filberts, pistachio nuts, pine kernels, sugar, rose water, and flour; marmalades, pomegranetes, oranges, citrons, apples, pears, raisins, dates, nuts, grapes, &c.; nor was any expense spared in procuring these foreign or home-reared dainties.

The first regular confectioner who settled in London was in 1600-Seignor Baltassir Sanchez, a Spaniard, who soon got rich and retired, and whose grateful and benevolent heart induced him to found Tottenham Cross school and alms-houses; so he not only professed the sweets of life, but enjoyed them too, and did what he could to allow a small portion of others who came after him to do the same.

"May his quiet soul sleep through a quiet sleep."

Sir Samuel Morland, who was master mechanic to Charles II., had a portable cooking establishment fitted up in his carriage in 1675.

CARVING.

IN former times there was an officer to carve the meat in all noble houses: he was an esquire in degree.

In Scotland Sir William Anstruther, Bart., is hereditary carver, having the right of standing at a side-table to cut up the meat.

The following extract is taken from the accomplished Lady Rich's "Closet of Rarities," 1653: "Instructions to British ladies when at table.-A gentlewoman, being at table, abroad or at home, must observe to keep her body straight, and lean not by any means on her elbows, nor by ravenous gesture disclose a voracious appetite. Talke not when you have meate in your mouthe, and do not smacke like a pig, nor eat spoone-meate so hot that the tears stand in your eyes. It is very uncourtly to drink so large a draughte that your breath is almost gone, and you are forced to blow strongly to recover yourself; throwing down your liquor as into a funnel, is an action fitter for a juggler than a gentlewoman. In carving at your own table, distribute the best pieces first; it will appear very decent and comely to use a forke; so touch no piece of meate without it."

In the reign of Charles this accomplished art was taught at schools. Montaigne regretted he "could not handsomely fold up a letter, make a pen, saddle a horse, nor carve at table worth a pin." The polished Chesterfield recommends the knowledge of carving to his son.

* Stubbs.

Many people are not aware of the use of knowing well the art of carving: by carving properly, there may be found seven different flavours in a large shoulder of mutton.

How gratifying must it be, when one has a small party of kind friends, to be able to reciprocate their kindness, by helping each one to those parts his or her palate most approves of; when that can be done, as it always may be, if the person has the competent knowledge, and which is so easy to be acquired, the best books on the art of cookery having cuts to teach it. It gives the host many happy opportunities, by passing the compliment to each guest by asking the part he would like to partake of; to show some dexterity, and his or her good breeding in a very polite art; and also of his or her assiduous attention to oblige, which marks the well-bred lady or gentleman, and is so easy a way of showing off his attention in these oftenoccurring periods of civilized life.

This civility costs nothing, the joint of meat, or game, or poultry, or dish of fish having been provided and cooked; the remaining part is only a little knowledge, which, by requisite attention, daily experience thrice repeated soon furnishes.

How much more pleasant is it to reflect that you have gratified your friend's taste and palled his appetite with those parts he has most relished, instead of helping him to what he did not so well approve of, and those parts he would have relished with a higher gouté, given to the dogs or the cats!

But mark, reader, another point; if you happen to know this very necessary and pleasing art, it shows at once your good breeding and station in society: you will find it also gives great hilarity to the passing scene. But if you do not know it previously, it cannot, at the time when most wanted, be taught you; because your guest, seeing this deficiency, dare not ask for that he might desire, out of tenderness to you, he being aware it would expose your want of this necessary and everpleasing accomplishment; which, as it adds to others' pleasure, like all other freely compounded, freely given, kind and warmhearted off-handed civilities, adds largely to your own, and adds a double relish to the kind repast. These are acts of kindness

That syllable men's names

On sands, and shores, and desert wildernesses." MILTON.

The following excellent song was given to me many years past by a female cook of an old English family. The author she did not know. It was, I have no doubt, written in "the olden time."

LINES ON DRESSING A SALAD.

"The herbal savour gave his sense delight."-QUARLES.

"Two large potatoes, passed through kitchen sieve,
Smoothness and softness to the salad give;
Of mordant mustard add a single spoon,
Distrust the condiment that bites too soon;
But deem it not, thou man of herb, a fault,
To add a double quantity of salt.*

Four times the spoon with oil of Lucca crown,
And twice with vinegar procured from town-
True flavour'd mends it; and your poet begs
The pounded yellow of two boiled eggs.

Let onions' atoms lurk within the bowl,
And, scarce suspected, animate the whole;
And lastly, in the flavour'd compound toss
A magic spoonful of anchovy sauce.

Oh, great and glorious! oh, herbaceous treat!
'Twould tempt the dying anchorite to eat;
Back to the world he'd turn his weary soul,
And plunge his fingers in the salad bowl."

To dry apples like Norfolk biffins.-Take small apples-the true biffins, or orange or lemon pippins, are the best-choose the clearest rinds and without blemishes, lay them on clean straw on a baking wire, cover them with more straw, set them into a slow oven, let them remain for four or five hours; draw them out and rub them in your hands, and press them gently, otherwise you will burst the skins; return them into the oven for about one hour, and press them again when cold; if they look dry, rub them over with a little clarified sugar; by being put into the oven four or five times, and pressed properly every time, they will resemble Norfolk biffins, and keep for a considerable time.

