Virginia's Euphrates

John Fontaine, a Huguenot journalist and one of my ancestors, was invited to participate in what became known as the legendary Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition, which helped to open the Blue Ridge Mountains to settlers moving westward. This is his account of their discovery of the Shenandoah River, which they named the Euphrates, and the memorable celebration which followed. (Although the etymology of the (Iroquois) Indian word "Shenandoah" is uncertain, as I have camped on the river and looked upward at the night sky, I am glad the name "Shenandoah," often translated "Daughter of the Stars," stuck.)

The Journal of John Fontaine: An Irish Huguenot Son in Spain and Virginia, p. 106:

September 6, 1716. [Thursday]. Spotswood Camp (Our Governor). We crossed this river which we called Euphrates. It is very deep and the main course of the water is north. It is four score yards wide in the narrowest place and about two foot and 1/2 water from side to side. We drank some healths on the other side and returned, after which I went a swimming in it. It being deep in several places, no place of it fordable as we could only the place we forded. I got some grass hoppers and fished. And another and I we catched a dish of fish. We took some perch and a fish they call Chubb. The others went a hunting and killed deer and turkies. The Governor had graving irons but could not grave any thing the stones were so hard. I graved my name on a tree by the river side and the governor buried a bottle with a paper enclosed in which he writ that he took possession of this place in the name and for King George 1st of England. We had a good dinner. After dinner we got the men all together and loaded all their arms and we drunk the King's health in Champagne, and fired a volley; the Prince's health in Burgundy, and fired a volley; and all the rest of the Royal Family in Claret, and a volley. We drunk the Governor's health and fired another volley. We had several sorts of liquors, namely Virginia Red Wine and White Wine, Irish Usquebaugh [whiskey], Brandy, Shrub, two sorts of Rum, Champagne, Canary, Cherry punch, Cider, Water &c.

Charlie Chaplin Fan

D.G. Hart, Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America, pp. 164, 207:

The final issue that split fundamentalist and traditionalist Presbyterians concerned personal morality. In [James Oliver] Buswell's estimation this was the proverbial straw that would break the camel's back. Those in the church who sided with him, Buswell wrote (in what turned out to be his last letter to Machen), were concerned about reports that Westminster students used liquor in their rooms "with the approval of some members of the faculty." The use of alcohol, even in the celebration of the sacrament, he added, was "far more likely" to divide the church than "any question of eschatology." Buswell and other fundamentalists in the church were also "shocked" by leaders of the new denomination who defended "the products of Hollywood," a "useless,...waste of energy." Machen never responded to Buswell but his opposition to Prohibition provides a clue to his views on alcohol. In addition to opposing the expanded powers of the federal government that the Eighteenth Amendment granted, Machen also thought the Bible allowed moderate use of alcohol. This was also the position of the majority of faculty at Westminster who came from ethnic churches were the idea of total abstinence with American evangelicalism was foreign. As for Buswell's reference to Hollywood, Machen did enjoy going to the movies and commented favorably on Charlie Chaplin but did not make any remarks about film in his published writings.10

10. Buswell to Machen, December 4, 1936, MA. On Machen's fondness for movies, see, for example, his letters to his mother, May 14, 1913, March 11 and August 23, 1914, MA.

Geneva Gin

Some have wondered if Gin got its name somehow from Geneva. In fact, the name of this alcoholic beverage is derived from the French word for juniper, the key ingredient - genévrier. The Dutch physician Franciscus Sylvius (1614-1672) is credited with the invention of Gin or Jenever. In 19th century Holland, it was referred to as "Holland Gin" or "Geneva Gin." Though it may have been appreciated in Swiss Geneva, its origin as a beverage is Dutch and its etymological origin is French.

Abstinence in Moderation

Jim West, Drinking With Calvin and Luther, pp. 214-215:

A Reformed minister was asked to lunch with three other ministers with whom he was not familiar. He arrived at the restaurant early, and while waiting, unthinkingly ordered a bottle of cabernet sauvignon.

