128

Guardian of Health-History and Effects of Winc. [March 1,

were infected with the Egyptian superstition. As therefore the abstinence' from wine was evidently beneficial to the Egyptians, and their legislators had the wisdom to recommend what was not to be enforced by authority; so it behoved Moses, solicitous as he must have been to obstruct the return of his people into Egypt, to instil contrary notions into them, and this be actually accomplished. For even in divine worship, in which, anterior to Psammetichus, no wine was offered by the Egyptians, he enjoined the use of wine, and likewise as an accompaniment to meat and burnt-offerings, that no person might consider it as impure, or abhor it from a motive of religion: nay he every where speaks very advantageously of wine, the principal production of the Land of Promise. Thus though, in the earliest ages of its existence, wine met with wise opponents, it found nevertheless still wiser advo

cates.

At Rome wine experienced a similar fate. In the time of Numa Pompilius it was still very rare, and Pliny observes, that the ancients cultivated the vine merely for the purpose of using the juice of its fruit as a strengthening beverage in sickness. In the year 634, in the consulship of Lucius Opimias, the city was abundantly supplied with excellent wine. The people were instigated by it to excesses, and intoxication made them riotous. Wine nevertheless continued unprohibited till the end of the first century of the Christian æra, when there was a most abundant year for grapes, and so much the greater a deficiency in the cornharvest. It was represented to the then Emperor Domitian, that the excessive increase of the vineyards occasioned a proportionate diminution in the quantity of corn-land; he therefore prohibited by an edict the planting of any new vineyards in Italy, and in other provinces he even ordered the vines to be grubbed up. The same policy that created an aversion to wine in Egypt, instigated Domitian to issue this order, which he himself subsequently modified, as we are informed by Suetonius. I have already observed that nearly 200 years later, this prohibition was repealed by Probus. Mankind, however, have not remained ever since that time, in quiet possession of this beverage. Charles IX of France was induced by the same policy as Domitian to lay restrictions in 1567 on the cultivation of the vine, in favour of other branches of agriculture; and still more rigorous measures were

adopted with the same view by Louis XV.

From the preceding facts it is evident that the antipathy to wine, which from the earliest times has influenced a portion of mankind, did not originate in solicitude for the public health or morals, but rather in a certain economical prudence concerning which it is not my business to decide whether it were the offspring of genuine wisdom or political sophistry. Perhaps such of my readers as are fond of wine will hence deduce more favourable conclusions for themselves than I can admit I must therefore request them not to be too hasty. For though the hatred to wine has rarely originated in the injury which it has done to health, still I am compelled to declare that practical men have abundant reason to condemn it on this ground.

Wine is chiefly pernicious on account of the intoxication which it produces. I shall not here enter into a detail of the evils which drunkenness brings upon mankind, but merely address the reader in the forcible language of Dr. Armstrong:

Learn temperance, friends; and hear with

out disdain

The choice of water. Thus the Coan sage
Opin'd, and thus the learn'd of every school.
We curse not wine: the vile excess we
blame;

More fruitful than th' accumulated board,

of pain and misery. For the subtle draught

Faster and surer swells the vital tide;
And with more active poison than the floods
Of grosser crudity convey, pervades
The far remote meanders of our frame.
Ah! sly deceiver, branded o'er and o'er,
Yet still believ'd! exulting o'er the wreck
Of sober vows!

Wine is a real and an excellent medicine. Every medicine taken in improper quantity or at an unseasonable time is poison, and no medicine can be coustant meat or drink to persons in health. These positions involve the whole of the rules to be observed in regard to wine.

Wine is a medicine. Paracelsus calls it the blood of the earth, and the juice of the noblest of plants; and this appellation it deserves on account of those generous properties by which it warms our juices, invigorating the corporeal powers, and imparting energy to the mind. It has received praise from all ages and all physicians. Paul recommended it to Timothy, but wisely. "Drink not too much water," writes the apostle, "but use a little wine (not for thy ordinary drink, nor in such quantity as to make thee intoxicated) for the sake

1816.]

