Historical Document · 1824

An Essay on the Inventions and Customs of Both Ancients and Moderns in the Use of Inebriating Liquors

Author: Morewood
Year: 1824
Type: Historical Document

distilling

. © _AN ESSAY ON THE - INVENTIONS AND CUSTOMS OF BOTH ANCIENTS AND MODERNS INEBRIATING LIQUORS, INTERSPERSED WITH Aunteregting Anechotes, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE MANNERS AND HABITS OF THE . + PRINCIPAL NATIONS OF THE WOBLD. WITH : AN HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE EXTENT AND PRACTICE ‘ 4 : : OF ; DISTILLATION, BOTH AS IT RELATES TO COMMERCE AND AS A SOURCE OF NATIONAL INCOME: ee . 3 COMPRISING : . hd e . : MUCH CURIOUS INFORMATION RESPECTING THE APPLICATION i AND PROPERTIES OF SEVERAL PARTS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. ere By SAMUEL MOREWOOD, SURVEYOR OF EXCISE. aa LONDON: PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 1824. woe ehe ooae® aopee? Byna3?. Lonrnow: Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode, New-Street-Square. Drest, Cina e 4-7-0930 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE FREDERICK JOHN ROBINSON, CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER, &c. _ Str, To be permitted to dedicate my work to a gentleman ‘of your exalted rank, talents, and information, is an honour of which I am fully sensible. I feel this honour the more deeply, since _ it is well known to every man who is able to form a just estimate of the respective charac- ters of our most eminent statesmen, that you are intimately acquainted with the subject of the present essay; and that the British Em- pire is, in a great measure, indebted to your persevering research, extensive knowledge, and patriotic liberality, for the establishment of that wise system of commercial regulations, “a2 iv which has already so greatly augmented the resources, diminished the debt, and increased the power of the United Kingdom. As I am aware that you will find many defects in the subsequent pages, I humbly hope that the novelty and the difficulty of the undertaking, in which I have had neither guide nor precirsor, may plead my. excuse for any errors or inaccuracies inté which I may have inadvertently fallen; and that the information now laid before the public may not appear wholly devoid of interest or of utility. | I have the honour to be, Sir, With the highest respect, Your much obliged, and very obedient humble Servant, SAMUEL MOREWOOD. BE.rast, 1204; Septenber, 1823. PREFACE. Tue Treatise now offered to the public was origin ally intended and arranged for the author’s own private gratification; but having shown it to seve- ral eminent literary characters, they encouraged him to-publish it in a more extended form, as a work likely to claim attention, and prove of inte- rest to merchants and others connected with the revenue. - The title page so fully expresses the nature and object of the Essay, that little need be sdid in further explanation; but.it may be proper to observe, that in presenting it to the world, the writer has been solicitous to give it all the interest which his researches and the nature of the subject éould furnish. Though in many places it may ex- hibit dry details, yet it is presumed, that this heaviness is often relieved by. various anecdotes and historical sketches, which, while they give pleasure, convey much information respecting men and manners, in different parts of the globe. In pursuing a path, hitherto untrodden, it would be vain to expect that some deviations have not been made, but great care has been taken to make vi the observations and selections as relevant as possible. The man of business, particularly he who is connected with the wine and spirit trade, will see in the course of this Essay a tolerably correct esti- mate of the extent of our dealings with those coun- tries with which we hold commercial intercourse, and he will thence be enabled to judge of its value; while the man of taste and reading may find his curiosity gratified, and the time occupied in its perusal not perhaps unprofitably employed. From an inspection of the whole, it must appear that great labour and industry have been used . in drawing to a focus so much matter on a subject go diversified and complicated ; but the writer will find his toil amply compensated, should his views appear correct, and his intentions be fairly esti- mated. The design of. this publication was not to magnify the errors of mankind, - occasioned by the inordinate use of intoxicating liquors,.a theme that would occupy volumes, but to disclose, in a clear and comprehensive manner, the prevalence of drinking, and its influence on society. . Notwithstanding all that was wished and in- tended may not have been realized, the author flatters himself that he has not been unsuccessful in settling some doubtful points, and of rendering the subject more luminous, and worthy of further investigation by such as possess more leisure, talents, and information. During his long prac- Vii