MR. BASS ON THE BEAUTY OF BEER.

Timaru Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 703, 31 January 1872, Page 2

MR. BASS ON THE BEAUTY OF BEER.

[From the Manclwster Guardian ] It is gluttony, and not drunkenness, as we nre assured m Mr Bass' speech to the Derbyshire licensed victim Hers, that, ia really the (leadly 100 of Englishmen He maintains — upon the authority, he tells us, of the Registrar General and of the " most eminent medical men m this country and elsewhere" — that the siifferiu»s of mankind are mainly en used by over-eating, antl not by over-drinking. '* Twenty men suHnr from excessive eating wliere only one suffers from excessive drinking ;" anil tliere are ten cases of premature deaths and ten cases of sickness from overeating to one death from over-drinking It is uot wonderful then that Mr Bass should say that a licensed victualler's trade iB uot more harmful than a butcher's or baker's. Indeed it would seem thut the sale of meal and bread would need to be morp carefully restricted than the sale of beer, though for the time he refrains from any proposal Ibr its limitation. Good liquor is far more necessary than food for health and happiness; aud Mr Bass "individually, would almost refrain from eating than from drinking." The best advice he can give to men advancing m years is that " they should eat half the quantity to which they huve been accustomed, and drink twice as much." Of course their beverage must be bf the right kind, and they must not follow the example of those unhappy Scotchmen who do indeed drink far more than Englishmen, but who ruiu their constil utions by " dri.ikiug the most injurious spirits, fire-water; not good honest ale." , The sure way to enjoy a green old age is, it seems, to' drink souud ale, and pleutyofit. Ale is the great heal-all, and is to mankind m general all, and more than all, that Dibbin's sailors thought grog was to them when they sang — " Grog is our starboard, oUr larboard, • Our mainmast, our mizen, our log ; On shore, or at sea, or when harbored, • The mariner"s compass is grojj." ' Neither Mr Bass nor the licensed victuallers, however, would countenance any abuse of liquor, if indeed so good a thing can be abused ; for no class of men m existence can be more interested m sobriety than they are. The interest and tbe inclination of the licensed victuallers alike forbid them to allow drunkenness m their houses ; and we may be sure of this upon the authority of Mr Bass, who thinks he knowa more about them than any man m England, " as he has spent a deal of time m their houses, although he never got drunk m one." But even if there be a little too much drunkenness now, the people will continue to improve year by year m temperance, as they have improved all through Mr Bass's life, and "though they drink more will get drunk less." In short, a good time is coming when England will be an earthly paradise, wherein there will be no drunkenness, but every other house will be an alehouse, with " Bass's Entire " on its signboard, and a red-fa jed landlord drawing beer for a set of hearty topers while they sing — Back and side go bare, go bare ; Both hand and foot go cold ; ■ But, belly, God send the good ale enow, Whether it be new or old.

Will Maeing.— A popular delusion exists relative to the making of wills, viz., that ' unless written with pen and ink they ure invalid. A contested will case — Harris and Warner — was concluded at the {Supreme Court. Sydney, r -cently, wheu' his Honor Judge Hargrave (among other remarks ia reference'- U> the drawiug out of wills) said that it did nbt signify what a will was written with, provided that m other 'respects' it was genuine, and properly attested. Tno will, which was disputed by Mr Joseph Warner on other grounds Fas held : to' be "• perfectly valid, although but a serap-oi paper written upon with a°lead. pencil. Ihis 'simple document wiU', doubtleßs,'prove a Valuable frieHd'fo tlie mother and four childreu whom it concerns, as it' puts theui in' possession df a handsome fortune. " '- ,