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The period extending from the Restoration to the reign of George I. was the bright age of English comedy. The comedies of that period are infinitely and skilfully varied in their plots, full of brilliant wit and humour, Aristophanic in their satire, except that living characters are not brought on the stage by name, and hardly less than Aristophanic in their licentiousness. They are, however, so far personal that they are the most admirable pictures of contemporary life that we possess, and they have the advantage of entering into all its minuteness. In these comedies we are often introduced into the private society of our fair countrywomen; and "strong waters play no small part in the scene, for the ladies of those days loved their spirit-bottle. We learn from Shadwell's "Squire of Alsatia " (1688), that they often carried "a silver strong-water bottle" about with them. The bottle was commonly used in secret. In Estcourt's "Fair Example" (1706), when Springlove asks, "Where is she?" Flora replies, "In her closet, with Seneca in one hand, and her bottle of spirits in t' other" (Act v. sc. 1). "If," says one of the characters in Montfort's "Greenwich Park," 1691 (Act iv. sc. 4), "If she have any comfortable waters, "I'll drink her into compliance." In Tom Durfey's "Richmond Heiress," we have a scene (Act ii. sc. 1) in which the following bit of dialogue occurs :

"Madam Squeamish. I did but innocently regale myself t'other day, amongst other choice female friends, at my Lady Goodfellow's, with a glass or two of Hockamore [a sort of wine], and, if the beastly poet, in his next paper, did not say I was drunk there, I'm no Christian! O filthy!

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Sophronia. Drunk, indeed, was a little too uncourtly mellow had been a good word there; for to my knowledge there were six quarts drunk in two hours between four of ye, besides my lady's farewell bottle of aqua mirabilis.

Mrs. Stockjob. Vell, dis I must say of de French, dey are de most temperate people in de whole varld; l'homme du cour delights in nothing but de cool mead, de tizzan, or de sherbet vid ice.

Sophr. Yes, the comfortable usbuebagh, the refreshing spirit of clary, or sometimes the cool brandy and burrage, good Mrs. Stockjobb."

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It appears that the confirmed dramdrinkers preferred pure brandy, and that this was especially the favourite drink of ladies who had reached a certain age. A character in the play last quoted says, "Gad, I believe the old Sibil has been regaling herself with a gill or two of brandy after dinner" (Act iii. sc. 1). In Tate's "Cuckolds' Haven, 1685 (Act i. sc. 2), Quicksilver, speaking also of an old woman, says, "I'd raise her with aqua-vitæ out of old hogsheads." And another old dame, Mrs. Mandrake, in Farquhar's "Twin Rivals" (Act ii. sc. 2), is made to say, "There is nothing more "comfortable to a poor creature, and "fitter to revive wasting spirits, than a "little plain brandy. Ian't for your hot "spirits, your rosa-solis, your ratafias, your orange-waters, and the like; a moderate glass of cool Nantes is the thing." There is a scene in Dennis's comedy, "A Plot and no Plot," written in the closing years of the reign of King William III. (Act iv. sc. 1), which is curiously, illustrative of this practice of brandy drinking. Frowzy, an old camp-follower, is employed to deceive, in the disguise of a lady of rank, a city usurer named Bull ; and in their first interview he offers her brandy :—

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"Bull. Madam, 'tis the very best in the three kingdoms. Here, sirrah, [to his man] take the key of my closet, and bring the twoquart bottle of brandy to the countess. (Enter Greg. with the brandy.) Sirrah, fill a glass. Madamı, my hearty service to you.

Frowzy. Mr. Bull, on the other side of the water this liquor is grown mightily in use among women of my quality. Do they use it here?

Bull. Gadsbud, madam, they drink nothing else. Formerly, saving your ladyship's presence, only so-and-so drank brandy, but now some great ladies have taken to their liquor.

Does your ladyship mind the colour of that brandy?

Frouzy. A lovely complexion indeed. . . . (She smells to the glass.)

Bull. How does your ladyship like the flavour?

Frowzy. A most alluring flavour, in troth. Come, sir, my daughter's health to you. (Drinks.) Upon my honour, this is right Nantz: I warrant this costs you ten and eightpence a gallon at least. At the last conference that I had abroad for the publick benefit, there was some quantity of it druk; since I have tasted nothing like it. As Gad shall judge me, this is a treasure."