tical experience as a revenue officer, he had fre- quent opportunities of observing the policy of the changes which, from time to time, were made by the legislature in the distillery laws. It was, there- fore, his intention to offer some suggestions, which he conceives would have been useful; but finding that an analysis of our ponderous excise code had. been placed in the hands of commissioners ap- pointed for that purpose, the design was abandoned, and the. book closed with a few. remarks on the probable effects of the law recommended and adopted. In the present stage of the operation of that law, it might be deemed injudicious to offer a comment; but had a less complicated system been. introduced, it may with safety be affirmed, that legal distillation, particularly in Ireland, would have increased in a fourfold proportion. —— Since this-book was put to press, the saccharo- ” meter of Mr. Allan, (see page $58,) which is the one mentioned in the act of 4 Geo. 4. cap. 94., has been laid aside, and a new one substituted in its place, by an order of the Lords of the Treasury, dated 17th October, 1823. It is called Bate’s saccharometer, from the name of the maker, Ro- bert Brettell Bate, of London; and appears to be an instrument well calculated to answer all the purposes intended. . Vu It is also necessary to observe, that the calcula- tion in page 855, respecting the cost of manufac- turing spirits in Ireland, was made out during the operation of the late distillery laws, and is therefore inapplicable to the new system, which is essentially different in duties, &¢.; but the principle of that calculation, when applied to the present law, will be found perfectly correct. The cost of manufac- ture, therefore, in January, 1824, may be fairly estimated at the following proportions: viz. one- fourth of malt, as required by law, at 82s. per bar- rel of ground grain, two-fourths of barley, :at 18s. per barrel, and one-fourth of oats, at 12s. per bar- rel, shows the cost for grain to be 2s. 8d. per gal- lon; and, allowing for manufacture, 4d., and for the duty on spirits at 25 per cent. over proof, Qs. 8id., makes spirits stand the distiller 5s, 82d. per gallon. aon oo at rr ~~. CONTENTS. EARLY cultivation of the grape ....s.cceccessscsseeeeosees Use of wine among the Hebrews ........sseseeeee eoeees the Egyptians teen ccesceeesceeseeoos the Greeks and Romans cos peceee the Saracens eo saeeecenccecs fe ecees Distillation practised by the Arabs ss eeecececnssoeccoee Liquors used by the Nubians ......... Gee seeesenes sec eeeees other African Nations. eae veccesees seers the Turks .....ssecesccccsscscceccecoeces ‘the Persians . wetter ec eencscessees coscceees the Tartars sesasatpeseioviscstuerecren _the people of India .........ssce0e , the Javanese ........ + eeceoneoeces Observations on opium and other exhilarating sub- SCANCES ...cccccecccecce O eeecer ere recccscecccscascceccccos eee Distillation. practised i in China at an early period ...+0. Wine and beer made by the Chinese ......sssssessesceee Liquors made by the people of Japan ..... cere ereceeers a Page 2 5 8 13 26 28 47\ 50, 56 60 65 69 84 89 107 118 136 Page Palm Wine of the Philippine Islands......... sovsescesees 139 Liquors used in the islands of the Pacific.....scccccccee 141 New Zealand and New South Wales 148 Cape of Good Hope ......ccccsscssesseee 155 West India Islands......... ecccssccscescee 160 Demerara. .......seecesreeees sovccsecsesvess 166 Mexico and ‘Peru ....cccoscsocsscceececee 170 the Floridas ...cccc...ssscceceeccsccscceces 174 the United States ....cce.ssececsscseerecee 176 Canada ....verccssscscccccscccscsosscccccsoce 187 the Indian Tribes. .......csssssecssceesseve 190 the Canary Isles .....eccoccsscseseesssereee 192 Madeira ..ccccsevcessscevcccesescscccccsccs 194 Portugal ....0ssceresscescsccerecccercceceves 202 Isles of the Mediterranean ......0.000..-. 205 © CYPTUs ...ccccssceccvccssssecteeseresessseres 207 * France..sceeeseeee ccecsccccceecsecesecessseee 208 _ Holland «......... co cencceseeseres secseseese 218 * Germany... ..ccccccrccsssscessccscrcescovess 228 * Hungary ...cccssccsscesecscsssssscevseccsees 225 Provinces bordering on Germany ...... 234 + PYUssia .cco.cccccccccccsccecssccecssecccscces 236 Hanover... ..cesecceses cessor sossocereoserees 2389 “Demmiark....cccsesssccsscscsscccccecssccscce 20ie Norway ..cocesceccesccecscrescvsvcscesracees 240 "+ Sweden escsccccercsccssveces cescecccecccss. 