Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-01-30
The Wine Cup.
BY COL FORNEY.

President and Mrs. Hayes continue to ex-
clude wine from their table in the White
House. Mr. Evarts, the Secretary of State,
has secured an exception to this rule at the
diplomatic dinners, although MIR. and Mrs
Hayes will preside without glasses before
them
The French statesmen use wine moderately,
and spirits almost never. They prefer their
own light wines, leaving champagne to the
last; and nearly all their public dinners are
finished without speeches.
The cultivated English are far more tens
perate than in former days. At State dinners,
which are costly and luxurious, the Ministry
are proverbially frugal, though Lord Derby,
the late chief of the Foreign Office, was inor-
dinately fond of sherry. Nobody smokes in
a private house, unless it is in the billiard
room. But the English clubmen are generally
hearty drinkers. There are over seventy
clubs in London alone. Gambling is not as
common as it was in the days of Charles
James Fox, who often lost 1000 a night
while in the zenith OF his Parliamentary
fame, and thought nothing of it The Raleigh
in the Pail Mall is still believed to indulge in
cards for money, but modern John Bull pre-
fers whist, brandy and soda, and hot Scotch
or Irish whisky. Excessive dissipation is con-
fined to the LoRdon gin palaces, which
abound in frightful proportion, where men
and women drink fire-water and bad beer till
they are soddeD; and it is no infrequent sight
to see child made stupid by the milk of a
drunken mother.
But the Russians bear the palm. They pur-
chase most of the costly French champagnes,
and they prefer ''mixed drink" of their own
"a fearful compound-after dinner, which is
something like the English claret cup, that
Charles Dickens loved to compose" with
| fiery liquids added.
President and Mrs. Hayes are not altogether
alone. They are doubtless more rigid than
other rulers; but Queen Victoria is model in
her own house, like the good Prince Albert,
aud happen to know that Gambetta, Labou-
laye, Leon Say, Louis Blanc, Victor Hugo,
the Orleans Princes and the Bourbon pre-
tenders are moderate and careful men; and il
is but just to say the same of the Emperor OF
Germany, the Russian Gar, the young King
Of Italy and the widower monarch of Spain.
Gerrit Smith, who died at great age (78
thilk), sat IN Congress two years, from 1853
to 1856, and was one Of the most genial, gen
erous and hosptable of men. He gave many
splendid enter tainments, and never had drop
of wine on his table. The jolly men were
much amazed at his course, but he nevel
apologized for it.
My other good friend, Horace Greeley,
when he became candidate for President in
1872, was an extreme temperance leader, as
pure as cool water, even in his blunders, but
as much out of place as Presidential nomi
nee as Bishop Simpson in the Vatican. Aftel
he agreed to stand for that high office, South
ern politicians called on him at Chappaqua,
his country seat on the Harlem road, and he
benevolently asked them to drink from Lis
famous spring. They were surprised, but
submissive, until he offered them a second
draught, at which Gov. --, of Louisiana,
somewhat testify declined, with the remark,
''That that was a beverage he never internal
ly applied" The legend runs that when the
party left the white haired editor the Cover.
nor sadly observed that he had to drink sew.
eral cocktails to keep the nomination down.