noble patronage. Would that every Origen might find an Ambrose! The commencement of the celebrated Hexapla was the first fruit of that act of beneficence. More than one hundred and fifty years had passed away, since the New Testament was written, and yet no commentary, properly speaking, had yet appeared. Theophilus of Antioch, Irenaeus, Tertullian and others had, indeed, written a few brief practical notes on the Scriptures; but learned and critical commentaries, according to the present meaning of the word, were as yet unknown in the Christian church. Origen led the way; and though it was in a manner which does not satisfy the present age, he was copied by subsequent commentators till the time of the Reformation. Even in the Paraphrase of Erasmus, says our biographer, and Ernesti had said it before him-the best parts are copied either from Origen or from Chrysostom. The first literary production which Origen actually published and which he himself calls τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τῶν γραφῶν, was his commentary on John. Thus, though he became a voluminous writer, he did not come forth as an author, till he was about thirty-seven years of age. Jerome, who wrote so much, was in his fiftieth year, when he became an author, an age at which most men retire from such labors. This commentary agrees in arrangement, nearly with those of our own day;-commencing with a general introduction, and then proceeding to the explanation of single words verse by verse. But it differs from them, and resembles the more loose and bulky English commentaries, in allegorical explanations, practical remarks and long doctrinal discussions. The account which Redepenning gives of Origen's earlier writings, or those composed in Alexandria, and especially of the important work De Principiis, furnishes abundant evidence of great research and profound study. Owing to the jealousy of the bishop of Alexandria, and perhaps to some other unknown causes, Origen, about the year 330, at the age of forty-five, left Alexandria never to return. The story of this unhappy misunderstanding is a long one, and must be passed over here. He removed to Palestine and established a school at Caesarea, which became even more celebrated under him than the one he left at Alexandria. At this point of the narrative Redepenning closes his first volume. For the appearance of the second, which shall describe the remaining twenty-four years of Origen's eventful life, his retirement to Cappadocia during the persecution under Maximian, his temporary residence and litera 1846.] Wines of Mount Lebanon. 385 ry labors at Athens, and the last ten years of his life in Caesarea, spent in delivering public lectures and daily homilies, and in writing his great work against Celsus, we shall look with intense interest. In the volume on which we have now commented, the author has shown much diligence and distinguished ability. Particularly does he excel in those minute microscopic details which are the charm of biography, and which alone can breathe the spirit of life and reality into general history. But he passes some judgments and advances some opinions with which we cannot agree. In his theology we have not entire confidence. He has too strong a sympathy with the philosophical and theological peculiarities of Origen. But the historical investigations are conducted with manifest integrity and candor. ARTICLE VII. THE WINES OF MOUNT LEBANON. By Rev. Eli Smith, Missionary in Syria. THE following communication was written in Beirût in February, 1845. If the statements contained in it are not full in every point, it will be remembered, I trust, that the article was written in a country where it was very difficult to obtain authentic and exact information. I have selected such information as rests, I believe, upon good authority, and have preferred, where such cannot be found, to be silent. I may add, that having had very little to do with wines all my life, my knowledge on this subject was very vague, until I entered upon the present investigation for the purpose of writing the following Article. Some of my previons impressions I have now been obliged to correct. My information has been obtained from seven districts of Mt. Lebanon, viz. Bsherry, Kesrawan, the Kati'a, Metn, Jurd, Shehhâr, and Menâsif, extending from Tripoli nearly to Sidon. The methods of making wine in this region are numerous, but may be reduced to three classes. 1. The simple juice of the grape is fermented, without desiccation or boiling. The quantity thus made is small, and except in particular cases, where the soil or climate is favorable, it will not keep. Bhamdûn, a village in the Jurd, is the only place where I have seen this method of manufacture. There the average temperature of the air in August, has been found for two years, to be about 70°, and this winter one fall of snow has lain for a month on a part of the vineyards, before it entirely melted away. Yet, though the climate is so temperate, the wine I am speaking VOL. III. No. 10. 