2Hl “Lapland ...ccocsccsccssssscsscrscsscsscesces 245 Finland ....csscsscsscceseecseees seesesoreeee 247 Russia .ccccsscccvcccces eecccccceecccccs coos 248 CIMA ceosocscsscrescrccsccsccccseserseeees 262 . xi . Page Liquors used in Siberia COC COC ROE SHEETFED DE CHO OER ELE ROESeEOC8 264 Kamschatka COO 265 England eseccrsccssreseceesserseccsceseveves 272 Scotland cee eeeveonecceeecocessceovesesece 808 Ireland 0000000 CORTE REGS OHEH ED OHH TOO HORTON COS $80 INDEX POC recor scot Ole POCO GOS HOSE OEE EHEC THEA SEES CHL ORESOOE $69 | ERRATA. Page 195. note, for Burgoing’s State of Spain, {c. read Anderson’s Commerce, vol. i. p. 200. — 330. line 10. for that island, , read although that island. AN ESSAY. Wen man was driven from that peaceful asylum originally assigned to him by his Creator, and con- demned to earn his bread by the labour of his hands *, his attention was no doubt powerfully ex- erted in procuring the necessaries of: life; such as food, clothing, and habitation. As a cultivator of the earth, he must have been constantly employed, and as his occupation varied with the varying sea- sons, his mind was continually exercised iw contri- vances to diminish and sweeten his toil. — His activity, when thus excited, soon extended its influence to every department of life, and havin$ procured its necessaries, he was no doubt early led to the exercise of his ingenuity in the attainment of its luxuries. The preservation of fruit, and their juices, however rudely practised, might have led to to the use of inebriating drink; a beverage, which, * Gen. iii. 23. B 2 as will hereafter be shown, has been discovered by some of the most savage nations, and deemed a lux- ury by the almost universal testimony of mankind. Whether the use, or knowledge of fermenting the grape was known before the flood is now uncertain. We are told * that Cain built a city, which he called after his son Enoch, and that one of his early de- scendants, Jubal, invented the harp and organ, while another, Tubal Cain, was an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron. From the perfection to which the latter had attained in the fabrication of instruments from these metals, we may conclude that the use of them was long known before, for as. Cain. and Adam were “tillers of the ground,” they could not have cultivated it without imple. ments. of this nature ; yet there is nothing to guide us even at this advanced state of the arts, in the supposition that mankind had any knowledge of in- ebriating liquors: at what period therefore, and in what manner, their wine was first made and used is now unknown. Noah, it appears from Genesis ix. 21., became drunk with the produce of his own vineyard ;, aad as it is reasonable to suppose he was well aequainted with all the discoveries of his progenitors, and their different methods of culti- yating the ground, we may infer that it was not the first. instance in which the cultivation of the vine was practised, and the intoxicating quality of the grape * Gen. iv. 17. 8 experienced.* Whether, however, the drink which had that effect was the simple expressed juice of the grape, or had undergone any fermenting pro- cess, weare not told. It is, indeed, generally ad. mitted that the simple juice of the grape has no inebriating quality, and that to produce intoxica- tion it, must undergo a certain degree of ferment- ation; but as the ripe juice possesses in itself all the principles essential to such a change, it would very soon.ferment, particularly in warm climates, so that the period would be but short between its mild and intoxicating state. Milton seems to have entertained the opinion, that the fruit of which our first parents had eaten —— “ Whose mortal taste Brought death inte the world, and all our woe.” was of an intoxicating nature, when he says, “ Soon as the force of that fallacious fruit, That with exhilarating vapour bland About their spirits had played, and inmost powers Made err, was now exhaled ;” — The rabbins, or Jewish doctors, were of the same belief; the vine being considered by them as the tree so strictly prohibited by the Almighty. Doc- * The learned Doctor Kennicott says, the text ought to have been translated, ‘“‘ And Noah continued to be a husband- man,” instead of, “ And Noah began to be an husbandman.” B 2 4 tor Lightfoot and many eminent theologians were _ impressed with the like opinion; but all conjec- tures on this subject, however respectably sup- ported, are unsatisfactory, obscured as it is by the lapse of ages and the silence of the gtave, Noah must be admitted to have been certainly the first, on record, who planted a vineyard and experienced the inebriating quality of the grape. The honour of this discovery the Pagans after- wards attributed to Bacchus, whom they worshipped as the sensual encourager of feast and jollity, In following the course of scripture narrative, we perceive that as the descendants of Noah increased, the vine, as supplying the means.of a more com- fortable subsistence, was cultivated by them to con- siderable extent, and that persons were purposely set apart for the manufacture of wine, as presses were erected, and the juice expressed from the grape as soon as the fruit was ripe. Palestine, it is said, early abounded in excellent vineyards. So great was their number, that of the single inherit- ance belonging to the tribe of Judah alone, in or- der to denote the superabundant produce, it was metaphorically said, that he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of the grape. So — many and various