It hath
been always a fuccefsful Piece of Policy in
Him not only to Difpence with, but to Encou-
rage fomefew Inflames of Real Goodnefs, but
of Lefs Conference, with Defign to give a
Colour to great Impieties ; or to Varnifh o-
ver ths Rankefl Herefies, and Schifms.
Perhaps you may fay the Habit is fo Inve-
terate, that I jhall but Provoke Men to
Drink Healths the More, and Confirm them
in the Cuftom* But this can be trite only of
the Wicked, and the Pefverfe; not of thofe
who are Well difpofed, or Religioufly Incli-
ned, for whofe Saks alone this Treatife is writ-
ten: This Argument, if it be one, will hold
againft all Attempts made to difcourage Any
prevailing Cufiom whaifoever which is either
Evil
To the READER. v
Evil in it [elf; or the Inftrument and Occa-
sion of Sin. And no other Return is to be
rnade here, but dsfiring People to Corf ler,
whether it is My Vault or Theirs, that they
grow more Obftinate by fair Endeavours that
are ufed to make them more Religious ?
You will fay again who ever Dreamed of
any Similitude, or of doing Difhonour to the
Eucharift by this Practice ? I Anfwer, few
befide Deifts apd Freethinkers, the Scoffers
at all Revealed Religion, and at this Sacra-
ment in Particular', and who have from thence
taken Occafon to give that Holy Ordinance the
Name of an Health. And were there no o*
ther Reafbn/br the truly good and Religious,
who have hitherto continued this Practice^ Un-
wittingly and Undesignedly, to forbear it
hereafter, I Appeal to themfelves whether this
is not Reafon enough? And whether there
mufl not ever be a Ground of Scruple till bet-
ter Arguments are offered For Drinking of
Healths, than are here produced Againft them?
And till then I deferve the Thanks of every
truly tender Confcience, for laying open to them
a latent Jnftance of Guilt, which they did not
dijcern in themfelves.
If any one be inclined to think meanly of th
Subject, as if it were of no great Importance J
J
vi To the READER.
/ Anfwer, That the Failing of Succefs may
make it appear Little in the Eyes of Men ;
but the Sinking the Practice of Healths, at
■Uaft among all good People, will render it truly
Great in the Eyes of God; as preferring his
rnojt Holy Ordinance from any Degree of Pro-
fanation; and cutting off one of the great eft
Jnftruments of Sin in the World.
I am very fenfible of the Invidious Nature
of the Subject; how many Sorts of People will
think themfelves Difobliged and Injured; and
will look upon this Tract to be no lejs than an
Invafion of their Property, the Ruin of them
and their Families being concerned in the
Downfall of Healths. It may be expected
that all Dealers in Liquor by Whole-Sale or
Retail, whofe Craft is in Danger to be fet
at nought, will be Full pf Wrath ; and All
with one Voice cry out for their great Diana
whom the World worihipeth ; which brings
them in No fmall Gain; and by which They
have their Wealth. Nay, all thofe who live
difinguifhed under the Character of Honeft
Fellows, and Good Companions; all Furi-
ous Party-Men ; and all >vho Drink Much or
Little, but love to (lay by it, are like to joyn
with them in charging ms with leffening the
PubJick Revenue; and with infringing the
Likrty of every Subject to mingle himjdf with
State
To the READER. vii
State Affairs ; to jherv his good Liking, or
Piilike of all Matters at the Helm ; and to
be medling even with Crowned Heads, and
their Mmiftry. But to be plain with this Sort
of Antagonifts, Healths are but a Retique of
Heathenism; and that great Diana of theirs,
if they will take the Word of -\ Two Learned
Men, Is not from God, but from the De-
vil. And therefore it is better they (hould be
content with a Moderate fortune, than that all
the Liquor in the Nation fbould be Polluted
with Healths, and Drunkenefs: It is for the
Inter ef of their Own Souls, that all that
Gain (hould he pared off which arifes from
the Sins of the People; And it is more for
the Publick Good that fome Perfons fuffer in
their Way of Dealing, than that we (hould all
be rendered Liable to the Judgments of Gody
for thofe manifold Sins which are every where
daily occasioned by that Pernicious Practice I
write againff.
If lam thought to be in a Miftake in what
1 have written, it mufi be allowed a very Hap-
py and Seafonable One, if iv pleafe God it
work the Defgned Effect of making People
Defift from Healths- in which they are fur e
there can be No Miftake. And therefore, tho1
I were Not in the Right in this Treatife, yet
'' —-- ■ i
.-man.___________
t Stuckius*»<iAmefius.
A 4 all
viii To the R E A D E R.
all good Chriftians fhould Wife me fo ; and
their Prejudices, if they have any, ought to
be on my Side before they Read. It is plainly
fuch an Error as deferves Pitv, not Indignati-
on, and Fury; Wherefore 1 may reasonably
hope that this Conft'deration will An/wage the
Sprit of my Antagonifts, and Change their
Style from Gall and Bitternefs, into as much
Sharpnefs as they /halljudge convenient: And
J fray God it may never be Again heard of a-
mong Chriftians, that any of the Sacred
Hierarchy fhould take upon them the publtck
Defence of Health-Drinking in the Face of all
Mankind. But if any of Them, or any Lay
F>erf on (hall undertake an At fiver to what I have
here delivered, I would only obferve to them;
1 that he who will not dijlinguijh between Ho-
nour s to be paid in the Prefence of an Angel,
or King, or other Great Perfon; and fuch as
are paid in their Abfence: And between the
Three Kjnds of Idolatry, mentioned Part I.
Cap. 6. will never Think or Write dijlinclly
ttfon this Subject. For in maintaining that
an Health hath Nothing at all in it of the Na-
ture of an Idolatrous Act, he will Very un-
juftly wreft every Thing that is faid to a
Charge of Grots and Willful Idolatry; and
thus by running ha (lily from One Extreme into
the Other, he will leave the Truth Behind
him in the Middle*
OF
(9)
Drinking Healths.
THERE are two Things, which,
feem neceflary to be Confider'd^
in relation to that Cuftom of
Drinking Healths, which has pre-
vail'd fo much in the World.
The Fir (I is, Whether there is any De-
gree of Evil or Sinfulnefs, in the Nature
of an Health it felf ?
And Secondly, Upon a Suppofition that
it were a Thing in it's Own Nature per-
fectly Indifferent, whether it is not how--
ever the Duty of all good Chrifiians, and
more efpecially of the Clergy, not only to
forbear drinking Healths Themfdves; but
to diffuade others from it; and by their
Example and utmoft Endeavours, to ba-
nifh the Cuftom of it out of the-Chriftian
World? . Thefe
-J2
-—
( io)
Thefe Two Material Qiieftions do
naturally divide this Difcourie into Two
Parts.
PART I.
Hether there is any Degree of Evil
or Siffulnefs in the Nature of an
apealtO it feif?
In Order to fpeak more clearly and
diftinctly to this Firft Point, let us confider
an Health in every Acceptation wherein it
piay polTibly be taken. And accordingly,
Chap. I.
TH E Firjl Acceptation of an Health
is when a Quf or Glafs of Uquor
is hank by way of Ctttfe or StttipgCCattOtt
upon the Per/on himfelf who drinks, if he
doth not mean ^merely what he fpeaks when
he nameth Health or Profperiiy to any Per-
fan, or Affair.
As when a Man names the Health and
Profperir.y of his Prime or his friend,
he fhould fay, May this be my Poifon if I
do not wifb him Health and Profperiiy.
'Tis true, it is now generally contracted,
and.
and drank in the Shorter Form ; and the
direful ampjecatton is only imply d: For
the full naming of the Cutfe upon our
felves when we drink, was too grois and
barefac'd an Impiety to be kept up in ex-
prefs Words, and therefore this is dropt
among People of Fafhion; and the De-
fign and Import of it, is not commonly
underftood. Yet whether this is not the
firft and primary Signification of an Health,
and that which in a great Degree hath re-
viv'd the Cuftom of it in thefe Nations,
and carried it on to fo great a Height a-
mong us ; I appeal to the conftant and uni-
verfal Practice of the Lower Rank of Peo-
ple ; who, not being capable of fuch Re-
finements, keep up drinking Healths in
their primitive Form to this Day : And
when they name a Health to any one cry,
May this be my ^OtfOtt; or May it never
go%\)lO' me ; or Let it he my JLafi ; or May
it Mttot do me goody if I do not Think as
I Speak; or fomething to that Effect.
And this is fo generally receiv'd, that it
is the current and ready C6H of all Truth
among the Vulgar ; as every Body muft
have obferv'd, who is not fo far above that
Rank of People, that they cannot fall
within their Notice.
I
( 12 )
I hope I need not go about to fhew
the Wickednefs of drinking an |)eaitfj in
this Senfe of it; For in this Acceptation it
is in fhort no other than a .plain Libation
or Sacrifice to the Devil. Whatever it
may prove to Men's Bodies, yet 'tis plain
they fwallow greedily what is real Poifon
to their Souls, and Seal their own Con-
demnation with a Cup of Liquor. Tho*
they wifh Health and Profperity to thofe
they drink from their Hearts; and fpeak
with ever fo much Sincerity, yet the Im-
precation remains either Exprejfed or Im-
flfd; and whether one or the other, 'tis
Officious and Forbidden, and therefore im-
pious and wicked, Tho' what they fpeak
may be no Lp£; yet it is however a
Needlefs CUtfe, and will take place as
fiich, without Repentance. The beft Turn
it will bear is, that 'tis only an Oath to
this En°e£t, viz. By this Drink I mean
jehat I fay. But even fo, 'tis a Form of
Swearing not from God, and therefore
piuft come only from Hell.
Now for thofe who drink, and do not
mean what they fay (which is too com-
mon in the Work!) to that Curfe and Im-
precation upon themfelves they add the
Guilt of Lying and DHfimulation ; and of
fame*
Something very near of Kin to Perjtttp*
Accordingly, how many are there who'
drink a Health out of pure Compliance;
thro' Fear, or Shame, or Importunity, for
Company Sake, or for the Drinks Sake,
quite contrary to the Senfe of their Minds,
and Inclination of their Hearts; and there-
by in Effect, do Vow. they with a Perfon or
Affair Health and Prosperity, when per-
haps they wou'd rejoyce to fee then!
Ruined and Confounded.
As for fuch as may fay this Notion of an.
Health, is New to them, and that* they
do not drink it in this Acceptation ; I be-
feech them to confider, that this is the
Only Notion of an Health that has any
Senfe or Meaning in it. If they come
to confider the Action of Drinking fof ano-
ther Man's Health in its own Nature more
nearly and diftin&ly, they will find that,
all other Acceptations of it are entirely
Senfelefs, and without any Meaning at
all: But Tims it hath a Plain and Obvious
Meaning, tho* a very Wicked one. Tho*
Men Mean it not, yet if drinking an
Health carries fuch a horrid Implication
with it, infomuch that the Whole Form is
by many exprefs'd at large at this Day ;
then nothing can render the Practice ex-
cufable
( M )
Cufable but the want of knowing this,.
And this is what they have to plead in
Excufe for themfelves, who have hitherto
practiced it ignorantly; but wou'd never
have comply'd for any Importunity if the
Wickednefs of it had not layn conceaPd
in the Curtnefs of the Form.
That a Health naturally bears this Con-
ftruttion every Body muft own; but it
was the Intereft of Hell that this fhou'd
be gilded over with a fair Colour of Health
and Frofperity; and not appear open and
barefac'd fo as to be always repeated at
full Length. It is the common Policy of
the Devil to continue Cuftoms Seemingly
innocent among Men; and he makes great
Advantages of them, 'till the evil Nature
and Tendency of them are laid open, and
the World begins to be rightly appriz'd
of his Craft and Subtilty in promoting
them. And 'tis a great Pleafure to him
to fee this Cuftom in particular prevail
fo univerfally; and to obferve fuch Muki^
tudes doing that frequently every Day
of their Lives, which Implies nothing lefs
than the Cticfc of God upon their own
Heads: i. e. Health to fome other Per-
fon, and a Qirfe to themfelves.
There
( *5 )
Thefe is another Way of CtttW, or
ratner of Being CttW'B in the Ad of Drink-
ffi and that is when other People bad
SI Perfon who drinks with Imprecations.
This * B«W tells us was an Invention
of the W who had the fame Ex-
p effion, nOID m£ for B/^ orGfcr-
L People in the Ad of Drinking. When
{hey meant well to the Perton who
drank, the Words went in their pro-
per Signification; in our Phrafe, Much
oood may it do you: But when they fe-
cretly defign'd him the contrary (which
they always did when they faw a Chn-
ftian drink) then the Words paffed for as
many Curies as the Letters ftood tor in
Numbers, no lefs than 165. This is, as
he obferves, Curling Cabaliftically j and
I do not doubt but the Zealots among
the Jews do it heartily to this Day when
they fee a Chriftian drink; and Wijb, i. e.
