Louis XII., of France, first gave permission to distil spirits on a large scale. So terrific were the effects twenty years afterwards, that Francis, his successor, was obliged, for the safety of his subjects, to enact a law, that the drunkard who remained incorrigible, after severe monitory punishments, should suffer amputation of the ears, and be banished from the kingdom. How much more wisely would Francis have acted, if, instead of banishing the drunkard, he had banished the pernicious material of drunkenness! Take another example: Sweden was a temperate country, ardent spirits being, to a great extent, prevented from coming into ordinary use. In 1783, however, Gustavus, king of Sweden, gave permission for opening spirit shops in all the villages of his kingdom. His object was to increase his revenue, and that object he apparently for a time accomplished; for immediately ardent spirits were loaded with fictitious excellences, by those who loved them, and those who were interested in their sale: the drinking of them, which had formerly been carried on in secret, now became respectable; and the consumption of them was greatly increased. But mark the consequence;- such was the increase of drunkenness and crime, of fatal accidents and premature mortality, that the very same king who gave the permission, was obliged, for the preservation of his people, to withdraw it.

Spruce Beer

Allow an ounce of hops and a spoonful of ginger to a gallon of water. When well boiled, strain it, and put in a pint of molasses and half an ounce or less of the essence of spruce; when cool, add a teacup of yeast, and put into a clean tight cask, and let it ferment for a day or two, then bottle it for use. You can boil the sprigs of spruce-fir in room of the essence.

Ginger Beer

Fourteen gallons water, fourteen pounds loaf sugar, four ounces ginger, well pounded; boil one hour, add the whites of eight eggs beat up, and take off the scum; strain the liquor into an earthen pan, let it stand till cold, then put it into your cask with the peel of fourteen lemons cut thin, and their juice strained. Add half a spoonful of ale-yeast on the top. Stop the vessel closely for a fortnight. Then it may be bottled, and in another fortnight will be fit for use.

Another For Dinger Beer

One pound sugar, one ounce ginger, one-half ounce of cream of tartar, one lemon sliced. Put all into a pan, pour over one and a half gallons boiling water, and when milk-warm put in a little yeast; let it stand all night to work; bottle it; and in three days it is fit for use.

Lemonade

Three lemons to a pint of water, makes strong lemonade; sweeten to your taste.

This is the best beverage for parties; cool, refreshing, pleasant, and salubrious.

Orangeade

Roll and press the juice from the oranges, in the same way as from lemons. It requires less sugar than lemonade. The water must be pure and cold, and then there can be nothing more delicious than these two kinds of drink.

Currant Wine

Gather the currants when dry, extract the juice, either by mashing and pressing the fruit, or putting it in a jar, placed in boiling water; strain the juice, and for every gallon allow one gallon of water and three pounds of sugar. Dissolve the sugar in the water, and take off the scum; let it cool, add it to the currant juice, and put the mixture in a keg, but do not close it tightly till it has ceased fermenting, which will not be under a week. In three or four weeks it may be bottled. The white of an egg beaten, mixed with a teaspoonful of cream of tartar, and stirred into the liquid, makes the wine look clear and bright. Some add a portion of spirits.

Raspberry Vinegar

To two and a half quarts of ripe raspberries put one pint of the best vinegar. Bruise them well and let it stand three days. Strain the juice through a bag, and add its weight of sugar. Boil it, skim well, and bottle it closely.

Syrup Of Almonds

Blanch and pound in a marble mortar one pound of sweet and one ounce of bitter almonds; adding a spoonful or two of orange-flower water. Mix a pint of rosewater with one of pure water, add it to the almonds, and pass the whole through a lawn sieve. Then boil three pints clarified syrup, and when it boils put in the almonds, and let them boil one minute. When cold put it into Dottles, and cork it for use.

To make it for immediate use, after pounding the almonds, mix them with a quart of water, one of milk, and one of clarified syrup or capillaire, and pass through a sieve.

Valencia Wine

To each gallon of good spirits take the peel of eighteen lemons; let them remain forty-eight hours in the spirits; then add the juice with five quarts of cold spring water, three pounds of loaf sugar, a quarter of a pound of bitter almonds well blanched, half a drachm of saffron, and two ounces of ground ginger; mix all together, and pour over all three quarts new milk, scalding hot, but not boiled; let it stand till next day, then run it through flannel, like jelly.

Mead Without Fruit

Boil honey-three or four pounds to a gallon of water - for an hour, skimming carefully, draining the skimmings, and returning what runs through. When nearly cool, stir in a teacupful of yeast for nine gallons, and let it ferment. Put it in a cool cellar, and bottle in a year.

Currants and raspberry juice, orange and lemon peel, spices and aromatic herbs are often added to mead; the last towards the end of the fermentation, in a muslin bag, weighed down with a piece of flint. Six quarts of red currants and two of black will do for twenty-five pounds of honey.

Ratafias

Ratafias are liquors prepared by infusing the juices and kernels of fruit in strong spirit with sugar. For the ratafia of cherries take two quarts of rectified spirits of wine, add two drachms beaten cinnamon, one of bruised cloves, and one ounce bruised coriander seeds. Cover and let them stand a week; then from morella and black heart cherries press twelve pints of juice, add three pounds powdered loaf sugar, and mix with the spirit and spices; add half the cherry stones, mashed in a mortar. Closely cover the stone jar, containing all these, and stir or shake it frequently.

In two months pour it off; press and filter the residuum. Then put it into bottles and cork it.

Ratafia

Blanch two ounces of peach and apricot kernels, bruise and put them into a bottle, and fill nearly up with brandy. Dissolve half a pound of white sugar-candy in a cup of cold water, and add to the brandy after it has stood a month on the kernels, and they are strained off; then filter through paper and bottle for use. The distilled leaves of peaches and nectarines, when the trees are cut in the spring, are an excellent substitute for ratafia in puddings.

Capillaire, is so called from being prepared from a kind of fern called capillus veneris, or maiden-hair; but almost any other fern may be substituted for it. A syrup made from the Canada capillaire, with maple sugar, is sold.