are the notices of the prophets respecting this species of liquor, that it would be . tedious to quote them. Two kinds are particularly mentioned, as of an excellent and superior descrip- tion ; the wine of Eldon and that of Lebanon. The oy 5 wine of Eldon became an article of traffic, and was transported to Tyre and to more distant places, - where, with a variety of other valuable merchan- dize, described by Ezekiel, and evincing the ad- vanced state of the arts at the time, it was eagerly purchased. This wine was said to be well known to the ancients, and, under the name of Chalibonian wine, was noted for its peculiar excellence. It was made at Damascus, where the Persians planted vineyards in order to obtain it in greater perfection and in larger quantities. Its quality is said to have been that of a fat or generous wine. The wine of Lebanon is described as sweet scented, - and to have been much admired; its excellence was ascribed to the great luxuriance of the vines which grew on the sides of mount Lebanon, where they had a good aspect or favourable exposure to the sun. From the testimony of ancient writers, we find that it early became the practice to mix certain per- fumes or sweet-scented herbs in the wine to improve its flavour. With these odoriferous wines the He- brews are said to have been well acquainted. Of the composition of these, and the preparation of the dif- ferent ingredients, we are not informed; there can, however, be but little doubt that by means of these mixtures there would be a much greater variety of wines formerly than at present. Having but one. kind of liquor, they would, no doubt, modify and. improve it as much as possible; accordingly we find B 8 6 particular mention made of vinegar wine, medicated - wine, spiced wine, and wine mixed with perfumes ; but what particular kinds or variety of spicery or perfumes were infused, we can only conjecture. The seripture also informs us, that strong drink, or strong liquors, were administered to criminals before execution, to stupefy their senses, or deaden their feeling of pain: this, says the Talmud, was given immediately before the execution began, and consisted of a cup of wine mingled with a quantity of frankincense. For the purpose of preparing or qualifying this intoxicating draught, certain cha- ritable or compassionate women at Jerusalem were engaged, who made it their business to mingle a portion of drugs or bitter herbs in the wine for the above purpose, to inspire them with a false courage to meet their approaching fate with fortitude.* The foundation of this custom appears to have been laid in the command of Solomon, “ Give strong «« drink to him that is ready to perish, and wine to “‘ those that be of heavy heart.”’+ Allusion is made to the same species of drink in the book of the prophet Jeremiaht, written near four hundred . years afterwards, Perhaps, of a similar nature was the bowl of wine which Homer tells us Helen * A practice somewhat similar prevailed in England ; it being customary to present to malefactors, on their way to the gal- lows, in ancient times, a great bow! of ale, as the last refresh- ment they were to receive in this life. — Pennant’s London. + Proverbs, xxxi. 6. { Jeremiah, xxv. 16. 7 presented to her guests, when oppressed with grief, to raise their spirits; the composition of which she had learned from the Egyptians. ‘‘ Meanwhile, with genial joy to warm the seul, Bright Helen mix’d a mirth-inspiring bowl ; Tempered with drugs of sovereign use, t’ assuage The boiling bosom of tumultuous rage ; Charm’d with that virtuous draught, the exalted nnd All sense of woe delivers to the win - The practice so prevalent amongst the Hebrews of mixing their wine, was always with a view to make it stronger and more inebriating, by the addition of more powerful ingredients. The prophets have in numerous instances reprobated this practice y but, like the tipplers of our own day, too many of the Jews appreciated the pleasures of the bottle, by the ‘strength of the liquor. Some have asserted that the strong drink, so often mentioned in scripture, means palm or date wine: of this opinion were Theodoret and Chry. sostom. . Judea, it is well known, was famous for the abundance and excellence of its palm-trees*; and that the Jews were acquainted with the triaking of this wine, there is little reason to doubt; but that * The palm trees, says Fleury, in his Manners atd Customs of the ancient Israelites, that grew about Jericho, yielded a considerable profit. —Clarke’s Edition, London, 1821, page 39. B 4 8 it was of a stronger body than that made from the juice of the grape, we are not informed. The word shecer, from shakar in the Hebrew, to | inebriate, signifies any kind of fermented liquors, or strong drink. “ Any intoxicating liquor,” says St. Jerome, ‘is called sikera, from the Greek ‘“‘ word osxepa, whether made of corn, apples, honey, ‘“‘ dates, or any other fruits.’ * One of the four prohibited liquors among the Mahommedans in India is called sakar, which signifies inebriating ‘drink in general, but especially date wine. From the original word, Dr. Clarke observes, we have probably borrowed our term cider, which among us exclusively implies the fermented juice of apples, Thus, from a review of the sacred writers, it does not appear that the people in their day had any knowledge of the art of extracting an intoxi- cating spirit by evaporation. Had that discovery been known, it is likely they would have noticed it, as well as the other arts of which they have given us an account. Indeed the free use of wine, which was then generally practised, may be said to have prevented a search after any other kind of - liquor; for it is only in those places where the vine was not cultivated, that the first notice of any other beverage is found. Among the Egyptians, whose country was fa. * Vide Epis. ad Nepot. <a To TTT | 9 mous for its corn, Herodotus tells us, that beer, or a wine drawn from barley, was the liquor princi- pally used*; and that in the time of Cambyses, 529 years before the Christian era, the Syrians were well skilled in the manufacture of palm wine. t The same writer informs us, that the Lotophagi, a people of Africa, who chiefly subsisted on the produce of the lotos plant, made a species of wine from its berries. { And Xenophon relates, in his history of the retreat of the ten thousand Greeks after the battle of Cunaxa, that in that part of ‘Armenia next to Curdistan, the inhabitants had a method of preparing a potent liquor from what ap- pears to have been barley. “The soil,” says he, «is ‘‘ good for arable and pasture, and the produce «‘ abundant; yet the people inhabit caves, with their “cattle, poultry, &c. They fill open vessels with ‘“‘ barley and water up to the brim.” The time for the fermentation and other parts of the process is not told, but the liquor is described as very strong, if not mixed with water, and pleasant to those who * Herodotus, b. ii. sect. 77. + Herodotus, b. iii. cap. 1. sect. 20. $ According to Scylax, the lotos served these people both for meat and drink, and from that circumstance they derived their name. Strabo observes, that the Lotophagi were not sensible of the want of water in the burning and sandy region they inhabited, as the root, stalks, &c. of the lotos supplied them with rich liquor, as well as delicious food. Ulysses and his companions were said to have been enchanted with it, as it made those who ate of it forget their country and relations, _ For a description of its virtues and properties, vide Pliny, b. xiii. chap. 17. 10 are accustomed to it. Beside the vessels lie hol- low canes or reeds, of various sizes, through which they drink by suction ; but in token of great hospi- tality, as it is supposed, they allowed their Gre- cian guests to drink out of the vessels ‘after the “manner of oxen.” * Probably this is the liquor called zythem, made in some of the provinces of Asia Minor, mentioned by Diodorus Siculus up- wards of 300 years afterwards. The invention of these beverages is attributed to Isis or Osiris, who are said to have reigned jointly in Egypt, and are deified in ancient mythology ; but to whom they really owe their origin it would be now impossible to determine. The Egyptians and Hebrews, as we find from Moses, who was versed in all their learning +, understood the art of dyeing, with the smelting and mixing of metals, and the preservation of the dead by antiseptic substances ; the making of glass of various colours may be added as a discovery known to the Egyptians from @ very remote antiquity, as well as the art of ren- . dering gold potable, as appears from Exod. xxxii. 20.; but we no where read that they ever attained a higher knowledge in the secrets of chemistry. In the practice of the medical art the most an- cient physicians. appear ignorant of the mode of extracting any of the essential oils by steams or vapours. Hippocrates, justly called the father of physic, who flourished between the 80th and 88th * Xen. Anab. p.332., edit. Lond. + Acts, vii. 22. 7 11 Olympiad, or about 400 years before Christ, is the oldest author whose writings expressly on the medical art are preserved; and in the whole of his works there is not a single expression which could warrant the idea of a retort, or alembic, having ever been used by him. Some have maintained, from a passage in Mat- thew’s gospel, that the use of the still was par- tially known in our Lord’s time, as they intimate that he alluded to the distillation of herbs for me- dicinal purposes, when he used the word xA6avov, (klibanon,) where he said, speaking of the grass of the field, ‘* which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast “‘ into the oven*,”’ eis ton kisbanon, “into the oven,” ‘into the still,’ according to others; but as there does not appear a vestige of evidence in any ancient author that the art of distillation was then known, such a translation may be said to have more of fancy than of learning in it. Pliny the elder, who was nearly a contemporary with our Saviour, and who, in his natural history, has shown himself so curious and so judicious a master in the compilation of facts and observations, appears to be altogether ignorant of any stronger liquor than that produced by fermentation. He notices the various drinks of the Egyptians in use in his day, which were manufactured from grain steeped in water, and assures us, that they were very strong, and drunk by them without any mix- * Matthew, vi. 30. 