Guardian of Health.-History and Effects of Wine.

of thy stomach and thy frequent infirmi-
ties"-
"-consequently by way of medicine,
as Pliny reports it to have been used by
the early Romans. The physicians went
still farther, and the philosophers agreed
with them. Avicenna, Dioscorides, Se-
neca, as well as Hoffinan and other mo-
derns, even considered it wholesome to
indulge occasionally with this liquor be-
yond the bounds of temperance; as they
thought such excess, when not too often
practised, might not only be innocent
but even sometimes salutary; yet noue
of them approves the constant and abun-
dant use of wine. This is a language
that would not apply to any natural and
regular beverage. Wine has no analogy
with our juices and is but little suited to
them; for in those who drink it for the
first time it induces considerable heat,
lively images and unnatural motions.
Physicians recommend it as a tonic for
the aged, because it restores vigour to
the debilitated fibres; and to the de-
jected, because it imparts a feeling of
joy. From this fountain the poets of all
ages have drunk inspiration. A similar
effect is produced by various poisons.
The Daphne-tree of the ancients, which,
in all probability, was our Laureo-Ce
rasus, sometimes occasions death, but
generally convulsions. It was sacred to
Apollo, and Pythia was obliged to eat of
its fruit before she delivered her oracles.
The convulsions which ensued served to
convince the spectators the more firmly
of her inspiration; and Pythia was well
aware of the risk she ran from the violent
effects of the poison, for she was always
displeased when inquisitive persons came
to consult her, and even hid herself to
avoid them. Hoffman termed wine a
panacea, a universal medicine. He re-
commended it for weakness of the sto-
mach, indurated and obstructed spleen
and liver, flatulence, stone and gravel,
fluxes, scorbutic complaints, failure of
the senses and mental powers, depres-
sion, barrenness, and all the infirmities
of age. Pringle ascribes it partly to the
prohibition of wine that the plague,
small-pox, and inflammatory fevers an-
nually commit such ravages; and it is
said to have been observed in Guienne
that such disorders prevail only in those
years when the vintage has proved the
least favourable. In an old French
journal, the Germans are described as a
melancholy people, and this disposition
is ascribed to the want of wine. The
writer says, that in a very small town
he has known twenty personspan end
NEW MONTHLY MAG. NO. 2.

129

to their lives within the space of a year; and he attributes most of these catastrophes to that dullness and depression which seem to be innate in all the inha bitants of the north. Thus it would appear that wine is a specific for the plague, small-pox, and even melancholy and suicide! Some of these praises, it must be acknowledged, are well-founded. Wine is a real and most excellent medicine; but no person has characterized it more justly than Fernelius. "Wine," says he, "is to the human body what manure is to trees: it forces the fruit; but it injures the trees." An intelligent gardener is not constantly applying manure, bur only when he sees occasion for it. His trees are not to be entirely nourished, but only occasionally strengthened by manure. He must therefore apply it only when they want it, in such quantity as they may require, and of such a kind as is best adapted to their respective natures. Such too is the whole dietetic system to be observed in regard to wine.

There are many who drink nothing but wine. These are people who would live upon physic, which by its continual use becomes a poison. Wine differs far too widely in its nature from the usul aliments of animals to be substituted in their stead without injury. The more powerful a medicine the more hurtful it must be to a healthy person, in proportion to the doses that he takes of it. For this reason, the most spirituous are the most pernicious of good wines, because they are the most operative. When dealers adulterate wines, they combine with their naturally medicinal properties others which do not belong to them, and this infinitely increases the danger. These tricks I shall take another opportunity of exposing. But even good wine is not of benefit to all alike. One species possesses natural advantages over another depending on the climate in which it grows, on the cultivation of the plant, and on the manner in which the wine is made; and the person may have such a constitution or habit of body, that certain kinds even of the best wines may be hurtful to him. On some future occasion I may take a review of the wines that grow in Europe, with particular reference to these different objects. At present I shall only insist once more on the general principle, that all wine must be taken merely as medicine. It must be adapted to the constitution of each person, pure of its kind, generous and unadulterated. Believe not the

VOL. V.