Fray, That every Drop may go down
fraught with a diffintt and feperate Curfe-
I do not find that any Christians are arrived
to this Pitch of Iniquity yet, and there-
fore fhall only obferve here, that it is a
way of Curfing by Implication only ; nay
* Synag. Jud. Cap. 39.
quite
(16)
quite contrary to the Words Men fpeak i
That this may be an Anfwer to thofe
among us who think themfelves fafe in.
the Practice of drinking Healths, beeaufe
'tis a Curfing themfelves by fecret Im-
plication only.
Chap. II.
A Second Acceptation of an Health
is, When Men drink themfelves, by
way of Imprecating a Qurfe upon others.
This is in Truth no Health at all, nor
defign'd {o; but drank to a quite contra-
ry Purpofe to what that Word Imports;
and it has a Refemblance of that Jewijh
Practice before mentioned, in the Mon-
ftrous Contradiction between the Word
Healthy by which the Cuffom is named;
and the QCUltzs that are imprecated by it.
Only with this Difference, that the Con-
tradiction is now a-days Openly exprefs'd,
and nothing more common than for Men
to drink a Health To another Man's De-
traction of Soul and Body 7 and that in-
ftead of 165 Curfes, they fumm up all in
one, that of Confufion and Damnation to
him. This of drinking Healths is be-
come
M"7 i)
cornethe Modifli way of venting Gurfes
and Imprecations of all Rates and &*« -
and upon Perfons of all Ranks and De-
grees ; and 'tis well if the Health is couch d
in fafe Language, and fo as to evade the
-Penalty of Humane Laws i Thus Perfons
have been daily drank to theTiw«y to the
Black, to Newgate, to the Gallows; and to
the DeviL
This is a Cuftom fo peculiar to CHrifti-
ans, that with fome Search I cannot trace
any Footfteps of it either among Jews or
Heathens; Unlefs that of the Egyptians
be like it, who, as * Plutarch tells us,
Did not drink or offer Wine by way of Sup-
plication to their Gods, fas other Nations
us'd to do,) but as it bore a Refemblancs
of their Emmies Blood. Which is exactly
parallel with the Modern Practice in this,
that fuch Healths are drank to Quench the
Thirft Men have after the Blood of thofe
they take a Diflike to: For thus Guzling
down GlafTes full of AxssH and Halters,
and Gibbets, and Hell-Fire-, and all o-
ther Forms of drinking People out of
lA mi a,if^a. rwv noUii.wa.yTuy -ttstI to7( hols.
>e Hide.
B the
( 18 )
the World, are no other in the Sight of
God than aclual Murder, tho' their Crimi-
nals do not die one Minute the lboner for
being loaded with Curfes.
That which is no fmall Enhancement of
the Guilt of luch Healths is, that they are
commonly levelled at Great, and Worthy
Perfons ; and that for the moft part by the
Unworthy and Profligate ; there being none
who have any ferious Senfe of Religion
left, but refute them with Indignation.
For they who are not pair, feeling, and in-
tirely Void of Grace, rauft know, that the
Liquor of fuch a Health is Rank Poifon to
the Souls of thofe who drink it, and will,
without the powerful Antidote of Repen*
tame and Reformation, kill them. They are
Curfing themfelves as effectually, as if they
turn'd thePhrafe, and taking a Glafs with
great Formality and Oftentation in their
Hands, cry'd, here is Poifon, or Death to
Me; Confufion, or Damnation to my Own
Sou! ; or whatever other Mifchief they are
us'd to mingle with their Wine. For all
• thefe Imprecations will at Jong run recoil
back upon their own Heads: and tho' they
may lit light upon them for the prefent,
they will find them an infupportable Bur-
then when they come to an account with
God. Befide*
(19)
Befides the Danger and impious Nature ■
of this fort of Health-Drinkingy 'tis ftrange
Men do not lee the unaccountable Folly
of it, how they are pleas'd only in Con-
ceit ; and with Hanging, and Drawing, and
'Tormenting other People, as Witches do
in Effigy. They hurt no Body' but them-
felves, lor a wet .Curfe will never prevail
upon any but thofe who drink it: And
what ftrange Inchantment can there be in
Saying or Meaning, As J drink this Glafs
of Win?, jo let another Man pjrifb ; certain-
ly this can be no Real Eifecl: upon him,
tho' it carry in it a near Affinity with
Witchcraft and Diabolical Combination*
Chap. III.
ANother Notion of an Health is, When
Men drink off a. Cm p or Glass
of Liquor in their Turn, and hand it round
in an honourable or loving Remembrance of
their Jbfent Lwwg friends. It was one
great Obieftion, and indeed the molt in-
filled on, againft the Argument m my
former Difcourfes concerning Drinking in
Remembrance of theDead,thatifit prov'd
any thing it prov'd too much. Why too
much ? Becaufe it proves that we ought
B 2 not
r 20;
not to drink in an honourable Remem-
brance even of our Abfent Living Friends;
for this hathlikewife a Semblance of Drink-
ing in Remembrance of Christ Abfent
from us in Heaven^and therefore muft car-
ry in it fome Degree of Profanation, with
Refpeft to that Holy Sacrament, which is
perform'd by That Action, and to the Same
Purfofe of a grateful and honourable Re-
membrance. I heartily thank my Anta-
gonifts for this Confequence of theirs^
which I confefs I was not fufficiently ap-
prized of before, and for that Reafon made
them too great a Conceflion in a former
Difcourfe, by granting that This may be in-
nocently done. I allow this to be fo )uft an
Inference,that neither they nor I fhall ever
be able to evade the Force of it, and to
fhew that a loving and honourable Re-
membrance of our. Abfent Friends by
drinking, is an Action Intirely innocent.
Only I muft obferve to them, that my
Reafoning did not conclude fo plainly and
ftrongly againft drinking in Remembrance
of the Living, as of the Dead. Becaufe
tho' there is fome Refemblance between
drinking in Remembrance of Christ
who is abfent in Heaven, and of an abfent
Friend among the Living; yet nothing fa
great
(2i ;
great as there is between the Remem-
brance of Christ Departed this World,
and of a Departed Monarch. What we
do to Perfons yet Living may be a purely
Civil Refpeft, but there can be no fuch
Thing as purely Civil Refpeft paid to a
Departed Perfon by any Outward Action
or Gefture of our Bodies whatsoever. In-
fomuch, that tho' it is a Duty to Uncover
the Head, to Bow the Body, and Bend the
Knee in the Prefence of the King; yet
thefe and all other Aciions and Gefiures
quite alter their Nature, when he ceafes
to be converfant among us, and becomes
an Inhabitant of the Invifible World ; it
then ceafes to be a civil Refpect, and be-
comes Idolatry. Which is well obferv'd
by the ingenious and judicious Author of
Some Remarks upon Dr. Clark'* Scripture
Doctrine of the Trinity, Where he fays, that
* All Worfbip, Addrefs, and Application either
to Men, or to any other intelligent Beings,
when abfsnty which wou'd be proper and per-
haps due to them when prefent, is Idolatry.
And accordingly he obferves, that if
t Angels appeared to us we might bow down-
to them, and honour them as we do our ?rin~
* Pag« 41- + Pag. 64.
B 3 ces
( 22 )
tat when we are in their Prefence. But if pro.
(hou'd do the fame to them as rejiding w Hsa~
veti) without their appearing to us upon
Earthy this woiid auite alter the Nature of
that Action.
The Reafon afiign'd why bowing to an
Abfent Angel is Idolatry, holds with Re-
fpecf to bowing to an Abfent friend. Tis
true the one is an Inhabitant of this, and
the other of the Invifible Wodd ; and yet
this does not wholly argue away the Guilt
of bowing to an abfent Perfon, tho' it
makes it left. But certainly Drinking to
the Remembrance of a Man abfent, muft
have fo much more of the Nature of Ido-
latry in it, as that Adion is now more ho-
ly, and confecrated to the immediate Ser-
vice of G o d.
Now tho' my Argument doth not con-
clude with equal Force againft drinking
in Remembrance of our Abfent Friends,
as it doth againft drinking in an honoura-
ble Remembrance of the Dead ;/yet that
it doth conclude even againft the former,
will appear.
Firji, If they confider that I freely grant
them this Similitude or Rsfemblance they
have fo much infilled on; And that very
Inference they have made is fb far from be-
' ■< *J J
ins any Difadvantage to the. Tr^ I main-
tafned, that it is the greateft Strengthning
and Corroboration of it.
This Argument of my Antagoniits, a-
tfainft doing Honour to our abfent Friends
by drinkingin Remembrance of them, will
not appear Light or Frivolous, but of great,
Weight and Moment to all who will be at
the Trouble of confidering well that Pre-
cept of the Law in Exod xxx. 32, 33. con-
cerning the Anointing Oyl. Upon
Man's Flejh fljall it not be poured, i. e.
Not on Common Men, but on Friers only
or Sanctified Perfons, Neither fljall ye make
any other Like it, after the Competition of
it: It is holy, and it fljall be holy unto you,
Whofoever co?npourtdeth any Luce it, or who-
foever putteth am of it upon a Stranger, i. e.
upon any but Confecrated Perfons, Shall
even be cut off from his people, i. e. fhall
die for his TranfgreflTion; and not
only he, fay fome Interpreters, but his
whole Race j See Patrick on Exod, xxx. 38,
By which fevere Threatning, fays he, The peo-
ple were deterred from profaning thefe holy
Things, The plain Matter of Inftruftion,
which naturally arifes from hence is, That
if the Two Sacraments of the Goipel are;
tP be held in greater Veneration than all
B 4 the
( H)
the Rites and Ceremonies of the old Law^
then the applying what hath any Refem-
blance or Similitude with Hither of thefe
to civil or common Ufe, is of fo much
the more heinous and facrilegious a Nature,
as thefe Ordinances are in themfelves more
3acred and Holy.
Now tho' this is enough for the Argu-
ment, yet if we take that other Inftance in
the fame Chapter, Verf. 37. of the PR-
mme commanded to be made for the Ufe
of the Sancluary, this Reaibning will be
yet more concluiive, and no way to be
evaded. And a: for the Perfume which thou
{bait make, Ton {ball not make to your felves
according to the Compofition thereof: h {ball
be unto you holy for the Lord. 3 8. Wuofo-
ever {ball make Like unto that, te SMtLL
Thereto, {ball even be cut off from his Peo-
ple. From hence we may make thefe few
obvious Remarks.
1. That the Crime to which fo great a
Penalty is annexed did not cOnfift in ap-
plying fome of the Very Compofition,
Actually made and prepared for the \Jfc, of
the Sanftuary to civil or common Ufe,
but of quite Another Compofition, which
■had only a bare Likenefs or Refemblame
of it,
2. That
r 25)
2. That Mens having no Religion* De-
fign' or Purpofe of Devotion in making a
like Compofition, nor having the leaft
Thought of G o d or the San&uary when
they made ufe of it, was fo far from be-
ing any Excufe for them, that in this con-
fifted their Sin and their Tranfgrefllon:
And accordingly this is the very Reafon
afiigned why they were to be cut off from
his People; becaufe they made it to Thsm-
felves, only to Smell To. And farely
this fame Excufe will lefs hold for the
applying that Aftion to common or civil
Ufe, which bears any Refembiance of
what is much more holy than this Per-
fume. This mult in it felf be more Pro-
fane and Sacrilegious, and more detefta-
ble in the Sight of God; and tho1 the
Sin of fo doing hath not Temporal Pu-?
nifhment annexed to it, 'tis for the fame
Reafon that all the Laws and Precepts of
the Gofpel have their Sanation from ano-
ther World. But you will fay there is
no fuch Law or Precept in the Gofpel;
and Where there is no Law there is no
Tranfgreffion. But let me ask any Perfon
who makes this Objeftion, is there no
fuch Precept in the Law ? And doth not
pie B,eafon of that Precept of the Law
hold
( 0.6 )
hold yet more ftrongiy under the Gofpel ?
Which if he is prejudiced enough to deny,
this will be wreded from him, when we
confider
jdlyT That the Perfume Co guarded from
a Sacrilegious Profanation by any thing
which had but a bare Refemllance or &-
wilitbde of1 it, was a Type of our Holy
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. For this
is the Sweet Imenfe mentioned Verfe 7.
which was to be Burned, on the Altar before
the Mercy Seat, And Verfe 8. was to be
AfetfatmL Imenfe before the Lord, as being
the tigure and Typical Reprefentation of
that Pun: Ime#fe which Malachi cap. 1. ver,
II, lays mould be Offered from the iiifwg of
the Sun even ttaio the going down of the fame\
And for this very Reafon it is call'd Verfe
36. ri'B?np &?ip the Holy of Holies or
Mof Holy j as being a lively Emblem of our
inoft Holy Euchanjiual Oblation. And now
may I not ask, Shall not the Reafon hold
Wronger for the Antitype than the Type ?
