Beer, too, was specially
brewed to honor the feast. Rev. Mr. Thatcher, of Boston, wrote in his diary
on the twentieth of May, 1681, "This daye the Ordination Beare was brewed."
Portable bars were sometimes established at the church-door, and strong
drinks were distributed free of charge to the entire assemblage. As late
as 1825, at the installation of Dr. Leonard Bacon over the First
Congregational Church in New Haven, free drinks were furnished at an
adjacent bar to all who chose to order them, and were "settled for" by the
generous and hospitable society. In considering the extravagant amount of
moneys often recorded as having been paid out for liquor at ordinations,
one must not fail to remember that the seemingly large sums were often
spent in Revolutionary times during the great depreciation of Continental
money. Six hundred and sixty-six dollars were disbursed for the
entertainment of the council at the ordination of Mr. Kilbourn, of
Chesterfield; but the items were really few and the total amount of liquor
was not great,--thirty-eight mugs of flip at twelve dollars per mug; eleven
gills of rum bitters at six dollars per gill, and two mugs of sling at
twenty-four dollars per mug. The church in one town sent the Continental
money in payment for the drinks of the church-council in a wheelbarrow to
the tavern-keeper, and he was not very well paid either.
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