1804. | 
the Jews were acquainted with the ule of 
beex long before the time of our Saviour ; 
for 
Celumella mentions Egyptian beer— 
won Pelufiaci proritat poculazythi :” 
i 
and, if I miftake not, the Egyptians 
afcribed the invention to Ofiris. Nor will 
that high antiquity of its origin be deem- 
ed improbable by any perfon who recol- 
leéts that the ufe of fermented bread ap- 
pears to have been general throughout 
Egypt in the days of Moles : for, if that 
had not been the cafe, the ufe of wafer- 
mented bread by the poor and oppreffed L- 
raelites, in the hurry and confufion of the 
exodus, could not have been regarded asa 
circumftance fo extracrdinary or impor- 
tant, as to become the foundation of a na-, 
tional anniverfary—the feaf of uxleavened 
bread.—Should any of your readers here 
ftart an objeétion, and fay that /eaven and 
yeafi are different things, I requeft that he 
will be fo good as to inform me whence 
leaven fir originated ? 
With refpeét to the Egyptian beer, 
when the heat of the climate is taken into 
conlideration, I conceive that it could 
have been brewed only in {mall quantities, 
freth and frefh, for immediate ufe —or 
that, if laid by in any larger quantities, 
it muft have been an article of expenfive 
luxury, exclufively confined to the more 
opulent clafs of inhabitants, who could 
indulge themfelves with the accommoda- 
tion of deep and cool cellarage—or that it 
was a muddy, difgufting, unwholefome, 
beverage*—unlefs the Egyptians poffefled 
fome art, at prefent unknown, by which 
they prevented the liquor from continuing 
to ferment beyond the neceflary time, or 
fermenting anew when once it had under- 
gone the vinous fermentation to a fuffici- 
ent degree. From the effeéts experienced 
even in the mild climate of England, 
fuch of your readers as are accuftomed to 
keep malt liquor for any length of time in 
their cellars, will readily admit my obfer- 
vations to be well founded. 
The extract from the Northumberland | 
Houfehold Book is curious : but is it con 
rei ? for, on multiplying the hogtheads 
by the gallons, I find a different refult. 
Be that, however, as it may, it would be 
defirable to know what proportion His 
* Like that thick, black, muddy, Bohe- 
mian beer noticed by Burton the Melancho- 
kik— 
‘¢ Nothing goes in fo thick ; 
Nothing comes cut fo thin ; 
"Tis therefore clear, the dregs 
Mu all remain within,” 
Coliana. 
189 
Grace’s ** quarter’? of male bore to the 
modern quarter, confifting of eight Win« 
chefter bufhels. If the meafure, ufed on 
the occafion in queftion, was the {ame as 
ours, either the malt muft then have been 
much better than we can procure at pre-_, 
fent, or the ancient mode of brewing was 
better, or the liquor brewed by our ancef- 
tors was not fo {trong as that which is 
now drunk by their polterity: for His 
Grace of Nerthumberland (whom I can. 
not fuppofe to have brewed worfe beer 
than his neighbours) made dawelve gal- 
lons from every 4ufbel of malt; whereas 
eight ox nine are as many as can now be 
made tolerably good from a Winchefer 
bufhel, of fuch malt, at leaft, as is to be 
procured in and about London. 
Another particular which ftrikes me in 
that extract, is the remarkably fmall 
guantity of bops. If the ftatement be core 
rect, there muft alio have been a prodi- 
gious difference in quality between the 
hops of that and of the prefent day; or, 
at that period, the Englith did not brew 
their beer to be kept any time, but drank 
it quite frefh and fermenting : for the al- 
lowance there is only ove pound of hops 
to a quarter of malt; to which quantity, 
eight pounds are now found indilpenfably 
neceflary, if the liquor be intended to ftand 
the fummer—if not, at leat five or fix: 
otherwife it will foon turn four, and cor. 
rupt, fo as to be unfit for drinking. 
If you deem this hafty {cribble worthy 
of admiffion into your valuable Mifcellany, 
¥ hope your readers will excufe me for 
having omitted torefer to book and chap- 
ter in quoting my authorities. I would 
very cheerfully give more particular re- 
ferences, were I not prevented by want of 
Jeifure at the prefent moment, to examine 
the volumes in fearch of the paffages. 
Iam, Sir, your conftant reader, 
J. Carers 
Ifington, February 2. : 
= 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
COLIANA. 
Confifting of SELECTIONS of the curious 
Mss. bequeathed by the late MR. COLE 
to the BRITiSH MUSEUM, and lately 
opened. 
PLAYS. . 
HE author of /’Hifforre du Concile dé 
Confiance, vol. 2, p. 440, gives the 
glory of introducing plays into Germany 
to the Englifh. He fays that the Englith 
fathers affembled at that Council, ‘on the’ 
Te;uin 9f the Emperox to Conttance; from 
whence 
