"Gin Lane.

Gin, cursed fiend, with fury fraught,

Makes human race a prey; It enters by a deadly drought,

And steals our life away. Virtue and Truth, driven to despair,

Its rage compels to fly; But cherishes, with hellish care,

Theft, murder, perjury. Damned cup, that on the vitals preys,

That liquid fire contains; Which madness to the heart conveys,

And rolls it through the veins."

Hogarth tells us that in Gin Lane every circumstance of the horrid effects of gin drinking is brought to view in terrorem. Idleness, poverty, misery, and distress, which drives even to madness and death, are the only objects that are to be seen; and not a house in tolerable condition but the pawnbrokers and gin shop. The same moral is taught by Cruikshank, but not before his conversion to teetotalism.

Schiedam is the metropolis of gin, and its numerous distilleries are omnivorous, taking with equal relish cargoes of rye and buckwheat from Russia, and damaged rice or any cereal from other countries, and sometimes also potato spirit from Hamburg.

The distillery of De Kuypers is probably that of the greatest note, and that firm's black square bottles, packed in cases filled with hemp husks, are known all over the world. In Africa "square face" is king, but he frequently holds some counterfeit liquor, even sometimes the vilest of Cape Smoke.

Schiedam is the Mecca of the Dutchman, the birthplace of his beloved Schnapps. This drink is always acceptable, and fifty good reasons exist for drinking it.

The chief varieties of the aromatised popular spirit called gin are now known as Geneva, Hollands, and Schiedam. It is current in some parts of Africa as a species of coin.

Since, however, every distiller varies his materials and their proportions, the species of this beverage are practically unlimited. Generally, however, the distinction is clear between Hollands or Dutch and English gin. The former is commonly purer than the highly flavoured and too frequently adulterated British product.

The matters employed in the adulteration are very many. Corianders, crushed almond cake, angelica root powdered, liquorice, cardamoms, cassia, cinnamon, grains of paradise, and cayenne pepper, and many more substances take the place of the berries of the juniper tree. As these substances frequently produce a cloudy appearance, the liquid is subsequently refined by other adulterants, such as alum, sulphate of zinc, and acetate of lead.

The variety of gin dear to ancient beldams, which is known as Cordial, is more highly sweetened and aromatized than the ordinary quality.

The alcoholic strength of gin as commonly sold ranges from 22 to 48 degrees. The amount of sugar varies between 2 and 9 per cent.

Gin is a beneficial diuretic, but the compounds sold under that name are too often detrimental in their effects.

A popular drink called gin-sling takes its name from John Collins, formerly a celebrated waiter in Limmer's old house. The old lines on this drink ran as follows:

"My name is John Collins, head waiter at Limmer's, Corner of Conduit Street, Hanover Square. My chief occupation is filling of brimmers

For all the young gentlemen frequenters there."

The poetry is very far from bad, and so was the liquor. It was a composition of gin, soda water, lemon, and sugar. John was abbreviated to gin and Collins to sling.

Gin has had many popular names, but why gin should be called Old Tom by the publicans and lower orders of London has sometimes puzzled those who are inquisitive enough to consider the subject etymo-logically. The answer may, perhaps, be found in a curious book, called "The Life and Uncommon Adventures of Captain Dudley Bradstreet, Dublin, 1755." Captain Dudley, a government spy of the Count Fathom species, after declaring that the selling of Geneva in a less quantity than two gallons had been prohibited, says: "Most of the gaols were full, on account of this Act, and it occurred to me to venture upon the trade. I got an acquaintance to rent a house in Blue Anchor Alley, in St. Luke's parish, who privately conveyed his bargain to me: I then got it well secured, and laid out in a bed and other furniture five pounds, in provision and drink that would keep, about two pounds, and purchased in Moorfields the sign of a cat and had it nailed to a street window. I then caused a leaden pipe, the small end out about an inch, to be placed under the paw of the cat, the end that was within had a funnel to it.

"When my house was ready for business I inquired what distiller in London was most famous for good gin, and was assured by several that it was Mr. L------dale, in Holborn.1 To him I went, and laid out thirteen pounds. . . . The cargo was sent to my house, at the back of which there was a way to go in or out. When the liquor was properly disposed, I got a person to inform a few of the mob that gin would be sold by the cat at my window next day, provided they put the money in his mouth, from whence there was a hole which conveyed it to me." This, by the way, is a rare anticipation of our automatic sweetstuff, scent, and other machines. To continue: "At night I took possession of my den, and got up early next morning to be ready for custom. It was over three hours before anybody called, which made me almost despair of the project; at last I heard the chink of money and a comfortable voice say, 'puss, give me two pennyworth of gin !' I instantly put my mouth to the tube and bid them receive it from the pipe under her paw " - the cat seems to have changed its sex in this short interval of time -" and then measured and poured it into the funnel, from whence they soon received it. Before night I took six shillings, the next day about thirty shillings, and afterwards three or four pounds a day. From all parts of London people used to resort to me in such numbers that my neighbours could scarcely get in and out of their houses. After this manner I went on for a month, in which time I cleared upwards of two-and-twenty pounds.

1 Whose premises were burnt down during the Lord George Gordon riots. Dickens immortalized Langdale in Barnaby Rudge, The distillery is still in existence at the same place.

So far Captain Bradstreet, "but," says the Editor of Notes & Queries, "the ghost of 'old Tom Hodges' will probably enter a protest against Captain Brad-street's cat."

Another popular name for gin was used when Corinthian Tom and Jerry Hawthorn visited Bob Logic in the Fleet. Bob says, "Let us spend the day comfortably, and in the evening I will introduce you both to my friend the haberdasher. He is a good whistler,1 and his shop always abounds with some prime articles that you will like to look at. . . ."A glass or two of wine made them as gay as larks, and a hint from Jerry to Logic about the whistler brought them into the shop of the latter in a twinkling.

Hawthorne, with great surprise, said, "Where are we? This is no haberdasher s. It's a-------"

"No nosing, Jerry," replied Logic, with a grin; " you're wrong, the man is a dealer in tape."

1 A whistling shop was a sly grog-shop. No spirits were allowed in the Fleet prison, but of course they were introduced, and could be got at some places. The method of telling who could be trusted, was for the customers to whistle - hence the term.