12 ture whatever. . These beverages were distin- guished by various names, such as zythum, celia, ceria, ceris vinum, or wine of ceres, curmi, cervi- sia, &c., all literally meaning ale or beer. The making of them, he. says, was known to all the sevetal nations who inhabited the west of Europe. The mode of manufacture was somewhat different in different countries, as in France and Spain, but its nature and properties were every where the same. The people of Spain in particular, he informs us, had arrived to such perfection in the art, that the drink made by them could be kept to a great age.* Some think, that by the invention which he mentions, after the enumeration of these beverages asan extraordinary discovery, ‘that water was made “ to intoxicate,’’ is meant distillation. It would cer- tainly appear to be something very different from the ordinary mode of obtaining liquors by ferment- ation, if we read the passage as unconnected with his preceding observations ; but as this cannot be done with propriety, it means nothing more than the intoxicating power or strength acquired by the water in the fermenting process of the grain. «“ Heu, mira vitiorum solertia! inventum est que- “‘madmodum aqua quoque inebriaret.”” — ‘Oh wondrous craft of the vices! by some mode or other it was discovered that water also might be made to inebriate.’t In the 43d book, chap. 8., he de- * Plin. b. xiv. chap. 22. + Ibid. b. xiv. 8.29. Mr. Murphy, in one of his notes on Tacitus, like some other writers, understood Pliny as if he ~~ omega 13 scribes the mode of obtaining an artificial quicksilver by distillation. The apparatus employed was two earthen pots and an iron pan; but he does not in any other part of his work describe the application of a like apparatus to the extracting of the juices of vegetable matter, if we except his account of the manner in which oil was obtained from pitch, in book xv. chap. 7., where he says, “ the yapour *‘ arising from the boiling pitch was collected on £¢ fleeces of wool spread over the pots, and afterwards ** extracted from them by expression.” This was evidently distillation in its infancy, clearly proving however, that it was not known in his time in a more improved state, In treating of the wine of his own country, he details with wonderful minuteness the progress of its manufacture and the perfection to which it had arrived. It was not, however, until about 600 years after the foundation of the Roman empire, that vines were cultivated, and that, wine came into general use; before that period wines were so scarce that in the sacrifices the libations to the gods were made only with milk * : : Numa, the suc- cessor of Romulus, who had enacted this observ- spoke of distillation in the above passage. ‘‘ Pliny the elder,” says he, “ observes that the Egyptians had their intoxicating “« fiquors distilled from grain, which their country produced “* in great abundance.” De Morib. German. vol.iv. p. 268. *. Pliny, b. xiv. chap, 12. . 14 ance, directed, from the great scarcity of wine that prevailed, that no man should besprinkle the fu- nereal fire with it; and when the offer of wine to the gods in sacrifice was permitted, it was decreed, with a view to encourage the plantation of vineyards, that all wine so offered should be the produce of such vine plants as had been cut and pruned. It was in these times of simplicity that women were forbidden to drink it; and for that reason their near relations were permitted to salute them when they came to their houses, in order to smell whether they had tasted any Temetum, for so they termed wine, which, if discovered, gave their hus- bands a right to punish them. According to Dio- nysius Halicarnassensis, Romulus was the author of the law which permitted a husband to kill his wife for drinking wine, as well as for the crime of adul- tery. It is related that Ignatius Mecennius, having killed his wife with a cudgel because he found her drinking wine out of a cask, was ac- quitted by Romulus of the murder.