New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-06-15
Eneland,s NatIonal I,.,sl

The origin Of the use Of malt liopor or 5,i.t-
made by sleeping grain in water, and afterysafda
termentng IT, seems lost in the night ~ s1t;5itT
Her0dOtus attributes the diseOvefv az 80 - -
brewing to Isis the wife Of Osiris What is 80 "
tain Is that the Egyptians, versed in all the IN
dustrial arts Of domestic life, including brewing
among the number Pelusium, situated On ene III
the mouths Of the Nile, was at very rer5ofs
epoch particularly celebrated for it's manufsetFys
of malt liquOrs-one called ' carhni p sweet M
| glutinOus the other named "zythun y raaye ~
tenuated and less sweet. and probably analogous
to modern beer, Pfny, the naturalist states that
| in his time drink made from fsrmented grain was
| in general use. under various names among al fhe
nations of Western Eur0pe.a According to Issdo-
rus and 0rssius, the ancient Britons and Celtic na.
tons pracdced a mode of preparing an intoxicat-
ing drink from grain, which did not differ materi.
ally from our modern mode of brewing. Tacitus
states the ancient Germans for their drink drew 4
liquor from barley and other grain, and fsrmented
it, 50 as to make it resemble wine. How deepiy
our Scandinavian ancestors were imbued with the
merits of malt liquor appears from the fact that
it was cardinal point of belief among them that
quaf1ng copious draughts of ale formed one Of the
chief fecities of their heroes in the halls of 0dR,
The first mention of ale in English law occurs as
early as the Heptarchy, in the laws of Ina, King
of Wessex. In Wales, and also in Scotland, it was
ancientIy enacted that "if a farmer hath no mead,
he shall pay two casks of spiced ale, or four casks
Of common ale, for one cask of mead.n Ale ID ex-
pressly named as one Of the liquors provided for
royal banquet in the reign OF Edward the Con-
been associated equally as yictuals, on absolute
necessaries of life.
how completely ale was the national drink Of
our Angio-Saxon f0refathers is made very appa-
rent by the fact Of its incorporation in our Lam
guage as the equivalent of festival when in combi-
nation with other words. The bTide.ale (bridal)
is the feast in honor of the bride, or marriage;
sia iarly we have leet-ale, mbale, Whitsun,ale.
bid.ale was when poor man, decayed in his
substance. was setu up again by the contributions
OF his friends at Sundays feast. G1g51olt-ALes,
as they are described by Pierce, bishop of Bath
and Wells, in his answer to the inquiries Of Arch
bishop Laud, g are when the people go from after
noon prayers on Sunday to their lawful sports and
pastmes in the churchyard or in the neighborhood,
or in some public house where they drink and
make merry. By the bensyolence Of the people
at these pasdmes, many poor parishes have cast
their bells and beautied their churches and raised
stock for the poor.n The people were fond OF
these recreatons, and the bishop recommends
them as bringing the people more willingly to
church, as tending to ciVilze them and to compose
differences among them, and as serving to increase
love and unity.
An ancient municipal record, under the date of
1882, has the following entry +" Item. payd to
Davy, bere brewer, for pyp OF beTe that was
droncke at Barrgeate when the fust efray was Of
the Ffrenshemen, Wis Eiijd;n and again, under
date of 1497: = Half barrel Of doble here, xxd.
Ten gallons peny ale Cd" We seem here to get an
inkling that the character x, Xxx and XXX, still in
use by the London brewers, may possibly have
originated In the practice of writing the price of
the ale in Roman numerals when certain measure
of the three qualities in vogue bore the respective
prices Of x, Xxx and xxx pence.
In his fondness FOR malt liquor. the Engiishman
Of to-day does not belle his ancestors, but appears
fully match for them, whether Britons, saxons
or Mortimer upward of sixty millions year--a
sum approximating to the amount annually levied
by taxaton--being expended by him on this truly
national beverage. Strange to say, however, III
consumption Is attended with a curious snanoly.
Less than one-haf of it is drunk IN perfection, or
in its best condition the larger portion becoming
more or less fat, hard and unpalatabie, or even
sour, before it is consumed. From the day Of the
tapping of the cask, with the gradual entIsaes og
atmospheric air, the liquor uDdeTgoes progressive
deterioration becoming fat and unpalatsble,
from the loss of its caFbenic acid and then sour,
from having its spirit converted into ascetc acid by
the absorption of oxygen.-E Hours at Home.