For the Subilance than the Shadow ? Or
rather, Is not this Temporary Precept given
under the Law* that the Import and De*
fign of it might be of Eternal Obligation
under the Gofpel?
There
(27)
There is no Evading the Force and O-
bligation of this Precept, but by denying
that there is any Relemblance or Simili-
tude between Drinking in an honourable
and grateful Remembrance of an Abfent
^Living Friend or Benefactor, and in Re-
^Bqnbrance of fuch an one now in another
\VoMd. There is indeed th&£>iiparity,
That one is living here, anfctJ^pther in
Heaven; and therefore here Tw^U Peo-
ple to judge for themfelves, wl^thec they
conceive any Likenefs or no. I^jtney. ap-
prehend any Likenefs, then th*ey/Tnuft
own the binding Force of that Leg|l In-
cept now under the Gofpel. If the^f ,ap-.,
prehend no Likenefs at all, when %eC^
touft own it is ftill Drinking; 'Tis a mfc*
membrance by Drinking; An Honourable
or Grateful Remembrance by that Action -
• And of a Friend or Benefactor Abfent; If
I fay after this Men can fee no Likenefs at
all,and this do not proceed from any ftrong
Prejudice or PrepoffeiTion they are under
from Cuftom or Party, 8rc. then this may be
their Excufe. But let them not condemn
fuch as do fee a plain Similitude or Like-
nefs ; and therefore forbear Drinking by
way of an Honourable or Grateful Re-
membrance of their Abfent Friends, be-
(28)
eaufe they are of Opinion, therejs at
Leaft as much Veneration and Reve'rence
to be paid to that Holy Sacrament, as
was commanded to be paid to that Per-
fume, which was only a Type of it. But
ftill you will fay, 'tis not in Honour of
a Friend or Benefactor Abfent in Another
World. No, Then it would not be a
Bare Likenefs or Refemblance only, but
the very compleat Action it felf. And there-
fore in the
4th Place we are to confider, That if
it was fo highly Criminal to apply to
any Civil Purpofe what had but a bare
Likenefs, or Refemblance only of that
Incenfe appointed for the Ufe of the San-r
ftuary ; How much more heinous would
it have been to have apply'd that very In-
dividual Composition, or any Part of it
to common Ufe, which purfuant to God's
Command and Inltitution, was actually
prepared for the Temple ? If to ufe ano-
ther Like it render'd Men liable to utter
Excifion, then what Penalty muft have
been due to the making Ufe of the Very-
fame any otherwile than in the Worfhip of
God ? This I take to be a Parallel Cafe
with that of Driving to the Glorious and
Immortal Memory of a departed. Monarch:-
For
p0r in fo doing, Men transfer that whole
compleat A&ion, which by Exprefs Com-
mand and Pofkive Inftitution of Christ,
is made the moft folemn Part of Chriftian
Worfhip, to the honourable Remembrance
of a Mortal Man. For furely drinking in
an honourable and thankful Remembrance
of a Perfon in another World, is not the
Cafe of making another Perfume Like on-
ly to that prepar'd for the Sanftuary; But
of applying fome of that very Individual
moft Holy Compofition, to Profane and
Common Ufe>
If any one imagines here, that the Wine
Confecrated for the Eucharift, is anfwera-
ble to the Perfume of the Sanftuary; and
from thence fhould infer, that to apply
Part of that only after Confecration to
common Ufe, would be a Breach of the
Moral Obligation included in that Precept
of the Law ; this will be reftifyed by a
fecond Thought, namely, by confidering
that the Incenfe or Perfume of the Sanctu-
ary was a Type, not of the Bread or of the
Wine, nor of eating the one or drinking
the other; but of the Whole Mire Ordi-
nance, and of the Performance of thofe
Actions in Remembrance of C h r i s T gone
a\vay from us into Heaven.
Befides,
Oo )
Befides, as the aforefaid learned Perfort
obferves on Exod. xxx. $i* There was no
Kite or Ceremony Ordained whereby the Oyl
became holy, but it was confecrated only by the
Divine Inflitution, which appropriated it unto
God alone in thefe Words Un ro Me, which
feparated it unto Gods Ufes and Service^ and
made it unlawful for any one to imploy it to
other Purpofes: So, tho' there is no Exprcfs
Rite or Ceremony of Confecration where-
by the Drinking in Remembrance of Chriji
departed from m into Heaven is made Ho-
ly ; that Aftion or Performance is howe-
ver Confecrated by the Words of the Di-
vine Institution, which doth appropriate it
unto God alone-in thefe Words, In Re-
membrance Of Me, which feparate it
to God's Ufes and Service ; and make it
unlawful for any Body to imploy it to o-
ther Purpofes.
And now I think it cannot be well
doubted whether that Action, or Perfor-
mance of taking a Piece of Bread, and eat-
ing it, or taking a Glafs or Cup of Wine^
and drinking it in Remembrance of an
Abfent Friend, hath a Similitude of that
holy Action confecrated for the Service and.
Worfbip of G o d : For furely no one can
fay
( 3* J
jw That there is no Likenefs or Refea*
blance between Drinking in Remembrance
of One Perfon Abfent, and of Drinking m
Remembrance of Another Perfon abfent,
It niuft be confefs'd the Likenefs is not &
«reat as if both of them were Abfent ifia-
nother World j For then they would beas
like as any two Actions could be which
are not Numerically the fame. They arc
fo like that we can diftinguifh them no o-
therwife than as being performed to Dif-
ferent Perfons, and with different Circut®-
ilances; and tho' thefe may alter the Marid
Nature of the Action, yet furely it is in a.
Natural Senfe the Same Action, or. of the
Sams Kjnd: As it is in the Cafe before us^
ftill the very fame Action in a natural
Senfe, now Confecrated by Christ's la-
ititution into an Holy Ordinance*
Now all chat I infer from that Precept
of the Ceremonial Law (which tho' it be
abrogated as to the Letter,, is however m
Eternal_ Obligation as to the Reafon upon
which it is founded, and the Moral Import
of it) being thus plain and obvious: The
better to fhew the Force of all Mens Rea-
fcnings againft this Doarine, kt us put
their Objeffms into the Mouth of a Jm
under
(32*
under the Legal Difpenfation. "Who fhould
accordingly ask, What Harm can there be
in Smelling to any thing in our Own Hou~
fes Like that Perfume or Incenfe ordained
for the life of the Sanctuary ? Why may
not Men fmell to fuch Another Perfume
at home to the Glorious and, Immortal
Memory of Mofes, the Saviour and Deli-
verer of the Jemfb Nation from Egyptian
Bondage? Befides, tho' the Perfume or
InfenJ'e be of a like, or the fame Composi-
tion In the Sanctuary and Out of it, yet
the Action of fmelling to it is not perform-
ed to the Same Perfon ; in the Sanctuary
it is performed to G o d, and out of it to
Mofes. 'Tis not perform'd after the fame
Manner, nor with the fame Circumstances \
And when it is performed to Mofes 'tis
only a Civil Honour, and not done with
the leaft Thought of Religious Worfhip.
'Tis no way apply'd to the Living God,
but to a Dead Commander ; and only at
our common Meals. The Sum of all is
this, when Apply1 d to G o d, and in the
SanEtuary 'tis Religious and Divine Wor-
fhip ; But when applyed to Mofes in our
own Houfes, 'tis no more than a Civil Ho-
nour and Refpect
If
( 11 )
If thefe fort of Anfwers would not have
preferved a ffiv from a Total Excifion,
and Dying for his Sacrilegious Profanation
of Gjd's Ordinance, by doing fomething
in his own Houfe which had a Likenefs on-
ly of what was appointed for the Worfhip
of the San&uary; is it not then worth
while for good Chriftians to confider, whe-
ther the very fame Set of Arguments will
be of greater Force in their Mouths to ex-
cufe their daily drinking in an Honourable,
Livings or Grateful Remembrance of their
Abfent Friends or Benefactors, if this have
any Likenefs or Refemblance of that Holy
Ordinance now made the moft Solemn
Part of Chriftian Worfhip. If it is faid
here, there was an Exprefs Law forbidding
that fort of Profanation to the Jews, but
there is none forbidding the Like to Chri-
ft tansy then fay I, He who will not be
Convinced by Confidering, that the Mo-
ral Import and Reafon of that Latv holds
ftronger under the Go/pel, than under the
Jewifh Difpenfation, mult go on to practice
every Day of his Life, without any Re-
morfe, that very thing under the Gofpelt
which m the Judgment of God was of a
Profane and Sacrilegious Nature under the
Old Law.
C If
(54)
It" the Cafe of Drinking to an honou-
rable Remembrance of Abfent Living
Friends in General, lies thus level to every
Capacity without any Force or Straining;
how can we fufficiently admire the yet
more glaring and utterly indefenfible Er-
ror of thofe, who practice a daily Drinking
to the Glorious and Immortal Memory of a de-
farted Monarch; and ftrongly impregnate
the Minds of their Children with it, long
before they are made acquainted with
Drinking in Remembrance of their true
Saviour ? How is it to be accounted for
that this Cuftom fhou'd prevail fo univer-
sally thro Two Nations, that it fhou'd be
efpoufed with more Zeal than Men fhew
for any Article of Faith or Practice; and
abetted with Rage and Fury; even to bran-
ding of all who decline it, tho upon a ;
Principle of Confcience, with Ingratitude '
towards God, and Dijloyalty to their Li- j
ving King? And that it fhould find no
fmall Number to enter the Lifts for its ,
Defence in Print both of Clergy and Laity ?
I leave this unparalelled Inftance of the
Power of Prejudice and Prepoffeffion to byafs '
the Judgments of Men againft the natural
Tendency of free and difinterefted Rea-
fon, to be the Wonder and Aftonifhrnent of
Pofterity. II. Another
C ?5 )
II. Another Thing which fhews the E-
vil of Prinking in a Loving, or Grateful^
or Honour able Remembrance of our ^£/W
Friends whether Dead or Jiw, is that
this Cufrom is derived from the Heathen,
and ferved them to all the vileft Purpofes
of Sin and Wickednefs. Of this we have
a clear and full Account from many. * A*
puleius tells us exprefly, that They ufed to
Drink in Remembrance of the Dead, and par-
ticularly of 'heir Fdh\x-Soldiers, in golden
Cups. And Stuckms inveighs againft the
Wickednefs of Christians who in Imitation
of them f Glory in Drinking Healths in Ho-
nour of the Dead, as well as of the Living.
Nay to that Height of Extravagance were
fome of them Tranfported by this Cuftom,
that § They fpared neither God nor his Saints,
hut impioufly ahufei even their Names in their
Monftrous Healths.
* Poculis aureis Memorise Defuti&orum Commilitonura
"Vinum Libantcs-----Metam«lib. 4.. p. 132.
+ Pro Dignitate atq; Sanitate dim prareritium turn Ab-'
fentium, Mortuorum pariter atq; Vivorum fe bibere ja£H->
tant. Stuckius Antiqu. Convival. Lib. 3.
j_ § Nc Deo quidem atq; Sanftis parcunt; — illorum quoq;
Nominibus acl Cyclopicas illas Propination.es impie abu-
tootur. Stuc, Antiqu. Conviv. p. 362.
C 2 That
1 1
■ I ■
"I
(^)
That it was the conftant Cuftom of the
Heathen to Drink in an honourable Re-
membrance of their Gods and departed
Heroes, and likewife of their Abfent Li-
ving Friends, we every where meet with.
The Ancients, {a.ys'\Urfwus, in their Healths
fifed to Drink a certain Number of Cups to the
Honour of their Gods. And the Ancient Gre-
cians in their Meals were ufed by Appoint-
ment to Drink three Cups to the Honour of
their Gods; The firft to Mercury; the next
to the Graces; the third to Jupiter the Savi-
our. * Stuckim tells us that It was the Cu-
ftom of the Ancients in their Healths to drink
off a certain Number of Cups in Honour of
their Deities, or their Yriends, or Mijireffes
§ Bulingerw fays it was their Cuftom to
T Bibere folebant veteres in Deorun honorem certum
numerum Cyathorum in fuis Propinationibus. Et Graeci
quidem veteres in Ccenis tres Crateras in Deorum Grati-
am funt foliti ftatuere; Primum OAercwio, alterum Gw
tiu, tertium tfovi Servatori. Vrfin. deTriclin. p^. 32$.
* Antiqn. Conviv. lib. 1. ptg- 357- Solebant Veteres cum
in Deorum, turn in Amicorum & Amicarum honorem atq;
Gratiam certum Cyathorum numerum in fuis Propinatio-
nibus exhaurire.
§ De Conviv. ap; 40. Bibebant Amicorum memores.
Grzco more bibere eft, cum Cyathis mero plenis-----pri-
mo Deo=, deinde Amicos fuos nominantes toties merum
bibere queries Deum 8c charos nominatim vocant. Their
Cuftom wot Ut fingulos Vini Cyathos fub fingulorum De-
orum, aut charifiimorum hominum nomine apponi jube-
rent.
