leo i N T 
the increafe of confumptions. The great quantities of 
vifcid malt-liquor drunk by the common people of Eng¬ 
land cannot fail to render the blood fizy and unfit for 
circulation; from whence proceed obftruftions, 'and in¬ 
flammations of the lungs. There are few great ale- 
drinkers who are not phthifical; nor is that to be won¬ 
dered at, confideriug the glutinous and almoft indigelHble 
nature of flrong ale. Thofe who drink ardent fpirits of 
flrong wines run ftill greater hazard ; thefe liquors heat 
and inflame the blood, and tear the tender veflels of the 
lungs in pieces; yet, fo great is the confumption of them 
in this country, that one would almoft be induced to 
think the inhabitants lived upon them. , 
The habit of drinking proceeds frequently from mif- 
fortunes in life. The miferable fly to it for relief. It af¬ 
fords them indeed a temporary eafe. But, alas! this fo- 
lace is fliort-lived ; and when it is over, the lpirits flnk 
as much below their ufual tone as they had before been 
xaifed above it. Hence a repetition of the dole becomes 
neceflary, and every frefn dofe makes way for another, 
till the unhappy wretch becomes a Have to the bottle, and 
at.length falls a facrifice to what a.t firft perhaps was taken 
only as a medicine. No man is fo dejedted a's the drunk¬ 
ard when his debauch is gone off. Hence it is, that thofe 
who have the greatefl: flow of lpirits while the glafs cir¬ 
culates freely, are of all others the moll: melancholy when 
fober, and often put an end to their own miferable exift- 
ence in a fit of fpleen or ill humour. 
Drunkennefs not only proves definitive to health, but lilicivife 
.to the faculties of the mind. It is ftrange that creatures who 
value themfeWes on account of a fuperior degree of rea¬ 
son to that of brutes, fliould take pleafure in finking lb 
far below them. Were fuch as voluntarily deprive them- 
felves of the ufe of reafon to continue ever after in that 
condition, it would feem but a juft punifhmenr. Though 
this be not the confequence of one adl of intoxication, it 
feldom fails to fucceed a courfe of it. By a habit of drink¬ 
ing, the greatefl: genius is often reduced to a mere idiot. 
Intoxication is peculiarly hurtful to young perfons. It heats 
their blood, impairs their flrength, and obftrufts their 
growth ; befides, the frequent ufe of ftrong liquors in the 
early part of life deftroys any benefit that might arife from 
them afterwards. Thofe who make a pradice of drinking ge¬ 
nerous liquors when young, cannot cxpeEl to reap any benefit 
from them as a cordial in the decline of life. Drunkennefs is 
not only in itfelf a moft abominable vice, but is an in¬ 
ducement to many others. There is hardly any crime fo 
horrid that the drunkard will not perpetrate for the love 
of liquor. We have known mothers fell their children’s 
clothes, the food that they fliould have eaten, and after¬ 
wards even the infants theinlelves, in order to purchale 
the accurfed draught. 
It is amazing that our improvements in arts, learning, 
.and politenefs, have not put the barbarous cuftom of 
drinking to excefs out of fafhion. It is indeed lefs com- 
mon in South Britain than it was formerly; but it ftill 
prevails very much in the North, where this relic of bar¬ 
barity is miitaken for hol’pitality. In Ireland, no man is 
fuppofed to entertain his guefts well who does not make 
them drunk. Forcing people to drink, is certainly the 
.greatefl: piece of rudenefs that any man can be guilty of. 
Manlinefs, complaifance, or mere good-nature, may in¬ 
duce a man to take his glafs, if urged to it, at a time 
■when he might as well take poifon. The cuftom of drink¬ 
ing to excels has long been out of fafhion in France; 
and, as it begins to lofe ground among the politer part of 
the Englifli, we hope it will foon be banifhed from every 
part of the united kingdom. See Drunkenness, vol. vi 
-p. 90. , 
INTRAC'TABLE, adj. \intradabilis, Lat. intraitable , 
Fr.] Ungovernable ;_ violent; ftubborn ; obilinate.—To 
love them who love us is lb natural a paflion, that even 
,the moft intradable tempers obey its force. Rogers. —Un¬ 
manageable; furious.-—By what means lerpents, and other 
noxious and more intradable kinds, as well as the more 
I N T 
innocent and ufeful, got together. Woodward. —Not at¬ 
tracted by the magnet. 
