Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1883-03-02
sfIeff Rfaning.
Written fer the roIsr ToHAc,', TINE,
WINE, ITS ORIGIN, USE, &C.

Tie antiquity of beverages or slim
u|atiug drinks. Is b Noud question o'
pre- historic tImes-tlmes Cnntempor-
aneou> with the aut,dlluviau . : e.
when the ,iurage crop Was tiT>t seCar-
ed. and found Ia yield a mild sacchar-
Inc liquid. which soon exhibited its
eHervescenCe aud change TO strong
iuy bTiatll Z drink Of alcohol aud oar.
b-Juir acid. Several r the Aucients.
{ oweysr, supported by more recent
aut thors. were OF opinion that wine VAS
5of in use before the d,lusc, and that
\ ali VAS tte first HhU made aGd
dlank this Alyd oi lrrmeut,d liquor.
See +. !. touaul's Exposition { G,ue.
So. n. !u: and iirusu, smith. Caimsi,
ktttu, aAU Others. if is,a. ON the
contrary. save Alexander trudeu. "It
Is maintained by 9th IS that II IS much
more probable tuAt The Frd titH were
not lguoJaut al GEr use 81 ~ltar, " hiCh
j. a ligUur 50 generally useful aud
agreeable. lhA It could scarcely he
uuhupwu TyEN TO ADAM HIH>ElF.
Concordance. /. 6S1. S.c ais under
,-sHe. I'm Chamters Enctcj, Vyaa. l.
Is i fact well known 10 she learned IT.
eyue!al. and Ia "a uguargaus ln lart5c
ar, that the oldest writings eNtaui,
VIZ. those of job. Moses, Homer,
Hrsiod. iIerodotus. Thucy dldes. etc.
expr, ssly mention the use Of such be
yerage: while the time worn rocks oi
the bEieut-c.pecially those of Mem
phls. in Egypt-s,iIi preserve the
peculiar method of expressing the
juice of grapes. as may be Seen IA Rol-
un's Ancient History, aud the Union
Bible Die, =. IA, art. lrjHe. Their
larger prtsSe-. or 'readiug watts. were
generally cavities IN the ground, built
up or lined with mason work. Matt.
xxi. 33. They are now found ia this
form IN Persia. eight feet square, and
four feet deep. luto these tie fruit
WAS plac d and mast ed into "a pulp
with the feet. This method is express
Iy mentioned by IaIah, LxiiI. 3; XXI
10; by Jer. XIV. 30; and IN Apoc. XIX
Is. / he vine was sacred To Dionysus
or BgcchHS 1T is he who causes the
truiss Ia rlpen for the use of man. -
Hence he was regarded by both Greeks
and Romans alike as the soi of wine
aud VII eyardS. For this Reason Virgil
frequently calls wine ~ no other name
than 'B cchus." GeOrgtcS, Il. IL. Y III.
The SIZE and quality of our North
Ameri an culture are as far bel"w the
crops of Italy. France, Spain, Portugal,
etc, as these are be.ow the rich and
abundant yields OF patrlarchal times.
In the book Of Numbers it Is recorded
that "a single cluster Cf grapes was
sufficient to employ the labor of two
persons to carry 1t upon staff. This
was in the land of Canaan, IA country
then famous for its plentiful harvest
OF this kind of fruit. 1--WE read OF
clusters there saws Brown. "about 25
pounds weight. We read of cluster
in the east part OF Persia, that produc-
ed about three Scotch pallons # wine;
and another about three and "A half feet
long These facts are sufficient to
account FOR the introduction, or rather
the inreation of IA diety, in the Greek
and Roman mythology, that was wor
shipped as the planter and protector
of the rine-the Massic juice of Bac-
chus. "Massicus humor Bacchi. -
vigil.
We shall now proceed to exhibit
some certain facts with regard to the
qualities of wine as used by the an
cient., and especially by such us we
read of in the holy Scriptures. In the
first place, we lave the most authentic
documents, unanimously assented to
by all iudlclous parties, that it was "a
strong into1icating drinh. See Lev.
v. 8; Eph. v. Is; ct alibi trequenter.
And if We except The ancient Egyp-
tans, who partook onl of the unier-
mented juice of the grape, we cannot
find single nation thai do not, or
did not, drink deep of the sparkling
cup. OF course We mean such nations
as are favored with the vintage and