There were various methods practised by the ladies to disguise the liquor they were drinking; one of which occurs in Durfey's Marriage-Hater Matched," where (Act iii. sc. 2) we are introduced to a party of fashionable ladies at tea, at which, a new visitor arriving, she is greeted as follows:

"Lady B. Ah, sweet Mrs. La Pupsey, here, prithee take some tea; 'tis good now y'are hot. La Pup. Tea, madam; 'tis burnt brandy! Lady B. Why, that's all the tea in fashion now, fool."

In Steele's "Funeral," 1702 (Act iii.), a party of ladies pay their visit of condolence to a widow, who counterfeits great grief and pretends to faint, exclaiming, "Alas, alas! oh! oh! I swoon, I expire!" One of the ladies calls to another, "Pray, Mrs. Tattleaid, bring something that is cordial to her." Mrs. Tattleaid immediately brings bottles and glasses; the widow forgets her sorrow; and they all fall to drinking and scandal. There is a somewhat similar scene in Baker's "Act at Oxford," 1704 (Act ii. sc. 2) :—

"Arabella. At the door, ah! (Affects a swoon.)

Berynthia. Bless me! she faints! a glass of cold water there.

Ara. (recovering). No water, 'no water, Berynthia! have you any good rosa solis?

Ber. Follow me into my closet, and I'll give you a dram of the best rosa solis, the best ratafia, or the best plain brandy.

Ara. Then thou art the best of women."

Sir Jealous Traffick, in the "Busie Body" (Act ii.), describes the effect of these various waters when he says, "No, mistress, 'tis your high-fed, lusty,

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rambling, rampant ladies that are "troubled with the vapours; 'tis your "ratafia, persico, cynamon, citron, and "spirit of clary, cause such swi-m-ing "in the brain, that carries many a guinea "full tide to the doctor." And in Congreve's "Way of the World," 1700 (Act iv. sc. 5), Mirabell, prescribing to his intended wife her behaviour after marriage, says, with regard to the tea-table, "that on no account you encroach upon "the men's prerogative, and presume to

"drink healths, or toast fellows; for pre"vention of which I banish all foreign "forces, all auxiliaries to the tea-table, as "orange-brandy, all aniseed, cinnamon, "citron, and Barbadoes waters, together "with ratafia and the most noble spirit "of clary-but, for cowslip wine, poppy

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water, and all dormitives, those I allow." Aniseed was one of the earliest of these cordials, and retained its popularity longest; for it stands at the head of all the books of receipts for making "waters" from the latter end of the sixteenth century to the middle of the last, and is still a favourite liqueur in France under the name of anisette. Cherry-brandy, too, was a very favourite liqueur from an early period, and is one of the few which have outlived its companions. Congreve's play last quoted contains an amusing scene (Act iii. sc. 1), in which Lady Wishfort appears at her toilet with her maid Peg:

"Lady Wish. Fetch me the red-the red, do you hear, sweetheart? .

Peg. The red ratafia, does your ladyship mean, or the cherry-brandy?

Lady Wish. Ratafia, fool? no, fool; not the ratafia, fool.-Grant me patience! I mean the Spanish paper, idiot; complexion, darling. Paint, paint, paint, dost thou understand that?.

Peg. Lord, madam, your ladyship is so impatient!-I cannot come at the paint, madam; Mrs. Foible has lock'd it up, and carry'd the key with her.

Lady Wish. A plague take you both! Fetch me the cherry-brandy then. (Exit Peg.) Wench, come, come, wench, what art thou doing? sipping? tasting?-Save thee, dost thou not know the bottle?

(Enter Peg, with a bottle and China cup.) Peg. Madam, I was looking for a cup. Lady Wish. A cup! save thee, and what a cup hast thou brought! Dost thou take me for a fairy, to drink out of an acorn? Why didst thou not bring thy thimble? Hast thou ne'er a brass thimble clinking in thy pocket with a bit of nutmeg, I warrant thee? Come, fill, fill-so-again. See who that is (one knocks). Set down the bottle first. Here, here, under the table. What, would'st thou go with the bottle in thy hand, like a tapster? As I'm a person, this wench has lived in an inn upon the road, before she came to me."

