56 



CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



and beer is a word derived from the Welsh 

 bir. 



Pope says of beer, as a satire on Welsted : 



" Flow, Welsted ! flow, like thine inspirer beer, 

 Though stale, not ripe ; though thin, yet never clear; 

 So sweetly mawkish, and so smoothly dull ; 

 Heady, not strong; and flowing, though not full. " 



For some years past the brewing of porter 

 has nearly superseded that of ale in the me- 

 tropolis; but from whence this modern word 

 is derived, we are unable to conclude ; unless 

 it is so called after that useful body of men 

 who are its principal consumers. 



The extent to which porter-brewing is 

 carried, in London, may be conceived by 

 the dreadful accident which happened at the 

 brewhouses of Mr. Henry Meux, in the parish 

 of St. Giles. In the month of October 1814, 

 one of the large porter-vats by some accident 

 burst, when, from its enormous bulk, the por- 

 ter rushed with such an impetuous current, 

 that the adjoining streets resembled rivers 

 that had burst their banks, and the surround- 

 ing houses were so instantly filled with this 

 liquor, that the inhabitants, who had no means 

 of escape, were drowned as they sat at break- 

 fast. The vat was nearlv 100 feet in circum- 



