THE VINE AND CIVILIZATION. : 13. 
cated, I presume a translation may be acceptable to my read- 
ers, in an abbreviated form, of a few of his ideas su eloquently 
expressed in French. The theory is that wine-producing 
countries being the most favoured of God’s creation, and 
wine-drinkers the most temperate of men, the cause of the 
vine and civilization is so clearly advocated, that an admiring 
student of Bordeaux honours the professor as among the 
greatest benefactors of mankind. Of the private life of Ba- 
brius little is known previous to his residence in France, except 
that he was born near Saragossa, in Spain; his father was an 
officer, who died in the war of independence, and left his son 
to the care of an uncle, a Canon of Notre Dame del Pilar, who 
for his education placed him with the Jesuits at Calatayud. 
After a few years of study, and giving proof of the rare facul- 
ties that God had endowed him with, he declared to his aston- 
ished teachers that he felt more inclined to handle the sword 
of his father than wear the priestly robes of his uncle; so as an 
under-lieutenant he joined a Spanish regiment. Espartero, 
the friend of his father, became his protector, and at the age 
of twenty-six he was promoted, and, as a colonel, decorated 
with all the military orders of Spain. The Duke of Victoria 
allied him to his fortunes, and found him faithful in the days 
of adversity as inthe period of prosperity. After the defeat of 
the party of Espartero in Spain, Babrius took refuge in France, 
where the extent of his knowledge, the amenity of his charac- 
ter, and his taste for the fine arts, promptly created for him a 
crowd of friends among savants, literary men, artists, and men’ 
notable in the science of wine (enologists) in the city of Bor- 
deaux. 
THE INFLUENCE OF WINE ON CIVILIZATION. 
** Wine has played such an important part in the history of 
the human race, has had such a powerful influence on the 