To bake pears.-Take twelve large baking pears, pare and cut them into halves, take out the core with the point of a knife, and place them close together in a block tin saucepan, the cover to fit tight; put to them the rind of a lemon cut fine, with half its juice, a small stick of cinnamon, and twenty grains of alspice, cover them with spring water, and allow one pound of loaf sugar to a pint of water; cover them up close, and bake them for six hours in a very slow oven; they will be quite tender, and of a bright colour, Prepared cochineal is generally used for colouring them; but, if the above is strictly attended to, no preparation is required.

The Italians say, "In a salad well salted, put little vinegar, much oil."

131

DRINKING AND RECIPES.

"While the Englishmen (he said) drank only ale, they were strong, brawny, able men, and could draw an arrow an ell long, (forty-five inches;) but when they fell to wine and beer, they are found to be much impaired in their strength and age; so the ale bore away the bell among the doctors."-HOWELL.

AT page 76 I alluded to English hospitality; here will be a proper place to give an instance, and in that instance show what it really was. In the year 1136 the Bishop of Winchester founded an hospital, called Holy Cross, near that city, for thirteen poor men who could not maintain themselves: their daily allowance was three and a quarter pounds of bread, and a gallon and a half of beer; in addition to this, they had a flesh or fish dinner, as the calendar allowed, and a pittance or dessert; also a dish of some sort of animal food for supper: they had also a mortrel, a sort of egg flip, made with milk and wastel-bread, or dainty cake, to help them through their beer. This was for those poor men who could not maintain themselves: it is, therefore, right to presume these men were all of them past the meridian of life, except they might be maimed or otherwise bodily afflicted; and, being founded by a bishop, and for charitable purposes, it may be supposed he would not allow them too much, because he could have added to their number, and that would have been more kind than afflicting each with the daily task of eating and drinking too much. It may, therefore, be taken as what in those days was considered a temperate allowance for men who did not labour: this allowance for these thirteen poor men, I have no doubt, is much more than the average of any twenty hard working men at this time, even if in constant employ.

*

He also provided a noble hall in the same establishment,

* The English have always been famous for good cheer. Hollingshed notices the comments of the Spaniards in Queen Mary's time, when they saw "what large diet was used in their homelie cottages," and repeats what one of the Spaniards said: "Although these English have their houses of sticks and dirt, yet they fare commonlie as well as a king."

That the style of living did not disagree, may be inferred from the following instances, which include both rich and poor, and are the oldest on record of any period.

Thomas Parre, of Shropshire, died November 8th, 1635, aged 152.
Henry Jenkins, of Yorkshire, died December 8th, 1670, aged 169.
James Shands, of Staffordshire, died 1670, aged 140.

The Countess of Desmond, aged 140, and the Countess of Eccleston, aged 143, both in Ireland, died about 1691.

From Sir John Sinclair's work on "Health and Longevity," the only routine of life which the aged have pursued, and in which the majority agree, is in early rising.

called the Hundred Men's Hall, in which one hundred more poor men of the city might go and dine daily gratis: their fare was a loaf of bread and three quarts of beer; and what they could not eat, they could take away with them.

This establishment is not quite perverted, but is much abridged; and in whatever way the funds may be now applied, it is as Dr. Milner says, "the only vestige left of old English hospitality."

In this hospital there is still an old leather jack, in which the beer has been drawn for many centuries.

The general drink was ale; but, nevertheless, they had wine of their own produce, for in " The Museum Rusticum we are informed that the country round Arundel, in Sussex, was covered with vineyards. In 1763 there were sixty pipes of wine in the cellars of that beautiful castle, made from the produce of that district, which resembled Burgundy."

There are hundreds of places in England named after the vine, such as Vineyard-fields, Vineyard-lanes, &c. The writer has drank, within the last twenty years, in the county of Kent, wine from the grape-vine grown round a paper-mill.

He also once drank some strong and pleasant wine made from the wild hedge fruit, sweetened with the honey from a cottage garden in Warwickshire. And there is a very potent wine for very cold weather, commonly made of the elderberries.

Birch wine is made from the trees at Belper, in Derbyshire, in a similar manner as it may be made from the sap of the maple. Hollingshed mentions "that they drank in his time fifty-six sorts of French wines, and thirty-six sorts of Spanish and Italian, and mostly drank it spiced.”

Sack was eight pence a quart in Shakspeare's time.

I find the English people scarcely drank anything nett; there was often some sort of mixture; even wine was mixed, as the following couplet will exemplify:

"To allay the hardness of the wine,

Let with old Bacchus new metheglin join." DRYDEN.

Metheglin or mead was much drank: Wales was celebrated for it. Queen Elizabeth had a quantity made there, expressly for her own drinking.

In Scotland the Scots did not sweeten the wine like the English, but with comfits, like the French. They drank more than the English, and preferred malmsey. They also drank much ale.

The following is an extract from a letter from the Earl of Shrewsbury, dated 1569, to the Marquis of Winchester, about wine-drinking while he had the custody of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots: