The bases of the temperance reform: an exposition and appeal./ With replies to numerous objections. By Rev. Dawson Burns.

128 Scripptulre crzd tlie Tcicraiece 2luestiolt.
OBJECTIONS.
iMany objections have been disposed of in the course
of this discussion, but there are several which'may be
separately reviewed before this chapter concludes.
I. It is said "l tat by isi/ig wz'e iit the ordi;za;zce of lthe
Lor(t's Sii~per, the Savz'our ave it a sjeciza honor znconszisleizl wilh the character ascribed lto zi by the advocates of lotal
abstinence." Several points of consequence are overlooked by persons who raise this objection
(i.) That thfe zvord ",zvoe " does nzot once occzur in the Nezew
Tesltazent in referczce to the inslilittoiz and celebralion of the
Lord's Siizfier. The phrase used by the Saviour is "the
fruit of the vine," and the apostle Paul simply speaks of
"the cup." Those, therefore, who assume, contrary to
.evidence, that the Greek word oigos always meant the intoxicating juice of the grape, gain nothing by the assumption, unless they also show that "the fruit of the vine " is
also of necessity an inebriating fluid. Who, however,
can pretend to advocate a proposition so utterly ridiculous? WNho does not know that the "fruit of the vine,"
as it exists in its natural state, is not and never can be
of an intoxicating quality; and that, when'the expressed
juice becomes so by passing through the fermenting
process, it so far ceases to be the fruit of the vine and
vital growth, and becomes the fruit of the vat? The
wine of commerce can only claim to be considered the
fruit of the vine to the extent that it is physically identical with the substance which the vine produces, and this
identity can never be so complete as when the expressed
juice of the grape is preserved and presented, in the sacramnental service, chemically the same as it exists within
the uncrushed cluster. Besides, it is notorious that,
beyond the change in the grape-juice effected by fermentation, the adulterations of various liquors are so ingenious that the ablest connoisseurs cannot tell fabricated
from genuine wines; and are so extensive that very