Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/230

 In 1666, the justices of Lower Norfolk County rented the tract of land on which the court-house was situated, on condition that the lessee, in part consideration for the use of the houses and orchards each year, would pay ten gallons of ale brewed from English grain.

The members of the Council appear to have been fastidious in their tastes. It was one of the duties of the Auditor-General to have a large quantity of wine always ready at hand for this body; thus on one occasion, William Byrd, who filled the office in the latter part of the century, ordered for their use, twenty dozen of claret and six dozen of canary, sherry, and Rhenish respectively. A quarter of a cask of brandy was also to be added.

This unrestrained indulgence in liquor, which previous to 1624 had excited the criticism of the Company, called down on the Colony on several occasions the animadversion of the Royal Government after it had taken charge of affairs in Virginia. In 1625, Governor Yeardley was instructed to suppress drunkenness by severe punishments, and to dispose of the spirits brought into the Colony in