1892 Drinks of the world

BRINKS.

t4S

whether he would sWear to that, or whether he ever overstepped that limit. The witness replied that he was upon his oath, and would swear no farther; "for I never kept count beyond the two dozen, though there is no saying how many beyond I might drink to make myself comfortable ; but that's my stint^ Good whiskey should be made solely from the finest barley fnalt, and is so made by the largest and best but the smaller ones, and those who are in a hurry to get rich by any means, use all kinds of refuse grain, and produce a spirit which, if drank new, is neither more nor less than rank poison. The fusel oil, which is present in all distillations from grain, re- quires time to resolve itself into those delicate ethers, which, while enhancing the flavour and bouquet of the spirit, are harmless* Good whiskey, properly matured, mixed with a sufficient quantity of water, and used in moderation, is a good and a wholesome drink, acting also in lieu of food. When this life-giving liquor was discovered is un- certain. Edward Campion, in his History of Ireland, 1633, speaking of a famine which happened in 13 16, says that it was caused by the soldiers eating flesh and drinking aqua vitce in Lent ; and, in another place, he states that a knight, called Savage, who lived in 1350, having prepared an army against the Irish, allowed to every soldier, before he buckled with the enemy, a mighty draught of aqua vitcs, wine, or old ale. Walter Harris, in his Hibernica, 1757, says that in the reign of Henry VHI. it was decreed that there be but one maker of aqua vita in every borough town, K distillers ;