Chapter III (2)

Socrates, whom the oracle declared the wisest man of Greece, was, in like manner, a very great drinker. M. Charpentier, in his Life, tells us, That though he did not love to drink, yet when he was forced to it, no one could come up to him; and that he had this wonderful happiness, as not afterwards to find himself incommoded by it.

Cato, that hero of stoicism, got drunk sometimes, in order to relax his mind, fatigued with the cares of public employment. These are the very words of Seneca, Cato _vino laxabat animum curis publicis fatigatum_. And the same author says elsewhere, that "People reproached Cato with drunkenness, but that reproach was rather an honour to him than otherwise." _Catoni ebrietas objecta est, et facilius efficiet quisquis objecerit honestum quam turpem Catonem._ Horace gives us the same idea of the great Cato, in these words:--

"Narratur et prisci Catonis
Sæpe mero caluisse virtus."[1a]

Tradition tells, that oftentimes with wine,
Ev'n Cato's virtue moisten'd, shone divine.

If one knew the Scythian philosopher Anacharsis no otherwise than by his apophthegms against wine and drunkenness, one would take him for the soberest man in the world, but we know very well that his theory varied very much upon this point, and no way agreed with his practice. One day above the rest, having got drunk at an entertainment given by Lybis, brother to Pittacus, he demanded the prize that was to be given to the greatest drinker. With which action, when he was afterwards reproached, he replied, "Can a man better signalize himself in battle than by glorious wounds? and at table, than with that gaiety you call drunkenness? Did not Homer, the wisest of your poets, make not only Agamemnon drunk, but Jupiter too, and made nectar flow in full goblets at the table of the Gods[2]?" Ælian[3] also tells us, that this philosopher drank largely at Periander's feasts, and alleged for an excuse, That to drink a great deal was essential to the Scythians.

Plato, another hero of antiquity, not only permitted, but commanded, that people should get drunk at some certain times. To prove what I say, one has no more to do than to read his laws.

Seneca, who was so severe a philosopher, at least his rigid precepts would make one think him so, thought it no harm now and then to get drunk, and ranges drunkenness amongst the means he prescribes to maintain the strength and vigour of the mind. I have quoted what he says in this respect in the first and second chapter of this work.

The philosopher Arcesilaus, who lived about the 120th Olympiad, might be reckoned amongst those who loved wine, since he died by drinking too much of it unmixed. A greater, and more convincing proof of his sincere love to the creature could not be given.

For he that hangs, or beats out's brains,
The devil's in him if he feigns[4].

Xenocrates[5], one of the most illustrious philosophers of ancient Greece, and of a virtue very rigid and severe, got drunk sometimes. Ælian has put his name into the catalogue of those who loved drinking, and could bear a good deal of liquor. Athenæus, says this philosopher, gained the crown of gold which the tyrant of Syracuse had promised him that should empty a certain measure of wine. Diogenes Laertius confirms this last particular. "He had moreover acquired such an empire over his passions, that a very beautiful courtesan (Phryne) who had laid a wager she could subdue his virtue, lost it, though she had the liberty to lie with him, and use all her little toyings to incite him to enjoy her." You see here (adds Mr. Bayle) a triumph as remarkable as that of S. Aldhelme, and some other canonized saints, who came off victorious on such attacks.

Cicero[6] assures us, That Stilpo of Megera, the philosopher, a man of much wit and ability for the times he lived in, loved wine as well as women; and, that his friends wrote this of him in his praise, and not dishonour.

Athenæus says, That the philosophers Lacides and Timon, once upon a time, past two whole days successively in drinking. Ælian puts their names into his catalogue of hard drinkers; to which he adds Amasis, the lawgiver of the Egyptians.

Chrysippus the philosopher, native of Solos, a town of Cilicia, or of Tharsus, according to others, got drunk pretty often. It is said, That some of his disciples having prevailed upon him to come to a sacrifice, he drank so much pure wine, that he died five days afterwards. There are other authors, however, will have it, that he died of immoderate laughter, seeing an ass eat figs out of a dish, and upon which he commanded they should give him drink.

[Footnote 1: Solonem et Arcesilaum credunt indulsisse vino.]

[[Footnote 1a: Horace, _Odes_ III.xxi.11-12.]]

[Footnote 2: Hist. Sep. Sap.]

[Footnote 3: Lib. ii. 2.]

[Footnote 4: Hudibras.]

[Footnote 5: Bayle Dict. Art. Xenoc.]

[Footnote 6: Lib. de Fab.]

CHAP. XIV.

OF POETS THAT USED TO GET DRUNK.

As wine is the poet's great horse, so it must not be wondered at, that the major part of them fuddle their noses; for, in reality, they cannot properly be said to be mounted on their great horses, till they have drunk pretty heartily. These gentlemen speak then on horseback, for the discourse of poets is quite opposite to that of orators, which Horace says, is a discourse on foot[1], but when they drink nothing we can only say, that they are mounted upon.

The attachment that Homer had to wine, appears in the frequent eulogiums he gives that liquor. And if we examine Anacreon never so little, we shall find his inclinations, as well as his verses, were divided between wine and love. As much delicacy and fine turns as one finds in his works, an honest man cannot see without indignation, but that they tend absolutely to debauch. One must drink, one must love. The moments that are not employed in the pleasures of the senses are lost. Pausanius tells us, that he saw at Athens the statue of Anacreon, which represented him drunk and singing.

The poet Philoxenus wished he had a neck as long as a crane, that he might the longer have the pleasure of swallowing wine, and enjoy its delicious taste.

Ion, the poet of Chios, was not much more sober in respect of wine, according to Ælian and Euripides.

Horace must by no means be forgotten, whose satires derive from the grape their sprightfulness and gaiety.

