Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-03-25
Vineyards and Wine-Drinking of Per

Vineyards and ne-Drinking of Per
Sia.
We are permitted, says the Ecenfng
Traceler, to publish these extracts of
letter from missionary in Persia
If | had any sentiments favorable
to the moderate use of wine, when | left
America nv observations during the seven
years [ have resided in this paradise of
vineyards, have convinced me that the prin-
ciple of total al stinence is the only safe
guard against the great social and religious
evils. that flow from the practice of wine
drinking Let me state some of the facts: !:
After the most careful inquiries, [ have
been unable to learn that wine is ever man
ufactured in this country which is not in
toxicating. The various kinds made, differ
more or less in their Intoxicating powers.
but all are fermented, and all sooner or la
ter produce the same effect. The simple
unfermented juice of the grape is never
used as a beverage. The very Syriac word
for wine, hhnmra, by its etymology, signi
: fes fermented.
The vineyards of Oroomiah are almost
! unlimited in extent, and all classes engage
in the culture of the grape. The peasant
would consider his lot a hard one who was
not the owner, in whole or in part, of at
least one vineyard. Probably nine-tenths
of all the Christians who own vinyards, an
nually manufacture supply of wine, either
for home consumption or for sale.
The Christians of Persia, whether Nes-
torians Armenians, or Catholics, are, as
rule, habitual wine-drinkers, by which l
mean, they are accustomed to drink, when
the article can be procured. To say that
all drink to excess, would be widely at va
rance with the truth the majority, per-
haps, are moderate drinkers though even
/ these are too often betrayed into excessive
+ libations, especially on feast days, at we'd
dings and other convivial gatherings.
1t is quite possible that Il traveller pas
sing through the country at some seasons of
the year might not see single case Of in
toxication, and thence infer that drunken
ness was total stranger IN the land. But
let him pass from village to village, during
! the months occurring between the vintage
and the beginning Of Lent, when new wine
is abundant and he would find the arch
fend present everywhere in his most dis
gushing forms At such periods, priests as
well as laymen make copious draughts daily,
upon their own wine-stores or upon those
of their neighbors. This too is the favorite
season for betrothals and weddings, and the
plentiful supply of wine furnished on these
occasions Is the principal attraction. As
you might suppose, drunkenness IN Its va
rious grades becomes too common tO excite
surprise. Priests apologize with the great
est coolneSs for irregularity OF conduct by
stating that they were at the time under
the influence of wine. Scarcely any dis
grace attaches even to a priest for the
lighter forms of intoxieation, provided he
commits no breach of the peace.
Carnival week, proceeding Lent, is es-
pecially noted for the amount of wine con-
sumed The devotees of the bowl now give
themselves up to the greatest excesses-
midnight orgies, low songs and boisterous
quarrels resound in almost every street
Multitudes, at other times moderate drink
ers, are drawn almost irresistibly into this
vortex of drunken revelry \ fellow mis-
sionary tells me that on visiting, at the car
nival season. last year, large Christian
village of 500 or 900 inhabitants, he found
on inquiry that from 200 to 800 were
drunk, and that some one was drunk In all
but about twenty houses out of one hundred
and thirty.
During the long fast, wine is prohibited,
because the jars in which it is preserved are
besmeared with grease to prevent leaking
Yet even then a large amount is consumed,
for shortly after Easter the supply of the
domestic article is well nigh exhausted, ex-
cept in the larger villages and cities.
As the supply Of wine diminishes, the
lovers of strong drink resort to arrack,
which, with many. is a favorite beverage
on account of its greater strength and more
speedv effects. As elsewhere, the love of
the weaker leads to the use of the stronger
and probably no wine drinker would refuse
arrack when offered him. This liquor Is
manufactured in almost every village, great
or small, being distilled from the lees OF
wine or from raisins-
The effects of the drinking customs OF
Persia are such as follow the use of intoxl-
eating liquors In America. The evils are
great and manifold ; not only are they seen
and felt. but fully admitted in the current
sentiments of the people, and proclaimed in
national proverbs. Even the most strenu-
Gus advocates of the prevailing practices,
do not. cannot, deny the lamentable evils
that attend and follow these drinking Gus
toms they maintain, however, that these
unhappy consequences arise from the i'm
moderate use of an innocent beverage.
} There is scarcely community to be
found where the blighting influences of In
temperance are not seen, in families dis
tressed and ruined, properties squandered,
characters destroyed, and lives lost. Cases,
not few, are known to me, in which wo-
[ men of estimable character are reduced to
extreme poverty by the habitual intemper-
, ance of their husbands. In prize essay
written last year by one of our native as
sistants, the opinion was expressed that the
: injuries to the HISTORIAN people in proper.
, ty sduandered and in fines and imprison.
( ments resulting from their habits of wine
f drinking, greatly outweigh the evils expe
. rienced from Mussulman oppression and
f outrages. | asksd the awarders of the
f prize, who were among the best informed
7 HISTORIANS, if this opinion could be correc
I and they unanimously expressed the belle
3" that it was.
|, have spoken of wine drinking as it pre-