Drink
r 37)
Brink in Remembrance of their Friends.
And that accordingly to Drink after the
Manner of the Grecians is for Men to name
forne one of their Deities or Friends over their
Liquor, and then drink it off. In Order to
the Performance of which, They had dijlintt
Giajfes of Wine for every Deity or dear Friend
they rvere tleafed to remember by Name.
They named, fays \ Baccim, the Names of
thofe Friends for whofe fake they drank, nay
tho1 they rvere Absent. And * Pitifcmm
his Alphabetical Collection of Antiquities,
hath a Number of Quotations to fhew
how it was the conftant Cuftom of the
Heathen to Drink in Honour of their Friends
as well Absent as Present, by that Means
to renerv and refiejh the Memory of them.
To this Cuftom there are many Allu-
fions in the Heathen Poets, as that of
T De Conv. Antiq. lib. 4. cap. 2. Nominabant & Ami-
corutn Nomina etiam Abfentiiim in quorum Gratiam bi-
berent.
_ * Bibere in Atnicorum, cum Praevium turn Abfen-
tiiim Gratiam veteres Tolebant, ad illorum memoriam
inter bibendum recolendum & renovandum. Fitifc.
f-exic. Antiq. Vol. i-ftg. 174. Where the Reader may
meet with many Quotations out of Heathen Authors to
this Purpofc.
c ?
* Martial)
■ ( ^)
* Martial, which fhews they drank to eve-
ry Letter in their Miftrefs's Name.
Nxviafex Cyathis, feftem Juftma bibatur ;
Quinq; Lycos; Lyde quatuor; Ida tribus, S^c.
So -\- Horace. Dicat qua pereat fagita.
Let him Toafi his Mijirefs. And fo again
§ Theocritus.
So much of his Love was always mingled
with his Liquor.
But in another Place he is more exprefs:
,£Itiihi; Mz\* iKasoi, !/«/ (J.WQV orivot ziTiiv,
The Banquet was pleafant, And as fhey
grew warm each Man filled his Cup, and na-
med whom he J.'leafed, but was obliged to Toajl
fome Body,
And the Greek Scholiaft upon this Place,
hath this Remark;
te{, Ktti \%iy{iv 7m yn, km $$'iyyt<j§At libv $/AT«-
7ay 7a. oviiAOjct.
* Lib. i, Ep. 77«
•f- Lib. i. Ode 27. And that they drank to the Numbet
pf the atufes, Graces, &c. See Homes lib. 3. ode 19.
§ Idyll. 2d. 1. 151.
II Idul. 14. lib. 17.
h
(39)
It was the Cuftom in their Feafis u take
a Cup or Glafs of Wine, then to name fome
of their Friends or Intimates', and when
they had drank, to Pour the Remainder on
the Ground, naming them over again.
I could multiply Quotations to {hew,
that the Cuftom of drinking in an honou-
rable Remembrance of Departed Heroes,
and of Abfent Friends and Benefactors, is of
Heathenilh Extraction, conveyed down to
u? by a conftant Succemon, of Health-
Drinkers of all Religions; but condemned,
as we mail fee, by all Learned and Sober
Chriftians in every Age. Now if the
Heathen ufed this Drinking Healths to
fuch various Ends of Irreligion and Pro-
fanenefs ; [Superjlition and Idolatry'% hufi
and hafcivioufnefs; Surfeiting and Drun-
kenefs, &:c | this ought to raife an infupe-
rable Prejudice againft the Cuftom of it
in the Minds of all truly Pious and Confi-
dermg Chriftians; efpecially fince their
own Obfervation muft convince them that
it ferves among Us now, as it did among
Them, to many Evil Purpofes, but not to
one that is Good, And I mall only ob-
serve here, that the Cuftom of Drinking
in an Honourable Remembrance of Abfent
Friends or Benefactors is much more abo-
C 4 mina*
(Ao )
tninable among Chrifiians, than among the
Heathen ; becaufe among them it had no
Refemblance or Affinity but with their Ido-
latrous Libations, of which fome was
Drank, and the reft Poured out: But among
Us the Refemblance it bears is with what
we perform in our moft Myfteriom and
exalted Aft of Worfhip. I mean if it have
any Refemblance with it, of which I leave
all Men to judge for themfelves, after con-
sidering what hath been faid upon this Sub-
ject. Only I muft remark to them, that
if the Reading gives them any Degree of
Unedfwefs, or raifes in them the leaft In<-
dignation againfi: the Writer, 'tis a fure
Sign there is fome Latent Caufe for it in
their Own Mind; fomething befides the
Weaknefs of my Reafoning, and the bare
Mention of fuch a Comparifon. If they
confider thrdly, they will find it in Reali-
ty meer Concern for themfelves at the bot-
tom, left after all their Anger, this fhou'd
prove Good and Unanfwerable Realbn, fo as
to Bear in it felf beyond Evafion; and Fail
only on the fide of their own Prejudiced
Underfiandmgs. ' '
When their Warmth is a little Abated,
and that they come to reflect Cooly upon
jhefe, and the many other Accounts we
have,
( 41 }
fmw Vniverfally this Cuftom of
Skin- in Honour of their Deities, Dc-
fjrtdSeZs, and Abfent FriendsJtfevail
5 over the Heathen World, they will
find no Thought more^obvious than this;
namely, That the Inftitution of that Holy
Sacrament wherein we are Commanded
to Drink in Remembrance of Jefus Chnfly
hath utterly abolifhed all thofe Heathemfh
Abufes of that A&ion to Profanenefs^ and
Idolatry, &c. and hath Retrained it to
the Adoration and Worjbip of the True God..
Nor can any Thing offer of it felf more
naturally from hence than this, That here-
by that Aclion being nowfan&ify'd, taken
into the Gofpel, become moft Holy, or
Our Holy of Holies, and made the Peculiar
Way of doing the greateft Honour we
are capable of to our True Saviour and
Greater!: Benefactor ; It mull include in it
fome Degree of Profanenefs and Difregard
to that Holy Inftitution, for us Chriftians
Again to apply this Action to any of thofe
Purpofes to which it was fo univerfally
abuled before.
This is plain Reafon without any Sophi-
firy or Strainings, and yet will not be eafily
digefted by fuch as have no great Anxiety
}n Matters of Religion, or are void of
Scruple
( 42 )
Scruple even in the habitual Breaches of
the plaineft Precepts. And indeed the
Prevailing Cuftom of Drinking to the
Remembrance of our Abjent Friends, has
lb wore all Senfe of the Guilt latent in it,
out of the Minds of People truly Reii.
gious in all other Refpe&s, that it will
require fome Thought and Recollection to
bring themfelves to a full Conviction of the
Evil of it. And to leave it intirely off will
require fuch a Sincerity and Zed of Heart,
as difpofes a Man to forbear all Things
which even Border upon Sin, and do in
any Degree tend to leffen and abate our
Veneration for God's moft Holy Ordi-
nances.
Chap. IV.
A Fourth Acceptation of an Health is
When we firjl name a Perfon either
Prefent or Abfent, and then Drink by way
cf Wishing him Health and Prosperity:
And fo likewijeivhen we name any Affair, and
upon Jo doing..Drink Success and Profperity
to it. This is the firfb and primary Senfe
of an Heahh7 and what the Word it felf
ftricf ly imports \ And the applying this
Word Healths to all other Forms of
Drinking, is what darkens this Subject
(43;
and miHeads Minds prepoftefs'd with this
Miftake; fo that they cannot think Di-
Sstth nor judge rightly of the great
Difference there is between the ieveral
Forms of Drinking : They take them all
in the Grois, include them in one Word,
and fo their Reafonings upon them are all
confus'd and unconclufive- If they wou'd
confider that Drinking in all other Methods,
and to other Purposes, and in any Manner
different trom this, are called Healths by a
great Soi&cifm, and that this is a fhame-
ful Jbufe and Impropriety of Speech, they
wou'd immediately fee the real Nature of
them; how far each of them includes any
Guilt, and in what Degree. Drinking in
Remembrance of a Departed Perfon, or
meerly in Honour of an Jbfent Friend, or
by way of Curfe and Imprecation upon our
felves or others, tL5V. is not Drinking of
an Health, in which the wilhing Succefs
and Profperity to that Perfon or Affair we
name, is always either Exprefs'd or Imply d.
Now that drinking an Health to any
Perfon did Prefer, or Succefs to any
Affair, has much in it of the Nature of a
Prayer, is of it felf fo plain and obvious,
that it hardly admits of any Proof that is
garner. If Men Wijb Health and Profperity
to
( 44)
to that Perfori to whom they name the
Glafs, then what is a Wish? Surely they
wifli to G o o for that Health or Succejs,
and not to the Devil: God only can give
Health, or Proffcri:yy or 'Stucejs; and
therefore the Wi(b or the Defire is to Him,
or to None; He muff be concerned in all
thefe Wifhes and Defires, or they are in
themfelves wicked. A iViflj is a Defire
of the Heart or Mind; by naming the
Glafs, you fhew for whom you Defire
Health and Proffer uy^hut of whom do you
defire it ? Surely of Him who alone is able
to effect it. If you defire it of no one, then
you do not defire it at all; becaufe the
Willi or Defire does neceifarily imply fome
Power able to anfwer thofe, Wifhes or
Defires; otherwife all Defire and Wifning,
and Praying is bur in vain.
If you think to evade this by only Na-
ming the Glafs to fuch an one, and laying
nothing more ; then confider that all the
Secret Dtfires of our Hearts for the Health
and Profperity of others, or Succefs to
Affairs are Mental Prayers: And the
forming them into Words, every one
knows, is no Prayer without the' fecret
Defire or Wiib ; and 'tis that fecret De-
fire alone which makes them a Prayer to
God ;
(^ )
God ; fo that "if a Man fhou'd Imvardlf
wifh or defire the Health and Profperity
of another Perfon, and take a Glafs and
drink upon that Secret Wifh, it is however
a Prayer, and a Prayer by Drinking.
If it is faid that a Wijh or-Defire is only
the Matter or Subject of a Prayer, and not
the Prayer it felf. I anfwer that is true;
for before that Health or Profperity is
a&ually wifh'd or defir'd, then it is only
the bare Subfiance or Matter of a Prayer:
But the very naming of the Glafs, and
Drinking of it, is in Token of my Actual
Willi or Defire of that Health or Profperity
I drink for. And fo that which was the
Matter or Subftance only of a Prayer be-
for e, is now reduced into Act, by being
Expre/lly or Implicitly directed to God.
All this feems to me plain and eafy
Reafoning, and fatisfactory to any indiffe-
rent Perfon who looks for nothing elfe but
right Inftruction for the good of his Soul.
However if nothing elfe will do for fome
People, but Demonfiration that a IVijb or
Secret Defire is a Prayer, Let them fup-
pofe a Perfon Inwardly wifhes or defires
Confufion or Dam-nation to another, and
fwalloweth then his Glafs down greedilv
upon it, to make it more folemn, and as
a
— -—^p
(46 J I
a Conviction to himfelf and others, that <
he wifhes it; is not this a Curfe, in the
Sight of God, to all Intents and Purpofes,
as much as if he had exprefs'd it in a Mul-
titude of Words ? If this is deny'd, I may
produce exprefs Scripture for it, which
fhppofes there may be a Sort of People
who Curfe their Kjng or their Queen in
their Thoughts, Ecclef. x. 20. And if fo j
then pray tell me, if I in my Heart wilh
Health and Profperity to my Kjng, or my
friend, and drink upon it to Seal it as the
actual Willi or Defire of my Soul, whether
this be not a Prayer ?
And now if any Body is here fo Singu-
larly Critical, as to aflign a Difference be-
tween Wijlnng and Defiring, I fhall leave
him to Diflinguijh, and Argue, and Drink
Healths to the Day of his Death, without
any Difturbance or Moleftation from me.
I muft confefs there was no Occafion for
all this Reafoning, becaufe as the Thing
is plain in it felf, and wanted it not; fo
the conftant Senfe and Opinion of the Hea-
then, from whom this Cufiom of drinking
Healths is taken, and the current Practice
of it at this Day among Chriflians, puts it
beyond all Doubt that an Health implies
a Prayer. It was the Cuftom of the
Heathen
(47)
Heathen to * Vrt/ik largely, Et bona a Dits
tlecari; And in that Manner to fray to their
hods for all good things, f Rojinus m his
Antiquities tells us, that in their Feafts
They drank Bumpers, and prafd over them
for Length of Tears to one another, in Propor-
tion to the Number of their Cups. To which
Cuftoffl § Ovid alludes,
-------Annofq; precantur
€aot fumunt Cyathos, ad numerumf, bibunt.
Jnvenies illic qui Neftoris ebibat annos.
i. e. Who by the Number of their Healths
might live as long as Neftor. And fo
** Horace.
-------1 Quid or at, de Patera, novum
fundens Liquorsm.
