[CHAP. XIX.]
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS IN FAVOUR OF DRUNKENNESS.
Drunkenness will (and ought to do so) appear excusable to people the most sober, if they would but make these two reflections following, viz.
I. That drunkards are not generally given to lewdness.
Aristotle says, “That too much drinking makes one very improper for the acts of Venus, and gives his reasons. Athenæus reports the same thing in that passage, where he makes mention of the drunkenness of Alexander the Great, a vice,” says he, “which, perhaps, was the cause of his little inclination for the ladies.”
Montaigne[1] speaks very well on this article, “These,” says he, “are two things which vigorously oppose each other; this weakens our stomach on one hand; whereas, on the other, sobriety serves to make us more quaint and delicate in the exercise of love.”
Ovid[2] says much the same thing.
“Vina parant animum veneri, nisi plurima sumas,
Ut stupeant multo corda sepulta mero.”
Wine, not too much, inspires, and makes the mind
To the soft joys of Venus strong inclin’d,