Timocreon of Rhodes, a comic poet in the 75th Olympiad, was a great drinker. Athenæus has given of him this epitaph:--

Multa bibens et multa vorans, mala plurima dicens
Multis hic jaceo Timocreon Rhodius.

To these we may add Alceus and Eunius, of whom we have already made mention; but what signifies this enumeration, since it is most certain, that almost all the poets in the world, of all ages, got drunk, which puts them under the protection of Bacchus. This made them heretofore in Rome celebrate once a year, in the month of March, a festival in honour to this God with solemn sacrifices. What Ovid[2] has said on this point puts the matter out of all doubt:--

"Illa dies hæc est, qua te celebrare poetæ
Si modo non fallunt tempora, Bacche, solent,
Festaque odoratis innectunt tempora sertis
Et dicunt laudes ad tua vina tuas.
Inter quos memini, dum me mea fata sinebant,
Non invisa tibi pars ego sæpe fui."

This is the day, unless the times are chang'd,
That poets us'd to sing in merry lays,
And with sweet garlands crown'd, promiscuous rang'd,
To thy rich wines, great Bacchus, chaunt thy praise.
With these gay chorists, when my fates were kind,
Free, unreserv'd, to thee, immortal power!
(The pleasing object fresh salutes my mind)
Without disguise a part I often bore.

[Footnote 1: Sermo pedestris.]

[Footnote 2: Trist. v. 3.]

CHAP. XV.

OF FREE MASONS, AND OTHER LEARNED MEN, THAT USED TO GET DRUNK.

If what brother Eugenius Philalethes, author of Long Livers, a book dedicated to the Free Masons, says in his Preface[1] to that treatise, be true, those mystical gentlemen very well deserve a place amongst the learned. But, without entering into their peculiar jargon, or whether a man can be sacrilegiously perjured for revealing secrets when he has none, I do assure my readers, they are very great friends to the vintners. An eye-witness of this was I myself, at their late general meeting at Stationers' Hall, who having learned some of their catechism, passed my examination, paid my five shillings, and took my place accordingly.

We had a good dinner, and, to their eternal honour, the brotherhood laid about them very valiantly. They saw then their high dignity; they saw what they were, acted accordingly, and shewed themselves (what they were) men[2]. The Westphalia hams and chickens, with good plum pudding, not forgetting the delicious salmon, were plentifully sacrificed, with copious libations of wine for the consolation of the brotherhood. But whether, after a very disedifying manner their demolishing huge walls of venison pasty, be building up a spiritual house, I leave to brother Eugenius Philalethes to determine. However, to do them justice, I must own, there was no mention made of politics or religion, so well do they seem to follow the advice of that author[3]. And when the music began to play, "Let the king enjoy his own again," they were immediately reprimanded by a person of great gravity and science.

The bottle, in the mean while, went merrily about, and the following healths were begun by a great man, The King, Prince and Princess, and the Royal Family; the Church as by Law established; Prosperity to Old England under the present Administration; and Love, Liberty, and Science; which were unanimously pledged in full bumpers, attended with loud huzzas.

The faces then of the most ancient and most honourable fraternity of the Free Masons, brightened with ruddy fires; their eyes illuminated, resplendent blazed.

Well fare ye, merry hearts, thought I, hail ye illustrious topers, if liberty and freedom, ye free mortals, is your essential difference, richly distinguishes you from all others, and is, indeed, the very soul and spirit of the brotherhood, according to brother Eugenius Philalethes[4]. I know not who may be your alma mater, but undoubtedly Bacchus is your liber pater.

'Tis wine, ye Masons, makes you free,
Bacchus the father is of liberty.

But leaving the Free Masons, and their invaluable secrets, for I know not what they are worth, come we now to speak of other men of learning, who loved to indulge their genius with the delicious juice of the grape. And here we need not fly to antiquity, which would swell this work into a large volume, later times will furnish us with many a bright example. _Non semper confugiamus ad vetera._

A man of learning, after ten or twelve hours daily study, cannot do better, than to unbend his mind in drinking plentifully of the creature; and may not such a one say to himself these verses of the French poet:--

"Dois-je mal a propos secher a faire un livre
Et n'avoir pour tout fruit des peines que je prends
Que la haine de sots et les mepris des grands[5]."

Why should I pass away my time in vain,
And, to compose a book, dry up my brain,
When all the recompense I'm like to find,
For all the toil and labour of my mind,
Is the unthinking silly ideot's hate,
And the contempt and scorn of all the great

I must own I would have the indefatigable labour of such a one gain an immortal reputation after his death; but after all, to weary one's self all one's life long with those views, is very chimerical. And certainly, he that makes but little account of the honours that might accrue to him after his death, acted like a man of sense. _Si venit post fata gloria non propero_[6].

Is it not infinitely better to divert one's self while one lives, than to idle all one's life away on poring upon books? Much better will the following song become the mouth of a man of letters, which I have transcribed out of the Mercure Galant, of the year 1711, p. 67.

"De ceux qui vivent dans l'histoire,
Ma foi je n'envierai le sort.
Nargues du Temple de Memoire
Ou l'on ne vit que lorsque l'on est mort.
J'aime bien mieux vivre pendant ma vin
Pour boire avec Silvie;
Car je sentirai
Les momens que je vivrai
Tant que je boirai."

Faith, I shan't envy him, whoe'er he be,
That glorious lives in history;
Nor memory's rich fane amuse my head,
Where no one lives but when he's dead.
I had much rather, while I life enjoy,
The precious moments all employ,
With my lov'd Silvia, and delicious wine,
Both wonderful, and both divine.
For that I truly live, and healthy prove,
Is that I drink, and that I love.

This is exactly the same thing that Racan said to Maynard in this ode[7].