The |! k#w «y<A* /«>w< among the
Greeks, and Poculum bom Genii among
the Latins, was never omitted at Meals.
And at -f-f- Going to Rejl they drank a Health
to Mercury the God of Sleeping and Dreams.
This prevailed fo among them, that it
became the molt Solemn way of praying
* Alexander ab Alex. Gen. Dier. lib. 5. cap. 19.
\ Largioribus, poculis indulgebant, & pro Cyathorum
numero annos mutuo precabantur; Minus Antiq. lib. 4.
§Faft. lib. 3. v'
** Lib. 1. Ode 31.
t) Ccel. Rhod. lib. 28. cap. 6,
ft Ariftoph. in yefpa,
to
(48;
to all their Gods. The * Firft Cup was
to Jupiter Olympus; they Closed with a
Cup to Jupiter Sater; and the Intefnte*
diate Cups were to their Heroes, in Order
as they admir'd and lov'd the Memory of
them.
That all the Cuftomary Forms of drink-
ing in Remembrance, or for Health, or Pro-
sperity, or Succefs, &c. do imply a Prayer;
and that there is in Men a natural Ten-
dency to make each of them a Religious
Aft, even in their Common Meals, and
Ordinary Drinking Converfation, is plain
not only from the univerfal Practice of
this among the Heathen, but from many
Chriftians running into the like religious
Ule of it. f Stuckius fays, It feems to
have been the Cujlom of fome Chriftians in
their ordinary Compotations, jujl before they
drank, to invoke Chrijt, Signing themfelves
with the Sign of the Crofs. To' which
Cuftom he thinks Nazianzen refers m
that PafTage of his firft Oration againft
Julian, wherein Mention is made of
* Aler. ab Alex. Gen, Dier. 1 <,. c. ip.
•f- Anciq. Con. pag. 358. Videtur etiam olira apud
Chriftianos moris fuiffe ut in Compotatipnibus fuis bi-
aituri, Chriftum invocarenr, feqj Cruris. Signaculo fig-
narent,
Sme
(.49)
$or»e Chrifkian Soldiers who had been drawn
over to Idolatry by that Apofiate, jet after
their Return borne* named Chrijl over theiy
Cups, and looked up, and Signed themfelves
with the Sign of the Crofs. But 'tis more
probable that they took up this from their
New Religion, and retained it at their Re-
turn, by way of doing Honour to Chrijl,
as Nazianzen there obferves, to the Won-
der of thofe Chriftians who had heard of
their Defection to Heathenifm. And in
* Smyth's Account of the Greek Church, he
informs us that It is their Cufiom to drink
as it were a Grace-Cup in Honour of the
Virgin Mary, which hath been blejjed in her
Name. And that this Ceremony is alfo per-
formed at the Requeft, and in the Behalf of
fuch as are taking a Journey, whether by
Land or Sea, for their good Succefs. I can-
not well omit here a Relation to this Pur-
pofe, becaufe I received it from an Officer
of great Worth and Credit, who during
the late Service in Spain, happened with
other English Officers, to be Drinking with
a Prior of a Convent, who fell into their
Company. They drinking Healths accor-
ding to the Cuftom in England, when the
* Pag. 234. of the land. Edit, 1680,
D Glafs
(50
Glafs came about to the Prior, they called
upon him for his Toaft; But finding him
wholly unacquainted with their Manner
of naming Healths, and an intire Stran-
ger to Toafting, they explained it to him,
by faying that he was to Name that Perfon
over his Glafs, for whom he had the grea-
ter!: Affe&ion, and then drink it off. Up-
on this die Prior fills his Glafs to the Brim,
and looketh up with a Devout and Solemn
Air •, then eroding himfelf on eachSide, as
well as upward and downward, he lifts
up the Glafs with this Form of Words in
his own Language; To our Lord, Jejus
Cbrijf, and drinks it off. This was fo
great a Surprize to the Company, that
they refolved to let it come about to his
Turn again, without any further Notice;
at which he repeated the fame Geftures;
with this Alteration of the Form, To the
Blejfed Virgin Mary. And not being yet
undeceived, at the Third Round he named
the Holy and Undivided Trinity.
As the Heathens Requefts and Supplica-
tions to their feveral Deities for thofe Blef-
fings over which they prefided, were thus
made by Drinking, fo all their good Wifhes
and De'fires for themfelves or others, and
the Succcfs of Affairs both Publick and Pri-
vate
( ?i )
Vate were expreffed after the fame Man-
ner. '|: There was a Qiflom among the An-
tients, fays Siuckius, that in Drinking to
me another they named fome Deity or Man-
over their■■ Ltyttor for Luck's Sake. The
Forms they ufed in Drinking he tells us
were, Bene vos, Bene nos, Bene me, Ben},
&c. Here is that it may be Well with you,
Well with us, Well with me, Well with any
other Perfon or Affair, £jff. And he Cen-
fures thofe Chriftians with great Severity,
who in Imitation of them * Drink to one
another out of hove, and Honour, and for the
Sake of Good Luck, and who moreover in
fo doing, often ufe many not only Profane but
Religious ObfecrationSi
I need not fay how much Ground there
is for the fame Cenfure among us, the
Cuftom of Healths being now carry'd on
to a greater Height than perhaps it ever
was fince Heathenifm was the prevailing
Religion of the World* Tis become
the only Modern way of expreffing all
t Erat mos apud veteres, ut propinantes Deum quera-
piam aut Hominera Ominis caufi prifarentur. Mu
Con.p.jtf.
■* Sibi irwicem Amoris, Honoris, Boni Ominis ergo
propnnant— multis utuntur Obfecrationibus non modo
fiofams, fed facris & Religiofis. Mi, Con. Jib. 3.
D 2 Mens
Mens good Wifaes and Defires. Here is
Health and Profperity to fuch, and fuch an
one. Here is Succejs to every Undertaking
in Publick or Private; to our Fleets and
Armies, nay, to the Church, &c. A good
Journey, a good Voyage, good Reft, good
Fortune, good Luck, good Every Things
muft be wifh'd by Drinking: Thus in a
Manner forfaking of God, as the Prophet .
Jfaiah fays of the Jews xlv. n. KaJ *a«. f
$scts? tm TJjtji Ki&jrutt, as the Seventy Tran-
slate it; JW Jz/Z/'/zg «/> « Mixture to tor- I
?«»<?; alluding to this abominable Cuftom I
of the Heathen, who always drank for
good Fortune or Succefs in their Merchan- •
dize, for a good Harveft, for Fertility and I
P/«#j in the following Year, &JV. as Com-
mentators obferve upon that Text, who I
molt of them render the Word li in that
Verfe by Fortune; and Grotius particular- ,
ly fays it bore this Signification among the i
Hebrews, Chaldeans and Arabians. And I
any one who confiders the Word ni-mt j
Drinkmgs, in i Pet. iv. $. will make very I
little Doubt of its being levell'd at the I
Cuftom of Healths among the Gentiles; I
which the Apoftle, among other Things, ?
minds them of their having walk'd in be- i
fore their Converfion. For tho' the Word I
:n the Singular Number is by the Septaa-
«int ufed for a B*»£«tf, which was no
fcoubt the Reafon of that rendring of it
by our Engti(h Tranflators in this Text;
yet Stephanas obferves that it generally
bears that rendring only in the Singular,
and that in the Plural it is to be render'd
Potationes, Compotationes, Drinkings, Drink-
ing Bouts; and (hews this to be the \Jfc
of it in the Plural, by feveral Inftances out
of Greek Authors. Now that it is to be
applyed to thefe Healths, and Forms of
Drinking only, and not to Drunkennefs or
Intemperance in Drinking is plain, becaufe
all this laft is fully exprefs'd in the Word
'om<p\vyicu{ going before in the fame Sen-
tence. Befides which the Word ns™* im-
mediately follows Kupoic Commeffationibus,
Banquettings, in which it appears that all
thofe Forms of Drinking Healths were
Cuftomary.
Moft of the Heathen Libations were no-
thing elfe but Healths drank to their Gods
and Heroes; only that they often poured
out a little of the Cup upon the Table,
or Bottom of the Altar in their more
Solemn Sacrifices, either before or after
D 3 they
(54;
they Drank. Libation fays ** Saubertu$%
was uftiallj performed by the An'.ients after
their Meals; for then holding up the Cup
of Liquor; they poured out a little by way
of Supplication.) and doing Honour to their
Deities, and the rejl they drank. So again
fays * Stuckiusy The Order and Manner of
their Libations was thus, They fir ft poured a
large Vtjfel of Wme called k^stw? in Homer,
full to the Brim ; then they poured into lef
fer Cups called JWa7«, and then diflributed
them to the Company Ad Libandum atque
bibendum. At other Times he obferves,
that they ufed firft to Drink to the Honour
of their Friends or Heroes, and then § Re-
ceive the Remainder of the Liquor upon
their Nail, afterwards either lick it off, or flirt
it into the Lace of the Perfon they drank to,
or upon the Ground: Of which Cuftom
what is now called a Supernaculum, is a
barbarous Remain. From whence it ap-
pears that an Health is no other than a Li-
** Libatio erac, qui Antiqui poft Epulas uti folebant;
nam pa'teram crcentes ex ti aliquid in honorem Dei
f encrantes pretantefq; fundebant j deinde bibebanr.
Saubert, de Sacrif.p. 658. See likitoife Turnebus, V. 0. T. I.
fag, 362.
* Sacro Sacrific. Defcrip. p 135
§ Solent eciam nonnulli refiduum Poculi Tquorem un-
gue excipere, illumque vtl bibere, vel in ejus cui pro-
pinant Faciem, vel etiam in terrain effundcre. Mtiq.
fenv, f. 364.
auid
<55 J
?uid Sacrifice, in the conftant Senfe and
'ractice of the Heathen.
Nay, it came to that at length, that
every Thing Sacred or of Confequence a-
mong them was perform'd by Drinking.
All their Leagues or Bargains were con-
firmed over their Liquor, lays *# Grotius,
And to this Cuftom allude thofe Expref-
fions of ffTovJ'iu *k?ht<« in Homer, Vinofa fee-
dera, <rsw£<k\x.<tr\wax in Jriftophanes, Fade-
ra ebibo. For thefe Reafons the Cuftom
pf Drinking Healths was fo feverely con-
demn'd by the Fathers. St. Ambrofe is full
and very expreflive in Condemning them,
and calls them Sacraments, alluding to
thefe Practices of the Heathen; -f- What
Occasion is there for freaking of thofe Vows
and Protefiations of Men over their Liquor ?
Thofe Sacraments of theirs which they hold
Sacred and Inviolable. And defcribes Men
in. his Days, faying § Let us Drink for
the Safety or Succefs of our Armies, for the
Courage of our Fellow Soldiers, for Health
*# On Mnth. 26. 27. Fcedera quoque admoto Calice
firmari folita.
\ Quid autem obteftationes potantium loquar ? Quid me-
inorem Sacramenta quae riolare nefasarbitrantur?
§ Bibamus pro faiute Exercituum pro Comitum vir-
fute, pro filjorum Sanitate, &c.
D 4 to
to our Children, Sec, * And they think thefe
wet Prayers and liquid Vows of theirs will come
up before God; as they who think their Prayers
never more effectual than when they are made
over their Caps Drank at the Sepulchres
of the Martys.----- 0 the Folly of Mankind
who can imagine Drunkennefs jhould ever be
an acceptable Sacrifice. St. f Bafil fays,
that Drinking Healths has a Semblance of a
Sacrifice to God for the Health of other's; but
is rather a Sacrifice to the Devil, and the
Bane of our own Health. Stuckius inveighs
againft this Cuftom of Healths, as an In-
ftance of the greateft Folly and Madnefs,
that even Chriftians fhould ** Compliment
one another in their Liquor, by Engaging,
and Wifbing, and Praying for all Profperity
and Succefs. And in another Place, after
he had been defcribing the Manner of
Drinking Healths among the Greeks, Ro-
m Et hsc vota ad Deum pervenire judicant, ficut illi
qu» cahces ad Sepukhra Martyrura differunt, atq? illic i
in vefperam bibunt, & aliter fe exaudiri poffe non cre-
dunt-------O ftultitiam Hominum qui ebrietatem Sa-
cnficium putant! De HeUit$\c\im. cup. 17.
. *Mn his Sermon, m« to Dr'mUris, This Quotation
is as I met with it in Durhm of Hertthing, but have not
J« found it in St. Bafil.
** Sibi invicem gratulantur, bona atq; faufta quaevis
poUicentup, augurantur, atqj precantur.;. e. By Driving
A«iq, Conv. lib. 3, * * f ' ' * I
mans, f
( 57)
wans, Scythians and Mafcovites, and had
been expofing the Barbarity and Wicked-
nefs of that Cuftom, he laments that § Ma-
m Christians have at length come to that Pafs;
that in Imitation of thofe Heathens they
drank Healths to themfelves and to other Peo-
ple, •--------And are by that Means like to he
deprived of that Eternal Health or Salvation
obtained for m by the Blood of Chrifi.