* ‘Fabius Pictor, in his annals, says, that a Roman lady was starved to death by her own relations for having picked the lock of a chest in which were the keys of the wine cellar.t We are assured by Pliny, that Cneius Domitius, a judge in Rome, in the like case pronounced sentence judicially against a woman who was defendant, in this form, «that it * Pliny, b. xiv. chap. 13, + Ibid. rs... a_i ow~ F TS 15 * seemed she had drank more wine without her “husband’s knowledge than was needful for the “ preservation of her health,’’ and therefore that she should lose the benefit of her dowry. We read, that Lucius Papyrius, general of the Roman armies, when at the point of engaging the Samnites, made no other vow than that he would offer to Jupiter a little cup or goblet of wine in case he gained the victory. Men in those days were also forbidden to drink it till the age of thirty. ‘Towards the declension ef the commonwealth, and under the first empe- rors, the women were not only accustomed to drink wine, but carried the excess of it as far as the men, which, if we credit Pliny, far exceeded any thing of the kind in modern times.* Theophrastus says, that great drunkards, when they drank for a wager, used to take the powder of pumice-stone be- fore setting to.t This probably gave rise to the * It was to prevent females from committing excessive crimes, that the lawgivers in ancient times prohibited the free use of wine. Seneca complains bitterly that in his day the custom of prohibition wasalmost universally violated. The weak and deli- cate complexion of the women, says he, is not changed, but their manners are changed and no longer the same; they value themselves upon carrying excess of wine to as great a height as the most robust men; like them they pass whole nights at table, and with a full glass of unmixed wine in their hands, they. glory in vieing with them, and, if they can, in over- coming them. t Pliny, b. xxxvi. chap. 21. 16 invention of “ devils,’ those choice and whetting tit bits so much resorted to after dinner by the topers of the present day. Some of the Romans even went so far as to take hemlock in order to make them drink.* Tiberius Claudius, who was fond of a goblet himself, knighted Novellius Torquatus, by the title of Tricongius, or the three-gallon knight, for drinking three gallons of wine at a draught, and without taking breath.t It was ge- . nerally believed at Rome, that Caius Piso owed his advancement at the court of Tiberius to his extraordinary powers in that way, as it is said, he would sit for two days and two nights drinking without intermission or even stirring from the table. Tergilla, who challenged Marcus Cicero, son of the famous orator, to a drinking bout, boasted that he ordinarily drank two gallons at a draught. § And in latet times we read, that the emperor Maximin, who was no less extraordinary for his gigantic stature than his great strength, would drink six gallons of wine without committing any de- bauch. || 7 * Pliny, b. xiv. chap. 22. + Ibid. The Roman gallon is equal to seven pints of our measure. } Pliny, b. xiv. chap. 22, . § Ibid. | Maximin is said to have been eight and a half feet high, made in proportion ; and if, agreeably to the old adage, ‘* Good “eating requires good drinking,” we need scarcely be surprised at his powers in that way, when it is asserted'he ate forty pownds of flesh every day. Sinclair, in his Code of Health, 1@ 17 Pliny exhibits a strong proof of the great fond- ness which the Romans, as well as other nations, had for this liquor, in stating that no less than 195 sorts were in general use; but of the wines most esteemed, he reduces the number to eighty, two- thirds of which he reckons the produce of Italy. Those wines which took their name from Opi- -tmius, in whose consulate they were made, some of - which were preserved to Pliny’s time, that is, nearly 200 years, were not, from their great excellence, to be purchased for money. If a small quantity of any of them were mixed with others, it is said, they communicated a surprising strength and fla- vour. The empress Julia Augusta often said that she was indebted to the goodness of the Pu- cine wine for living to the age of eighty-two. This wine was the produce of the grape planted along the Adriatic sea, or gulf of Venice, upon a stony and rugged hill, not far from the source of the river Timavus, and was thought to have received some of its valuable qualities from the vapours of the sea. The wine Cacubum was much sought after be- fore the time of Augustus Cesar, but from the tells us, that a Mr. Vanhorn, of modern notoriety, drank in the course of three and twenty years, 35,688 bottles or 59 pipes of red port; a quantity, perhaps, not exceeded by any of the drunkards of antiquity. What a prodigious stomach and con- stitution this man must have had ! . Cc 18 preference given to Setine by that emperor, it fell into disuse, and the latter was preferred by his successors for its various medicinal virtues. Amongst all the wines of Italy, the Falernian, so much celebrated by Horace, was in the greatest repute. It was very strong and rough, and was not drank till it had been kept ten years. To cor- rect its roughness it was either mixed with honey, -or wine of a weaker nature, by which means it was rendered delicious. The Faustian wine, a.species -of: the Falernian, was of so spirituous a nature, that it would ‘burn with a pure and light flame. The Albane, Calene, or wines of Alba, made near the city of