1831.] C :»15 ] 



BRITISH rOISOXS SEEK AND Sl'IlllT MOXOFOLIES. 



Were we to attempt to discuss one half of what has been said for 

 and against the use of fermented liquors, we suspect that in this our 

 cold, damp, and foggy atmosphere, few of our readers, especially at this 

 particular season of the year, would listen to arguments in favour of 

 total abstinence, whilst many of ihem would, on the contrary, practically 

 declare against us, by indulging in another modicum of some favourite 

 beverage : — in fact, since old father Noah " planted a vineyard, and 

 drank of the wine and was drunken," down to modern times, when John 

 Bull grumbles over his pipe and his pot, — the Dutchman over his 

 schnaps, — the ^Frenchman over his sour wine : — when the North Ameri- 

 can Indian is praising his Jire mater, which he affirms to be made of 

 tongues and hearts, " for when I have drank it," says he, " I fear nothing, 

 and talk like an angel," — and the negro is singing " blessings on a rum 

 tuff," — all nations and people have declared more or less in favour of 

 exhilirating liquids. 



The more northern nations, from whom we claim to be descended, 

 have, from the earliest periods, practically declared that the use of fer- 

 mented liquors is conducive to the health and vigour of the human 

 frame ; and as our countrymen, if we may judge from official documents, 

 seem determined, in so far as quajitity is concerned, to maintain the cha- 

 racter of their ancestors, we do not see any utility in joining with 

 temperance societies in defence of a different system. Our best course 

 appears to be to deprecate every thing approaching to habitual excess — 

 the abuse instead of the iise of fermented liquors ; and, by giving some 

 account of the deleterious mixtures which, through the instrumentality 

 of the great monopolists, John Bull is forced to swallow ; to endeavour 

 to impress upon his mind the necessity of paying particular attention to 

 the quality of that which he consumes, especially if he wishes to transmit 

 to his posterity the vigorous constitution which he has derived from his 

 hardy ancestors. 



Recent examinations of witnesses before Committees of the House of 

 Commons during the time that the trade in beer, and the propriety of 

 introducing sugar and molasses into the breweries and distilleries of this 

 country, were under discussion, have disclosed some very curious 

 information in regard to the composition and quality of British fermented 

 liquors ; and without entering particularly into the political part of the 

 question, we are desirous of making some extracts and observations for 

 the benefit and edification of our readers, to prove to them the kind of 

 liquor they do consume, and the obstacles which stand in the way of 

 their enjoying a sound and wholesome beverage. 



By the evidence of Mr. Barclay, and of Sir. Fowell Buxton (when 

 examined upon the beer bill), it appears that out of about 6,500,000 

 barrels of strong and ordinary beer, and 1,500,000 of small beer, the 

 small brewers only brewed 62,000 barrels, a proof that under the past 

 and present system, with the present materials, the small brewers cannot 

 compete with the large monopolists ; and that eleven great London 

 porter brewers have the whole power of raising or depressing the price 

 of beer. This is expressly affirmed by IMr. Buxton, who on having this 

 question put to him, viz. "as far as the public is concerned, they are en- 

 tirely at the mercy of the eleven great porter brewers of the metropolis }" 

 answered " yes !" The number of licensed public houses in London 



2T2 