When the other three ministers arrived he had already imbibed half a glass and heartily asked if they would like to partake of the Lord's "tender mercies." The three of them respectfully declined, but the Reformed minister could tell by their countenances that they were more than a little dismayed.

"Do the three of you have a problem with wine?" he asked.

One minister said that he believed that all alcoholic beverages were sinful and that Rome would have to melt into the Tiber before a drop ever touched his lips. The second indicated that because of the widespread abuse of alcohol that he had made a decision never to drink. He indicated that he was also concerned about the world's perception of him -- it was unconscionable that a minister of the Gospel should ever be associated with wine. The third minister said that the sole reason for his abstinence was that he did not want to offend the other two.

"Well, then," said the Calvinist, "I guess I am in an embarrassing spot. I wouldn't even want to offend the man who is afraid that he might offend. What would you have me do?"

"Why don't we all drink to abstinence?" said the teetotaler. "I'll order some water and we'll drink to abstinence."

They all heartily agreed, even the Calvinist. When the water arrived, and the glasses were filled, each took his turn.

"Here's to abstinence," said the first minister.

"To abstinence," seconded the second.

"To abstinence," toasted the third.

Then the Calvinist refilled his glass with the cabernet, lifted it to his lips, and declared: "Yes, indeed, to abstinence -- may it always be practiced with moderation!"

Hops, Reformation, Bays, and Beer

A 13th-century law in the city of Augsburg, Germany stated that:

The selling of bad beer is a crime against Christian love.

There are interesting ties between the appreciation of beer in England and Germany, and the Reformations in both of those countries. I don't wish to make too strong a connection between beer and Reformation, but the history, while fuzzy, is worth pondering over a pint.

It was in 1516, that the Reinheitsgebot, the German or Bavarian Beer Purity Law, which required that beer be made only with water, barley and hops, was promulgated. A year later, Martin Luther, by the grace of God, initiated the Reformation at Wittenberg.

Although some reference this rhyme to events in 1520 (and it is to be conceded that hops had been in use in England for quite some time prior), this saying is generally identified with events in the year 1524:

Hops, reformation, bays, and beer, / Came into England all in one year.

Henry Buttes, Dyets Dry Dinner (1599):

Heresie and beere came hopping into England both in a yeere.

Sir Richard Baker (author of meditations upon select psalms), Chronicle of the Kings of England from the Time of the Romans' Government unto the Death of King James (1643), p. 298:

About his [Henry VIII's] fifteenth year [1524] it happen'd that diverse things were newly brought into England, whereupon this rhime was made: Turkeys, Carps, Hopps, Piccarel, and Beer, Came into England all in one year.

Daniel Defoe, A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (1724-1726, 1768 ed.), Letter 2, Part 1, p. 34:

Here [Maidstone, England] likewise, and in the country adjacent, are great quantities of hops planted, and this is call'd the Mother of Hop Grounds in England; being the first place in England where hops were planted in any quantity, and long before any were planted at Canterbury, tho' that be now supposed to be the chief place in England, as shall be observ'd in its place: These were the hops, I suppose, which were planted at the beginning of the Reformation, and which gave occasion to that old distich:

Hops, Reformation, bays, and beer,
Came into England all in a year.

Samuel Smiles, The Huguenots: Their Settlements, Churches, and Industries in England and Ireland (1868), p. 94:

It is also supposed, though it cannot be exactly ascertained, that the Protestant Walloons [French-speaking Huguenots from Flanders] introduced the cultivation of the hop in Kent, bringing slips of the plant with them from Artois. The old distich --

"Hops, Reformation, Bays, and Beer,
Came into England all in one year" --

marks the period (about 1524) when the first English hops were planted.

Moreover, the White Horse Tavern in Cambridge, England is generally considered to the birthplace of the Cambridge wing of English Puritanism.