Rome; the Surrentine, said by Tiberius Cesar to be so much recommended by physicians, and so well liked by Caligula; the Massic; the Fundane, the wine of Signia; the Mamertine, from about Messina, in Sicily, ordered by Julius Cesar to be used in the feasts of the city, and the Potu- lane wines, so called from the first planters of the vine from which they were produced. The wines of Tuscany, the Preetutian, the Ancone; the Pal- mesian, from. the vines growing up the palm or ' date tree; Cesenatian and Mecenatian wines; the . Rhetian, within the territory of Verona, spoken of by Virgil, and ranked by him next to the Falernian ; the Latiniensian; the Graviscane and’ Statonian wines; the wines made between the Pyrenean hills and the Alps, were, with various others, celebrated, and many of them in great demand in Pliny’s day. | Sl th Oe > ae te, ests FD 19 Among the Greeks, wine was also the fayourite beverage. Homer mentions a very famous wine of Maronea in Thrace, which would bear mixing with twenty times as much, water, but it was cam- mon for the natives te drink it unmixed. The ‘wines of Cyprus, Lesbos, (now Mytilene,) and Chio, were much celebrated. Those of Cyprus, and the wines of many of the other Greek islands, as. will be noticed in another place, are in great esteem to this day. Horace often mentions.the wines. of Lesbos, and represents them ag: very wholesome: and agreeable; but Chio carried’it from all the other countries, and surpassed them so much that the inhabitants of that island were thought to be the first who planted: the vine, and taught the use of it to other nations. * All these wines were in. such esteem at Rome, according to Marcus Varro, quoted by Pliny, that in the year 675. after the foundation of that city, Pubkius Lu- cinius Crassus and Lucius Julius Cesar, the then. censors, published an edict, and proclaimed “that no man should sell any Greek wine or Arminean, but after eight asses the amphor or quadratum. t”’ From the great price and estimation of Chios wine, no person was indulged with more than one draught of it at a meal; a proof of this is given by Varro in the instance of Lucius Lucullus, who, when a * Rollin. + The amphora contained a little less than 26 querts. c 2 20 boy, never saw miore than a cup served up at his father’s table after dinner.* It is said of Caius Sentius the pretor, that he never used it on account of its dearness, before it was prescribed to him by the physicians as useful for the cardiaca passio, or trembling of the heart, to which he was subject ; on the contrary, such was the love of Hortensius, the famous orator, for it, that when he died he left to his heir about 10,000 barrels, which he had stored in his cellar. The prevailing quality of this as well as of the other wines just mentioned, was sweetness and a delicious flavour. The wine of Corcyra and of Mende were remarkable for their good qualities ; those also of Naxos and Thasos, though generally considered inferior to Chios, were compared to nectar. Among the Greeks it appears sweet and odo- riferous wines were always in great estimation. In many instances, they sweetened their wine by put- ting flour kneaded with honey into the vessels. Origanum, aromatics, fruits, and flowers were also infused. The wine of Bybolos in Phoenicia was much esteemed for the strength of the perfumes with which it was impregnated. But of all the mixtures and infusions which were common among them, that of salt water was the most * This same Lucullus, when he returned out of Asia, in an en- tertainment which he gave to the citizens of Rome, distributed among the people more than 100,000 gallons of wine. Pliny, b. xiv. chap. 14. : ttn Oe ete 21 singular. It was done, it appears, with a view to promote digestion, and prevent the wine from flying to the head. One measure of sea-water was con- sidered sufficient for fifty of wine.* This mix- ture, which is was called Biseon, was first. prac- tised by a servant in Greece, who, to deceive his master, poured sea-water into the vessel out of which he had stolen and drank some wine. In Rhodes and Cos, a considerable quantity of this wine was made, which the Romans and others imitated. ; If we credit some authors, wine was net. the only’ beverage known to the Greeks; for although Homer is silent on the matter, they knew from a re- mote period how to compose with water and barley a liquor, which for strength and goodness, approached to wine.t Ovid, speaking of the meeting that Ceres, exhausted with weariness, had with an old woman named Baubo, says, that the goddess having de- manded some water, the old woman presented her with a liquor manufactured from dried grain. t This was their otmos krithinos cerevisia, or wine made from barley. They also understood the mak- ing of Palm wine, called oinos epsetos, sometimes termed ezos epseton, for oros was a general. name * See the Travels of Anacharsis the younger, by the Abbé Barthelemi. + Diod. 1. iv. p. 248. $ Vide Metam. |. v. v. 449, &c. also Bayle,