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, many of the old liqueurs had become, or were becoming, obsolete, and

existed only in name. The aqua mirabilis, which "cheered the heart," was made till the middle of the last century. Such was the case also with Dr. Stephens's water, which, according to a book printed at the date last mentioned, was then "in great demand in London." In the same book we learn that "Ratafia is not "much in demand, save in some particular "places where it has gain'd a great reputa"tion." Yet, in a later publication, the second edition of which, now before me, was printed in 1769, and which is entitled the "Professed Cook "-an adaptation "to the London Market" of a French book entitled "Les Soupers de la Cour"-we have still receipts for making "ratafiats," which are explained as meaning, in English, "sweet drams or cordials." In this book we have "ratafiats" of noyaux, of lemon-peel, of juniper-berries, of muscadine grapes, of anniseed, of apricocks (as this fruit was still called in England), of walnuts, of orange-flowers, and of cherries.

While many of the liqueurs previously in vogue were disappearing from fashionable society, a few new ones were intruding themselves into the list. The balance, however, was in favour of the past. Among the new ones was "honeywater," which was perhaps the metheglyn of the Welsh. Another liqueur, which was very fashionable during the earlier half of the last century, was called Hungary water; or, when its title was given more in full, the Queen of Hungary's water, because it was the reputed invention of a Hungarian queen. It was flavoured with herbs, especially rosemary, lavender, margeram, sage, and thyme. Another liqueur of the last century was named cardamum, or (popularly)" all fours," and was distilled from clove, caraway, and coriander seeds. But a "water" was introduced to the early part of the eighteenth century, which was destined to obtain a greater name and a greater popularity than all the rest. At first this new invention, which was brought from Holland, appears to have been known merely by the name of "juniper water," because it was flavoured with the juniper berry.

It was better known, for some reason which is not quite clear, by the French name for the tree, genièvre, which was ordinarily corrupted to Geneva; and both were soon abbreviated into the popular name of gin. But, like everything popular, this liquor, at its first start, gained a number of aliases. "Geneva," says a work on distillery, published before the middle of the last century, "hath

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more several and different names and "titles than any other liquor that is sold "here: as double Geneva, royal Geneva, "celestial Geneva, tittery, collonia, strike"fire, &c., and has gain'd such universal "applause, especially with the common

people, that, by a moderate computation, "there is more of it in quantity sold daily, "in a great many distillers' shops, than "of beer and ale vended in most public"houses." We might easily add to the list of popular names here given to gin in the earlier part of the last century. Bailey's Dictionary gives us, as synonyms -the first, more correctly-titire, royal poverty, and white tape, with an "&c." We can perfectly understand all this multiplicity of popular names and titles when we consider that previously the liqueurs, the "strong waters," had been mostly out of the reach of the lower classes of society, who were obliged, perhaps fortunately, to content themselves with the old English beverages, ale and beer. Gin was a spirit which could be sold cheap enough to come within the reach of the vulgar, and the consequence was a great rivalry between the old beer and the new gin. The almanack of "Poor Robin," for the year 1735, expresses this feeling of rivalry in its usual doggrel style in the following lines:

"The winter's now a-coming in,
And Pocus loves a glass of gin;
Or, if it have another name,
The liquor still remains the same;
And, which is more, its virtues hold,
Be weather hot, or be it cold;
It melts the money down like wax,
And burns the garments from their backs."

Hogarth's celebrated engravings of Beer Street and Gin Lane were published in 1751; and the exaggeration on both sides

is so strong that we can hardly look upon Hogarth otherwise than as an advocate on the part of beer versus gin. In the latter years of the reign of George I. and in the earlier years of George II. the drinking of spirituous liquors, chiefly gin, was carried to such an excess that the moralists began to prognosticate a general dissolution of society. The town was filled with miserable little shops in which they were retailed, and troops of itinerant hawkers carried them about the streets. The government of the day, influenced by the declamations of the zealous moralists and by the presentments of grand juries, resolved to interfere; but, instead of attempting to regulate and moderate the sale of spirits, they sought to suppress it altogether; and, in 1736, the celebrated Gin Act was passed, in the preamble to which it is stated" that the drinking of spi"rituous liquors, or strong waters, is "become very common, especially among "people of lower and inferior rank." To remedy this, a very heavy duty was levied upon all spirituous liquors, which was equivalent to a prohibition; and a no less heavy fine was levied on all persons who infringed or evaded the Act. The hawkers of "strong waters," whether male or female, were ordered to be "stript "naked from the middle upwards, and "whipt until his or her body be bloody." This measure encountered strong opposition at the time, and there were people who proclaimed publicly that it was contrary to Magna Charta and to the liberties of the subject. But there was a much more serious evil attendant upon it. While the result was not at all that which the advocates of the act expected for the sale of spirituous liquors was not suppressed, but merely thrown into the hands of a low and dishonest class-it exposed respectable people to persecution of a most frightful character. As the rewards for informations against those who infringed the act were considerable, society was invaded by gangs of infamous wretches who made a living by informing; and, as their statements were taken upon their own oaths, nobody was safe. Individuals were found who did

