336 



The Grape Guliurlst. 



wives and children, and spending at 

 least two evenings in the open air, with 

 orchestral music and pleasant chat. 

 The night I passed in town happened 

 to be the anniversary of the battle of 

 Koniggrotz, and from five to ten p. m., 

 the best portion of the citizens were in 

 the tea-garden, adjoining the town hall, 

 enjoying the rational amusement of 

 excellent music from two bands, one of 

 strings and the other of brass, who 

 alternated with each other. Had a 

 member of the Total Abstinence Soci- 

 ety entered that assembly and seen a 

 hundred tables covered with bottles 

 half empty, of every shape and color, 

 mingled with mugs of beer and cups of 

 tea and coffee, and men, women and 

 children seated about them, and all par- 

 taking of the various drinks, he would 

 have been in despair at the complete 

 sway of wine-bibbing among the people 

 of Diisseldorf. The first ladies and 

 gentlemen, the ministers of religion, 

 the young women, the old men, the 

 innocent children, all would have been 

 in one condemnation — a wine-bibbing 

 generation. And yet a careful survey 

 of the garden would have failed to show 

 one single person excited to indiscre- 

 tion or the loss of self-control — one 

 single noisy or tipsy man. And here 

 for four or five hours are whole fami- 

 lies in the open air, engaged in domes- 

 tic and social chat, enjoying music and 

 the sympath}' of their fellow-creatures 

 instead of being scattered and divided 

 as with us — the old here, the young 

 there, the men in one place, the women 

 in another. As I looked upon the 

 cheerfulness and moderation, the cor- 

 dial intercourse, the absence of carking 

 cares or of haste and self-condemnation 

 in this German tea-garden, I felt that 



I Germany understood social life far bet- 

 i ter than any portion of America. As 

 I to the attempt to abolish drunkenness 

 i in America by a general assault upon 

 ; the use of all things that can intoxicate, 

 ' it is well meant, and has its excellent 

 effects. But it is greatly to be feared 

 that it is not enough in accordance with 

 natural laws to be a permanent influ- 

 ence. We mnst improve family life, 

 and especiall}' must we cultivate the 

 i participation of men and women, old 

 and young, in comtnon pleasures, before 

 we can hope to exorcise the demon of 

 excess and sensuality from American 

 society. 



It is much to be regretted that the 

 friends of temperance have, of late, been 

 trying to unsettle the opinion that 

 \ drunkenness is rare in the vine-grow- 

 ing countries. It is so patent in France 

 and in Germany, that intemperance in 

 the form of drunkenness is a most ex- 

 ceptional vice that only willful blind- 

 ness or partisanship could deny it. I 

 do not recollect to have seen one tipsy 

 man since I left Paris, and only one in 

 Paris, and I have diligently sought the 

 place where, in our countr}^ the}^ would 

 be found. The truth is, wine is one of 

 the most common and one of the most 

 beautiful gifts of Providence ; an article 

 joined with corn in the praises of saints. 

 The countries which possess it under- 

 stand its use, and are just as little sub- 

 ject to excess in using wine as in using 

 corn. Excess is found everywhere, and 

 all Heaven's gifts are liable to abuse ; 

 but to expect France and Germany to 

 give up wine or beer is absurd, nor 

 would anything but harm come froi 

 the attempt to enforce the disuse bj 

 legislation. 



