Polynesian., 1852-09-04
ADDRESS

ADDRESS
DELIVERED BEFORE THE HAWAIIAN TOTAL
ABSTINENCE SOCIETY, MAY, 1852,
BY THE HON. LUTHER sEvERENcE.
The subject of my address this evening i:
alcohol, its nature, usesand effects. Modern
science has discovered that it is composed o
IA parts hydrogen, 80 of carbon, and 81 ot
oxygen. 1t has been used from the earliest
ages in stimulating draughts, and the effects
have generally been temporary exhiiaration,
followed by corresponding depression and
permanent injury, according to the amount
taken into the human system. The mischiefs
resulting from its free use have always been
apparent, but the taste for the liquors con-
tanning il is so easily acquired, the excite
ment so agreeable, and the thirst for it so
sure to increase with its use, that multitudes
have always sought for it with avidity. For
some thousands of years it was found princi-
pay in the juice of the grape. and this drink
derived additional attraction by imparting the
flavor of that excellent fruit. Away. from
vine growing regions it has been found in the
juice of the apple, the pear, the peach, and
in various other fruits; also in honey, the sap
of The palm tree, and Of the Agave, and in
the cereal grains, whence it was obtained by
brewing; but as In all these cases it was OBJ
tanned by the fermentation of fluids contain
ing acids, sugar, &C., and was not separated
from these fluids, it was never obtained pure,
nor in a drink containing more than l5 or Is
per cent of alcohol, very rarely so much, and
oftener not more than 5 or 6 per cent. |
know not the strength of the pulque, of which
so much is consumed by the Mexicans, nor
of the koumis, which is made by the Tartars
from mares milk, nor of the ava which was
formerly much used in these islands, but the
strongest and most common intoxicating
drinks known to the ancients were wines.
These differed very much in strength, accord
ing to the amount of sugar in the grapes from
which they were pressed, and the degree of
fermentation which they had undergone,
there is no doubt that the art of arresting
this fermentation was known and practIsed
in very early times. and that this kind of Wine
was preferred for religious and various other
uses, and probably by all temperate people,
while the hard drinkers preferred the strong
est they could get, and as they could not get
it strong enough by simple fermentation of
the juice of the grape, they added pungent
spices and narcotic drugs, TO make what is
spoken of in the scriptures as 's mixed wine. !"
This kind of wine is generally mentioned IN
terms Of condemnation as the drink of the
drunkard The grapes of India were rich,
and made strong wine. In higher latIiudes,
as in France and Germany, the wines are
much lighter.
Brande's table of the proportion of alcohol
In distilled and fermented liquors puts down
rasin wine at 26 40 This take to be from
grapes partially dried Next to this comes
~ -.
ra 2227 From this the grades run down
TO Champagne at l3, and Tokay at 10.
Cider varies from 10 to s. Perry and mead
Ito 8. Ale to g. London Porter 4.2O, and
small beer averages l.26.
1t NAV be remarked that these are taken
to be the wines and malt liquors of commerce,
most if not all of which contain more alcohol
than is evolved in the fermentation OF the
liquors it is in. Brandy or other distilled
spirit is added in modern times to preserve
them otherwise they will not bear transpor-
fation to warm climates without passing into
acetous fermentation, or becoming sour.
Drugs are also added to neutralize acidity
or conceal defects. Some ofthese are delete
rious, but the alcohol itself is believed to be
the most destructive poison they contain, as
II is that also which continues and sharpens
the thirst for them.
Countries in which wine is produced, as
in France, Italy and Spain, have been reput-
ed to be more temperate than those where
wine is not made But this was never true,
I apprehend, until since distilled spirits came
into use The peasantry of the south of Eu-
rope continue to drink their wines as before,
often without fermentation; while the nations
of Northern Europe have become great
drinkers of brandy, gin. whiskey and other
spirits. Ofcourse the drinkers of ardent splr-
its consume greater amount of alcohol. 1t
is only by costrast with them, that wine
drinkers are comparatively temperate. But
that drunkenness has prevailed from the use
OF wine thousands Of years before any strong
er drink was made, all histor nacred and
profane, fully confirms. In countries
where it was abundant, it way common
drink, as in Persia, Syria, Palestine, Greece,
Italy, and Spain, but it was the cheapest,
least fermented, and least intoxicating wines
that we're consumed by the common people,
while the richest and strongest were COM
manded by the wealthy and the powerful, and
this was the sort, it may be presumed, which
was transported to more northern nations to
supply the banquet halls Of princes, and give
unwonted excitement to the revels of the war
like mobiles in their baronial castles We read