94 APPENDIX. 



sin with the Anglo-Saxon race, is the free use of pure wine. 

 It is a remarkable fact, that in the wine districts of Europe, the 

 people are comparatively free from the brutal habit of intoxi- 

 cation. Among- the rural population of France, Italy, Spain, 

 etc., the wholesome light wines in common use, are considered 

 as essential to the table as bread and meat. The same, indeed, 

 may be said of all classes. We have heard it remarked in 

 derision, that give a man of this class a piece of bread, a few 

 dry figs or dates, a little sweet oil, and a bottle of claret, and 

 he will feast like a lord, and be happy. This mode of living 

 is coeval with the introduction of the vine and olive of those 

 countries ; and where a man is found indulging in the use of 

 strong drinks, he is the subject of remark and commiser- 

 ation, by his friends and acquaintances. A modern temper- 

 ance reformer, would probably obtain new and valuable ideas 

 upon the subject, by visiting Havanna. There, a temperance 

 society, except by American newspapers, was never heard of. 

 Yet in a population of nearly 20,000 souls, it is a rare thing 

 to hear of a Creole or a Spaniard, who is in the habit of 

 using distilled spirits. In regard to wines, however, especi- 

 ally claret and Sauterne, all classes make free use of them at 

 every meal. 



We find in the Horticulturist, the following sensible re- 

 marks : 



" Yery few Americans, except those who have traveled 

 abroad, estimate properly the moral value of pure light wines, 

 because pure wines very rarely find their way across the 

 Atlantic. 



** As hocks or clarets contain only about eight or nine per 

 cent, of alcohol, they are far more wholesome than cofi"ee, 

 and the cheap production of such wines, will do more to de- 

 crease the consumption of ardent spirits than any other cir- 

 cumstance. Neither law nor morals can be brought to bear 

 upon the present age, so as to force men to be entirely temper- 

 ate, but the introduction of wholesome, pure light wines, at a 



