[446] He is happiest that needeth least of any creature, and not he that hath most. Socrates said it was proper to God only to need nothing, but those that came nearest to God in this were the happiest men.
[447] 1 Thess. v. 7, "They that are drunken, are drunken in the night."
[448] Deut. xxiii. 17; Prov. xxiii. 27; v. 3, 5; vii. 5-7; vi. 13-15; xxii. 14; Eccles. vii. 26; Gen. xxxviii. 24.
[449] Saith Boniface (alias Winfrid) of the English Mercian king Ethelbald, a fornicator, Opprobrium generis nostri patimur, sive à Christianis sive Paganis dicentibus, quod gens Anglorum spreto more cæterarum gentium, &c. hinnientium equorum consuetudine, vel rudentium asinorum more, luxuriando et adulterando, omnia turpiter fœdet, et confundat. Epist. Bonif. 10. ad Perefrid, Salvagus Sarzanensis Episcopus-Pauli 5. Jussu visitationem Ecclesiarum Stiriæ, Carinthiæ, et Carniolæ instituerat. Qua peracta, sex omnino Sacerdotes qui non essent concubinarii, in tribus illis Provinciis invenit, cum tamen magna pars ex Jesuitarum disciplina prodiisset, &c. Giraldi Apolog. pro Senatu Vener. p. 165. Mœchum in adulterio deprehensum necato: was a Roman law, 12. tab.
[450] Solomon's "wives turned away his heart after other gods," 1 Kings xi. 4. The wisdom of Solomon preserved him not from the power of lust, and the deceit of women. 1 Pet. ii. 11, "Fleshly lusts that fight against the soul."
[451] Rev. xiv. 4.
[452] Saith Chrysostom, The adulterer even before damnation is most miserable: still in fear, trembling at a shadow, fearing them that know, and them that know not: always in pain, even in the dark.
[453] 1 Tim. vi. 9, "Hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition."
[454] When an adulterer asked Thales whether he should make a vow against his sin, he answered him, Adultery is as bad as perjury: if thou dare be an adulterer, thou darest forswear thyself. Laert. Herod durst behead John, that durst be incestuous.
[455] Judg. xix. xx. The tribe of Benjamin was almost cut off upon the occasion of an adultery or rape. See Numb. xxv. 8; Gen. xii. 17; 2 Sam. xii. 10; Luke iii. 19; 1 Cor. v. 1; John viii. 2. Vid. Ælian. fol. 47.