"Je sai, Maynard, que les merveilles
Qui naissent de tes longues veilles
Vivront autant que l'univers;
Mais que te sert il que ta gloire
Eclipse au Temple de Memoire
Quand tu seras mangé des vers?
Quitte cette inutile peine,
Bûvons plûtôt a longue haleine
De ce doux jus delicieux,
Qui pour l'excellence précéde
Le bruvage que Ganimede
Verse dans la coupe des dieux."

Maynard, I know thy thoughts express'd in rhyme,
Those wonders of thy bright immortal pen,
Shall live for ever in the minds of men,
Till vast eternity shall swallow time.
Yet should thy glories, now so radiant bright,
In Memory's rare temple lose their light;
Suffer eclipse, when to the worms a prey,
Those reptiles eat thy poor remains away.
Does this reflection chagrin thee, my friend,
Thus to the useless thought decree an end?
Drink, and drink largely, that delicious juice,
The em'rald vines in purple gems produce,
Which for its excellence surpasses far
That liquor which, to bright celestial souls,
Jove's minion, Ganimede, with steady care,
Richly dispenses in immortal bowls.

So much for poetry, let us come to the point, and instance some learned men, that have loved this diversion. And first, enter Erasmus, who certainly was no enemy to wine, since he chose rather to continue where the plague was than drink water. To prove this, I shall instance part of a letter written to this great man by Armonius, an Italian, and a very learned person:-- "Immediately after my arrival in England, I endeavoured to inform myself where you were, because in your last you told me, the plague had forced you to quit Cambridge. At length I was told for certain, that you had indeed left the town, but retiring into a place where there was no wine, which to you being worse than the plague, you returned thither, and where you now are. O intrepid soldier of Bacchus, whom so eminent a danger could not compel to desert his general!" The Latin having much more force, for the sake of those who understand that language, I shall take the liberty to insert it, as follows:-- _Simul atque Anglicum solum tetigi, ubi locorum esses rogare cepi, siquidem Cantabrigiensem pestem fugere te scripsisti. Unus tandem sixtinus mihi dixit te quidem Cantabrigiam. Ob pestem reliquisse et concessisse nescio quo, ubi cum vini penuria laborares, et eo carere gravius peste duceres, Cantabrigiam repetiisse atque ibi nunc esse. O fortem Bassarei commilitonem, qui in summo periculo ducem deserere nolueris_[8].

"Daniel Heinsius loved to drink a little. One day, when he was not in a condition to read his lectures, having got drunk the day before, some arch wags fixed these words on the school-door:-- _Daniel Heinsius, non leget hodie, propter hesternam carpulam_[9]."

"George Sharpe, a Scotchman, professor, and vice-chancellor of Montpelier, who died in the year 1673, on his birth-day, aged fifty-nine years, was a great drunkard[10]."

Barthius may also be reckoned amongst those learned topers, if what Coloniez says be true. "I knew," says he, "some learned men in Holland, who spoke of Scriverius as of a man extremely amorous. M. Vossius, amongst others, related to me one day, that Barthius being come from Germany to Haerlaem to see Scriverius, had in his company a lady perfectly beautiful, whom Scriverius had no sooner seen, but he found means to make Barthius drunk, that he might entertain the lady with greater liberty, which he accomplished. It was not, however, so well managed, but Barthius coming to himself had some reason to suspect what had past, which grew so much upon him, that he took the lady along with him in a rage, and drowned her in the Rhine[11]."

Scaliger treats as a drunkard, John Kuklin, a calvinist minister, native of Hesse, and a very learned man[12].

"Nicolas de Bourbon, of Bar sur l'Aube, was nephew's son to the poet Nicolas Bourbon, who lived in the time of Francis the First; after having been king's professor, then canon of Langres, made himself father of the oratory. ----He was a prodigious dry soul, and loved good wine, which made him often say, That though he was of the French academy, yet that when he read French verses he fancied he was drinking water."

The great Buchanan, so famous for his fine writings, was a terrible drinker, if we may give any credit to Father Garasse. What follows is taken out of his Doctrine Curieuse, p. 748. "I shall," says he, "recount to our new atheists, the miserable end of a man of their belief and humour, as to eating and drinking. The libertine having passed his debauched youth in Paris and Bourdeaux, more diligent in finding out tavern bushes than the laurel of Parnassus; and being towards the latter end of his life, recalled into Scotland, to instruct the young prince, James VI. continuing his intemperance, he grew at last so dropsical by drinking, that by way of jeer he said he was in labour. _Vino intercute_, not _aquâ intercute_. As ill as he was, he would, however, not abstain from drinking bumpers, and them too all of pure wine, as he used to do at Bourdeaux. The physicians who had care of his health, by order of the king, seeing the extravagant excesses of their patient, told him roundly, and in a kind of heat, that he did all he could to kill himself, and that, if he continued this course of life, he could not live above a fortnight, or three weeks, longer. He desired them then to hold a consultation amongst themselves, and let him know how long he might live if he abstained from wine. They did so, and told him, he might on that condition live five or six years longer. Upon which he gave them an answer worthy his humour. Go, says he, with your regimens and prescriptions, and know, that I had rather live three weeks, and get drunk every day, than six years without drinking wine. And as soon as he had thus dismissed the physicians, he caused a barrel of wine of Grave to be placed at his bed's head, resolving to see the bottom of it before he died; and carried himself so valiantly in this encounter, that he drank it up to the lees, fulfilling literally the contents of this quaint epigram of Epigonus upon a frog, who falling into a pipe of wine, cried out,

+pheu tines hudôr
pinousi maniên sôphrona mainomenoi.+

"Having death and the glass between his teeth, the ministers visited him to bring him to himself, that he might take resolution to die with some thought and reflection; one of them especially exhorted him to recite the Lord's Prayer; upon which, opening his eyes, he looked very ghastly upon the minister, And what is that, says he, that you call the Lord's Prayer? The standers by answered, It was the Our Father; and that, if he could not pronounce that prayer, they desired him that at least he would recite some christian prayer, that he might die like a good man. For my part, replied he, I never knew any other prayer than this,

"Cynthia prima suis miserum me cepit ocellis,
Contractum nullis ante cupidinibus."[12a]

Cynthia's fine eyes, me wretched, first could move,
Before that time I knew not what was love.

