Litchfield enquirer., 1833-05-16
FOR THE TITcHFIELD ENQUIRER. TEMPERANCE. No. IT.


 the various liquors which go under the name of wine is attempted he established fails entirely for this reasOn that these liquors are different, both in their composition and their efects from any that is mem toned with approbaon tn the bbie To say that be- cn"se there was some alcohol in the wines which the scripture allowed therefore all wines or liquors that have ever so great proportion of alcohol in them, are allowable; is like saying that an allowance of sm"il beer is an allowance of peppered rum.
 But 'tmay be satisfactory the true state of.he case with respect to wines, have them in this country. For this purpose I introduce an extract from the Prize Essay of Professor Stuart. The sate- mens made in this have not, far as know, been called in question.
 ' As to the various kinds of wine which are mndea- moDg US without the of fresh grapes they are an ahomInaoe drink for many of them in reality poisonous, aud all nearly all of them are worse than foreign wines tn regard the quantity of alec. hol m'xcd with them. The exposures recently made in our country, relative to this subject, of fearful Oature, and adapted strike the community with hor- TOT. 10 such has the love o gain proceed ed among us, that many of the manui,c and ders o aritcIa wines, as is now well asceFlained do not scrupe at all 10 mix with them substances of the most destructive nature, such as sugar 0f iead and other poisonous ingredients. Whenever a wine be- comes n any measure popular, tn consequence of its having been imported for while tn state p"ra',vey pure, then it is in short time initiated by manufacturers among us; so that it soon becomes scarcely possible lO obtain liquor oE the which is not artificial. The effects of all this speedily begin to deveope themselves; and the consequence IS that the wine becomes unpopular among the more discerning class of consumers. Another wine is then introduced from abroad, which IS comparatively pure. This goes through the round is then discarded; ana afterwards tt IS followed by others, which all share the same ate.
 "In the mean time, our country becomes deluged with false and poisonous wines, manufactured m our large cities The love of gain spares neither the health nor tile life of our citizens; for 1t distributes among them these liquors containing nsidous posons which lay the foundation for painful and fatal diseases, and spread rum and misery among the innocent and unwa- ry." "ltis now too well known to admit any prop CT contradiction that by far the greater part Of tcineS ;" hts country are atfcia aud of these most are ab- solutely poisonous"
 Professor RaGnesque says; "Temperance Soce- ties ought 10 prescribe the uis trash called Port and Madeira, which not oines, but impure brandy mix lures, ,rine grogs" He here speaks of those wines which are imported, and which we have tn the state in which they shipped; for he says; In Port, Madeira, &c the brandy is added afer fermen taton; and thus they become ,rine grogs.", Hence it would seem tha. he considers all that have in this country under the name of Port and Madeira pile trash, and being simply urine grog. The correctness of this learned Professors judgment this point, is not to be doubted.
 So far as my own experience goes, which ac- knowledge has not been extensive thorough, it fu ly confirms the conclusions to which the learned gen. tlemen above named have come. have rarely tasted wine which did not show that it had uncombned spirit in it, in large proportions; have in many instances tasted which dd not show by its effects that poisonous ingredient had been put into it, These considerations led me, years since, 10 ab- stain from every thing that goes under the name of wine, which have since continued to do, though at first supposed, as eome others now do, that the | scriptures authorized the moderate use oft.
 The facts above stated may explain some things which would not otherwise be fully comprehended. Some friends of temperance say that wine is every way bad as ardent spirit. They mean, doubtless the "viIe trash" of which Professor Rafnesque speaks; and those poisonous compositions which are manufactured aud sold as wines, which two kinds o liquor are all the wines that have. Well may lhey say so; for who would doubt that brandy mixed wi.l wine as bad brandy liked with water, especial, since the brandy already contains portion of alcohol The one being water grog; the other wine grog But others, friends of the of brandy, say that brandy is more wholesome than wine, and therefore, in all respects, more allowable liquor. Brandy is certainly less pernicious than ofthose compost tons which are sold wines; for the plain reason that simple poison is better thana mi xture ofsey- eral more destructive poisOns. But when they go say that brandy is innocent becauseihe bible allows the of wine, they suppose that book to sancliiy wine grogs and poisonous mixtures which it never contemplated. Brandy may not be as bad these mixtures, but it is than any liquor which the l,il.le ever snoke e of as oood.
 The better way is to take facts and experience for our guides the friends of temperance do, conclud ing that the wine which they find is bad, because its effects are only bad
 As to the intoxicating drinks mentioned in the bible, we know that they not such as are now in use. Alcohol has not, far be ascertained, been known more than n thousand years The an of dis tlling spirituous lqnors is by general consent, as cribed 10 the Arabian chemsts It has not been us- ed as a common drink than three hundred years. The only inoxIcatng liquor of which the scriptures speak, besides wine, s strong drink It is proper to understand and recOllect that this liquor of pe cuar kind distinct from wine, and certainly from dis titled spirit It S not in tho original languages ofthe scripture, indicated by two words, but by tshek har.) From the notices which we have of its compO- siiion, chemists have concluded that could not be as strong wine in its native The strength of ale is probably about the that of the liquor in