156

DRINK CONSIDERED AS AN ALIMENT, &c.

grees of sensibility as follow:-When you feel particu

larly desirous of having another glass, leave off, you enough—and

have had

"Enough is as good as a feast,

Did a man his just measure but know:

A drunkard is worse than a beast

When he neither can stand, sit, nor go."

When you look at a distant object, and it appears double, you are then, in every sense of the word, "homo duplicans"-leave off, you have had too much; for, according to Dr. Bibibus, in his Dissertation on Bumpers, you are then a double man- "he is not as he should be, ipse he,' but as he should not be, 'tipse he.

.

When you knock over your glass, spill your wine upon the table, or are unable to recollect the words of a song you are attempting to sing, and which you have been in the habit of singing for the last dozen years, leave the company-evaporate as speedily as possible— you are getting a burthen to yourself, a nuisance on the spot-consequently, an annoyance to the company, unless they be all as far gone as yourself. When you nod in the chair, fall over the hearth, or lurch on your neighbour's shoulder, or pitch yourself against the wall, go to bed-" you are drunk," cæteris paribus.

* Vide "Lectures on Heads," by Alex. Stevens.

SECTION XXIII.

SOME CURSORY OBSERVATIONS ON SAILORS' DE

LIGHT," COMMONLY CALLED

66

GROG."

For grog is the liquor of life,

The delight of each brave British tar;
It banishes sorrow and strife,

And softens the hardships of war.

Old Song.

THE invention of * grog, or a mixture of three parts water and one part spirit, is attributed to Admiral Vernon, on the ground that the allowance of pure spirit served out in that state to the seamen too frequently intoxicated them.

Grog is not unfashionable, and it is a safe me

* In the "Seaman's Guide," by the Hon. John Cochrane (8vo.p. 37), this mixture is said to be "too strong :" so it would if repeated more than once in twenty-four hours. But, surely, no one will say that half a pint of rum and three half pints of water is too strong for a hard-working hardy tar, from twelve o'clock to-day till the same hour to-morrow. There are many seamen who can drink this quantity, even with advantage, yet there are doubtless others, and strong men too, who, if they consume it all at once, become more or less intoxicated by thus drinking it. To such individuals, and to the sickly and debilitated, some subɛtitute as an equivalent ought to be made; to the former half the quantity, and the value of the other half in tobacco, money, or other stores ;-to the latter wine, or the same.

dium of using spiritous liquors; which are not only eminently destructive to the body, but are, truly, the greatest incentives to vice of every kind. There are,

however, several kinds of drinkers, each of which has his own taste; indeed, every country has its peculiar beverage; according to the old ballad,

The Russ loves brandy, Dutchmen beer,

The Indian rum most mighty;

The Welchman sweet metheglin* quaffs,

The Irish aqua vitæ ;

The French extol the Orleans grape,

The Spaniard tipples sherry;
The English none of these escape,

For they with all make merry.

* Metheglin is a species of mead, prepared from honey boiled with water and fermented, and one of the most pleasant and general drinks that the northern parts of Europe afford, and much used among the

ancient inhabitants.

"The juice of beer, not Bacchus, here behold,
Which British bards were wont to quaff of old;
The berries of the grape with furies swell,*

But in the honey-comb the graces dwell."

From the custom of drinking a beverage made with honey for thirty days' feast after a grand wedding, comes the expression honey-moon, which is a Teutonic phrase, not to be found in the warmsome latitudes. Attila, King of Hungary, notorious for the horrible ravages that he committed both in Gaul and Italy, drank so freely of hydromel (mead or metheglin, as the word imports), on his wedding-day, that he was found suffocated at night; an event which occurred in the year 453; and with him expired the Empire of the Huns.

* Alluding to a saying which the Turks have, that "there lurks a Devil in every berry of the vine."

Maynwaringe on Health, &c. 12mo. 1683. p. 123."There are three sorts of drinkers: one drinks to satisfy nature and support his body, and requires it as necessary to his being.

"Another drinks a degree beyond this, and takes a larger dose to exhilarate and cheer his mind, and help him to sleep-these two are lawful drinkers.

"A third drinks neither for the good of the body nor the mind, but to stupify and drown both.

Dr. Rush says, "Ardent spirits fill our churchyards with premature graves, and crowd our jails and mad-houses. The ardent spirits of the present day are not the same as they were a hundred years ago. The base traffic carried on with impunity in the metropolis by the generality of spirit retailers, call aloud for the interference of the legislature. Brandy, rum, gin, wines of every description, in this country in particular, are spoiled, and rendered deleterious, by the unprincipled and avaricious hand of the illiterate sophisticator. If these spirits were kept up to the proper figure, fewer of the evil consequences which arise from grog, and especially from dram-drinking, would be felt in society. It is the poorer order of the people who suffer most by these nefarious practices of the retailers -the better class get in a sufficient quantity at a time from the spirit merchant, at the regular market price.

Many people drink spirits until it produces a certain effect: if this effect be to be produced at double or treble the quantity of bad liquor, which, by means of good would be effected at one potion; it is evi

dent, the expence in pocket as well as in health must be felt in more than the same ratio. Let but the excise exercise its just prerogative-keep a bright and constant eye upon the Boniface tribe, by keeping up the figure of their liquor, that is, its legal strength, the poor, who must have gin, and will have it at any price, may certainly spend their money, but there will be less risk in ruining their health.

It is enough to lay down rules and maxims of health; we cannot enforce their obedience. The liberty of the belly is, to an Englishman, in particular, like the liberty of the press; if he have it not he dies. If people think proper to kill themselves by their own folly, it is a privilege, however immoral, no one can prevent, although one may be at liberty to question its propriety. It belongs, therefore, to the legislature, inter aliis, to protect his majesty's liege subjects, and see that they are not killed against their wishes by slow poisons, in the shape of deleterious liquors and unwholesome aliment; and although frugality be enjoined to all who would enjoy health and comparative wealth -to what purpose have they the liberty, if it be not lawful for them that will, to eat, drink, and be merry, or even to kill themselves with luxury, at their own expense? But let them have a fair chance-let them not be poisoned, either in their cups or dishes, sooner than they otherwise would be.

As all this, however, be it for good or bad, will depend on the taste, habits, and feelings of individuals; it may be remarked, that a good, elegant, or refined