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CHAPTER I
THE OLD ADAM
Introductory—Awful habits of the ancients—A bold, bad book—
Sencca on the Drink Habit—The bow must not be always
strung—Ebrictalh Encomium—The noble Romans—"Dum
vivimus vivamus"—The skeleton at the banquet—Skull-
cups—" Life and wine are the same thing "—Virgil and his
contemporaries—Goats for Bacchus—The days of Pliny—
Rewards for drunkenness—Novcllius Torquatus — Three
gallons at a draught—A swallow which did not save Rome
—The antiquity of getting for'ard—Noah as a grape-grower
—Father Frassen's ideas—Procopius of Gaza—New Testa
ment wine—Fermented or not ?—Bad old Early Christians
—Drunkenness common in Africa—Religion a cloak for
alcohol—Tertullian on cider—Paulinus excuses intemper
ance—Excellence of Early Christians' intentions.
I WISH to State at the outset that this little work
is not compiled in the interests of the sot, the
toper, and the habitual over-estimator of his
swallowing capacity.
That the gifts of the
gods, and the concoctions of more or less vile
man, should be used with moderation, if we wish
to really and thoroughly enjoy them, is a truism
which needs no repetition ; and although at the
commencement of this work many "frightful
B