As regards porter, too, a similar test has been proposed, at once easy and certain. That some test is required will be readily acknowledged, when it is remembered that this staple drink of the labouring classes-that hard working portion of our people, whose daily task requires a constant and unwearied exercise of muscular power-is so adulterated by the retail dealers, as to render it almost impossible to obtain it in that state in which it has been sent out from the brewery of the manufacturer. The variety of the adulterating ingredients is so great, and the difficulty of reproducing the foreign matter through the medium of some chemical agents so great, even to a scientific enquirer, that the fraud is submitted to by the public as irremediable. The extent to which the adulteration is carried may be well conceived, when it has been openly avowed by a so-called respectable publican, that it is the custom of the trade to draw three butts out of two. The quality of the adulterating ingredients is two-fold, the object the same-viz., the diminution of the original and the substitution of a false strength, with a simultaneous increase of quantity. The harmless infusions, such as treacle and water, liquorice, gentian root, salt, boiled sugar and water, and sulphate of iron, combined with those of a deleterious nature, such as coculus indicus, tobacco water, and strychnia, contribute in equal degrees to substitute a false strength, in the the place of the original spirit. This diminution of strength is capable of very easy detection, although the nature of the ingredients remain undiscovered. But surely when such a fact as this deterioration of quality can be distinctly proved, by comparison with some of the original liquid, a sufficient case of imposition is made out against the possessor of the weaker liquid, to warrant the interference of the officers of the excise, and to justify any magistrate in enforcing the law against the offender, although no proof may be tendered of the presence of any one adulterating ingredient. "I took (says Mr. Charles Watt, in the ninth number of The Chemist') a pint of genuine porter from each of the different brewers, and put it into a small still heated by a spirit lamp; and, after distilling over all the spirit, and then subjecting it to a second rectification, I found it to contain about two ounces, or two ounces and a half of spirit somewhere about proof; but I was not exact in this, as it is not of much moment, and for practical purposes can be more minutely conducted. In the porter taken from different breweries I found not much deviation in this respect, and I therefore assume the quantity of spirit I have named as about the average quantity in good and genuine porter. 66 My next step was, of course, to subject a pint of porter procured from various public-houses to the same process of distillation, and after careful rectification, to note the quantity of spirit; and here I found a diminution of spirit of from half a fluid ounce to an ounce, and sometimes even more. These experiments, which were often repeated, satisfied my mind, as they must those of all who consider the subject, that with the publican alone lies the disgrace of this fraudulent practice. "The other nauseous materials put in to give flavour and deceive the taste, may, after the distillation, be subjected more easily to analysis, if judged proper; but I would here observe, that it is a somewhat nice and difficult operation, as they are generally inert, and what may be called merely nauseous substances, though they are too often injurious and even poisonous. "From the preceding facts, it will at once be evident, that a remedy against this fraud is at hand, both for the revenue and the public; and I would suggest the following method of proceeding to detect and punish those who violate the laws in this respect:— "Let the officers go to the publicans in their district, and procure a given quantity, not less than a pint, of porter, at such house or houses as they may suspect or be informed of; then let some competent person perform the distillation according to the method and with the care I have advised; and subsequently let him repeat the operation upon the same quantity of genuine porter procured from the brewer who supplies the publican from whom the suspected sample was obtained; and finally, by noting the different quantities of alcohol yielded by each sample, he will arrive at the fact of adulteration; for if the one offord less alcohol than the other, it must have been diluted with water. "The next step after the distillation is to evaporate the remaining spent beer from each sample-the publican's and the genuine-which will better enable the operator to ascertain the fact of the former containing any, and what kind of, extraneous and injurious ingredients, by comparison and other means; for although such ingredients as treacle and water, or sugar and water, cannot be detected, some of the more deleterious ones, if the experiment be carefully conducted, may be rendered evident by such tests as the case may indicate. If this plan be strictly carried out, an entire stop will at once be put to this long-continued fraud." With such an easy and certain remedy, is it not worthy of consideration whether the revenue ought any longer to be defrauded, or the public slowly poisoned, for the sole benefit of the keepers of public-houses. As for gin, made, by the pestilent habit of dram drinking, the poor man's elixir of life, it is one mass of adulteration. After it has been rectified and compounded with the juniper berry, it comes into the hands of the retail dealer, a spirit so strong and so unsuited to the poor man's taste as to require the addition of a flavouring mixture, even by the honest retail dealer. In the best gin as sold at the public-house, the flavouring mixture contains sugar, spirit of turpentine, powdered angelica root, elder flower water, and essential oil of lemon. In the gin palaces, where the demand is enormous, and the neighbourhood so poor as to render low prices unavoidable, the adulteration becomes fearful; turpentine in very large quantities, essential oil of capsicums, sulphate of zinc, and even naptha, are added to give to the palate the sensation of ardent spirits. In