The daily press. (Cincinnati [Ohio) 1859-1859, 1859-05-26
THE PRESS.
CINCINNATI, THURSDAY, MAY 90.
BacchuS.

It is pleasant to observe an act even Of
tardy justice; and many will feel thank
ful to the writers of the New American
Cyclopedia for having, to some extent,
endeavored to rescue the deity-or what.
ever he may have BEEN whose name
stands at the head of this article, from
great deal of unmerited obloquy. There
has been enough of shad-bellied, behind
the-door-drinking tee-totalism in all ages
of the world, to pull down an honest fel-
low who took what little he did take fairly
and above board and in the case of the
vine-crowned divinity, they seem to have
done it pretty effectually. ''Bacchus |"
has been made to stand for something no
better than beastly drunkard, and "Bac-
chanalia" the feasts in honor to Bac-
chus used to indicate occa sions Of bru-
tal intoxication and rowdyism.
Among the ancients the intention of
the presence of Bacchus at the festive
board, was to restrain and prevent, and
not to authorize excess. His discipline
prescribed sobriety and temperance in
the use of his gifts He was, according
to the ideas of the time, pure and holy
god he was deity rendered amiable. He
is called by Horace, the modest god"
and the decent god" One of his popu-
lar names was Prince Of Peace" Or
pheus speaks Of him as a lawgiver, and
calls him Moses; and in the worship that
was rendered to him, there was more of
that emotional and affectionate character,
which is supposed to be peculiar to chris
tianity, than in that of any other inmate
of the pagan pantheon.
The author of the article in the Cyclic
pedia says, "The feasts in honor of Bac-
chus in the earlier ages, seem to have
had no other tendency than to relax for a
few days every year, this restraint of law
to satisfy a certain want in human nature
of an occasional carnival within the limits
of taste and decency, and to give the
more oppressed portion of the population
the slaves and the women-once year
an opportunity of unbounded freedom"
But this. does not tell the whole story.
The Baechanalia were, in fact set times
for the revival of religion; and the mani
festations and emotions of the time, were
precisely like those of a modern religious
excitement "Let us cry unto tn Lord !
God see our tears o Lord, direct us |"
shrieked the women, with dishevelings
and contortions as ne ar like the antics of
a Kentucky Camp Meeting as possible.
In consideration of the hardness of our
hearts, and not through any tender mer-
cies resident in their own, our spiritual
directors grumblingly admit the abstract
principle that amusement is pardonable
in the sight of God - n-n-n-necessary ::
taking care to prescribe, in detail, each
particular form of social recreation. The
effect even of this sour concession - or
rather of the popular pressure by which
it was produced is to be seen in the
courage which leads men to do sort of
half justice to the great representative of
the religio-social feelings Of classical an
tiquity; and without venturing to exam
inc why it was that this particular divin-
ity was pitched upon as the especial OBJ
ject of modern Misrepresentation, we may
be permitted to feel obliged to him, or his
worship for the remote origin of one of
the pleasantest festivals of our own coun-
try--the Yankee thanksgiving