92 Effay, Medical, Moral, Political & Maifcellanéous, on Spirits. [¥ebs 
in the courts of princes, but was never 
experienced to be of the leaft fubftantial 
ufe in preferving their conftitutions, yet 
they were fo attached to it, as fcarcely to 
knojv that the genuine fpirit exilted. 
In this country, alfo, a great deal of 
the fpurious kind is /o/d, but I am happy 
to add, there is alfo a great deal of the 
genuine, and I fhould hope it would gain 
ground in the popular opinion, as every 
day’s experience muft fatisfy us of its 
great efficacy in healing conftitutional 
jores, and procuring reft when every other 
medicine has failed. There are particular 
days appointed for retailing the genuine 
ipirit, and I think that if people would 
frequent the /bops more on thofe days than 
they do, they would foon acquire the true 
relifh. I grant that it is not retailed ei- 
ther in equal quantity or quality. I 
have tafted fome a great deal below proof, 
and fome as much above it. Some like- 
wife mix an acid with it which tends to 
fpoil the effet, as mildze/s is eflential to 
i.s purity ; and fome make it of a blo0a- 
ved colour, a miferable compofition which 
foon gets into the head, and produces all 
the effects of the moft brutal intoxication.- 
Thete irregularities in the compofition, 
however, may be very eafily avoided, by 
attending to the original receipt, which 
is publithed by authority, and may be 
had of his majefty’s printer. 
5. I fall mention only one other fpirit, 
the SPIRIT OF BIGOTRY. This is the 
moft ardent of all fpirits, eafily inflam- 
rable, expanding with heat, and, like the 
~-phofphorus, flames moft in the dark. It 
is fo very pernicious in its tendency, that 
I am furprifed it has not long ago been 
prohibited under the fevereft penalties. 
Tt is, however, compounded in fo many 
various ways, as to have been miftaken 
for almoft every one of the fpirits I have 
already mentioned, particularly the lat, 
to which, however, it 1s ag oppofite in 
caufe and effect, as any two things that 
can well be fuppofed. It has not always 
been a favourite in this country, yet the 
common people fometimes have indulged 
in it, primarily to the deftruction of 
others, and ultimately to the deftru€tion 
of themfelves. When taken in confidera- 
ble dofes, it preduces contirmed lunacy 
of the moft extravagant, and yet J may 
add, whimfical kind. The poor crea- 
tures who are inebriated with it, take it 
an their heads that they cag anfwer a 
pamphiet by burning a houfe, and con- 
wince a manof anerror by cutting his 
throat. It was a very fafhionable [pirit 
in the days of Queen Mary, and has often 
been employed on the continent as a fab: 
ftitute for the SPIRIT OF RELIGION; and 
is at this day employed there by the names 
of sPIRIT of: LIBERTY, sPiRiT of 
EQUALITY, REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT; 
and various others; for I muft do the 
parties who drink deepeft of this fpirit 
the juftice to fay, that they feem afhamed 
of its proper name, and always put a 
fine-looking label on the bottle to deceive 
their fervants, jult as mm this -country, 
among certains perfons, drams are fup- 
pofed to. be as harmiefs as water, when 
called liqueurs, and a bumper of brandy 
is fuppofed to have ne {pirit in it, to thofe 
who complain of a /pa/m ! 
I have thus, Mr. Editor, endeavoured 
to {ketch the properties and effects of the 
moit fafhionable fpirits now in ufe. 
There are others, undoubtedly, which 
might have been included, but which J 
omit for want of fufficient data. There 
is, for example, the SPIRIT of LIBERTY, 
which I once flattered my/elf I underftood 
a little of, but it has lately been mixed 
with fo many ftrange ingredients, of op- 
pofite natures, one aftringent, another 
opening, one tonic and another weaken- 
ing, and this by all the great chemifts of 
Europe who have employed their alembics’ 
in manufaéturing it, that I muft candidly 
coniefs I know not what to make of it, 
I am one of tue old fchool, and have not 
had leifure, perhaps, indeed, I am too 
far advanced in life, to ftudy the new 
nomenclature, for every thing is now called 
by a new name, and that name as ‘little 
defcriptive of its qualities as well can be 
fuppofed. I might fay fomething too of 
PARTY SPIRIT, but I have fo frequently 
feen the miferable effets of that upon 
fome unhappy friends who have indulged 
‘In it, that I cannot now bear the tatte of 
it; and therefore conclude with hoping 
that you will centinue your Magazine 
with its ufual sprrir, and accept the 
good withes of, Yours, &c. 
GEOFFRY GAUGER. 
Excife-Office, Feb. 12, 1799. 
— EEE 
‘Tothe Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
HE teftimony of fiye and twenty 
competent and credible witneffes to 
my faithfulnefs and impartiality as a 
theological tutor, you will naturally fup- 
-pofe, atter what has paffed, mutt be highly 
grateful to my feelings; and that its 
happening to appear before the public, in 
the laft number of your Magazine, was a 
circumftance peculiarly agreeable. The 
. writers 
