done by daily drinkers of intoxicants. The fallacy consists in a double forgetfulness of facts in logic and in nature : first, that no comparison can hold good, unless all the main circumstances are alike; second, that physical and mental tendencies work out upon their own distinct lines of law. In other words, if any man allows himself to get excited the beast rules for the time, whether he be Turk or Christian, an Eastern Sepoy or a Puritan Saint. But, on the other hand, it is palpably absurd to argue that stimulants and narcotics do not excite the animal feelings, and do not depress the activity and energy of the moral emotions historically absurd to affirm that the crimes and horrors of Parisian Petroleuse, and of Irish Assassins, were not aggravated by drink! Following his master, Prof. Reid, who wrote so long ago, Dugald Stewart has said— "Besides our natural appetites, we have acquired ones. Such are our appetites for tobacco, for opium, and for intoxicating drinks. In general, everything that stimulates the nervous system, produces a subsequent languor, which gives rise to a desire of repetition." And this tendency creates a slavery of the most terrible kind, which is transmitted even to the offspring, like all other defects and disturbances. It is, therefore, impossible to believe that

* Probably Sir James Paget got his notion from Dr James Mackenzie's History of Health, published in 1759, at Edinburgh and London. The author puts it as an objection made by the advocates of a Flesh-diet:- "That men's morals are corrupted rather through want of discipline than by the nature of their food; and that men of healthy and robust constitutions (as the Antediluvians certainly were), under no restraint from laws human or divine, are the most violent and mischievous savages of nature, let their aliment be what it will: that, in fact, the nations most addicted to lewdness, rapine, and murder, at this day, are frugal in their diet, and forbid wine by their religion, particularly the pirates of Barbary and the wild Arabs. And even in Britain and Ireland, those who live on bread, milk, cheese, cabbage, and potatoes, are perhaps no less disposed to rapine and violence than such of the community as have good-drink and flesh-meat in abundance. Nor is a wild-bull that eats grass, less furious than a lion that feeds on flesh; and we daily see some birds that live on grain fight and tear each other with amazing animosity "-(pp. 48-9).

Abstinence is Temperance.

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an agent which lowers the mental tone, perverts the physical life, and upsets the moral balance, can do otherwise than largely augment the vice and crime of a community, whether Pagan, Jewish, or Christian.

§ 21. Finally, to return to definition, no thoughtful scholar can deny that 'Abstinence' is a part of the implication or meaning of 'Temperance'—as much as 'Beefsteak' is of 'Beef.' In other words, the nature and quality are of the same sort. Take Dr Andrews's translation of Freund's Latin-German Lexicon (1851), article ABSTINENTIA. What is the definition or description? "Abstinence, selfrestraint the quality by means of which one abstains from unlawful desires, acts, etc. The Synonyme Continentia, bridling or controlling one's self; to hold back," etc. If, therefore, alcoholic drinks are bad in their relation to human needs, abstinence from them is 'temperance,' and therefore the doctrine of temperance includes abstinence. Similarly, a reference to any Lexicon of the New Testament, would show the folly of all these verbal quibblings: in proof of which we give from Green's the following:

"HAGNIZŌ—to purify morally, reform : hence, heegnistheen, to live like one under a vow of abstinence, as the Nazarites."

"SŌPHRÓNŌS-in the manner of a person in his right mind-temperately."

In other words, no man is 'temperate' whose ideas are false, and whose appetites are not subject to that truth of things which is the Divine law and absolute rule of moral life.

II.

THE CHEMICAL HISTORY OF ALCOHOL.

§ I. 1. THE intoxicating constituent in strong drinks specially objectionable on the ground of Temperance morals, is technically called ALCOHOL, or Spirit-of-Wine. It is common to ale and beer, to cider, perry, and other fermented drinks, and of course to every form of fermented wine, and of ardent spirit distilled from fermented liquors. It is a product of fermentation, an educt of distillation; in other words, it must be generated by the one process, before it can be drawn out or extracted by the other. Το understand this fact in all its fulness, and to meet a large number of difficulties urged by the ignorant, it will be needful to explain the general principles of chemistry, and to show how alcohol comes into being.

