Page:Through a Glass Lightly (1897, Greg).djvu/45

 brewed Octoberand not much less than Burton’s Bitter, or Dublin’s Stout. And the chief factor in his adoption, his territorial sponsor, has been the wine merchant, of whom he has ever been the plaything and the wordy sport.

Mark this, and how thin the line that divides literature and commerce! And log-rolling is seen to be essential and evident in the profession of vintner as in the trade of author. In truth, his importance in the world of wines is as much due to the puff adulatory as are the stories of Mr, or the poems of Mr , in the world of letters. For look you how this wine has been puffed and extolled! On him has been expended that wealth of superlative patter, for him has been invented that special jargon of