"And scarce had he repeated ten or twelve verses of that elegy of Propertius, but he expired, surrounded with cups and glasses, and of him one may really say, that he vomitted his purple soul out, _Purpuræam vomit ille animam_[13]."

I shall not vouch for the truth of this story, but you have it as I find it; nor must it be expected that Buchanan, who was their mortal enemy, should find any favour from the priests of the church of Rome.

Justus Lipsius got sometimes drunk; he tells us so himself, in his Commentary on Seneca, for in that passage where the philosopher says, that drunkenness cures some certain distempers, he makes on the word distempers this remark following--Melancholy (we know it by experience) or cold. And in the discourses which he says were carried on between Carrio Demius and Dusa, upon subjects of literature, and which he inserts in his Ancient Lessons, they had always a glass in their hand.

Every one knows that Baudius, professor in the university of Leyden, was a great drinker, and Culprit himself pleads guilty to the indictment. _Habemus rerum confitentem._ Here follow his own words, which I own I cannot translate without losing their beauty in the Latin, but the substance is, that he defies envy itself to say any thing against him, but that like the ancient Cato, he drank pretty liberally of the juice of the grape. _Concurrant omnes_, says he, _non dicam ut ille satiricus, Augures, Haruspices, sed quicquid est ubique hominum curiosorum, qui in aliena acta tam sedulo iniquirunt ut ea fingant quæ nunquam fuerunt, nihil inveniet quod in nobis carpere possit livor, quam quod interdum ad exemplum prisci Catonii liberalitatis invitare nos patiamur, nec semper constitimus ultra sobrietatem veterum Sabinorum_[14]. And in another letter he says, that the most virulent detractor could never reproach him with any thing, but that he got sometimes drunk. _Malignitas obtrectatorum nihil aliud in nobis sigillare potest quam quod nimis commodus sum convivator, et interdum largius adspargor rore liberi patris_[15].

Balzac made also some little debauches with some of his friends at his country-house; and what he wrote to an officer who was then prisoner in Germany, makes it evidently appear that he thought it lawful so to do. "In relation," says he, "to the German manner of drinking healths, which you speak of with such trouble, as if they were so many Turkish bastinadoes, I think your sobriety in that respect to be a little too delicate, you must learn to howl when you are in company of wolves, as the proverb has it, and not to instance great generals. Don't you know, that wise ambassadors of kings have heretofore got drunk for the good of their master's affairs, and sacrificed all their prudence and gravity to the necessity of great men, and the custom of the country where they were. I do not advise you here to any forbidden acts of intemperance, but I think it no manner of harm now and then to drown your chagrin in Rhenish wine, and to make use of that agreeable means to shorten the time, the long continuance of which is ever extremely tedious to prisoners[16]."

The illustrious professor of Utrecht, whose name shall live as long as the republic of letters shall subsist, was a great drinker, and valued himself for drinking a great deal. It is reported of this learned man, that at the congress of the last peace, a certain German prince, of a sovereign house, came on purpose to have a brush with our professor, who accepted the challenge, and came off victorious, having fairly laid his enemy speechless on the floor.

[Footnote 1: Vide Preface, p. 17, l. 6, where are these words,
viz. Thus shall princes love and cherish you as their most
faithful children and servants, and take delight to commune with
you, inasmuch as amongst you are found men excellent in all kinds
of sciences, and who, thereby, may make their names, who love and
cherish you, immortal]

[Footnote 2: Page 6, l. 9.]

[Footnote 3: Page 16, l. 19.]

[Footnote 4: Page 5, l. 12. Page 42, l. 13.]

[Footnote 5: Oeuv. div. du Sieur D'Espreaux, p. 246.]

[Footnote 6: Martial.]

[Footnote 7: Parnass. Franc, p. 97.]

[Footnote 8: Bayle Dict. Art. Ammon.]

[Footnote 9: Menagian, t. i. p. 26.]

[Footnote 10: Patinian, p. 106.]

[Footnote 11: Rec. de Partic. p. 318, ed. 4.]

[Footnote 12: Scaliger, p. 409.]

[[Footnote 12a: Propertius I.i.1-2.]]

[Footnote 13: Bayle Dict. Art. Buchan. D.]

[Footnote 14: Ep. xxxiii. centur. 3.]

[Footnote 15: Ep. xxvi. centur. 3.]

[Footnote 16: Lett. Chois. lib. ii. lett. 5.]

CHAP. XVI.

OF NATIONS THAT USED TO GET DRUNK.

The plot now begins to thicken upon us, and we are come to give an account of such nations with whom the custom of getting drunk was heretofore very much in vogue; and of those with whom this same custom reigns at this very day.

When we consult ancient histories upon this point, we learn from Plato[1], that the Scythians, Thracians, Celtæ and Iberians, were the greatest drinkers that ever were. Ælian[2] says the same in relation to the Thracians and Illyrians. It is also reported of the Parthians[3], that the more they drink the more thirsty they grow.

Athenæus[4] also assures us, that the Thracians were great drinkers; and he says the same thing of the Milesians, Illyrians, Lydians, Persians, Carthaginians, Gauls, and Spaniards.

The Tapyrians were so much given to wine, that they past their whole lives in drinking, and even bathed their bodies in wine[5].

The Tarentins used to drink from morning till night, and got quite drunk in public[6].

