WHEN man was driven from that peaceful asylum originally assigned to him by his Creator, and condemned to earn his bread by the labour of his hands,* his attention was, no doubt, powerfully exerted in procuring the necessaries of life; such as food, clothing, and habitation. As a cultivator of the earth, he must have been constantly employed, and, as his occupation varied with the varying seasons, his mind was continually exercised in contrivances to diminish and sweeten his toil. His activity, when thus excited, soon extended its influence to every department of life, and having procured its necessaries, he was no doubt early led to the exercise of his ingenuity in the attainment of its luxuries. Among these, the preservation of fruit and their juices, however rudely practised, might have led to the use of inebriating drink; a beverage which, as will hereafter be shewn, has been discovered by some of the most savage nations, and deemed a luxury by the almost universal testimony of mankind. Whether the use or knowledge of fermenting the grape was known before the flood, is now uncertain. We are informed, that a city was * Genesis iii. 23. B built by Cain, which was named Enoch, after his son,* and that Jubal, one of his early descendants, invented the harp and organ, while another, Tubal Cain, was an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron. From this it is evident, that the working of metals and the construction of various sorts of implements had, at this early period of the world, arrived at a considerable degree of perfection: and it has been conjectured, with great probability, that as Adam and Cain were "tillers of the ground," they could not have cultivated it without instruments of husbandry made from metals, hence the plausibility of the conclusion, that God in his goodness gave to our first parent the principles of every branch of knowledge suited to his condition and that of his posterity.-There is nothing however to guide us, even at this advanced state of the arts, in the supposition that mankind had then any knowledge of inebriating liquors. At what period therefore, and in what manner, wine was first made and used, is now unknown. Noah, it appears from Genesis ix. 21, became drunk with the produce of his own vineyard; and, as it is reasonable to suppose, he was well acquainted with all the discoveries of his progenitors, and their different methods of cultivating the ground, we may infer from this circumstance, that the cultivation of the vine was practised in the antediluvian world, and the intoxicating quality of the grape fully experienced. In the 20th verse of the chapter of Genesis, above quoted, it is said, "Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard," from which it is not to be inferred that this was the first time he had done so, or that he was the first husbandman. As the words to be are not in the original, the learned Doctor Kennicott says that the translation ought to be, "Noah continued to be a husbandman," implying that this was a recommencement of an occupation which had only been interrupted by the flood. Whether, however, the drink, which had the effect of intoxicating him, was the simple expressed juice of the grape, or had undergone any fermenting process, we are not told. It is admitted that the mere juice of the grape has no inebriating quality; and that to produce intoxication it must undergo a certain degree of fermentation; but as the ripe juice possesses in itself all the principles essential to such a change, it would very soon ferment, particularly in warm climates, so that the period would be but short between its mild and intoxicating state. The juice of the grape, which is usually called must, is known to ferment of itself at a heat of about 70°, and hence wine must have been early known, particularly in hot climates where drink is so much required to allay Genesis iv. 17. thirst, a further proof that the vinous fermentation was familiar long anterior to the deluge, Carrying this idea still farther towards the creation, Milton seems to have entertained the opinion, that the fruit of which our first parents had eaten, "Whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe," was of an intoxicating nature, when he says, "Soon as the force of that fallacious fruit That with exhilarating vapour bland About their spirits had played, and inmost powers Made err, was now exhaled." The Rabbins, or Jewish doctors, were of the same belief; the vine being considered by them as the tree so strictly prohibited by the Almighty. Doctor Lightfoot and many eminent theologians were impressed with the like opinion;* but all conjectures on this subject, however respectably supported, are unsatisfactory, obscured as it is by the lapse of ages and the silence of the grave. It is worthy of remark, that these opinions of the learned are in coincidence with the oral tradition of different nations. In the island of Madagascar, the prevailing notion of the natives is a striking illustration. They believe that the four rivers of paradise consisted of milk, wine, honey, and oil; and that Adam, who required no sustenance, having drunk of the wine and tasted of the fruits, contrary to the command of God, was driven from the garden, and subjected to the punishments which were thus entailed upon him and his posterity. Noah, it must be admitted, is certainly the first on record who planted a vineyard, and experienced the inebriating quality of the grape. The honour of this discovery the pagans afterwards attributed to Bacchus, whom they worshipped as the sensual encourager of feast and jollity; hence Noah or Bacchus was denominated zeuth, which by the Greeks was rendered zeus, signifying ferment.—That Noah seems to be aimed at by most nations, as the primitive inventor of wine and the real original Bacchus, has been advocated by many learned men. Bochart maintains that Cadmus first brought the worship of Bacchus among the Grecians, and that the vine was introduced to them by the Tyrians. He also thinks that Noah was the same as the Saturn of the pagans, and Plutarch attributes the discovery of the vine to that heathen deity; hence all the reasonings of the ancients, * Vide "Hebrew and Talmudical Exercitations upon St. Luke." |