From thefe Inftances it appears, that
Drinking an Health does not only imply
a Prayer in the very Aftion it felf, but
that this is the current and received Noti-
on of it, in the Practice both of Heathens
and Chriflians: And withal that this Cu-
ftom among us is a Relique of Heathenifm;
and as fuch condemn'd by great and good
Men. Now if this was their Way of di-
shonouring God; of Praying for the Health
of their Friends, and for their own; and
of Sacrificing to Devils; and if the Cuftom
of Healths among Chtiftians is condemn'd
for that Reafon as well as others by the
Fathers, and the beft Men in every Age
§ Hodie Chriftiani tnultis in Iocis ad illorum Imitatio-
nem tandem pro fu3 & aliornm falute bibere confueve-
runt-------Atq; adeo Sterna quoq; ilia (alute nobis
pirifti morte atq; fanguine parta fpolientur. Ant. Con.
n- 558.
,
( 5« )
who have wrote upon the Subjeft, is it
fieceffary for me to enter into any farther
Difpute'to fhew the Sinfulnefs of that Pra-
ctice among us ? Yes, I fhall be ask'd fome
fuch cramp Questions as thefe. Muft I
leave off every Thing the Heathen did ?
No, for then y.ou mult leave off Drinking;
'tis-the Manner only of their abufing that
Aftion of Drmki.ig you are to forbear.Muft
I never Kjiock down an Ox, or Cut the
Throat of a Sheep becaufe the Heaths did
it in Sacrifice ? Yes, you may; but re-
member if you knock down that Ox, or
cut.that Sbeejfa Throat for the Health and
■Jihfverity of your Prmc; or your Friend, 'tis
downright Idolatry : And your faying that
you 'Mean neither Prayer nor Sacrifice by it,
and nothing more than a bare Expreffion
of your Good Will towards them, and
hearty Wifbes for their Profperity and Suc-
cefs, cannot bring you off. Suppofe an
Health a Prayer, may I not pray to the
true God as the Heathen did to their falfe
ones ? Yes, but let me ask a Queltion in.
my Turn? If you fhou'd pray for the
Health and Profperity of Another by Pour-
wg our a Glafs of Wine upon the Table
or the Ground, wou'd not this be literally
the Libation of the Heathen, and wou'd
not
I < 59 )
-not that be an Idolatrous Aft ? Then pray
fhew me any other Difparity between
pouring a Glafs of Wine down your Ihroat
for the Health and Prosperity of another;
and pouring it on the Table or Ground for
Be fame Purpofe; unlefs it be that the
^former is for many Reafo^js much the
more wicked and deteftab^J^he Two.
But may I not innocen^pcM* a Glafs
of "Wine down my Throat, ify'ti^he Ta-
ble, or the Ground, for the Heafertof ano-
ther, without either Willi or Tr^|r to
|God ? No, nor do any Thing elf<$tcOhe
Health and Profperity of another, v£k[
Him who is the Sole Author of H^J
and Profperity. If he is intirely left ™
and fo totally excluded, that what you
iay or do for the Health and Profperity of
('another, fhall not io much as Imply any
Prayer or Ejaculation to him; then mult
it have a Reference to Another, whom it
wou'd be very diibbliging to all Health-
Drinkers ffiou'd he be named to them for
Deity.
But tho wifhing Health and Profperity
Jieceffarily implies Prayer in it felf, and"
|muft ultimately refer to G o d, and then
it is a Prayer : or to the Devil, and then it
|js a Curfe; yet may I not innocently Drink
( 6o J
a Glafs of Wine for the Health, Zfc. of
another, without Thinking of either God
or Prayers, £3 e? lanfwer, No. And now
that the Matter is brought to a Point, the
Fallacy opens which fo univerfally decei-
veth,and the True Evil of Drinking Healths
appears diftinguifh'd from that Lolour or
Varnijb in which it pafs'd difguis'd. This,
which is only an JLxcufe for that Cuftom,
is pleaded as an Argument for the Lawful-
nefs of it; and has no other Confequence
but this, viz. Becaufe I Defign no more
by it, therefore it can neither have any
more in It [elf, or Imply any Thing more.
%And therefore for a fhort Anfwer to this,
and all other Objections of this Kind, let
us fuppofe that inftead of the Cuftom of
Drinking to a Man's Health, that other
fort of Heathen Libation, I mean where
the whole or moil of the Cup of Liquid
was pour'd out upon the Table or the
Ground, were retained among us; and
that you were to perform it as Duly to the
Health of your friend, or your Prince;
and call'd it a Token of Refpeft, a Mark
only of good Will, Ifc. and fay over and
over that you mean no Prayer, or Sacri-
fice ; and think neither of God, nor cf an
Idol,
_ (61;
' J^fc/, you wou'd however pronounce this
an Idolatrous A& in its own Nature; and
tho your Defign, and Prepoffcflhn from Cu-
. ftom wou'd be an Excufe for you, yet this
wou'd not alter the Nature of the Thing,
which wou'd remain however Evil in it
"Self. If you fay thefe are not Parallel, be-
caufe the Wine drank Nourishes, but that
poured out is Loft; I anfwer, this makes
no Difference in Refpeft of Him whofe
Health is drank; 'tis all one where the
Cup of Wine nam'd or dedicated to his
Health or Profperity is pour'd; whether
into your Stomach, or on the Ground or Ta-
ble. And thus it appears that whatever
your Meaning or Defign is, the naming of
the Health is in it felf, as a certain f Per-
Fon obferves on this Sub) eft, No other than
offering up the Cup to God in his Behalf; and
he purfues this by faying, That Unlefs we
have fome Grounds or Intimation that ive may
offer a Cup to God in Behalf of others, thro1 the
Mediation ofChnft, it is the fafeft way to for-
Ihear.
And now I hope it is plain, that if a
I Health be a Prayer at all; or has any thing
I in it of the Nature of a Prayer; or implies
■fr Durbw of Healthing,
a
(62)
a Prayer ; or if a Wijh or Defire for the
Health of another either be a Prayer, or
Ought to be a Prayer, then the Cuftom of
Drinking Healths is a Profanation of that
holy A&ion; And never the lefs a Profa-
nation becaufe it is no Set Prayer in Form,
but a Short and Tranfient Defire of the
Heart for the Health and Profperity of a-
nother either not Expreffed at all, or Named
in a Word or Two. 'Tis a fad Evafion
here, that becaufe Men mean nothing by a
Wijh \ or Wijh, without Wifhing to G o d ;
and tho they aftually Exprefs their Defire
for the Health,£ifc. of their Friend or their
Prince, yet becaufe they drink in Token
only of their Sincerity, without any Regard
or Refpefl: to Him who is the Sole Author
and Giver of Health, £$c. and in fhort do
not think of G o d or Prayer at all, that
therefore they cannot Profane that Office.
The Queftion is not whether they Think of
Prayer when they wifh or defire the Health
of another ? But whether they Ought to do
fo ? And whether the doing otherwife ha-
bitually, is not an habitual Abufe of what
never fhou'd be in Ufe otherwife than as
a Prayer ? viz. The Actual wifhing and
defiring the Health and Profperity of my
Prince or my Friend. And whether the
fubfti-
f «s)
* lubftituting that Aftion of Swallowing a
Glafs of Liquor Immediately upon that Wifh
or Defire, inftead of that Concurrence of
- the Heart, and that habitual Devotion of
the Mind which fhou'd make it a Prayer,
and ought ever to go along with it, be not
a Profanation of that Office ? What is this
- but laying afide the Direction of our Willies
and Defires to God, and wifhing and de-
firing by Cups and Glares ? What is this
but doing that always Lightly and Irreve-
rently, which never fhou'd be done but Se-
^irioufly, and with a Thought towards Hea-
ven ; and never is done otherwife by good
and devout Chriftians,who can never wifh
or defire with any Solemnity at leaft, with-
out fending it up to God.
But why may not I fend up an Ejacula-
fiiion to Heaven for any particular Grace or
Mercy for my Prince or my Friend when
I drink, as well as at any other Time ? I
. anfwer, Ejaculations Mental or Expreffed
'flare always good when they proceed from
la good Heart; and we are commanded to
Pray without ceafwg ; but not to Drink and
■bPray; and Pray and Drink inceffantly.
EAs you have feen, this Addition of Drink
to a Prayer was among the Heathen a
Drink-Offering or Sacrifice in Behalf of
their
■
their Friends; and is even now no other*
in it felf than offering up a Cup toGon
in Behalf of another; whatever Men De~
fign by it, it has as much of the Nature of
a Sacrifice as the pouring out Wine upon
the Table or Ground for the Health of any
Perfon wou'd have; which if you did you
wou'd be immediately branded for a
Heathen.
Prayer is good without the Drink, and
the Drinking may be innocent without the
Prayer ', But by rvhofe Injlitution do you join
Drink and Prayer, fays Durham, unless it
be in the Holy Sacrament of the hordes-Suf-
fer ? There indeed we are commanded to
join Drinking and Thank/giving, but where
are we commanded to drink by way of
Interceffion for others? Certainly a Perfon
who does this ought to have very good
Authority for fuch an Aftion, no lefs than
a Command or Inftitution; but 'tis certain
there is no Colour or foundation for this in
Chrijlianity.
There is a great Difference between
Prayer or Thank/giving when rve eat or
drink, which is always lawful; and Pray-
ing or Thankfgiving By eating or drinking,
which is the Cafe of an Health, and always
unlawful; excepting only in that great In-
ftance"
/ 6<i )
Ranee wherein it is commanded, as will
appear to every one who confiders this Di,
ftinftion. Moft Objections proceed upon
! confounding thefe ; and becaufe Men may
pray When they drink, they infer that
therefore they may Joyn Drinking to their
Prayer as a Seal and Confirmation of it in
their common and cuftomary Healths j
which is plainly a Profanation of Prayer
in the moft Exalted Senfe of it. And it is
upon the Account of the great Impiety of
Healths in this very Inftance, that Mr.
Durham in his Difcourfe upon this Subjeci
Calls them Profane, Uninftituted, Carnal So*
( craments; and he asks this Queftion, What
can come nearer the holy InjHtution of our
blejfed Lord, than thus hallowing of Cups, i. e.
for the Health of others, And handing and
delivering them all round in Order to one ano-
ther .? But that which is of greater Weight
to that very Purpofe is, That it was this
very Thought which led both the * Fathers
, and Modern Divines into the naming of
them Ritus, and Sacr amenta, and Myftena
Bacchi, and lllicia Diaholi.
* Bafil, Ambr. Araama, Amefius, Stuckius, &c
E Chap.
<*6i
Chap. V.
ANother Acceptation of an Health is,
When I firft name a Perjon and then
drink upon it as a bare Mirk aM Token of my
fmcere good Will towards him, and hearty De- \
fire of his Welfare. Or When I frft mention
any Affair, and then drink by tfay of expreffing
my Approbation of it, and Inclination to have .
it fucceed, and the Defire of my Mind that it {
fhou'd thrive and profper; And all this is a I
Mark of Regard only, without including j
Health or Profperity, Wifli or Prayer, f
This is indeed wording an Health in the I
Softefi Terms it will bear, and it is this I
feemingly fair and plaufible Notion of it |
which has lead us all into this pernicious
Cuftom unawares; and has been the Oc-
cafion of its fpreading it felf fo univerfally.
Men not confidering that this is but a
Different way of expreffing the SameThing;
and therefore no more than a meer Colour
and Difgmfe to make it pals current, and
a Blind only to deceive our felves. Tho
we thus Defcribe it, and call it by what
Name we pleafe, and defign ever fo well
by it, yet this is an Health ftill; and will e- i,
ver carry with it all tlmlnherent Evil which 1
the 1
( 67 )
the-Word imports. I Order to fee thr6
this Fallacy which has deceiv'd us hither-
to, we are to obferve thefe Four Things.
i. That the Qiieftion is not what we
Mean or Dejign by an Health; nor Horn
we Word it; but what the Thing is in it:
felf.. If the Aftion It felf of Drinking
Health and Profperity, i3c. either Exprejly
or Implicitly imports Prayer, or the Profa-
• nation of it; or Dedication of Cups ; or
Offering up of Liquor; or Interceding by
GlafTes in theBehalf of others; or if it be the
l&Same Idolatrous Act with a downright Li-
bation, or worfe; or whatfoever other Evil,
lor Colour of Evil it carries in it; the Impli-
cation adheres to that Aftion, and is infe-
.parable from it confider'd in it felf. And
tho Mens doing it Ignorantly, and without
Defign of any of thefe may be pleaded in
Excuf for them, to Alleviate the Guilt and
Sin of it; yet this will infer nothing fo-
rwards the Mending or Altering the Nature
pof the Thing it felf. I mean no more,
■fays he that drinks a Health, than a Civil
Compliment, a bare Regard, a Mark of Re~
[peel, 8rc The meaning a Regard, and
Refpecf, and Feneration where they are
due is a Good Thing, and there is nothing
| blameable it it; but the Evil of an Health
E i is?
r 68;
is, that you Outwardly fhew that Good.