The Leontins, a people in Sicily, were such great drunkards, that they occasioned this proverb, viz. the Leontins are always near a cup of wine[7].

The Byzantins must not be refused a place in this chapter. Ælian reports[8], that Leonides, their general, being besieged, and unable to make his men keep their posts, which they quitted every moment to go and get drunk at the taverns, he immediately gave orders that the vintners should repair with all their liquors to the ramparts, by which stratagem he kept them to their duty.

But as it may be said that the nations we have already mentioned were all barbarous, we shall, for that reason, verify what Montaigne says, that amongst nations the best regulated, and most polite, this essay of drinking deep was very much in use[9].

The Greeks, whom one may look upon as the only nation of the world for politeness and good sense, are a proof of what I advance. They celebrated the feasts of Bacchus with a great deal of solemnity; it is from them that Pergræcari, of which every one knows the signification, is derived. Ælian assures us, that they were so very luxurious, that they put perfumed oils into their wine, which they called wine of myrrh.

The Romans had also a very strong passion for wine, so that at Rome there were frequently very great seditions for want of it. _Seditiones sunt concitatæ graves ob inopiam vini_[10], says Ammianus Marcellinus, in the Life of Constantius and Gallus; and in the reign of Constantius only, the same historian says, there was a sedition also upon that very account.

Titus Livius tells us, that the Clusians passed the Alps, and came to inhabit the country that the Etrurians possessed before, to have the pleasure of drinking wine[11].

Let us now descend to some nations, with whom, at present, this custom of getting drunk is received.

Sir Paul Ricaut[12] assures us, that the Turks considering that wine rejoices the heart, and comforts the stomach, have begun to drink it; adding, that at present there are only a few (ulamah) ecclesiastical hypocrites or some ignorant bigots, or superannuated people, that abstain from that liquor; but at the same time drunkenness is grown very common amongst them.

M. Du Mont confirms this truth, "As to wine," says he, "though it be as expressly forbidden as swine's flesh, it is nevertheless very certain that a great many Mahometans transgress that precept; and the justest thing that I can say in that respect is, that abstinence from wine is observed there almost after the same manner as Lent in France[13]."

The Persians too drink wine to excess, though their law forbids the use of it; and they say for an excuse, "That it is to pass away the time, and sweeten the cares that surprise them[14]."

The Armenians are no way behind the Persians, if we may believe Tavernier, who says, that with them, "He that treats thinks he has handsomely acquitted himself of his entertainment, if his guests cannot find the door when they have a mind to go home, which would very often happen, without the assistance of their servants, who lead them, and yet have not power enough sometimes to keep them from falling down in the room, or in the street, which is a great satisfaction to the host; for if he finds any of them master of so much judgment as to guide himself, though he reels never so much, he laments very much, as having the misfortune of spending his money to no purpose[15].

The Siameze drink wine very heartily when they can get it, though every thing that may intoxicate them is forbidden by their law[16].

Father le Clerc, author of a Relation of Gaspesia, assures us, that drunkenness is the favourite vice of the inhabitants of that country[17].

The inhabitants of the coast of Africa are great drunkards; they would give all they had in the world for a glass of brandy. At Loanda, capital of the kingdom of Angola, a firkin of wine sells for above thirty pounds sterling. They love it extremely, and they tell you a pleasant story hereupon of the great duke of Bamba, which is a province of the king of Congo, viz. that he once refused the crown, as he himself owned to the fathers missioners, that he might be always near the Portuguese, and drink, by their means, sometimes a little wine or brandy[18].

The Muscovites love wine with a kind of fury, and it has been known, that when a man who has drunk to excess, and can swallow no more, they wash him soundly with it. And in Germany you are not looked upon to have treated your guest like a friend, if you do not reduce him to that condition, as quite to forget himself, and know not what he does[19].

"As Georgia produces strong wines, so its inhabitants are great drunkards, the strongest liquors is what they love most; and at their entertainments they drink more brandy than wine, women as well as men.[20]"

Sir John Chardin[21] assures us, That there is no country in the world where they drink so much wine, and more excellent, than they do at Georgia; adding, that the Georgians are great drunkards, and that the clergy get drunk as well as the laity.

Like people like priest.

Quales populus talis sacerdos.

We have taken care not to forget Germany. _Vocabitur hæc quoque votis._ Which we reserve to the next chapter.

[Footnote 1: Lips. cent. 3, ep. li.]

[Footnote 2: Lib. ii. cap. 15.]

[Footnote 3: Erasm. Adag.]

[Footnote 4: Lib. x. cap. 10.]

[Footnote 5: Ælian, lib. iii. cap. 13.]

[Footnote 6: Lib. xii.]

[Footnote 7: Forner de Ebriet. lib. i. cap. 12.]

[Footnote 8: Lib. iii. cap. 14.]

[Footnote 9: Essays, l. ii. cap. 2.]

[Footnote 10: Hist. Aug. Script. ed. 1609. fol. p. 414, and
p. 425.]

[Footnote 11: P. 85.]

[Footnote 12: Hist. of the Turks.]

[Footnote 13: Voyage, t. 3, let. v.]

[Footnote 14: Tavernier's Trav. 1. lib. v. cap. 17.]

[Footnote 15: Tavern. t. 1, lib. v. cap. 17.]

[Footnote 16: Loubere, liv. i. ch. 9.]

[Footnote 17: Bibl. Univ. t. xxiii. p. 44.]

[Footnote 18: Viaggo del Congo.]

[Footnote 19: Chevrean, t. ii. p. 215.]

[Footnote 20: Tavern. t. 1, liv. iii. ch. 9.]

[Footnote 21: Voyag. t. ii. p. 129.]

CHAP. XVII.

OF THE DRUNKENNESS OF THE GERMANS.

