Which buried in excess, unapt to love,
Stupidly lies, and knows not how to move.
II. That in those countries where they do not drink to excess, they are very much addicted to debauchery.
It is certain, that in hot countries they drink a great deal less than they do in cold, but in lieu of that, lewdness reigns much more. Montaigne[3], after having observed, that they began to drink less than they used to do, adds, “Does any one think it tends to amendment? No, indeed; but, perhaps, we are much more given to whoring than our forefathers.”
This puts me in mind of an Italian, who having reproached a German with the drunkenness of his country, by these verses, viz.
“Germani multos possunt tolerare labores
O utinam possint tam tolerare sitim.”
The Germans (patient) toil, inur’d to pain,
Oh! could they but their thirst so well sustain!
The German answered him extempore in these other two:—