The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-12-18
K he Use of Wine.

BY REV. j. G. HOLBROOK, D. d.
1t is often said, and no doubt is honestly be-
lieved by some that were the use of wine
common in this country it would greatly di-
And 1t is asserted that there is far less intem-
perance in those lands where this beverage is
made and freely used than in our own.
This last point is, however, by no means
conceded by those who advocate total absti-
nence from all intoxicants. For, in the first
place, the fact is not proved. Travellers diff
fer very much in their statements, and many
careful observers and publicists, like Mr.. Del
avan, declare that the very reverse is true
And it is worthy of consideration, that all
the drunkenness of the ancient Greeks avds
frnns the use of toine, since it was abundant
among them and universally used, our alco-
holic drinks being then unknown. The dis
tillation Of liquors is of comparatively recent
origin, and whisky, gin, and rum modern in
ventiOns.
The Greeks, both Asiatic and European,
were, indeed, famous for their intemperance,
so that it was proverbial and to speak of
man as Grecising was the same as to call him
drunkard. Plato declares that during the
progress Of the Bdcchdndlia, which were the
dissOlure rite, and ceremonies observed in
honor OF Bacchus, the god OF wine, there was
not sober man or 1C0mdn to be found in all
Attica. This province was celebrated for the
abundance and exquisite flavor of its wines.
All the drunkenness spoken OF in the Scrip
tires, also, was from wine. Noah'S Lots and
that against which Solomon warns his
readers, was from this source. Vine"
says he, sis a mocker, and he that is
deceived thereby is not wiSe." And again:
"Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow ?" etc,
"They that tarry long at the arine. Look
not thou on the ,pire," etc. AT the last it
biteth like serpent and stingeth like an ad-
der" And so the Apostle Paul, in his Epis-
tie to the Ephesians, v: IS, says: "Be not
drunk with Wine."
Whatever, then, may be tr1le of some wine
producing countries now, it was ancently the
tact that drunkenness was a feartully preva-
lent vice where nothing but wine, in the form
OF intoxicants, was drank, at least to any
considerable extent.
But, in the second place, admitting for a
moment that there is less intemperance in
Italy, Spain, and France, than in the United
States, there are other reasons to be assigned
for i. than the greatest commonnesS of the
use OF wine in the former than in the latter
viz: the circumstances OF the people, and their
temperaments and other general character
istics and habits, on which | will not dwell
but only refer to.
And in the third place, it should be consid-
cred by those who advocate the common and
free use of wine, that it is impossible to con-
June men 10 a., ana eTctude other and strong
er forms of alcholic drinks, where these last
are known. Not only will whisky, rum and
gin always be cheaper than wine, and there
fore more accessible to the masses, but the
use Divine creates demand for intoxicants
that are more powerful. 1t is the alcohol in
the wine that makes it desired-the narcotic
and stimulating principle; and the tendency
OF using anything that contains it is to create
an appetite for it that becomes at last irresist-
ible, and that "grows by what it feeds on"
and will not, finally, be content with any
thing less than the iery potatlon in the more
concentrated form OF ardent spirits, ifprocur.
able. The use OF wine, in this country, at
least, must inevitably be stepping-stone 10
that OF stronger drinks, and to intemperance.
Thousands Of drunkards in our ua country .I, nave
begun with wine, and in many cases ntsI al
their fathers tables, and in the social and
fashionable circle.
How preposterous then the idea of counter
acting and roofing out ntemperance by en-
couraring men freely to use vine, which is it.
self an intoxicant! How absurd to think of
curing drunkenness by furnishing men abun-