The Fruit of the Vine

THE

Fruit of the Vine.

THE £100 PRIZE ESSAY.

BY THE REV. H. T. BURGESS.

Published by the South Australian Total Abstinence
League and Band of Hope Union.

ADELAIDE:

PRINTED BY WEBB, VARDON, AND PRITCHARD, GRESHAM-STREET.

1878.

THE Annual Conference of the South Australian Total Abstinence League and Band of Hope Union in 1876 had under consideration the want of an essay on the wine question bearing specially on the colonies, and containing the latest information from the schools of science. The report presented by the Committee introduced the subject in the following paragraph :

"The Wine Question.-Several articles have appeared in the public Press upon the wine question, and as its manufacture is a source of profit, there is a desire on the part of the Press to encourage it as an article of consumption and commerce, notwithstanding it is well known as one of the most prolific sources of the worst phase of intemperance. While your Committee regard the fruit of the vine as one of the choicest of Heaven's gifts to man, it is lamentable that it should be perverted to the basest of purposes. With a desire that the wine question as applied to the Australian colonies should be fully ventilated, your Committee would urge that during the coming year a prize of £100 be offered for the best essay on the fruit of the vine, exposing the fallacy that alcoholic wines possess any claim as an article of diet, and detailing the most profitable and valuable uses to which the fruit of the vine can be applied, and its purity preserved, based upon scientific, historical, and experimental facts."

The report having been adopted it was subsequently decided to offer a second prize of £25, and in response to the advertisement three essays were sent in and submitted to the following gentlemen, who had kindly consented to act as adjudicators :-Rev. William Roby Fletcher, M.A., H. T. Whittell, Esq., M.D., and H. C. Scarfe, Esq.

The following is an extract from the adjudicators' report forwarded to Mr. G. W. Cole, Hon. Sec. to the Committee :

“We have carefully considered the merits of the essays on the Wine Question which you have submitted to us, and are unanimously of opinion that the essay bearing the motto, Levius fit patientia,' and entitled, 'The Fruit of the Vine,' is the best."

The adjudicators' report was submitted to the Annual Conference, May 24, 1878, and adopted, and a correspondence having been opened with the authors of the unsuccessful essays, it was decided to divide the second prize between them. Extracts from these, bearing on the profitable utilization of the fruit of the vine, will be found in an appendix, to make room for which the essay has been somewhat abbreviated. It is now submitted to the public by the League in the earnest hope that it will prove of essential service to the temperance movement, in the interests of which it is issued.

Temperance Hall,

North Adelaide, 1878.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

ALTHOUGH this is regarded as an essay on the Wine Question, it does not pretend to be an exhaustive discussion of the whole subject. Its scope was limited by the resolution of the Committee to two important topics out of many that might advantageously be considered. An exposure of the fallacy described in that resolution, and a detailed statement of the profitable uses of the grape, based upon historical, scientific, and experimental facts, necessarily involves large reference to established authorities, and limited space has in many cases prevented extended comment upon their statements. I have, however, endeavoured to secure local colour, obtain local data, and make a local application so far as was possible to me, and my best thanks are due to many gentlemen who kindly furnished me with valuable information.

The essay was written amid the pressure of peculiarly heavy ministerial duties. It was interrupted and its completion well-nigh rendered impossible by a protracted and severe affliction. I am conscious of its many blemishes and defects; but it is at least an earnest attempt to show that while the culture of the grape may and ought to be a profitable and flourishing industry, the production of colonial wine is a gigantic evil. The latter of these considerations by its seriousness, so powerfully engrosssed my mind that I paid less attention in proportion to the former. Nevertheless, I am so fully alive to the practical importance of this subject that I have willingly curtailed the original essay so far as was necessary to include the suggestions contained in the Appendix within the limits prescribed by the advertisement of the Com

mittee.

Habits of sobriety, and the intelligent employment of natural advantages, are among the things essential to the well-being of any community. Anxiously desiring the welfare of my fellow-colonists, among whom I have lived almost thirty years, I commend the following pages to their candid consideration in the full belief that they will find the conclusions I have arrived at are amply sustained. I also indulge the hope that the hands of temperance advocates will be strengthened, and the best interests of the people promoted by the cause of sobriety and morality being advanced.

Adelaide, August, 1878.

H. T. B.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

The fallacy stated-The delusion wide-spread and costly-The drink question

many-sided-Enquiry defined-Argument stated. Second topic-

Its bearing.

PART I.

CHAPTER I.-ALCOHOL NOT FOOD.

9-11

Wines greatly diverse-Yet possess certain general characteristics-Professor

Johnston's analysis-Small proportion and poor quality of Solids-