27. And is not temperance agreeable to
nature, and to that divine law, which in the very beginning of all
created things gave the springs for drink and the fruits of the trees
for food? After the Flood the just man found wine a source of
temptation to him. Gen. ix. 20. Let us
then use the natural drink of temperance, and would that we all were
able to do so. But because all are not strong the Apostle
said: “Use a little wine because of thy frequent
infirmities.” 1 Tim. v. 23. We
must drink it then not for the sake of pleasure, but because of
infirmity, and therefore sparingly as a remedy, not in excess as a
gratification.