If Sir Wilfrid Lawson, and his fervent followers, would accomplish a substantial reform in the drinking habits of the United Kingdom, let them turn their zeal to the villanous compounds which audaciously counterfeit Scotch whiskey. Such spirits as are issued from this ancient Oban Distillery conduce to ‘good spirits.’ The influence of honest Scotch whiskey tends to joviality and generosity, instead of violence and murder; to good temper and amity instead of violence and blows. Bacchus by the ancients was regarded as the god of harmony and reconciliation. There are many poisonous pretenders to Scotch whiskey; and it is when fusel-oil masquerades as pure spirit that the evil comes. The licensed victualler who dispenses such abominable stuff ought to be treated as one of the criminal classes. It is liquid lunacy, fluid ferocity, distilled damnation, akin to that compound which Cassio drank in Cyprus, of which ‘Every cup is unbless’d, and the ingredient is a devil.’ Much of the drunkenness which disgraces our civilisation is due to ‘doctored’ drink. Alfred Tennyson was incensed by this reign of adulteration when he wrote those impassioned lines in his poem _Maud_:-- ‘And the vitriol madness flushes up in the ruffian’s brain, Till the filthy by-lane rings to the yell of the trampled wife, And chalk and alum and plaster are sold to the poor for bread, And the spirit of murder works in the very means of life.’