733 



certaining the truth of the rumor. Enter- 

 ing into conversation with him, Mr. Burke 

 read to him some chapters from his " Let- 

 ters on Regicide." His friend immedi- 

 ately saw that though the earthly tene- 

 ment was verging back to its native dust, 

 the lamp of genius and reason shone with 

 undiminished lustre. He was according- 

 ly more than satisfied as to the object of 

 his coming down, and in a private inter- 

 view with Mrs. Burke told her what he 

 had come for, and received from her this 

 pathetic explanation. Mr. Burke's only 

 child, a beloved son, had not long before 

 died, leaving behind him a favorite horse, 

 the companion of his excursions of bu- 

 siness and pleasure, when both were 

 young and vigorous. .This favorite ani- 

 mal was of course turned out by Mr. 

 Burke, the father, into the park, with di- 

 rections to all his servants that he should 

 in every respect be treated as a privileged! 

 favorite. Mr. Burke himself, of course, 

 in his morning walks, would often stop to 

 caress the favorite animal. On one occa- 

 sion, as he was taking his morning walk 

 through the park, he perceived the poor 

 old animal at a distance, and noticed that 

 he was recognized by him. The horse 

 drew nearer and nearer to Mr. Burke, 

 stopped, eyed him with the most pleasing 

 look of recognition, which said, as plainly 

 as words could have said : " I have lost 

 him, too ;" and then the poor dumb beast 

 deliberately laid his head upon Mr. 

 Burke's bosom ! Struck by the singu- 

 larity of the occurrence ; struck by the 

 recollection of his son, whom he had 

 never ceased to mourn with a grief that 

 would not be comforted; overwhelmed by 

 the tenderness of the animal, expressed 

 in the mute eloquence of holy Nature's 

 universal language, the illustrious states- 

 man for a moment lost his self-possession, 

 and clasping his arms around the neck of 

 his son's favorite animal, lifted up that 

 voice which had caused the arches of 

 Westminster Hall to echo the noblest 

 strains that ever sounded within them, 

 and wept aloud ! Sir, this was seen, this 

 was heard by the passers by, and the 

 enemies of Burke, unappeased by his ad- 

 vancing years, by his failing health, by 

 his domestic sorrows, made ft the ground 

 of a charge of insanity. Burke is gone ; 

 but, sir, so help me Heaven ! if I were 

 called upon to designate the event or the 



period in Burke's life that would best sus- 

 tain the charge of insanity, it would not 

 be when, in a gush of the holiest and 

 purest feeling that ever stirred the human 

 heart, he wept aloud on the neck of a 

 dead son's favorite horse. 



The Preservation of Wine. 



Wine is sometimes sulphurized as a 

 preservative, and often so excessively as 

 quite to taint it. The sulphur is burnt in 

 the casks and bottles, and then the wine 

 is poured in. If, by chance, the sulphur 

 is arsenical, then a slight dose of arsenic 

 is administered to the public, far too in- 

 nocent to understand whence comes the 

 side-wind which blows them illness and 

 disease. Cloves, cinnamon, lavender, 

 thyme, and other aromatic substances, are 

 used to weaken the influence of the sul- 

 phur, and the combination gives a pecu- 

 liar taste and odour. 



They are burnt in the casks together 

 with the strips of linen dipped in sulphur, 

 and the whole horrible medley of taste 

 and smell passes for " bouquet" by the 

 multitude, who believe what their wine 

 merchants tell them, and praise ac- 

 cording to price. In France, one-thou- 

 sandth part of pulverized mustard seed is 

 put in to prevent any after fermentation ; 

 but the greatest secret seems to be, 1o pre- 

 serve the wine from any contact with the 

 outside air. 



Some Malaga wine, which had been 

 buried during the great fire of London — 

 that is to say, in sixteen hundred and six- 

 ty-six — -w r as dug up twenty years ago, and 

 though nearly two hundred years old, 

 was lound perfectly good, well-flavoured, 

 and full-bodied. Exclusion of air alone 

 would not have preserved it ; sweet and 

 alcoholic, it bore in itself the elements of 

 longevity ; had it not been poor in sugar 

 and rich in acids, it would have been dug 

 up a vinous skeleton. Wine kept in wood 

 loses much of its water b} r evaporation ; 

 the same may be said of that kept in 

 leather and skins. By this diminution of 

 water, the alcohol remaining is concentra- 

 ted and strengthened ; but only originally 

 strong wines can be so treated. With 

 weak and acid wines, the very concentra- 

 tion increases the formation of tartaric 

 acid, and that, without the proper coun- 

 terbalance of alcohol, spoils all. This 



