Note 104 — BEERS.

Much has been written on the comparative merits of wine and beer. Perhaps as good a remark as any on this subject was made by a modern tradesman who, wishing to sell both, explained that, while strongly advocating the introduction of wine, he did not at all intend to depreciate the merits of our national beverage, beer. Where, he continued, plenty of out-door exercise is taken, and little intellectual effort is demanded, good beer is perhaps the most wholesome of all drinks; and therefore he advised the “labouring man,” who could not probably afford to buy wine, to drink beer, while others, who might be supposed able to afford wine, were warned that they could not drink beer with impunity.