The Germans were, in all times and ages, great drinkers, and in the words of one of their own poets,

"Illic nobilitas, æterno nomine digna
Exhaurire cados, siccareque pocula longa[1]."

---------------------- worthy eternal fame!
'Tis there a piece of true nobility,
To empty casks, and drink deep goblets dry.

To demonstrate the origin of their bibacity, it is absolutely necessary to go higher than Tacitus, who in the treatise which he composed in relation to their customs and manners, thus speaks: "It is no shame with them to pass whole days and nights in drinking; but quarrellings are very frequent amongst them, as are usual amongst folks in that respect, and more often end at daggers drawing than in Billingsgate. It is, however, in such meetings, that alliances and reconciliations are formed. Here they treat of the election of princes. In short, of all affairs, of peace and war. Those opportunities they think most proper, inasmuch as then people shake off all disguise of thought and reflection, and the heat of debauch engages the soul of man to resolutions the most bold and hardy[2]."

Owen, our countryman, has made an epitaph in honour of these our substantial topers, the Germans; the sense of which is, that if truth lies hidden in wine, they are the first people in the world that will find it out. His words are,

Si latet in vino verum, ut proverbia dicunt,
Invenit verum Teuto vel inveniet.

Let us see now what travellers have said on this subject of the Germans: and we will begin with M. Aug. de Thou[3], an eye-witness thereof. "There is," says he, "before Mulhausen, a large place, or square, where, during the fair, assemble a prodigious number of people, of both sexes, and of all ages; there one may see wives supporting their husbands, daughters their fathers, tottering upon their horses or asses, a true image of a Bacchanal. The public-houses are full of drinkers, where the young women who wait, pour wine into goblets out of a large bottle with a long neck, without spilling one drop. They press you to drink with pleasantries the most agreeable in the world. People drink here continually, and return at all hours to do the same thing over again."

This pleasant sight, so new to M. de Thou, continues almost all night. And what is very particular amongst such a great concourse of people, and such a number of drunkards, every thing passes without dispute and quarrelling.

Let us now see what the duke de Rohan says on this head, whose words are these[4]:-- "From thence I came to Trent, a place noways agreeable, and famous for nothing but the last council which was held there; and if it was not that it was half Italian, (being glad of coming out of little Barbary, and a universal tippling-house,) I would take no notice of it; being well satisfied, that the mathematicians of our times can no where find out the perpetual motion so well as here, where the goblets of Germans are an evident demonstration of its possibility--they think they cannot make good cheer, nor permit friendship or fraternity, as they call it, with any, without giving the seal brimful of wine, to seal it for perpetuity."

M. Misson, who was also some time in Germany, gives us yet a larger description. "The Germans," says he[5], "are, as you know, strange drinkers. There are no people in the world more caressing, more civil, more officious, but still another cup. They have terrible customs on that article of drinking. Every thing is transacted over the bottle; you can do nothing without drinking. One can scarce speak three words at a visit, but you are astonished to see the collation come in, or at least a good quantity of wine, attended with crusts of bread cut into little pieces, upon a plate with salt and pepper, a fatal preparative for bad drinkers. I must instruct you in the laws they observe in their cups; laws sacred and inviolable. You must never drink without drinking some one's health, which having done, you must immediately present the glass to the party you drank to, who must never refuse it, but drink it to the last drop. Reflect a little, I beseech you, on these customs, and you will see how, and by what means, it is impossible to cease from drinking. After this manner one shall never have done. It is a perpetual circle to drink after the German fashion; it is to drink for ever. You must likewise know, that the glasses too are respected in those countries as much as the wine is loved; they range them all about in ranks and files; most of their rooms are wainscotted up two thirds of the wall, and the glasses are ranged all about, like organ pipes, upon the cornish. They begin with the small, and end with the large ones, which are like melon glasses, and must be taken off at one draught, when they drink any health of importance."

Let us observe here[6], "That it was the custom of the ancient Greeks to drink largely after meals, and that this custom is now practised in Germany." This was what Æneas, and the people of his train, used to do, as we learn from these verses of Virgil[7]:--

"Postquam prima quies epulis, mensæque remotæ,
Crateras magnas statuunt et vina coronant.

After the teeth had gain'd their first repose,
The dishes ta'en away, the cloth remov'd,
The rich repast gigantic tankards close,
Replete with wines, by nicest tastes approv'd.

It is the same thing with the Armenians, they never drink till at the end of their meals. "After they have said grace, the dishes are removed, in order to bring in the desert, and then they prepare themselves to drink to excess."

We come now to the Swiss. Here follows what Daniel Eremita, a very learned man, who published a description of their country, has said of them. "[8]They have the same simplicity in drinking, but they do not keep the same moderation. Wine is what they place their delight in, and they prefer it to all things in the world. At their assemblies, both for pleasure and business, or any other affairs, wine always makes a party; with which, when they have overloaded their stomach, they discharge it, and sit down to it again, and drink as they did at first. They leave the care of their family to their wives and children, who live with the utmost economy, in favour of their husbands, who are continually at the tavern. They talk with glass in hand, and please themselves in that posture to recount their acts and jests, and those of their ancestors, as examples to posterity. They speak freely all they know, and know not what a secret is. In short, this way of life does not only continue whole days successively, but all the time they live."

Nor have things now taken another aspect in Switzerland. The author of a travel lately into that country, tells us for certain, that "wine is a singular attractive, a powerful charm, against which the Swiss can make no manner of resistance[9]."

Before I close this chapter I shall take notice of the Flemings, whom we ought to look upon as making part of Germany, who, though they are surrounded by water, take care never to drink any, which made Scaliger, when in Holland, say to Douza,

"In mediis habitamus aquis, quis credere possit
Et tamen hic nullæ, Douza, bibuntur aquæ[10]."

