40. Liberty therefore belongs to the wise man not to the fool; for _he who binds a stone in a sling is like him who giveth honour to a fool_, for he wounds himself, and while brandishing his dart chiefly endangers his own body. Certainly as he is stung by the sling, and by the falling of the stone the evil is increased, so the fall of a fool when he is set at liberty is more rapid. Wherefore the power of a fool is rather to be retrenched than any new liberty added, for slavery is suitable for him. And therefore it is added, _As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools_. For as he is wounded by his cups, so is the fool by his deeds. The one by drinking involves himself in sin, the other by acting subjects himself to censure, and by his deeds is drawn into bondage. Paul saw himself _brought into captivity by the law of sin_, and therefore, in order to be freed, he fled to the grace of liberty. Sidenote: Ps. xxxii. 10. Sidenote: Prov. xiii. 24. Sidenote: Ps. xxxviii. 4, 5. 41. Fools then are not free, for it is said to them, _Be ye not like to horse and mule, which have no understanding, whose mouths must be held with bit and bridle lest they fall upon thee. Great plagues remain for the ungodly_; for they have need of these, in order that their folly may be restrained. It is good discipline which requires this, not severity. Further, _he that spareth his rod hateth his son_: for a man’s own sins scourge him still more severely. For heavy is the weight of crime, heavy the scourges of sin; they are heavy as a sore burthen, they inflict wounds upon the soul, and make the ulcers of the mind to stink. Sidenote: Prov. xxiv. 30. 42. Wherefore let us lay aside this grievous burthen of slavery, let us renounce sensuality, and the evil delights which bind us with the bonds, as it were, of lusts, and fetter us with chains. For these delights profit not the fool, and whoever has given himself to them from his boyhood will abide in bondage; living he will be as dead. Let sensuality then be cut down, let evil delights be pruned away, and let him who has been wanton bid farewell to his former courses. For the vine which has been cut down bears fruit, that which has been partly pruned puts forth leaves, that which has been neglected grows too luxuriantly. Therefore it is written, _Like a field is the foolish man, and like a vineyard the man void of understanding_; if you leave him alone, he will become desolate. Let us then tend this body of ours, let us chasten it, let us reduce it to subjection, let us not neglect it. Sidenote: Rom. vi. 13. Sidenote: Ib. Sidenote: Ps. xiv. 6.