The Intent of This Fable is to Work a Reformation of Manners, by
shewing that Evil Habits are very hard to be Cur’d; for they take Root
by Degrees, ’till they come in the End to be past both Remedy and
Shame. Habitual Debauches make Excess of Drink as Necessary to a Man as
Common Air, Especially when his Mind comes to be Wholly taken up with
the Contemplation of his Vice. There are Those that can never Sleep
without their Load, nor Enjoy One Easie Thought, till they have laid
All their Cares to Rest with a Bottle. ’Tis much the same Thing with
Other Sensual Pleasures, where Mens Bodies and Minds are given up to
the Entertainment of them. But the Extravagance is never so Desperate,
as when the Understanding is Taken up with the Study and Meditation of
Those Pleasures, which the Body is no longer in Condition to Practice,
and that’s the most Deplorate, Hopeless, and Incurable State of an Evil
Disposition; when Drink upon Drink is made Use of for a Remedy.