Samuel T. Logan, Jr., The Pilgrims and Puritans: Total Reformation for the Glory of God:

By 1526, regular (rather subversive) theological discussions were being conducted in the White Horse Tavern in Cambridge. Participants included such future luminaries as Thomas Bilney, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer. Every one of the four was later martyred.

Unfermented Wine

Rev. A.M. Wilson, Preface, The Wines of the Bible (1877):

Having been a teetotaller for more than thirty years, his [the author's] personal habits, associations, and sympathies have all been in favour of the unfermented theory; but the facts encountered in the present investigation have constrained him reluctantly to conclude that so far as the wines of the ancients are concerned, unfermented wine is a myth.

Charles Spurgeon, Charles Spurgeon's book review of The Wines of the Bible: an Examination and Refutation of the Unfermented Wine Theory by the Rev. A. M. Wilson. (reviewed 1877, The Sword and the Trowel, p. 437):

'UNFERMENTED wine' is a non-existent liquid. Mr. Wilson has so fully proved this that it will require considerable hardihood to attempt a reply. The best of it is that he is a teetotaler of more than thirty years' standing, and has reluctantly been driven 'to conclude that, so far as the wines of the ancients are concerned, unfermented wine is a myth.' While total abstainers are content to make no assault upon the cup used at the Lord's table, they work harmoniously with all who seek the welfare of their fellow men; but when they commence warfare upon that point they usually become more factious than useful: everything is then made subordinate to their one idea, and the peace of the church is disregarded. It is well, therefore, that one of themselves should protest against carrying a principle to extremes, and best of all that he should do so by showing that the theories which have been advanced are utterly untenable. We wish the utmost success to the abstinence cause, and, therefore, trust that there will be no pressing of the question of unfermented wine at the Communion, for it will not promote the cause, and will create much heartburning, and, worst of all, it will be contrary to the Divine precedent. The question is not necessary to the temperance movement, and we wish it had never been raised. Mr. Wilson has written the thick volume now before us to settle the matter, and we believe that he establishes beyond reasonable debate that the wines of the Bible were intoxicating, and that our Lord did not ordain jelly or syrup, or cherry juice to be the emblem of his sacrifice.

Good Wine Needs No Bush

When it comes to painting a picture with words, few Puritans can equal the skill of Thomas Watson. It is interesting to note the many ways he refers to wine in his word pictures. He speaks of the "wine of glory," the "wine of the gospel," and God's "promises dropped into the soul like wine."

I like this one from The Godly Man's Picture (as found inThe Sermons of Thomas Watson, p. 518):

A godly man doth not indulge himself in any sin. Though sin lives in him, yet he doth not live in sin. Every man that hath wine in him, is not in wine.

Jim West elaborates on one particular reference which is perhaps not so clear to 21st century readers in Drinking With Calvin and Luther, p. 71:

In a more obscure reference from The Godly Man's Picture, one of his most enduring works, Watson writes, "If there is wine in the house, the bush will be hung outside, and where there is a principle of godliness in the heart, it will vent itself at the lips; the bush will be hung up." The explanation for the figure is that in Watson's day, a bush was a branch of a tree that was hung out as a sign for a tavern. When the "bush custom" was eventually discontinued, Englishmen hung a coronated frame of wood as a tavern sign. The English thus coined a proverb: "Good wine needs no bush."

Live Soberly, Righteously, Godly

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; (Titus 2.11-12)

Thomas Taylor, An Exposition of Titus, pp. 190-191:

Doct. 2. Where the gospel brings salvation to any person, it looks for return of some recompense, namely that it be entertained with sobriety, righteousness, and godliness, which are the three graces which go hand in hand, every one looking at another.

Sobriety keeps the house, and moderates the mind at home; righteousness looks forth and gives every man his due abroad; piety looks up to God and gives Him His right. Sobriety preserves, and is content with its own state and portion. Righteousness preserves, and is content that other men enjoy their estate and portion. Piety preserves, and is willing that God's part be reserved unto him.

