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38
OMNIANA.

able indecorum of this nectar of Valhalla.

Nescio quod Stygiæ monstrum conforme paludi
Cervisiam plerique vocant; nil spissius illa
Dum bibitur, nil clarius est dum mingitur, unde
Constat quod multas fæces in ventre relinquit.

The first requisite of savage luxury is fermented liquor; refining it is the process of a more advanced stage. The Polynesians, like the Tupi tribes, drink their kava as thick as porridge. But Henry must have kept low company, if he never saw better ale than what he abuses, for the art of refining it was known at a much earlier age among the Northern nations. Mr. Turner, in his invaluable history of the Anglo-Saxons, quotes a grant of Offa, in which clear ale is mentioned, and distinguished from mild ale and Welch ale. In the laws of Hywel Dda, two liquors are mentioned;.. Bragawd, of which, tribute was to be paid by a free township, (Villa libera) and Cwrwf, which