34 of will not keep a year. It is made by treading the grapes in baskets, through which the juice runs, and is thus separated from the skins and seeds. The quantity of wine produced is in weight about half the weight of the grapes pressed. It is harsh and unwholesome, but possesses rather strong intoxicating powers. 2. The juice of the grape is boiled down before fermentation.—In this way it is made in much larger quantities, especially in places which manufacture it for sale. The must is first separated from the skins, and the boiling is done before fermentation. The effect is to clarify the must, by causing the crude substances to rise in the form of a scum, which is removed by a skimmer. As soon as this ceases to rise, the boiling is stopped, and the must set aside for fermentation. The quantity is usually diminished only four or five per cent. by boiling, and the wine is commonly sweet. 3. The grapes are partially dried in the sun before being pressed.-Wine is made in this way in nearly or quite as large quantities as the preceding. The most approved method is the following. The grapes, stems and all, are spread in the sun from five to ten days, until the stems are entirely dry. They are then pressed, and the must, with the skins and stems unseparated, is put into open jars. During fermentation, it is stirred every day in order that the scum which rises may sink to the bottom, and not by contact with the air contract a sourness which would spoil the wine. In this state it is left a month or so, after which it is strained off, and sealed up in close vessels. The object of leaving the wine upon the lees, or sediment of skins, seeds and stems, is to refine it. It acquires a richer color, and the dried stems absorb the sour and acrid particles. The longer it is left within a limited period, the better it becomes. Wine thus made is usually astringent, and keeps better than either of the kinds above mentioned. The superior of a convent in the Metn, which makes about 900 gallons a year, told me, that by boiling he had not been able for years to make wine that would keep a twelvemonth, owing to something peculiar in the soil around his convent. He had now adopted the plan of sunning the grapes, and he found no difficulty in keeping it. His grapes, thus treated, yield about thirty per cent. their weight in wine. A man of my acquaintance at Bhamdûn made some wine this way last year, as an experiment. Fifty rotles of grapes, after being exposed seven or eight days to the sun, until their stems were quite dry, made 161⁄2 rotles of wine. This wine was of the yellow astringent kind, had an almost aromatic flavor, and a good deal of strength. It should be remarked, that not near all the difference in quantity here mentioned as yielded, between the third and the first two methods, is owing to the drying of the grapes. In the instance last spoken of, the stems and skins left in the must, absorbed a large quantity, which was taken out with them and distilled into brandy. Different kinds of grapes, also, yield very different quantities of juice. Wine made in this way, will, I am told, sometimes burn, and even become thick. There is often a combination of the processes above described. Sometimes in the first, the juice is not separated from the stems and skins, until after fermentation; as described under the third process. When the 1846.] The Vineyards of Bhamdun. 387 grapes come to unusual maturity, wine thus made is said sometimes to keep well. Indeed, it should be remarked, that the ripest grapes are always preferred for wine; and for this reason the leaves are often picked from the vines in order to expose the grapes more fully to the sun. Hence, also, a larger portion of the grapes that grow low down on the mountains, is made into wine, than of those that are cultivated near their summits. An acquaintance at Bhamdûn made some wine last year in the manner just described. It was of the same kind with that of his neighbor who dried his grapes, but its color was lighter, its taste harsher, and it had much less body. Sometimes, in the second process, the grapes are first sunned. In the third, also, the must is sometimes boiled a little with the stems and skins in it, so as to separate a part of the scum. It is thus made to partake of the taste of both the sweet and astringent wines, and is said to keep better than the latter. It will exbilarate as much as the astringent, but will not intoxicate so soon. I have not been able to learn that sour wines are made in any part of the country. According to statements I have received from the distillers at Beirût, the yellow astringent wines usually yield the most brandy; though some sweet wines are equal to them. The quantity depends upon the body, or what they call the thickness of the wine; and that depends a good deal upon the nature of the soil on which the grapes grow. Whether the wine is made by drying the grapes or boiling the must, is, they say, a matter of indifference. The same quantity