Again, sobriety must go before, as a nurse of the other two; for he who deals not soberly cannot deal justly, but deprives men of their due. Righteousness without godliness is but atheism, and a beautiful abomination; and piety without righteousness is but hypocrisy. How absurd it is to be precise in dealing with man, and careless how wickedly we deal with God!

Now as sobriety is listed first, as the nurse of the two latter, so piety is listed last, as the mother of the two former; for where it is lacking, neither of the former can commend a man unto God. Therefore none of these three may be forgotten, for they jointly contain all the rules of Christian life.

In each we will observe two points, its proper work and the rules by which it may be practiced.

1. First, of sobriety. Its proper work is to moderate the mind, and contain it in due compass, both in all the affections of the soul and the actions of life unto which it turns itself. This will appear in things outward and inward.

(a) First, in the inward gifts of the mind, it teaches three things.

(i) To be wise to sobriety, and not to presume above that which is written. It does not allow us to pry into the ark, as the Bethshemites did to their cost, neither in inferior things to meddle with curious arts and sciences; but it exercises itself in things which not only have a show of wisdom, but which are profitable, yea necessary.

(ii) To contain and content itself with its own measure of gifts, to know their own bounds and keep within them. The portion of grace, which is given according to the measure of the gift of Christ, it acknowledges with thankfulness, but does not arrogate that which he has not. This would be to run over the measure, and Christ gives no gift which is not in the measure of it. We have a singular precedent of sobriety in the apostles themselves. "We rejoice not in things outside our measure, nor stretch ourselves beyond our measure, nor boast of things outside our measure" (2 Cor. 10:13,14).

(iii) As it teaches a man to know himself, so it teaches him not to despise another, although he has not received the like measure (1 Cor. 4:6); it does not swell against another, for itself has nothing but what it received. It does not eny those whom God has made superiors, since the wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, not judging and not avenging (James 3:17).

(b) In outward things, it is a moderator, as may appear in things concerning a man's calling, estate, pleasures, and things indifferent.

(i) It forces a man to abide in his calling, but not as drudge unto it; it will not allow the heart to be oppressed with the cares of this life, no more than with surfeiting and drunkenness. It curbs the restive desire of increasing wealth, and so both gives freedom to the duties of the general calling, and fences from being too much wrapped and entangled in the duties of the particular calling.

(ii) In his estate, this virtue of sobriety settles a man in a quiet comfort and contentment, for it teaches him to lack and to abound, and puts into his hand the benefit of contentment in all states. If want comes, he who was rich can rejoice in being made low (James 1:9); he is taught to be empty as well as full. Again, if prosperity befalls him, and the world comes upon him, this prosperity does not puff him up; he can use the world as not using it. This excellent grace hedges his heart, and will not allow it to be greedy in its desires.

(iii) In the pleasures and delights of this life, in which a number have become as filthily drunk as others in beastly quaffing. Prove the heart with joy, and bid it take pleasure in earthly things; it can say of laughter. "You are madness," and to joy, "What do you do?" (Eccl. 2:1) It does not allow a man to pour out his heart to pleasure, nor to become a lover of pleasure more than of God.

(iv) In things indifferent, as meat, drink, apparel, sleep, etc., it keeps within compass. It does not look at the wine in the cup; it drinks for strength, and not for drunkenness; to make a man more fit for his calling, not duller and heavier. In apparel it shuns pride, lightness, and idleness, and reduces to comeliness and decency, and inward decking rather than outward. Its attire not only becomes holiness, but also agrees with the calling, custom of the country, example of the graver sort of our rank, and the right ends of apparel. Sobriety causes sleep to be seasonable and moderate, and does not allow a man to sleep until he is clothed in rages. In marriage, it holds from being drowned in carnal delight, but moderates the affection as though he were free from a wife (1 Cor. 7:29). Thus the excellence of this grace is shown.

