1872 Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks (Mixellany)

Antiquity of Beer. 87 the growth of the grape for wine. The most cele- brated beer of the period was the potation made at Pelusium, a town near the mouth of the Nile, about 1,200 years before the Christian era. The Romans, who learnt the art of brewing from the Egyptians, called this drink by the appropriate name of cerevisia, in honour of Ceres, the cele- brated agricultural Queen of Sicily, who was after- wards deified as the Goddess of Plenty. That it was known to the Greeks, the writings of Xenophon and Aristotle furnish proof. It was at an early period the favourite potation of the Germans and Gauls, from whom it was introduced into England, and to this day it remains the most popular beverage with the bulk of the people. Beer is thus extolled by Warton:— Balm of my cares, sweet solace of my toils, Hail! juice benignant! O'er the costly cups Of riot-stirring wine, unwholesome draught! Let Pride's loose sons prolong the wasteful night. My sober evening let the tankard bless, With toast embrown'd, and fragrant nutmeg fraught, While the rich draught, with oft-repeated whiffs Tobacco mild improves. Divine repast! Where no crude surfeit or intemperate joys Of lawless Bacchus reign; but o'er my soul A calm Lethean creeps; in drowsy trance Each thought subsides, and sweet oblivion wraps My peaceful brain, as if the magic rod