The Coining Man Will Drink Wine, etc. 



261 



hops. The ridiculousness of such 



logic is plain enough. 



'Thou cliiiin'st tlu' spirit in one souiulini;- word, 

 Tliat, freed from fetters, marches on in wine.' 



"It is not !i iulteration, when one 

 adds in the purest form what is already 

 present, but ought to be present in lar- 

 ger quantity. With as good reason 

 one might say that by the use of too 

 little sunlight Nature adulterates our 

 grape juice with too much acid and 

 too little sugar. That is the fact, call 

 it what we may. Since the addition 

 of sugar could neither be prohibited 

 nor prevented, a law was called for 

 which should bind makers, by a fine 

 of one thousand thalers, or corres- 

 ponding imprisonment, to declare on 

 sale, whether their wine was natural 

 or perfected. 



"Such a law would be a stillborn 

 child, if there are no tests by which 

 perfected wine can be distinguished 

 with certainty, and if these tests are 

 not so plain that the judge can give 

 judgment by their help. But a fine 

 of one thousand thalers for an action 

 not punishable, such as the adding of 

 sugar to grape must, was quite too 

 high; and so the joint directors of 

 the Rheinpreussischen Agricultural 

 Society, as well as the general assem. 

 bly at Kreuznach, laid their veto on 

 the afi'air, and dismissed it from the 

 order of the day. Bodily confine- 



ment for adding sugar to weak must, 

 or for concealing the act ! 



"It was ill-natured enougli, but 

 stupid. If an action be not punish- 

 able, its concealment can not be pun- 

 ished; and should the wine be in 

 second or third hands, and should the 

 buyer by sample be satisfied with the 

 representations of the producer, there 

 would be no further possibility of 

 putting the law in force. The affair 

 moves steadily on its way. The only 

 way of protecting buyer, and seller, 

 and consumer from injury, is the 

 fullest instruction on the proper con- 

 duct of tlie process ; and here Ave 

 have the consolation, that the purer 

 the materials emjjloyo 1, so much the 

 better will bo tha wines produced. 

 Everything agrees in this, that re- 

 fined practice will lead to a i^esult 

 which will be beneficial to humanity,. 

 and to the vintner most of all, for his 

 crop is, and will remain, the basis of 

 all methods for improving wine. If 

 science ever so strays aside, that wines 

 are made from sawdust or coal tar, 

 then let these gentlemen meet again 

 and lament over competition. 



' But the sun in our far north hind 



Pours aslant his wealcened rays; 

 Forest leaves may glow; our vineyaixls 



Lack the ripe grape's purple blaze. 

 ' Yet the north will live , and ever 



All who live to joys incline; 

 Let us, then, by skill and science. 

 Teach our grapes to yield us wine. ' ' ' 



THE COMING MAN WILL DEINK WINE; or, COMMON SENSE 

 vs. PROHIBITIVE LAWS.— lY. 



For the thorough initiation of my 

 total abstinence friends with the views 

 of my mind, I will begin with, the be- 

 ginning ; that is, I will show that that 

 which their object and purpose is to 



eradicate is not worth keeping; it is 

 the most pleasant, easy, and practica- 

 ble side of all undertakings. I will 

 settle the question that to be inebri- 

 ated is to be in a condition in no way 