Meaning after an 111 Manner ; that you
exprefs that Meaning habitually by an A-
ftion, which, if it is thus plainly obvious
to lb many evil Implications, muft be an
habitual dishonouring of God.
Tis evident that they who fay they
mean nothing more than a Meer Token
of Regard and Compliment by drinking an
Healthy give it a forc'd Turn contrary to
the Senfe of the Word it felf, and to the
common Manner of expreffing themfelves
upon that Occafion. They Drink to a
Man's Health, and at fo doing they Wijb
him Health and Profperity, and if they
do not fpeak it they mean it; and yet in
the fame Breath argue their Innocence in
ib doing, becaufe they mean Neither by
an Health. So that they fpeak and aft in
Contradiction to themfelves ; and this foft
Turn they give it appears to be a fhameful
Evajion of that Impiety which they them-
felves fee in this Practice. If the A&ion
is Intirely Innocent, and carries no Implica-
tions which have any Shadow or Colour
of Evil, what Occafion is there for any
Excufe or Evafion ? And for Mens faying
they mean only this or that by it ? Is not
this a Tacit Acknowledgment that it wou'd
be
C 69 )
be evil to drink an Health in any Other
Senfe or Meaning; and that it is in it felf
liable to other Senfes and Meanings that
are evil ? Such Inconfiftencies as thefe do
Men involve themfelves in, when they
wou'd excufe the doing of what is ill in it
Self, by faying They mean no 111 by it. The
Devil himfelf cou'd not Tempt a Man,
who has the leaft Senfe of Religion left, to
drink an Health in all its Forms ; and with
all thofe Implications it carries in it fully
exprefs'd, without any Referve or fbme
foftening Turn to render it fair and plau-
fible: I mean, As it implies Prayer by Drink-
ing ; as it is in Truth a Dedication of Cup
and Glajfes ; as it is interceding for the
Health and Profperity of others by a Draught',
it is really an Offering up a Cup to God for
the good of another Man, or for Profperity to
any Affair, &c. And all this with the So-
lemnity that an Health is often drank.
What then has that cunning Serpent to
.do ? Evet what he does; to mingle fome
Ingredient with the Liquor of an Health
Jo render it Palatable, and conceal the Poi-
w which is in the Bottom of the Glals;
piat it may go down glib, without any
fear or Scruple. And tho the Quantity
f the Poifon is fo fmall that it lhall not
E ? Kjll
( lo )
0B Men all at Once, or give them any
Immediate Difturbance; yet it operates gra-
dually, and the conftant Habit of Healths,
with the many Inftances of accidental
Guilt which it rarely fails of drawing after
it, works all his Ends at laft: Nor hath
he faiPd of making all his Advantages out
of it; infomuch that it is too vifible how
no Power of Religion or Grace has been
fufficient to check the gradual Progrefs of
this Cuftom, and make it flop fhort of
Mens chiming their GlalTes to the Confafion
and Damnation of their Fellow Chriftians.
2. That this very Thing which Men
plead in Excufe, viz,. That the naming of
the Glafs, and mentioning Heaiib and Pro-
sperity are no more than Words of Courje, and
The drinking upon it a bare civil Compliment,
is the very Thing which renders this Pra-
ctice inexcufable. For why are fuch dai-
ly conftant Wifhes and Defires for the
Health and Profperity of our Kjng for
Inftance; and of worthy Minifters of State;
and for Succefs to all the Important Affairs
of the Nation, fo heartily exprefs'd; Why, I
fay, are they meer Words of Courfe, and
civil Compliment ? No Reafon can be af-
fign'd for it, but becaufe there is no habi-
tual. Devotion in. the Heart of the Drinkers
towards
ill)
I towards G o d, or Sincerity towards Man-
Jf our Willies and Defues for Things of
that Nature are Not Prayers, they Ought
to be fo, and 'tis our Sin if they are not;
for otherwise it is a Shew of Prayer, when
you do not Pray; 'tis an habitual ufing a
Form of Ejaculation lightly, and wantonly
and irreverently, i. e. abufing of it; and
a conftant Outward Shew and Profemon of
Prayer in your Mind, when it is the leaft
oi your Thoughts.
Is not this lightly repeating the Words
4 of an Ejaculation, and then putting a
; Draught of Liquor in the Place of that
Concurrence of the Heart which fhou'd.
ever accompany it. If we wifh for Things
I of fo great Importance as Health and Succcjs
lare, we fhou'd leave the Drinking out,
fend make it a Prayer ; inftead of which
|we leave that out which makes it truly a
"Prayer, and only fwallow the Drink,
And now that Men are come to a Cufiom
|pf repeating a Form of Ejaculation over a
IGlafs of Wine Lightly and Irreverently,
land then drinking it off Profanely ; they
■excufe themfelves by faying, they mean
ipo Prayer at all.
Nothing is more Obvious to any con-
fidering Chriftian, than the Impiety of this
E 4 Excufe?
( 70
Excufe, which leaves God out of all our fo-
lemn "Wiftes and Defires for fuch Things
as none but he can give. The very Men-
tion of thofe Things which Men drink for,
efpecially when they do it with any So-
lemnity, naturally lifts up the Mind to
Heaven, if their is any Devotion left in it.
Nor is it a thing fo indifferent as may be
thought, but Matter of Duty and Obligation
fb to do; for St. James in his Fourth Chap,
reprehends fuch who fpeak even of the
Common Affairs of Life without immedi-
ate Reference to God, and it follows at
Verf. 15. For that ye ought to fay, if the
Lord rvilly we jhall live and do this and
that. Shall we not defign the fmalleft
Thing; nor even mention our going from
one City to another ; or fpeak of what we
are to put in Execution to Day, or to Mor-
row in our private Affairs ; and fhall we
folemnly wifh Health to our Friends, Pro-
fperity to our King, and worthy Minifters
of State, and Succefs to all important
Affairs of the Nation, without a Thought
of God or Prayer ? And now will any
one doubt whether the doing this fo uni-
verfally and conftantly as it is pra&ic'd, be
not as conftant and univerfal Mockery of
G-od, and in it felf a crying National Sin„
What
(y?)
What a ftrange and needlefs Difficulty
doth this Excufe or Evafion bring a Man
under ? For in Order to fecure his Inno-
cence in the cuftomary Practice of Healths,
he muft be fure to drink without a Wi(h ;
or Wi(h without wifhing to God; de-
fire without a Prayer ; and be daily ex-
prefftng the habitual Longing of his Mind
and Soul for the Greatefi Publick and Pri-
vate Bleflings, without the leaft Regard or
Tendency of the Heart towards him from
vvhom alone he is to hope for them. And
now is not this the very Wickednefs of
Healths, that they have thruft out all De-
. 'votion from Men's Minds; exploded all
habitual Prayer, and every thing that is
like it; that they have banifli'd the very
II Air and Face of Religion from among
fpChrirKans, and perfectly drowned all Re-
mains of pious Ejaculation.
5. The Third Thing I defire may be
I iconfider'd is,that unlets our Wilhes and De-
li'fires for the Health of another be a Prayer
or Ejaculation, it is fo far from being a To-
ken of Regard, that it is an Hypocritical
|Compliment, and foul Dillimulation. You
~ rink in Evidence of the Sincerity of your
ward Willies and Defires of a Man's
ealth andProfperity^V, What is the Sin-
cerity
Jgg
(74)
cerity of them? Is it not when youwiih
and Defire his Health of God, and have
a Difpofition of Mind to pray for him, and
that you actually do fo; and that yourWiih
b as much a Prayer as theShortnefs of your
Expreflion, and Prefem Thought will ad-
mit of.
Here I muftobferve that it is the Vailing
**' a^Spirit of Devotion, and the conftant
ytyfn of a11 For-ms of Salutation among
Chnftians that has fo entirely worn out
the Knowledge of their Original; and yet
they all retain in themfelves fomething of
% DcVotion and Piety of the Age in which
they firft came into ufe. Iwifli you Health,
Or Profperity, or Succefs, i. e. God give
you Health, Profperity, and Succefs. A good
Journey or Voyage to you, i. e. God give
you a good journey or Voyage. I wifh you
Safety, i.e. God find you fafe, he. Which
ate all contracted Forms of Praying, or
jgort Ejaculations; as thofe of the Apo-
itles ,n the Clofe of their Epillles, Peace
be with you; Peace be with you all; Grace
be with you; and Grace he with you all-
Peace he to the Brethren. And again
p >7n the Beginning of his 2d Epiftle,
<w* be with you, Mercy and Peace, &c,
Winch are all Ejaculations, and mean God
fend
(75)
fend you Grace and Peace, &c. All thefe
are faid by the Apoftles in Token of their
Regard for thofe Chriftians they wrote to,.
and good Will towards them; and are Forms
of Salutation; and that which makes them
fo is that they are fhort Prayers to G o d ;
and if they were not fo they had been no
outward Indications of the fincere Value
they had for them. By the fame Rule Men
make all their Wifhes of Health and Pro-
fperity, £$c. meer Words of Courfe, they
may make thofe other Forms of Salutation
bfo too. God keep you, God fave you, God
fro/per you, nay, even God blefs you. All
which, and fuch like, will come in Ufe a-
gain with that habitual Concurrence of the
Heart which becomes them, when that
I Cuftom of drinking Healths is left ofF,
I which has quite driven them out from
among Chriftians. 'Tis the Irreligion of
the Age we live in, and its lamentable
Degeneracy from the Primitive Piety which
| has leftnoRemainsof a Truly Chrijhan Salu-,
I tat ion among us, and hzth Refolvedit all in-
I'to Drinking; infomuchthat inftead oi AIL
I the Saints Jalute you, in the Modern Stile it
I is, All here drink your Health, and inftead of
Ifhat Divine Form, Eph.v'i. 24. Grace he
%with all them that love our Lord Jefus
Chrijt,
f 7*1
C/W/?. 'Tis now with Glafs in Hand,
.fifer? is to all that love and honour the blef-
fed and immortal Memory of a certain Dead
Monarch.
4. Laitly, I fliall obferve, That after
all the Shifting, and Turning, and Wrefl-
ing of an Health, fo as intirely to exclude
all Thoughts of God, or any Application
to him, it will have fomething in it of the
Nature of Prayer, whether you defign it
fo or no. The very Naming a Perfon over
a Glafs of Liquor imports our good Wifh-
es and Defires for him, and thefe Are
Prayers, or Ought to be fo. The Words
Wzftring, and Defiring, and Praying, are
Synonymous Words in Scripture, and ufed
promifcuoufly, 2 Cor. xiii. 19. This alfo
we rvifb even your Perfection, Rom. x. 1.
My Hearts Defire and Prayer to God for
Ijraelis, 8rc. And in 3 John 11. we have
the Very Form fo much abus'd by Drinking,
Irnjb above all Things that thou maye(l pro-
/per, and be in Health; which is a hearty
Prayer that God wou'd give him Health
and Profperity. But we have profanely
added the Naming the Perfon Brft, and
Then watering our Wifh with our Liquor;
And not only fo, but this Wifh mull be
tofs'd, together with the Glafs or Bottle,
from
( 77 )
from one Hand to another ; and every
Man is to Wifh and Drink in his Turn; not
without the ringing of Glaffes to elevate
their Devotion. W hereas if a Man fhou'd
repeat a fhort Form of a Wifh or a Prayer,
nay even with the Concurrence of the
. Heart, and fhou'd fend it round the Com-
pany without drinking, for them to repeat
each Man in his Turn after the fame Man-
ner they do in an Health, this wou'd be
plainly a Sportful unbecoming Way of Pray-
ler, and confequently a Profanation of that
I Holy Office; which is to be performed with
J: united Hearts and Voices.
You will Object, May I not fay to my
it Friend, I Wifh you would go a Journey
| with me; No Body Wifhes you better than
|I ; I Wifb you would lend me a Sum of
i Money ; I Wifh you would Help me in
; fuch an Affair, i$c. without praying to
|..God? Yes, you may wifh on at that rate
till you weary your felf and your Friend
too, and it will have nothing of the Na-
ture of Prayer, unlefs it be of Praying to
Man. And I mull: obferve once for all,
that thofe general Expreflions, and all the
Wifhes we make to Man are intirely left
I out of the Queftion, which is concerning
fiWifhes or Defires made for particular Blef.
Tings,
(7« )
fings, fuch as none but God can give ;
and fuch as are never to be hoped for or
expected but by Prayer and Supplication
to him.
Tho it is now plain that an Health even
in the Softeji Turn it can bear, carries in it
no fmall Degree of Evil and Sin, and is a
fhameful Defection from the true Spirit of
primitive Chriftianity : Yet let us fuppofe
that fome fuch Senfe or Meaning of an
Health could be found out that may be
innocent in it felf; -which upon a moft fe-
rious Recollection I do not think poiTible.