INTR AC'TABLENESS, f. Obftinacy ; perverfenefs. 
INTR AC'TABLY, adv. Unmanageably; Itubbornlv. 
INTRA'DA, f. [Italian.] In mufic, an overture, a 
prelude. * 
INTRA Y DO,_/i [Spanilh.] An entrance; a public en¬ 
try. Bailey. 
INTRA'NEOUS, adj. [from inlraneus, Lat. inward.] 
Internal. Scott. 
INTRANQUIL'LITY, y. Unquietnefs ; want of reft. 
—Jactations were ufed for amufement, and allay in con- 
ftant pains, and to relieve that intranquillity which make-s 
men impatient of lying in their beds. Temple. 
INTRANSITIVE, adj. [from in, Lat. contrary to, and 
tranfeo, to pals over.] Incapable of pafting over; having 
no object; neuter, belonging to thofe verbs which do not 
pafs over or convey their force to any object. 
INTRANSITIVELY, adv. In grammar, according to 
the nature of an intranfitive verb.—The difference between 
verbs abfolutely neuter and intranfuivcly aCtive is not al¬ 
ways clear. Lowth. 
INTRANSMUTABIL'ITY, f The ftate of being in- 
tranfmutable. 
INTRA’NSMU'TABLE, adj. Unchangeable to any 
other fubftance.-—Some of the moft experienced chemifts 
do affirm quicklilver to be intranfmutable, and therefore 
call it liquor seternus. Ray. 
To INTRAP'. See To Entrap, vol. vi. 
INTRAP'PING, f. The aft of enfnaring. 
To INTREAS'URE, v. a. To lay up as in a treafury 5 
There is a hiftory in all men’s lives, 
Figuring the nature of the times deceas’d ; 
The which obferv’d, a man may prophefy, 
With a near aim, of the main chance of things 
As yet not come to life, which in their feeds 
And weak beginnings be inireafurtd. Shakefpeare. 
INTRE'AT, f [a poetical word for] Entreaty: 
At my intreat they will vouchfafe to fend 
To thefe wild deferts that unthankfull knight. Fairfax . 
To INTRE'AT. See To Entreat, vol. vi. 
TNTREAT'FUL, adj. Full of entreaty: 
There came two fpringals of full tender yeares 
(Fane thence from foreign land where they did dwell) 
To feeke for fuccour of her and her peares 
With humble prayers and intreafu/l teares. Spenfer. 
INTRE'ATY, f. See Entreaty. 
To INTREN'CH, v. a. To break with hollows: 
His face 
Deep fears of thunder had ntrench'd, and care 
Sat on his faded cheek. Milton. 
To fortify with a trench: as. The allies were intrenched 
in their camp. 
INTREN'CHANT, adj. This word which is, I be¬ 
lieve, found only in Shakefpeare, is thus explained : The 
intrenckant air means the air which fuddenly encroaches 
and clofes upon the fpace left by any body which had 
pafled through it. Hanmer. I believe Shakeipeare intend¬ 
ed rather to exprefs the idea of indivifibility or invulne- 
rablenefs, and derived intrenckant, from in privative, and 
trencher, Fr. to cut; intrenchant is indeed properly not cut- 
ting, rather than not to be cut-, but this is not the only in- 
ftance in which Shakefpeare confounds words of aCtive 
and palfive fignification. Johnfon.— Not to be divided j 
not to be wounded : indivifible : 
"As eafy may’ft thou the intrenchant air 
With thy keei} lword imprefs, as make me bleed. Skakcfp. 
INI REN'CHING, f. The act of fortifying with 
t re n c li e s • 
INTREN'CHMENT, f. in the military art, any work 
that fortifies a poll againft an enemy who attacks. It is 
generally taken for a ditch or trench with a parapet. In- 
r trench meats 