The etymology of the word ALCOHOL is generally referred to Kahol, the fine powder with which the Oriental females paint their eyebrows, but this derivation may be doubted, as being based upon the abstract notion of subtilty. The analogy between a dark powder and a pale subtile liquid, seems to us too refined for the origin of a name and we may suggest another, founded upon a more obvious notion. The Arabians believed in spirits called Freets, and hence the phrase af-freet, 'the spirit." From this has come our own words 'fright,' and 'affrighted,'—signifying the state in which a person is who fancies he has seen a 'freet. AlKohol might be formed in the same way, from al-ghôul, 'the

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Origin of the word 'Alcohol.

29

evil-spirit'; for ghouls were supposed to possess' men. Now a person under the influence of the spirit-of-wine, would exhibit all the symptoms of one 'possessed' by a demon-the 'ghoul' of drink.* Shakespere had the same idea when he apostrophized 'the invisible spirit of wine,' and said, through one of his characters, "If thou hast no other name to be known by, I will call thee-Devil."

§ 2. One objection may be anticipated, namely, that "Fermentation is a natural law or power." This is true, but it neither destroys the distinction between 'nature' and 'art,' nor relieves man from the responsibility of misusing natural power, to cast it upon the Divine Author. All works, whether bad or good,-whether the manufacture of pistol and powder, bullet and bomb, or the moulding of iron into ploughshares and pruning hooks, are equally done by borrowed-power, in the way of natural law; but the character of the work alone determines the moral position of the worker, according to the old and everlasting test, 'a tree is known by its fruit.' As well might it be argued that God designed the Ephesians to worship idols, because by His

*There is extant a Saracenic fable, which considers alcohol as an evil spirit, the agent of Satan, to be actually exorcised by fire. It is cited by Adam Fabroni, in his treatise on the Art of Making Wine' (Part iii. cap. 1), and in a still earlier book, 'Letters writ by a Turkish Spy' (London, 1693), from which we make a condensed extract :—

"Noah and his sons planted all sorts of trees, but when they came to look for the Vine, it could not be found. Then it was told Noah by the Angel, that the Devil had stolen it away, as having some right to it. Wherefore Noah cited the Devil to appear before the Angel; who gave judgment that the Vine should be divided between them into three parts, whereof the Devil should have two [as much as to say that its fermented wine does twice as much evil as good]—to which both parties consented. This was the decision of Gabriel: That when two thirds of the liquor of this Fruit should be evaporated away in boiling over the fire, the remainder should be lawful for Noah and his posterity to drink. And thou knowest that we Mussulmans generally obey this law in preparing our WINE. Let the Devil, therefore, in the name of God, have his share in his tempting fruit, for when that which inebriates [the al-ghôl, or evil-spirit], is separated by fire from the rest, this liquor becomes pure, holy, and blessed. This is the sentence of the ancients." (Vol. v. Lett. 12.)

power and intelligence they manufactured silver-shrines. They were 'the works of man's art and device,' but no more so than Bass's beer or Bourdeaux wine.

§ 3. On the authority of Professor Donovan's old treatise on chemistry (1830), it has been alleged that 'fermentation is a spontaneous process'; whence some people foolishly infer that the Deity designed that mankind should brew beer and distil brandy! In fact, however, there is and can be no 'spontaneous' processes!-all changes have conditions on which they are dependent. Nothing produces nothing. Brewing is an 'Art,' whether we brew wine or ale, and man is entirely responsible for every glass of it that ever existed. A single glass of intoxicating drink was never brewed in the whole realm of nature.* There were people, however, who long ago saw the facts of fermentation in a clear light. For example, in the 'History of Health,' James Mackenzie, M.D. (Edinburgh: W. Gordon; 1759) says of Noah :-"It was impossible he should know, and until experience taught him, that fermentation gives an inebriating quality to liquors, or would produce a spirit in the juice of the grape which it did not contain before" (p. 52).

§ 4. A celebrated English bishop and botanist, Dr Stanley, once said in Exeter Hall, by way of objection to the 'teetotalers,' that "their chemistry was at fault, since they took sugar, which contained alcohol." A lady wittily retorted with the argumentum ad episcopum

If in sugar rum there be,

The bishop drinks it in his tea!

Clearly, however, Saccha'rum is one thing, and 'Rum another; and before it can be truly alleged that the 'thing' rum is in the 'thing' saccharum (as the one word is in the

Professor DITTMAR, of Glasgow, says (1880) :-"Fermentations are, chemically speaking, non-spontaneous. No fermentable chemical substance will ferment except in presence of water, and unless it be kept, by means of the water, in direct contact with some specific ferment."(Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th Ed.)