Becaufe it is poffible to frame One Innocent
Notion in which an Health may be drank,
fhall this attone for the many Evil Turns
to which it is naturally liable, and for the
evil Tendency the Cuftom of it hath to lead
Men into great Variety of Sin and Wicked-
nefs? Becaufe it may be with much Thought
and Diftingmfhmg Nicely, reduced at length
to One Senfe or Meaning which is not a-
gainft the exprefs Laws of God, and at
belt but barely Indifferent \is it not a ftrange
Confequence that therefore the general
Cuftom of it fhall be lawful, tho' there are
many other wicked and deteftable Notions
to which it is liable, and in which I cannot
but know that Multitudes practice it daily ?
Chap,»
'(79)
Chap. VI.
TH E laft Acceptation of an Health h
When I name any Kjng or Governour
over my Cup or Glafs, and then Drink as
an outward Indication of my inward Loy-
alty, and unfeigned Fidelity to him. Loy-
alty is a Chriftian Duty which confifts in
an Inward Difpofition of the Mind to pay
all that Veneration, and Obedience, and
Fidelity to our King or Governour, which
is requir'd by God and Man: And that,
not only as he gratifies my Pm^te Intereft,
or that of my Party ; but as we are taught
in Scripture, out of pure Senfe of Duty ta
|G o d, For the Lord's Sake; and for Con-
science Sake ; as He is The Lord's Anointed j
and Ordained of Him. Now if Drinking a
Glafs of Wine were an Evidence or outward
Sign of Loyalty, in this truly Chriftian
Senfe of it, at a Man's Heart; this wou'd
be a ftrong Prefumption in favour of ma-
king a Draught of Liquor the current Tefi
of it. But on the contrary, fince it is fo far
from being any Real Tryal and Infallible
Teft of a Man's Loyalty,. that it may be,
;and I fear is, too often ufed as a Cloak of
i Maliaoufnefs and Dijloyalty, to conceal the
Fa&ion
( So ;
Faction that is within, and cover ovef a
Seditious, Murmuring,Difcontented Spirit*
Since the Scripture fhews us there may be
a Sort of Men, who Give Good Words, I
may add and drink With their Mouths,
and at the fame Time Curfe with their
Hearts. Since Experience fhews us that
commonly fuch who drink Moft, pray
Leajl; that this is .the only way that fome
have of praying either in Publick or Pri-
vate for their King; and that this is moft
to be feared of them who make the great-
eft Noife and Stir about drinking Healths.
Since this Health by many is made a meer
Thing of Courfe, and too often drank for
the Sake of the Liquor, or Company; out
of Fear, or Defign ; or for any Other Rea-
son, rather than for an Aftual Darting up
Of their Mind to G o d for that Long Life
and Health for which they Pray, and Drink ■
and Drink, and Pray. Since I fay the Cafe
is thus, we may begin to doubt whether
the Befi and moft Loyal Subjects have not
been led into this Cuftom by pureMiftake,
and Inadvertency; for want of weighing
thr61y the Nature of the Thing, or be-
caule they would prevent any Cenfure
orMifreprefentations of Drinking and De-
'">--• Men.
We
(81 ;
We read in. Scripture of Praying for the
'Life of the Kjng, and are exhorted to Make
Prayers and Supplications for Kjngs, and
for all that are in Authority; and in lb doing
we honour Him who is Kjng of KJngs, and
Lord of Lords. But it ought to be well
confider'd, whether we do fo in Drinking
Health and long Life to our King, and to
fuch as are in Authority >Tbcre is no Co-
lour or Foundation for this^ralftice in Chri-
fiianiiy, and if there be any«&h(*&, it is in.
Heathemfm. For befides the'^lej^Initan-
ces of Evil I have already frewa-topSttend
that of Health-drinking in Gener^'th^re
is this Weight over and above to be^uf^i-
to the Scale here; namely, that it wlgthb'.,
Cuftom of the Heathen to pay Divinen^cn*
nour to Kings and Emperors by drinking
their Health; and that it is from them de-
Iriv'd down to us. This was the Tejl by
which * Pliny tells the Emperor Trajan he
found out whether Men were Clinicians,
Viz. By trying whether they wou'd do
I him Honour before his Statue Thure is?
Vinoy either of which None could be corn-
piled to do who were truly Chrijlians; And
* Quorum nihil cogi poffe dicuntur qui fine reverb Chii-
ftiani. Lib, 10. Ep. 17,
F the
the Manner of doing Honour by Wine I
have already fhewn to be drinking Some,
and pouring the Reft on the Table, or the
Ground. '* Sigifmundus in his Account of
Mufcovy, recites it as a Barbarous Cuftom
among the Old Mufcovites and Ruffians-,
That they drank Pro Sanitate Gsfaris, And
for the Safety and Frofferity of others whom
they knew to be placed in Pofts of Honour and
Dignity: And they were fo zealous in this,
that among them No Man ought or dare
refufe a Cup which was named to the Health
of any of thofe great Men.
The Antient Heathen, fays -f Fitifcus, ufed
to drink for the Health of the Emperor, and
this we have from Dion Caflius, who tells
us that among other Honours Decreed to Au-
gtiflus by the Senate, This was one, That
Men fhould Drink for his Health in their En-
tertainments.
* Incipiunt tandem bibere' Pro Sanitate Ccefaris—-—*
Aliorum deniq; Incolumitate quos videlicet in aliquc
Dignitatis & Honoris Gtadu conftitutos effe exiftimant:
Illorum Nomine Quemquam recufare Poculum non de-
bere, nee etiam poffe exiftimant. See Stuck. Antiq.
Conv. fig. 358.
\ Bibere pro Salute Tmperatoris folebant Veteres; In-
dicat hoc Dio Cuffius, qui Jugujio inter alios hunc quo|?
ftonorem Decretum ait, ut pro Salute ipfius in Conviviis
biberent. Lex. Ant. Vol. 1, pag. 2-i%.Wkre Quotation1
ire multiply'& to tiU Fiimfc,
To
rs5;
To this confrant and celebrated Heathen
Currom, we meet with frequent Allufions
in the Poets. As in * Martial:
Mane mibi die quiseritcui teCalatiJfe Deorum
• Sex jubeo Cyathos fundere ? Caefar erit.
The Number of the Cups anfwering to
the Six Letters in the Name Ctfar.
And again f Ovid,
Et bens vosy bene tu Patriae Optime Caefar
Dicite fuffafo per facra Verba mero.
And it appears from § Horace that this
Was their ordinary Practice at their Meals,
and particularly at Second Courfe.
Hinc ad Vina redit Utus, & alter is
Te menfis adhibet Deum*
Te multk prece, te prosequitur mero
Defufo paterii) €i? laribus tuum
'• Mijcet Numen*
This drinking of the Emperor's Health,
as we find by the Quotations, was for the
moftPart their way of making him a Deity,
and paying him Divine Honours, i. e, in the
general Practice of the Heathen, it was an
idolatrous Action; And if fo what mould
Binder it from being fo ftill? What mould
Make it of an Idolatrous Nature in an Hea-
then, and not in a Chrifiian ? If any one
■
* lib. 9, Epig. 95. f Faft. lib .2. § lib. 4 Ode 5,
P 2 Anfwers
Anfwers, That the Heathen drank an
Health to the Emperor by way of doing
Divine Honour and in fo doing fuppofed
him a Deity \ But I drink to the Health of
my King by way of a Civil Honour, and
at the fame time know him to be only a
Man. I Anfwer, That there are Three forts
of Idolatry ; If One pays an Honour of
a Purely civil Nature in it felf to a Meer
Man; and yet perfocms it by way of Di-
vine Honour, or as to a Deityp, 'tis Idola-
try in Refpeft of the Perfon who doth that
Honour. If he pays what is in it felf a
Religious Worfhip to a King or an Empe-
ror, tho not as to a Deity, it is fo likewife
in Refpeft of the Action. Laftly, if he
pays what is in it's own Nature a Religious
Woriliip,and not to the true Goo,then it is
ftrictly what the Schools call formal Idok-
try.Whatwe are now difcourfing of isto be
referr'd to the Middle Kind; and therefore
the Objection proceeds upon an intire Mi-
flake of the Queftion, which is not with
what Defgu or Purpofe of their Mind Men
perform that Aftion of Drinking for the
Health of a KJng or Emperor \ but whe-
ther the Action it felf carry any thing in
it more than a purely Civil Refpeft ? Whe-
ther it imply a Religious Woriliip in any
Degree ?
( ^ )
Degree ? Or whether it hath the Ambiance
of a Divine Honour, paid either to the
Perfon for whofe Health they Drink; or to
any Deity in their Behalf.
Now that this doth in its Own Nature
carry in it more than a Purely civil Refpe£t,
and hath at leaft a Semblance of Divine Ho-
nour is undeniable ; becaufe, as we have
feen, the conftant Practice of the Heathen
World hath affixed this Notion to it; and
iramped upon it fuch a Mark of a Divine
Honour as no Time can erafe. So that
.jthd a Man may, in his own Mind, Sepa-
rate this Notion from Drinking to the
Health of a King or an Emperor, yet will it
outwardly ever carry that Implication with
it in the Judgment of all who know it to
have been the daily Cuftom. of Heathen
Worfhippers. This you wi!l immediately
fee only by the naming fome Other Instan-
ces of Heathen Idolatry, which have Not
been retained among Christians as this
Hath; fuch as Mens Burning Incenfe either
in their own Houfes, or before the Statue
■ of the Emperor for his Health Or Proffer
'kfity, or in Honour of him, as we find from
Pliny the Heathen did ; Or that of their
Pouring out fome of their Liquor upon the
Ground or Table in their own Houfes, or
F ? at
( 86 ;
at the Foot of the Altar for the fame Pur-
pofes, £5<?. Should a Man now perform
any thing of this Nature in Honour of a
King or Emperor, he who made theGrand
Objection would call him an Heai.,)em{h
Idolater; and all that I defire is that the
Objetfor would fet his Head to work for
any Reafon fpr that Cenfure which will not
equally hold againft that of Drinking for
their Health and Profperity, this being but
another way among the Heathen of paying
the Emperor More than a Civil Honour; or
elfe of Offering uy a Sacrifice to their Deities
f n his Behalf.
That very Burning of Incenfe or Per-
fume which was part of the Heathen Wor-
ibjp, God appointed an Inftance of Divine
Woriliip under the Law; Now tho that
Difpenfation is abolifhed, would it not be
an Idolatrous Aft in any Peribn now to do
Honour to his Governour by Fumigation ?
And for this Reafcn, becaufe it having been
once the cuitomary way of Divine Worfhip,
it will ever fo far retain that Charader,that
it will be ever efteemed Idolatry to per-
form it to a meer Man. Whether this be
allowed or no, yet lurely it would have
been Idolatry in any of the Jews to have
performed it in Honour of King Solomon
while
(h )
while living, tho' the Founder of their
Temple. If fo, then let me ask whether
now that Drinking in an honourable Remem-
brance of Christ our King is made an
Inftance of Divine Worfhip by the Go/pel,
it hath not fomething of a very Parallel
Cafe to apply this to any worldly King or
Emperor ? Tis plain there is no other Di-
fparity in thofe Actions but that one is
performed to a Perfon abfent jn Heaven,
the other to a Perfon upon Earth. There
is at leaft a great Likenefs in the Anions,
and if fo, then confider the Moral Import
of that Text before quoted relating to the
Perfume made for the Ufe of the San&ua-
ry,and a Type of our Eucharipcal Oblation,
Exod. xxx. 38. Whofoever (hall make like
unto that to fmell thereto,, (hall even be cut
off from his People J And here to Obviate
at once all Objections which may be made
againft the Application of thisText, I mail
only ask this Queftion. Why might not the
Faithful and, Loyal Subjects of Kjng Solo-
I nion, who was fo great a Benefactor to them,
% have done Honour to him, at leaft while he
mtvas living, by fmellmg to a Perfume in their
i own Houfes only of a L 1 k e Compofition with
that appointed for the Wor(hij> of God in tfa
Sanctuary?
\f •
»-f-i
V 4 To
( 88 )
To fave my Reader the Trouble of a
long Set of other Objections againft this
whole Difcourfe, I muft remind him here,
that I leave out of theQueftion all Honour
and Obeyfame paid in the Prefence of a
King or Emperor ; and confine my felf in-
tirely to fuch Honours as are paid to them,
or their Statues in their Abfence only, by
any outward Geftures or bodily Aftions,
Such as Drinking Liquor ; or Pouring any
Part of the Cup out upon the Ground, or
Table; Burning Incenfe, or Punting; Bow-
ing the Body, or Kneeling, 8fc. The great
Difpartty between all Honours of this Kind
paid to Kings in their Prefence, and when
they areJbfent, is already fhewn in Chap.
3. Infomuch that it alters the whole Na-