not hesitate to revenge themselves by laying false informations against those who had offended them. Thus the Gin Act became more and more unpopular, until, after a very unsatisfactory trial of six years, the prohibition duties were repealed in 1742, and moderate duties substituted in their place.

Among the pamphleteers who engaged in the heat of the gin controversy, some tried to give it a political character. "Mother Gin" represented the populace, the mob. "The Life of Mother Gin" appeared in 1736 from the pen of an anonymous writer, who claimed the title-claimed by everybody who had no claim to it-of "an impartial hand." This remarkable matron was, we are told, of Dutch parentage, born in Rotterdam. Her father had been active in the faction opposed to the De Witts, and on that account had left his country and settled in England, where he obtained an act of naturalization and married an English woman of low rank. It will easily seem that there is much quiet and clever satire in all this. In spite of her low origin, the wife of the emigrant boasted of a rather large acquaintance among ladies of rank; "and, as to Mother "Gin herself, though she did not live in "a constant intercourse of friendship with "persons of fashion, yet she was often "admitted into their confidence, and was 66 universally admired, and even idolized, "by the common people." Her father wished to give her a good education, but her English mother objected to it, judg ing that education was only detrimental to morals. Her father died when she was five-and-twenty, and her mother survived but a short time, and, as they were both dissenters, they were buried in the same grave in Bunhill Fields.

Although her parents were very lowchurch indeed, Mother Gin herself was high-church in her principles, and was a great and effectual supporter of Dr. Sacheverell. Indeed, her zeal in his cause contributed greatly to the change of the administration. The new ministry formed a just estimate of the political value of Mother Gin, and laboured to conciliate her, the more so as she was a bitter

enemy to the Duke of Marlborough. They would have given her a place in the ministry, but there was no precedent for giving an office to one of her sex; so they introduced her into the cabinet. When the party with whom Mother Gin had thus allied herself seemed sure of final triumph, accidental events overthrew them, and the Whigs came in with the House of Hanover. The new government were not unwilling to give Mother Gin credit for her political influence, until the legislature, "grow“ing jealous of her power, and being "apprehensive lest she should assume to "herself the sole direction of all affairs, "ecclesiastical, civil, and military, they "passed a very severe and arbitrary law [the Riot Act was passed in the first 'year of the reign of George I.] prohibit"ing her followers, to the number of "twelve or more, from assembling in a "riotous and tumultuous manner, under "the pain of death; which amounted to "the same thing as restraining them

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"from assembling at all; for how would
"these wise lawgivers have the people
"assemble together, if they are not to do
"it in a riotous and tumultuous manner?
"For my part, I am at a loss to guess;
"but, as this is a law which has been
'proved by the ingenious authors of the
"Craftsman and Fog's Journal to be
directly contrary to Magna Charta, and
"in manifest violation of the liberties of
"the subject, I entirely fall in with their
way of thinking, that little or no regard
"ought to be had to it.”

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Thus oppressed, Mother Gin appeared less frequently in public affairs, except at the elections of members to Parliament. She had been a staunch Tory, and still preserved her attachment to that party; but under the government of the second George she had gradually yielded to the tide, and entered the ranks of the patriots. These, however, knew that she was not cordially with them, and this was the reason why they now sought to destroy her.

FISHERMEN-NOT OF GALILEE.

(AFTER READING A CERTAIN BOOK.)

THEY have toiled all the night, the long, weary night;
They have toiled all the night, Lord, and taken nothing:
The heavens are as brass, and all flesh seems as grass,
Death strikes with horror and life with loathing.

Walk'st Thou by the waters, the dark silent waters,
The fathomless waters that no line can plumb?
Art Thou Redeemer, or a mere schemer,

Preaching a kingdom that cannot come?

Not a word say'st Thou: no wrath betray'st Thou:
Scarcely delay'st Thou their terrors to lull;
On the shore standing, mutely commanding,

"Let down your nets!"-And they draw them up-full!

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