3799-] Effay, Medical, Moral, Political ®S Mhfcellaneous, on Spirits. gt 
is dangerous from want of ftrength to carry 
it off gently. In the latter, alto, it riles 
to a flame, the moment it isufed. Iam 
of opinion that if it wererectified it might 
“be frequently ufed with advantage as an 
alteratzve ; but there is at prefent a. pre- 
judice againft it, and for no reafon that I 
can find out except one, certainly a fub- 
ftantial one, namely, that it has been uied 
as a common liquor for every day, whereas 
it ought to be referved as a medicine for 
particular caies, and to be prefcribed only 
by the moft judicious phyficians. 
g. The Spirit oF Rerorm. This 
has been frequently confounded with the 
former, which in fome refpeéts, fuch as 
colour, it refembles, but it is certainly a 
“~ different {pirit, becaufe, when pure, 
* never is or can be applied, unlefs for 
hogficial purpofes, and if applied in 
time, never fails to produce the beft ef- 
fects in the cafe of confiitutions that have 
been injured by extravagant living, or 
of perfons that have loft ttrength by ferv- 
ing-often in war. There is, however, 
fuch a difference of opinion refpecting this 
{pirit, that it has not of late years been 
much in ufe. Thofe who have written 
on the fubject are extremely numerous, 
and may be divided into two clafles. The 
one confidered it as a pernicious, inflam- 
matory Spirit, which will not bear agita- 
tion, which rifes to a flame on the {mallet 
pplication of heat, and which has this 
peculiar to it, that whoever begins to 
drink it, in quantities ever fo fimall, 
knows not where to ftop: that it has de- 
ftroyed many ffrong con/fituiions, and that 
fo far from being ufefulto any, the ufe 
of it is amere apology fer the indul- 
gence of a perverted tafte. he other 
party contend, in anf{wer to this, that all 
the pernicious effects attributed to this 
{pirit may be traced, not to the dpirit 
itfelf, but the improper ufe made of it, 
that when ufed in soderation, it is the 
grand reftorative for decaying conftitu- 
tions, and that there is no conititution fo 
{trong as that it would not be bettered by 
an occafional dofe: that it Is perfecily 
eafy to ule it in moderation, if people Zo 
incline, as there is no neceflity why every 
man that drinks fhould get drunk; and 
that more mifchief has been done by thofe 
who knew not where to begin, than by 
thofe who knew not where to ftop: that 
af properly ued, and applied toa eeu 
giforder, it is tonic, emollient, eee 
refrigerant, and antifpafmodic; effect 
which in the cafe of any other than dif- 
etders of certain conjlitutions, would in- 
terfere with one another; but, that, if 
not applied in a moderate degree wntil the 
diforder has got to a height, the conftitu- 
tion will exhibit all the fymptoms of a 
complication, and then it may happen that 
the medicine will be ftimulant and coxro- 
five in a high degree, produce violent 
heenrorrhages, and lofe all its healing 
powers. 
I\fhail mot venture to decide which of | 
thefe opinions is right. I have had but 
few opportunities of knowing the effects 
of this {pirit in its genuine ftate. Very 
much of that which is bought and fold 
is a vile adulteration, and it is impoflible 
to judge of any production of art or na- 
ture, “unlefs we have a {pecimen af the 
beft of its kind exhibited. I would not 
paint the human body from a deformed 
man, nor would I venture to fay what 
good the fpirit of reform might Dene, 
if [ {aw only the battard kind which the 
French quacks are hawkiig about on the 
continent. 
4. The sprriT OF RELIGION. This 
is one of the moft ancient {pirits we have. 
It is nearly eighteen hundred years fince 
it Arft appeared, and for fome centuries 
was in high repute, and moft admirable 
in its effects, whether taken in the way of 
diet, or medicine. I know not, indeed, 
any thing comparable to it in all difor- 
ders of the human frame, and it has this 
peculiar (exclulively fo) to it, that its 
effects will laft many years, fome fay, to 
all eternity. 
thers, and is adapted to all climates, al- 
though it has not been introduced yet into 
all countries. After faying fo much in 
its favour, I am forry to be obliged to 
add, that there are two reafons why it is 
not fo much in ufe as it ought to be. 
The one is, that it requires a degree of 
abftinence which many men will not fub- 
mitto; and the fecond, that there is a 
falfe and adulterated mixture which goes 
under the fame name, and which is im- 
‘poied upon the public as genuine, al- 
though itisa poor, ta iteiefs, watery kind 
of liquor, which never saat: body 
Jenfibly, aniefs, what is very extreordi- 
nary, to produce the very evils which the 
other is mtended to remedy. he geau- 
ineé is a fimple {pirit, within the compais 
of every man’s ability to purchafe ; the 
adulterated is compofed of a number of 
heterogeneous ingredients, and is fo ex- 
penfive that I have known fome give up 
every thing that ought to bedear to a 
man in order to purchale it. Hence it is 
confined to certain perfons of great opu- 
lence, and who do not regard (rifles. 
On the continent. it was very fafhionable 
It keeps good in all wea- . 
1 ne 