such a state as this is it consumed by those who are unable to control their delight in the beastly and suicidal vice of drunkenness. Let us for a moment reflect on the injury to those important organs through which this compound passes; every action of them must be affected, and their functions deranged, until at length permanent disease supervenes. Think of the devastating influence of mind, body, and estate, the premature old age, the diseased liver, the palsied hand, paralysis imbecility, abject poverty, and crime: reflect on the results that attach to the vice of habitual drinking, and then add to these the irremediable injury done to health and life, by the fraudulent practices of those men, whose dupe the poor drunkard becomes-the keepers of those pests of our great towns, the gin palaces. The power of Comus is no fable: "Soon as the potion works, their human countenance, The express resemblance of the gods, is changed Into some brutish form All other parts remaining as they were; And they, so perfect is their misery, Not once perceive their foul disfigurement, But boast themselves more comely than before; And all their friends and native home forget, To roll with pleasure in a sensual style."-Comus, 73d line. Is not such a change as this daily taking place among the poor inhabitants of our metropolis and great towns? G. L. BROWNE. TRANSLATION.-FROM HORACE. BY THE REV. HENRY CHRISTMAS, M.A., F.S.A. No gold, nor polished ivory, For me-no marble columns high, No secret guile, nor wrongful might, Nor friends to bring gay robes delight, But truth and song have made my store, Nor ask I earth or heaven for more- Day follows day, and moon to moon And those, whose lives must pass so soon, But halls and palaces they raise, Yet say will splendour, wealth, or power, Or fame itself, defer the hour That brings us to the tomb? For parents, friends, and those whom love The monarch's offspring, and the slave's, Nor gold, nor empire, from their graves For here, in equal silence, lie The mighty and the mean; Worn out with cares and toils they die, CHAPTERS ON POETS. BY JOSEPH FEARN. NO. I. COLERIDGE. It is our intention, from time to time, to furnish our readers with a few thoughts which have been suggested by the study of our more recent poets; and we purpose to offer a series of ideas which have arisen in our minds, as we have perused their works, or dwelt upon the principal features of their several biographies. After having drawn largely from the wells of learning and philosophy, the occasional desire to sip the waters flowing from the fountain of poetry or fiction, is calculated to soften our nature, to qualify the sternness of our "walk and conversation," and to lead us to seek for a supply of those streams which issue from the twin fountain of Poetry-Religion. : Poetry is the spontaneous effusion of a powerful feeling and its origin may be traced, probably, to those emotions which superstitious fear or sacred veneration excite in the human breast. If the mind is the subject of this latter sensation, then doth poetry become noble indeed, and a halo of undying glory is shed around those names of "pleasant import," who, having tasted of the "river whose streams make glad the city of the Lord," recline on its fair margin, and solace our troubled spirits, or rejoice the wearied soul, with the sacred strains of their high and heavenly music. It is our privilege to boast of many of this delightful class, who, while they have not limited themselves to the exclusive subject of religion, yet have been ambitious to become her chosen votaries. The poet whose name stands at the head of this paper is one of this order; and though many have striven to rob him of his brightest characteristic-his profession of faith in the Eternal Son of God, for the purpose of adding him to their scanty and miserable cata logue; but though such attempts have been made to un-christianize him, yet Samuel Taylor Coleridge appears before us, not merely as the bard whom all must admire, but as the poet whom the Christian must love. Coleridge has always been a favourite with ourselves; we have associated his name with our most pleasant recollections; the very mention of the author of "Christabel," conjures up a thousand reminiscences; and there cometh over us the memory of childhood's hours which were ever and anon rendered blissful by the study of our beloved poet, albeit our embryo minds could but half appreciate his beauties; reminiscences of Coleridge seem fraught with the peace and the loveliness of our "days that are gone away :" and, in his own language "Memory, bosom spring of joy, Is conscious of the past employ." The poetry of Coleridge is of a truly original character, and as sublime as it is original. Having to a great extent studied the science of metaphysics, divers of his productions are tinctured somewhat with the ideas of one who is given to abstract beings from the material, and to consider them as purely spiritual; the occasional tendency of his mind in this direction, however, has served to stamp an additional degree of originality upon his writings. Conjoined with this originality of thought was a great power of expression, and a charming versification; his "Ode on the departing Year" is an illustration of what we assert. What can exhibit more original conception, force of expression, and delightful numbers, than the whole of this beautful poem? With what high toned language commences the Ode : "Being! who sweepest the wild harp of time, It is most hard, with an untroubled ear, Thy dark inwoven harmonies to hear ! Yet! mine eye fix'd on heaven's unchanging clime, Then with no unholy madness, Ere yet the enter'd cloud forbade my sight, I rais'd the 'impetuous song, and solemniz'd his flight." His poem, entitled "Tears in Solitude," is a satire, embodying much of the lofty and energetic, with a great degree of earnestness and intense benevolence. Coleridge has been accused of obscurity, and, doubtless, not without reason; but in the poem just named, obscurity vanishes, and the most clear and vivid apprehension is afforded to the mind. What fine thoughts are woven in these few lines, where the poet is condensing a description of atheism : "The very name of God Sounds like a juggler's charm; while bold with joy |