Amidst the waters here we live,
Yet who can any credit give
To what I say, for, Douza, here
No water drinkers e'er appear.

Guicciardin, in his description of the low countries, accuses the people of drinking too much. _Hanno_[11], says he, _poi per la maggior parte quel vitio del bere troppo_. He adds, however, "That they are in some sort excusable, because the air of the country being for the most part of the year humid, and apt to inspire melancholy, they could not, perhaps, make use of a more efficacious remedy to expel this irksome, unwholesome melancholy, than wine, which, I suppose, was Horace's sentiment, when he said, With wine drive away care. The words in the original are, _Ma sono in qualche parte scusabili, per che essendo l'aria del paese il pui del tempo humida et malinconica, non potrieno peraventura trovar instromento piu idoneo a scacciare et battere la malinconia odiosa et mal sana che il vino, si come pare che accerni Horatio dicendo. Vino pellite curas._"

But without any farther talking of the Germans, I shall end this chapter with this necessary remark, that one need not go out of England for examples of hard drinking, our country, God bless it, does not come behind any other in this particular.

[Footnote 1: G. Brusch. Inter. p. 405.]

[Footnote 2: Diem noctemque continuare nullum probium, crebræ ut
inter vinolentos rixæ, raro conviciis sepius cede et vulneribus
transiguntur. Sed et de reconciliandis invicem inimicitiis et
pangendis affinitatibus et adsciscendis principibus, de pace
denique ac bello plerunque in conviviis consultant; tanquam nullo
magis tempore aut ad simplices cogitationes patea animus, aut ad
magnas incalescat.] [[Tacitus, _Germania_ 22.]]

[Footnote 3: Memoir de Thou. liv. ii. p. 63.]

[Footnote 4: Voyag. p. 27. ed. 1646.]

[Footnote 5: Voyage de Italie, t. i. let. 9.]

[Footnote 6: Chevreana, t. ii. p. 188.]

[Footnote 7: Æneid, lib. i. v. 723.] [[i.e. 723-724.]]

[Footnote 8: Ed. viii. p. 411.]

[Footnote 9: Voyag. de Rouvier, p. 89.]

[Footnote 10: De admir. Holland.]

[Footnote 11: Ed. fol. 1567, p. 29.]

CHAP. XVIII.

OF NATIONS THAT GET DRUNK WITH CERTAIN LIQUORS.

As every country does not produce wine, but, according to the poet[1],

"Hic segetes, illic veniunt fælicius uvæ."

_Here_ wheat, more happily _there_ grows the grape.

Those nations, with whom there are no vines, have invented other drinks to make themselves merry. Pliny[2] tells us, That the western people got drunk with certain liquors made with fruits; and that these liquors have different names in Gaul and Spain, though they produce the same effect.

Ammianus Marcellinus reports, That the Gauls having no wine in their country, though they are very fond of it, contrive a great many sorts of liquors, which produce the same effect as wine. _Vini avidum genus adfectans ad vini similitum dinem multiplices potus._

The Scythians had no wine, as appears by the answer of Anacharsis, the philosopher, who being asked, If they had none that played on the flute in Scythia, replied, That they had not so much as any wine there. However, for all that, they got drunk with certain liquors which had the force and strength of wine. This also we learn from these words of Virgil:--

"Ipsi in defossis specubus, secura subaltâ
Otia agunt terrâ, congestaque robora tolasque
Advolvere focis ulmos, ignique dedere.
Hic noctem ludo ducunt, et pocula læti
Fermento, atque acidis imitantur vitea sorbis."[2a]

Secure, in quiet ease, they dwell in caves
Deep dug in earth, and to their chimneys roll
Whole oaks and elms entire, which flames devour.
Here all the night, in sport and merry glee,
They pass and imitate, with acid service,
By fermentation vinous made, the grape.

The Thracians intoxicate themselves by swallowing the fumes of certain herbs, which they cast into the fire.

The Babylonians, according to Herodotus, used likewise to get drunk, by swallowing the fumes of certain herbs that they burned.

Strabo reports, That the Indians made a certain drink with sugar canes, which made them merry; very probably not unlike what we now call rum.

Benso, in his History of America, says the same of the inhabitants of the island of Hispaniola, and several other provinces of America.

Pliny and Athenæus tell us, that the Egyptians fuddled themselves with a drink made of barley; by this it seems the liquor of Sir John Barley-Corn is very ancient.

Leri[3], in his Voyage to Brazil, tells us, That the inhabitants of that country are as great drinkers as the Germans, Flemings, Lansquenets, Swiss: and all those merry gentleman who love carousing, and drink supernaculum, ought to agree, that they are even with them. Their drink is made of certain roots, which they boil and ferment, and is then called by them in their language, _cahou-in_. The author adds, "That he has seen them not only drink three days and nights successively without ceasing, but that they were so very drunk, that they could swallow no more till they had disgorged, which was in order to begin again.

"There [4]grows in the Eastern countries certain particular drugs, with which the inhabitants are wonderfully delighted, and which produce a kind of drunkenness, or agreeable folly, which continues some time. They are so much accustomed to the use of these drugs, by a long habit, that they imagine that life must be very sad and unhappy without them. The Indians and Persians have their bangué, the Egyptians their bola, and the Turks their opium."

In relation to the Persians, Tavernier[5] has these words, viz. "They have a sort of drink to divert and make themselves merry, which they call kokemaar, made of poppy-seeds boiled. They drink it scalding hot; and there are particular houses, called kokemaar kronè, where people meet, and give a great deal of pleasure and delight to those who see the ridiculous postures which this kind of liquor makes them perform. Before it operates they quarrel with one another, and give abusive language, without coming to blows; afterwards when the drug begins to have its effect, then they also begin to make peace. One compliments in a very high degree, another tells stories, but all are extremely ridiculous both in their words and actions." And after having spoken of other liquors that they make use of, he adds, "It is difficult to find in Persia a man that is not addicted to some one of these liquors, without which they think they cannot live but very unpleasantly."

