"vate Houses, and even to public Houses, none "being allow'd to retail any Wine, of the Growth "of the Rhine, or adjoining Parts of Germany, except this and one House more, unless it be bought of them: But what occafions the greatest "Vent, is the Custom of making Prefents in Wine, upon all Occafions, where a Present in Mony "would not be fo decent. Thus, when any one "is elected Burgher-mafter or Senator, or to any "other confiderable Office, it is cuftomary for 66 . 66 every Friend, Relation, Acquaintance or De pendant, to fend a Prefent of Wine, of ten, "twenty, or forty Gallons, more or lefs, to the "Perfon elected, which, with fome, amount to "feveral Thousands of Gallons. In thefe Cafes, "the Wine is not fent in Specie, but Notes entitling the Bearer to fuch a Quantity of Wine, and "these Notes are not only always valid, tho' they "fhould not be prefented in twenty Years; but the "Poffeffors may, at Will, have any Quantity en"dors'd from them, even a fingle Quart, if de"fir'd, tho' the Note fhould be of 40 Gallons : "Or they may, allowing 2 d. in a Quart, receive "Mony for their Notes; which I fuppofe is done to have it thought their Profit is not fo exorbiTheir Pretence for demanding Mony for "their Wine, when brought in, is, that as feveral "Companies fit in the public Rooms, at one and "the fame Time, it is impoffible, they should keep "an exact Account, which might give Occafion "to People to go away without paying. I believe, 66 66 66 however, this Cafe would very seldom exist, and "if it did once in a Month or two, I think that trifling Lofs fhould be bore with, rather than an "Indignity put upon every one who comes hither "to fpend his Mony. This cannot but be very "distasteful to all, and more particularly to Stran gers, who are not accustomed to fuch Ufage: But "there 66 66 66 "there is another Thing, which is yet more difagreable, I mean the Badness of their common Draught, as I have obferv'd already: Not but "that they have the beft of Wines, of all Ages "and Growths, and will fell you, in Quantities, "to what Price you pleafe, and very well worth your Mony: But as their Rule is, not to fell for more or less than 14 d. a Quart, by Retail, you "must be contented with what Wine they think fit to give you; and there is no coming at any bet"ter, unless the Steward order it, in Complaifance "to a Foreigner, for their Credit's fake, or you happen to have any Intereft with him; or elfe "by a Method which is, indeed, daily practised, "to the great Scandal of the Place, and indeed "of the City; I mean by an exorbitant Fee to "the Drawer. Nothing is more common, than "for a Burgher, who has a Mind to treat his "Friends with a good Glafs of Wine, to flip a "Crown, or fometimes a Ducket, into a Drawer's "Hand, and perhaps be bit at laft: And I myself have frequently paid 14 d. for a Quart of Wine, and given a rascally Boy twice the Mony to give me what was fit to drink. This it is, that makes them fo faucy, to treat People in that rude Man"ner you was a Witness to, and this, with other "the like Mifmanagements, occafion'd a Perfon "of great Distinction to tell a Senator, at his own "Table, their public Cellar was fo fcandaloufly managed, that he would fooner spend his Mony "in their Hangman's House, than there. 66 ་ 66 66 I HAVE feen a humorous Defcription of this ridiculous Tavern, its Guests and Management, by Mr. L-----d, in Hudibraftic Verfe, begining thus: In Hammon's Cell, where every Sort, Where Where Lawyers, Merchants and Phyficians; Where Tongues were spoke more than at Babel; &c, He then goes on to give a Defcription of the Guests in the public Room, their Converfation and Behavior, and the fame of the Drawers, and the Oeconomy of the Place; but as he makes every one fpeak in his own Tongue, almost every Line is in a different Language, and fometimes two or three in one; which, without a particular Knowledge of the Perfons and Circumftances, would be unintelligible; I fhall, therefore, leave you to form an Idea of the Place, by the Account my Friend gave me, as above. I WAS furpriz'd to fee and hear, that fo wife a Body as the Senat of Hamburg could fuffer fuch Irregularities, in a Matter that fo nearly concern'd them; and could not but, on this Account, greatly prefer the Management of the public Cellar at Bremen to this. Before we parted, Narding told us he had obtain'd Leave for us to the Vaults; which Permiffion, I, however, afterwards heard, coft him a Ducket, and, when we came to pay, we found he had paid the Reckoning too, and would not fuffer any of us to pay our Club; which, by the by, if I had been a Trader, would not have establish'd his Credit with me*. feé *If I may be allow'd to guess at the young Merchant, our Author here means, he had a confiderable Eftate left him by a covetous Father, who would hardly allow himself Neceffaries, which he more than run thro', in about three Years Time, and has now, with the Help of his Friends, a Commiffion in the King of Poland's Army. But But as to our Vaults, I must confefs, as much as I was furpriz'd at the Singularities, and ill Management of this fubterraneous Tavern, no lefs was I aftonifh'd at the prodigious Stock of Wine fhewn me, in monftrous large Cafks, efpecially as our Guide told me, they had seldom lefs than twenty other Store-Vaults, for fome of which they paid near 30 1. a Year Rent. We were allow'd to tafte of feveral Cafks of what they call'd their choiceft Wines, which were, indeed, extraordinary, and more particularly one Cask, which was faid to be above 100 Years old: But what pleas'd me most was, that, at every Glafs which our Guide gave us to tafte, he told us not only at what Place on the Rhine it grew, but in what Year. I took Occafion from this to ask him, whether he had this Knowledge from any Mark on the Cask, or from the Tafte; for he always tafted himself firft. His Anfwer was, that he knew it by both, and that there were People on the Rhine, who would taste a hundred Cafks of different Wines, one after another, and tell you the Growth and Age of each. Of this he gave us fome particular Instances; one of which, for the Humor and Singularity of it, may be worth your hearing, tho' other wife it has pretty much the Air of Fable. Two of these nice Palats being tasting a Cellar of Wine, both pitch'd upon one and the fame Cafk, of about fix Hogfheads, which had all the good Qualities they were looking for; but both, at the fame Time, agreed it had a peculiar Flavor, which they could not account for: One faid it had the Taste of old Iron, but the other would have it rather to be that of Leather. They bought, however, the Piece, and upon drawing the Wine off, into smaller Casks, a Key with a Leathern Thong was found at the Bottom of it. Rifum teneatis, Amici! THE THE Hamburghers were not fo'nice Tafters, in an Inftance, that is faid to have happen'd fome Years ago in that City. An Apprentice belonging to a noted Vintner, being miffing, was fuppofed to be run away, 'till, fome Months afterwards, a large Cafk, which held several Pipes, and had been fill'd with Canary, being empty and to be clean'd, his Skeleton and Cloaths were found in it. It was remember'd afterwards, that the Boy had been, the Day he was miffing, in that Cafk to clean it, and that he had the fame Morning a Quarrel with a Journy-man, who died foon after ; and it was, therefore, fufpected he clos'd the Door of the Cafk, and ftifled him, by burning Brimftone at the Bung: But the Reason of my mentioning this Story is ; because it is faid, that while this Cafk was drawing, the Wine was fo esteem'd, that none of the Vintner's Cuftomers would buy any other: But then they muft not have been fuch nice Tafters, as our Key and Thong-men. You are at your Liberty to believe or difbelieve either of thefe two Stories: I give you them, as they came to me, without af firming to the Truth of either. As I propofe to ftay here fome Time, I defer giving an Account of the Place, till I can give you a compleat View of it, at once. In the mean Time, the Subject of my next may poffibly be, The Life and Adventures of a Dumb Philofopher. I am, &c. LETTER |
