21 



life, and producing a cheerful temper, pro- 

 motes many social reforms. After hard la- 

 bor, man's nature seeks relaxation, restora- 

 tion from exhaustion, and a pleasurable 

 reward. It is useless to moralize about it, 

 unless we recognize this want of his system. 

 We have two antagonistic schools of moral- 

 ists who treat upon the subject of intemper- 

 ance. Intemperance results simply from 

 illtimed, excessive, careless, unreasonable, or 

 compulsory habits of dieting. What one 

 drinks is part of his diet. There are those 

 whose docrine is, that man should obtain 

 the least possible physical enjoyment from 

 the greatest possible exertion. Others think 

 that the greatest possible resonable and 

 sane enjoyment should be the reward of 

 labor. The latter do not affect to consider 

 physical enjoyment as degrading; they do 

 not think it beneath their dignity to discuss 

 what they eat and drink, as critics; they re- 

 joice in an invention which causes twenty- 

 five cents to produce a more agreeable sen- 

 sation to the palate and a greater comfort in 

 digestion. The true cook is an inventor who 

 endeavors, not to procure the greatest amount 

 of enjoyment at unlimited cost, but the 

 greatest from a given and limited expendi- 

 ture. He is an eclectic; he rejects woody 

 radishes, rank water-cress, and heavy wines, 

 and selects young and tender esculents, and 

 dry tonic wines, with bouquets that make 

 the lips smack before they touch the glass. 



Wine is a civilizer in the family. It makes 

 the dinner eventful, and prolongs its period 

 of enjoyment. It brings man and wife into 

 full sympathy, and lets the woman into the 

 man's most entertaining moods. He does not 

 save his wit and smiles for the bar-room and 

 club. It brings a sense of satisfaction, peace 

 and comfort, and invites to repose, and not 

 to excitement. Wine drinking families are 

 not divorced every evening. Their enjoy- 

 ments are in close communion with freedom, 

 frankness and congeniality. Home is better 

 than any club or bar-room, and the bachelors 

 seek such homes to visit. Pater familias 

 does not need to seek the bachelor at the 

 club or the saloon. Moreover, his luxuries 

 become cheap and economical in this way, 

 and he becomes hospitable. The bottle of 

 wine makes the table cheerful; the tired and 

 over-anxious wife is not troubled about what 

 she has to offer her guest. Such tables offer 

 no apologies, and need none. 



Wein, weib, gesang; these are the results. 

 Wine is not jealous, nor timid. It unites 

 man and wife, and they sing; their hearts 

 sing if their voices cannot. Without wine, 

 stimulus comes from behind doors and 

 screeens. It is secretive and ashamed of it- 

 self. Whisky, and even beer, to a great ex- 



tent, divorce the family relations, destroy 

 home society, become ill-timed and unrea- 

 sonable, and lead to discord and complaint. 

 A man leaves an ill digested and poorly en- 

 joyed silent dinner, to wander in seach of 

 some relaxation. He ceases then to control 

 his actions, because other houses and places 

 are not under his control. He ceases to 

 know what he drinks, and is imposed upon. 

 He goes home relaxed, perhaps jolly; he 

 forgets that his wife has not had the same 

 relaxation, and his jolly temper is turned 

 acid by her habitual tired expressions and 

 coolness. Women fight the saloons partly 

 from fear, partly from jealousy; neither hab- 

 itual fear nor habitual jealousy are promot- 

 ers of peace, good will and contentment. The 

 women then begin to think of rights of all 

 kinds, and women's rights in particular. 

 Wine at the table would make it all right. 



When we talk of "wine and women," too 

 many think only of champagne and hilarity. 

 This is not what we mean by wine drinking. 

 Champagne is an exceptional luxury; but 

 natural wines, such as sound dry Zinfandel, 

 or Riesling, are never boisterous. They lead 

 to no more excesses than tea or coffee, and 

 are rarely as dangerous to the stomach. The 

 condition of the stomach and liver rules the 

 head. Avoid distilled spirits, regarding them 

 as drugs, useful when intelligently pre- 

 scribed; avoid alcoholized wines and heavy 

 beers; and there will be no danger of intem- 

 perance. Let prohibitory legislation reform 

 itself. Seek out specific dangers, and re- 

 strain them, as the sale of drugs is restricted. 

 Punish adulterations and adulterers, and 

 society will be very safe and happy. The 

 vine has been called "the friend of man;" it 

 should be called the mutual friend of man 

 and wife. It is an anti-divorce prescription. 



There has never yet been a good opportu- 

 nity to observe the effect of habitual wine- 

 drinking upon an Anglo-Saxon community. 

 No country mainly composed of Anglo-Sax- 

 ons has yet been a wine producer, to the ex- 

 tent of providing sufficient to supplant spirits 

 as a beverage. We are to test the question 

 in this State, and perhaps in the United 

 States. The studenj; of temperaments, how- 

 ever, has much to base opinions upon. The 

 Frenchman and the Irishman, when judged 

 on equal terms, differ mainly in their hab- 

 its, which control thought and sentiment. 

 What might not wine have done for Ireland? 

 What might not whisky have done for 

 France? There are wine-drinking English- 

 men (not the port and sherry drinkers), 

 Irishmen, Germans, and Americans. Ob- 

 serve, then, their family life, their gentleness 

 and gentility, their affections, and their unity. 

 American topers go to France and come back 