I take no notice here of that admirable drink called Punch with us; nor Juniper-water, (vulgarly called Geneva, a corruption from the French word Genevre, which signifies the same thing,) nor that dram called All-fours, which have such wonderful effects on the wretched commonalty.

[Footnote 1: Virgil.] [[_Georgics_ I.54.]]

[Footnote 2: Const. et Jul. lib. 16.]

[[Footnote 2a: Virgil, _Georgics_ III.376-380.]]

[Footnote 3: P. 126, ed. 1594.]

[Footnote 4: L'Emer. des Alim. part iii. ch. 2.]

[Footnote 5: T. 1, lib. v. ch. 17.]

CHAP. XIX.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS IN FAVOUR OF DRUNKENNESS.

Drunkenness will (and ought to do so) appear excusable to people the most sober, if they would but make these two reflections following, viz.

I. _That drunkards are not generally given to lewdness._

Aristotle says, "That too much drinking makes one very improper for the acts of Venus, and gives his reasons. Athenæus reports the same thing in that passage, where he makes mention of the drunkenness of Alexander the Great, a vice," says he, "which, perhaps, was the cause of his little inclination for the ladies."

Montaigne[1] speaks very well on this article, "These," says he, "are two things which vigorously oppose each other; this weakens our stomach on one hand; whereas, on the other, sobriety serves to make us more quaint and delicate in the exercise of love."

Ovid[2] says much the same thing.

"Vina parant animum veneri, nisi plurima sumas,
Ut stupeant multo corda sepulta mero."

Wine, not too much, inspires, and makes the mind
To the soft joys of Venus strong inclin'd,
Which buried in excess, unapt to love,
Stupidly lies, and knows not how to move.

II. _That in those countries where they do not drink to excess, they are very much addicted to debauchery._

It is certain, that in hot countries they drink a great deal less than they do in cold, but in lieu of that, lewdness reigns much more. Montaigne[3], after having observed, that they began to drink less than they used to do, adds, "Does any one think it tends to amendment? No, indeed; but, perhaps, we are much more given to whoring than our forefathers."

This puts me in mind of an Italian, who having reproached a German with the drunkenness of his country, by these verses, viz.

"Germani multos possunt tolerare labores
O utinam possint tam tolerare sitim."

The Germans (patient) toil, inur'd to pain,
Oh! could they but their thirst so well sustain!

The German answered him extempore in these other two:--

"Ut nos vitis amor, sic vos Venus improba vexat
Est data lex veneri Julia, nulla mero."

As we love wine, so wicked Venus you,
Twas _this_, not _that_, the Julian Edict knew.

In order to draw a consequence from all this, let us speak once more of Montaigne[4], whose words are, "And if we cannot give any pleasure but what costs us something, as the ancients maintain, I find this vice costs the conscience less than all the rest, besides, it is in this respect no despicable consideration, that a man advanced in honours, amongst three principal conveniencies of life, that he told me he yet enjoyed, he reckoned this for one."

After having shewn, in the foregoing chapters, That drunkenness reigns all the world over, _Nulla in parte mundi cessat ebrietas_. Let us see what we may hence infer in its favour: and I ask, if the agreement of so many different nations, to do one and the same thing, proves nothing, and may not, in some measure, serve as an apology for drunkenness? For if one considers, that the surprising variety of the humour and temperament of men, do, notwithstanding, in nowise hinder them from agreeing unanimously in this point, one shall have a very strong temptation to believe, that the desire of getting drunk is an innate quality, and we shall be confirmed in this sentiment, after tasting experimentally the exquisite sweetness caused by drunkenness.

To conclude,

All drink, throughout the universe, 'tis plain,
The moon drinks up the sea, the earth the rain,
The sun the air, and ev'ry tree, we know,
The earth's prolific juice imbibes to grow.
The air sups up the water too, 'tis said,
Why then, my dearest friends, d'ye plague my head,
And angry grow, because, dry soul[5], I swill
New wine, drink fit for gods, and quaff my fill.

[Footnote 1: Essais, l. ii. ch. 2.]

[Footnote 2: De Remed. Amor.]

[Footnote 3: Essais, liv. ii. ch. 2.]

[Footnote 4: Essais, liv. ii. ch. 2.]

[Footnote 5: Anima mea non potest habitare in sicco. S. Aug.]

CHAP. XX.

AN ANSWER TO THE OBJECTION, THAT DRUNKENNESS CAUSES INFINITE EVILS.

After having specified the good qualities of drunkenness, let us now answer some frivolous objections that may be made against what we have here advanced. For example, people will not be wanting immediately to object, that drunkenness has been the cause of infinite evils.

To this I answer, that it has been only the cause of these evils when people have pushed it too far, and not observed the rules they ought to keep in drinking, and which we shall see here prescribed by and by. For where do we find that any one, of so many grave philosophers that used to get drunk, made any disorders? It was for this reason that Chrisippus's maid said, That her master was drunk in the hams. And it was on this very account, perhaps, that the Stoics said of their sage, "That he was, indeed, to be overcome with wine, but would not, however, be drunk, _Vino obrutum iri non ebrium tamen futurum_."

On the other hand, without being willing to excuse those disorders which drunkenness has been the cause of, one may say, nevertheless, that some of these disorders have produced effects highly advantageous. "Suppose, for example, that Lot had not got drunk, and his two daughters had not been possessed with the furious desire of having children, and the fear of dying maids, you ruin, by this means, whole families, who bore a great part in the wonderful events of the children of Israel[1]."