V. And how shall this be? Let us not
adorn our porches, nor arrange dances, nor decorate the streets; let us
not feast the eye, nor enchant the ear with music, nor enervate the
nostrils with perfume, nor prostitute the taste, nor indulge the touch,
those roads that are so prone to evil and entrances for sin; let us not
be effeminate in clothing soft and flowing, whose beauty consists in
its uselessness, nor with the glittering of gems or the sheen of
gold Rom. xiii. 13. or the tricks of colour, belying the beauty
of nature, and invented to do despite unto the image of God; Not in
rioting and drunkenness, with which are mingled, I know well,
chambering and wantonness, since the lessons which evil teachers give
are evil; or rather the harvests of worthless seeds are
worthless. Let us not set up high beds of leaves, making
tabernacles for the belly of what belongs to debauchery. Let us
not appraise the bouquet of wines, the kickshaws of cooks, the great
expense of unguents. Let not sea and land bring us as a gift
their precious dung, for it is thus that I have learnt to estimate
luxury; and let us not strive to outdo each other in intemperance (for
to my mind every superfluity is intemperance, and all which is beyond
absolute need),—and this while others are hungry and in want, who
are made of the same clay and in the same manner.