S

130

Edipus Jocularis.-He can't say Boh to a Goose.

[March 1,

poets, who praise it without qualification life, consider it as one of those licences but seldom drink it; and when they in which the votaries of the Muse have extol their Bacchus as the god of joy, of ever assuined the right of indulging. love, of harmony, and the preserver of

Oedipus Jocularis :

OR, ILLUSTRATIONS OF REMARKABLE PROVERBS, OBSCURE SAYINGS, AND PECULIAR CUSTOMS.

NUMBER I.

Sunt bona, sunt quædam mediocria, sunt mala plura,
Quæ legis.

THE character and manners of a people may be often correctly ascertained by an attentive examination of their popular sayings and familiar customs. The study, therefore, of these peculiarities ought not to be condemned, since the investigation has not only a tendency to enlarge the knowledge of human nature, but to illustrate national history, to mark the fluctuation of language, and to explain the usages of antiquity. It is our intention to devote a page or two every month to this amusing subject, which we are confident will be gratifying to the general body of our readers, though in the course of our inquiries we shall be sometimes obliged to relate many whimsical stories, and to quote very homely phrases and authorities.

HE CAN'T SAY BOH TO A GOOSE. The word Bo or Boh, is said by Dr. Johnson to signify terror; and we are also told, that there was a fierce Gothic chief so called, the son of Odin, whose name was used by the soldiers to alarm their enemies; but at last it became a nenacing phrase to frighten children and keep them quiet, just as the good women of Flanders, in the reign of Queen Anne, were accustomed to reduce their naughty young ones to order by telling them that Marlborough was coming, But of the proverbial saying "boh to a goose," a curious account is given by Leslie in his Rehearsals, vol. ii. p. 73.-" A countryman once upon a time found a strange decay among his gecse: he mist one every other might, and could not tell what had become of them; he suspected the fox, but it was one with two legs; for watching one night, he saw a young fellow with one of his geese under his arm. The countryman pursued, the thief fled, and took his course up hill to a certain private academy, but the countryman kept so close to him, that he saw him go into his chamber, which he shut against him. The countryman then went immediately and fetched the master, who with

MARTIAL.

three or four others of the nursery, went along with him. The scholar perceiving his danger, and not having time to kili the goose in form, found an effectual way to gag her, that she might not make discoveries. He tied a string about her neck, which, having fastened to a nail he had without the window, as he heard the master and the rest coming up the stairs, he threw the goose out of the window and shut. it after ber. Search was made in the room, but no goose could be found; and the scholar stood upon his innocence, and accused the countryman of slander and malice; for, said he, if I had killed the goose her blood or feathers would appear; and if she were alive in the room, no doubt she would have gaggled upon all this searching, and I could not have concealed her." The argument was strong, and the countryman could not answer it, and began to think himself mistaken; the master also chid him for bringing a scandal upon his academy; and so all went down stairs again, the countryman the last. The scholar then pulled in his goose, and having her under his arm, he called softly Bo! to the countryman, who looking about, the scholar said, "Here your dog, do you know your goose?" Upon this the countryman called out to his master, and desired him to return, for that now he had seen his goose. The master being near the bottom of the stairs came up again, but the scholar had time to shut his door till he had disposed of the goose as before. Then fresh search was made, and more strict, but no goose could be found. The scholar then inveighed against the impu dence of the countryman for abusing the master, and bringing an affront upon the seminary. The poor farmer began to suspect his senses, and to think that he was in some enchanted place; so down they all went again. The second time the scholar pulled in his prize as before, and said softly to the countryman, Bo! shewing him also the head of the goose.