of grapes, I am assured, made into wine in either of the three processes above described, will yield the same quantity of brandy. The best wines yield 33 per cent. of what is called good brandy. Whether it is equal to proof spirit, I do not know. I have no means of ascertaining how much wine is made in Syria, or in Mount Lebanon. It is not the most important, but rather the least so, of all the objects for which the vine is cultivated. The principal vinegrowing regions, are the more elevated parts of the mountains. The vineyards of Bhamdûn, which is nearly 4000 feet above the sea, cover an unbroken space, about two miles long by half a mile wide. The vines are trained on the ground. During the season of grapes which lasts about three months, they form the principal food of the inhabitants. Besides what is thus consumed, the village makes about 180,000 lbs. of raisins, one third of which is for home consumption, and about 24,000 lbs. of dibs, all of which is also for domestic use. The wine made is an item of no consideration; it amounts only to a few gallons. The grapes, when dried into raisins, yield about 30 per cent. their weight, and about 25 per cent. when made into dibs. The surplus raisins are carried to the city markets, where they are manufactured into a species of candy, call helaweh, which is much eaten by all classes; or steeped in water for a drink, which is much used, especially by the Mohammedans during Ramadân; or a small portion of them is distilled into brandy. In many places, the proportion of wine made, is greater than at Bhamdûn; and in a few it is the principal object for which the vine is cultivated. Wine in Syria is not an article of exportation. Small quantities pass through the custom-house annually, but they are chiefly shipped as presents to friends in other countries. An English house, some years ago, shipped six cases to London for trial. It lay there in the custom-house two years for want of a market, which it would not command because of its having too little body. When it was finally about to be sold by the government for the duties, the owners ordered it to be reshipped. They finally drank it at their own tables in Beirût, where it arrived in a good state of preservation. It was of the ordinary strength, and not brandied. Before leaving Beirût, it had only been filtered through paper on being bottled, and that chiefly to clarify its color. In 1835, I sent a bottle of unstrained, unbrandied Mt. Lebanon wine to a friend in the United States as a curiosity. It had then been in the cellar of the British consul here, more than a year, and in 1840 I found that my friend had some of it still on hand. It was in a good state of preservation, having no acetous taste whatever. I do not certainly know in what way either of these wines was made, but I believe it was in the third mentioned above. I cannot learn that there is any particular difficulty in preserving Mt. Lebanon wines that have been properly made, even in the warm climate of Beirût. An acquaintance has just told me, that he has now on hand wines that are six or seven years old, unfiltered and unbrandied, and they are still good. The price of good wine is about 3 cts. the pint. The process of filtering through paper, mentioned above, and indeed that of straining in any way, after the wine is first separated from the skins of the grapes, seems to be hardly practised at all by the natives. Only one individual has told me that they ever filter through paper. He said it was done by some connoisseurs, not to make the wine less exhilarating, but to remove the gross particles, which injure the stomach and brain. It exhilarates as much, but will not so soon make a man dead drunk. I have been told that the same result is sometimes obtained, by putting a few drops of olive oil in a bottle of wine. The habit of enforcing wines, by adding brandy, is here, so far as I have been able to learn, entirely unknown. I am always answered, "brandy is dearer than wine; how can it, therefore, be used for purposes of adulteration?" Equally unknown are drugged wines of any kind.—On the other hand, unintoxicating wines, I have not been able to hear of. All wines, they say, will intoxicate more or less. So in regard to fermentation, when inquiring if there exists any such thing as unfermented wine, I have uniformly been met with a stare of surprise. The very idea seems to be regarded as an absurdity. The name for wine in Arabic (, the same as the Hebrew, ) is derived from the word that means to ferment. It is cognate with the word for leaven, and itself signifies also fermentation. I have not been able to learn, even, that any process is ever adopted for arresting the vinous fermentation before it is completed. In regard to the wine used at the sacrament, I have questioned both papal and Greek priests, and received the same answer. It must, they say, be perfect, pure wine. If unfermented, it will not answer, nor will it if the acetous fermentation be commenced. The acknowledgment of |