International Museum of the Reformation

The legacy of John Calvin and the Reformation is celebrated most particularly at the International Museum of the Reformation in Geneva, Switzerland. Permanent exhibits at the museum include a rooms dedicated to the place of the Bible and music in the Reformation, the controversy of the age as documented in the 16th century Roman Catholic-Protestant war of pamphlets, Calvin's experience and daily life in 16th century Geneva, collections of rare Reformation literary works, the experience of the Huguenots following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (the 'Church of the Desert'), and other aspects of the history and culture of the Reformation with a focus on Geneva's most famous historical figure, John Calvin. A current temporary exhibit (April 24-November 1, 2009) sketches "A Day in the Life of John Calvin." If you are not able to travel to Geneva to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin in 2009, be sure to at least take a virtual tour of the museum here. For those who can visit, there is a museum shop too at which one may purchase souvenirs, including a 21st century Genevan specialty: Calvinus beer.

The Cradle of the English Reformation

Martin Luther used to say, "It is better to think of church in the ale-house than to think of the ale-house in church."

Beginning around 1520 or so, a group of Cambridge Reformers did just that. They began to meet at the White Horse Tavern, a Cambridge pub, which was nicknamed "Little Germany" as a result of the "Lutheran" (Protestant) discussions held there.

The men who met to confer about events happening in Germany at the time, and the theological implications for England (hence, the White Horse Inn became the "cradle of the English Reformation") read like a "who's who" list of Reformers: Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, Thomas Bilney, Miles Coverdale, William Tyndale, Matthew Parker; and others.

God used that those tavern discussions to build the church in England. From this assembly of saints arose martyrs, Bible translators, preachers and others who contributed to the Reformation with blood, sweat, prayers and tears. Praise God for his work of Reformation in the church and in the tavern.

MALT Sermon

One day the Puritan John 'Decalogue' Dod (1549-1645) was accosted by some drunkards soon after he had preached a sermon against drunkenness. They forced him by threat of violence to preach a very extemporaneous sermon on the word 'Malt'. Here is the incident and the sermon as recounted in Memorials of John Dod, p. 7:

Certaine Drunkards, retorning from a merry meeting at a Country Alehouse, by the way overtooke a Preacher: who in a Sermon, he had lately made against Drunkenes, amongst other bitter reproofes, (as the seete Lyquore fellowes construed it) had tearmed them Malt-Wormes. whefore they agreed to take him, & by violence compell him to preach them a Sermon, appointing him his Theame to be

M A L T
...
Beloved,

I am a little man, come at a short warning, -- to deliver a brief discourse -- upon a small subject, -- to a thin congregation, -- and from an unworthy pulpit.

Beloved, my text is

M A L T.

Which cannot be divided into words, it being but one; nor into syllables, it being but one; therefore, of necessity, I must reduce it into letters, which I find to be these;

M.--A.--L.--T.

M -- my beloved, is Moral.

A -- is Allegorical.

L -- is Litteral.

AND

T -- is Theological.

The moral is set forth to teach you drunkards good manners; therefore,

M -- my Masters

A -- All of you

L -- Listen

T -- to my Text.

The allegorical is when one thing is spoken, and another is intended; the thing expressed is MALT; the thing signified is the oil of MALT, which you Bacchanals make

M -- your Meat,

A -- your Apparel,

L -- your Liberty,

AND

T -- your Text.

The litteral is according to the letter

M -- Much

A -- Ale

L -- Little

T -- Thrift.

Now to wind up the whole and draw to close take with you the characteristic of a drunkard.

A drunkard is the annoyance of modesty.

The spoil of civility.

His own shame.

His wife's sorrow.

His children's curse.

His neighbor's scoff.

The alehouse man's benefactor.

The devil's drudge.

A walking swill bowl.

The picture of a beast.

And, monster of a man.

F I N I S.