1816.] Edipus Jocularis.-Cat in the Pan-As drunk as a Piper. 131

132

Anecdotes of Capt. Baillie, Thomas Bardwell,

historian of the plague year, this man never took the infection, though he lay so long among the dead; and which may have given rise to the saying, that a person so totally overcome with liquor as to be insensible to every thing around him is "as drunk as a piper."

THOU ART A DOG IN A DOUBLET.

This phrase is commonly applied to a person who has it in his power to injure another with impunity, by being clothed with power or possessed of property. The allusion is to the ancient practice of boar-hunting, in which the favourite dogs were clothed with doublets of thick buff leather buttoned on the back, and so framed altogether as to protect the animals from the tusks of their formidable enemy; while those that were not so defended stood the chance of having their entrails torn out by every stroke. Some of our best pictures of field sports, painted by Rubens and others, represent part of the pack in this attire.

BY HOOK OR BY CROOK.

It has been erroneously stated, that this saying began in the reign of Charles the First, when two learned judges presided in the courts, whose profound knowledge of the law and consummate integrity, were such as to make it a proverbial observation concerning any difficult cause, that it must be gained by Hooke or by Crooke. The truth, how

[March 1,

ever, is, that the proverb was in common use as far back as the time of Henry the Eighth, for it may be found in the works of John Skelton, poet-laureat to that monarch; and Spenser in his Faery Queen uses it twice:

"The which her sire had scrapt by hooke and crooke."-B. 5, c, 2.

"In hopes her to attaine by hooke or crooke."-B. 3, c. 2.

But, after all, what is the meaning of this quibbling adage? The answer is, that it is to be had from the objects mentioned; for the hook is the peasant's instrument to cut down any thing within his immediate reach, but when that is too elevated, he must have recourse to his crook, with which the lofty bough may be brought to his grasp. Thus craft allures, what force cannot conquer.

I HAVE SHOT MY BOLT.

The Norman archers, says Mr. Daines Barrington, in his curious" Inquiry into the History of English Archery," made use of the arbalest, or cross-bow, in which formerly the arrow was placed in a groove, being termed in French a quadril, and in English a bolt; hence the saying, "I have shot my bolt." shooting at a mark or a but, they commonly made use of a cask of wine or beer, and he who could drive in the bung gained the prize, which accounts for the sign of the "Bolt in Tun."

EXTRACTS

FROM THE PORTFOLIO OF AN AMATEUR.

In

In fact, anecdotes are small characteristic narratives, which, though long neglected or secreted, are always valuable, as being frequently more illustrative of the real dispositions of men than their actions of great publicity, and therefore particularly requisite in biography.-Supplement to NORTHCOTE's Life of REYNOLDS.

CAPTAIN BAILLIE.

THIS celebrated amateur married between the age of 70 and 80, and had several children. These he made the subject of his pencil in a study of naked cherubim in the style of Rubens. To the study of the arts he has been heard to say he owed the happiest hours of his life." Prosecute the arts," said he to a friend," with the avidity and satisfaction that I have, and they will prove a source of comfort and pleasure to you when you are old." This gentleman had a brother and sister alive at the same time at the average ages of 80 each. The best likeness of Captain Baillie is in a caricature by Gillray, with the title of The Connoisseurs: it is the figure holding spectacles before his eyes.

THOMAS BARDWELL.

In a room belonging to the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c. is a painting by this artist, from which there is a print; the subject is Dr. Ward with a group of invalids. The print has the following quaint inscription:

"Britannia comes at the head of the poor, and offers a purse of gold to Mr. Ward, who points to give it to Charity sitting at her feet; Time draws a curtain in anger to see it who it is that stops the passage of the crowd."

This artist painted the wretched productions called portraits in St. Andrew's Hall, Norwich, and wrote The Practice of Painting and Perspective made Easy 1756.