The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1880-06-08 00:00:00

VEGETARIANISM IN LONDON.

Whenever philanthropic men, who are actuated
by the subliniest of motives, and with an earnest
desire to alleviate human and animal suffering,
combine together with this object, none but ill-disposed
men would venture 011 offering any opposition to such
.1 wholesome combination. There is far too much
misery awl distress in London, and in the land, just
now, a ~,,, ng the poorer classes, for public-spirited men
to tarn away their eyes from sights where help can
be al readily tendered at the expense only of lighten-
ing their pocketa. It is imperative on us all now and
a-ain to turn away from schemes which have for
their object only the pecuniary enrichment of certain
individuals. It would be invidious to enumerate some
of the many handsome things done by the great city
..f London, at a critical moment in the nation's
distress, or the succour which is needed in a distant
land, and so readily sent. We can afford to forget the
little eliosyncracies of a few, provided the multitude
at large and of every clime are not wholly left out of
reckoning. We are disposed to look with indulgence
on the city companies' high feeding, and their
bacchanalian feasts, and extend charitable brotherly
feelings towards those men who do noble service when
suffenng makes a call upon their Christian and
humanitarian feelings. It is such sentiments as
these that impel Inc to look somewhat kindly
upon the efforts of the veFetarians to bring about
refonu in the fowl of mankind. English people as a
rule are euel of talking, having every day learned
this lessen from our cousins the Americans, with whom
many a vegetarian will agree on account of the
novelties which the former are able to introduce on
our dinner plate, and from whom the latter have
derive', such isluable lessons. We, like them, have
probably been guilty of many a hussar linguw. We,
like them, have become bombastic. But so long as
Brother Jonathan will take care to breed the
animal, and semi him across the water, so long will
John Bull be taken by the horns, led to the slaughter-
house, receive a crack on the head (like many of his
teobeded keepers), and gracefully shall his cut-up
joints do '<nice to or little stumps of ivory, notwith-
standing all the vegetarians can say to the contrary
that man is fnigivoroue ; and turn round and tell their
maker that their teeth originally were destined for the
mastication of fruit. I should like to meet the 13111 n
who played such a dastardly trick upon my ancestors
and robbed them of their tails. Perhaps Mr. Darwin
will explain. The last few days have been so hot in
London that I, fir one, should like to go back to my
ongina/ state, climb up trees, and devour fruit such as
we used te dn. Sc trouble to cook, never more be
Inhered aith servants, no looking after one's wearing
Ware). nothing to wear, in short, but your own skin,
to eteose to the rays of the sun, and four legs to
'ulloet your apish carcase. Alas, non SWIM grans
tess am not what I once was). But *new" it sc.
mimeos, (let us return to the subject).
The working man in London is be(ng, and has been
for some time, very much patronised. Men of all
shades of opinion and religious thought are seeking his
society, they consider him an important member of the
commonwealth, and who does not? Do we not need
to be rerairaded of the song—" England oft bath led
the yen, but never without the workingman." Lords and
evitlemen in high and lowly places have sought after
him (sometimes, but not frequently, by the latter in
lAM-houses and low taverna, underground cellars,
end iery lofty and seedy attics in the Seven Dials,
Where (anger beer bottles holding tallow candles are
t echief ornaments, the publican having acquired the
best interest In the poor man's earnings). But there
are two claws ((f working men as there are two climes
of most emellent people trying to do this nation
geod by removal of the drunken scenes in this flesh.
'sting land, which are a reproach to a Christian
eqeler. and afford such ample arguments to the
"extearian and temperate Hindoo against us. I
'wan. .1 nurse, the out-and-out teetotaler and
the moderate drinkers, who abhor drunkenness quite as
I,Tewh as any hot-headed and uncharitable teetotaler,
all are glen to, nriutis owe- (the love of virtue)
hut allow ourselves to be overcome. The working
inn has become demecratic, too much so to suit the
eb,r4, :inployers of labour and the upper and middle
war : and the consequence is that thew delightful
izle ars foaming at the mouth to make him Conn',
mucic e. Capital wants to have it all her own way ;too
of the republican element would be too
ean.(srous
the solidity of her pedestal. So the lords
,(;riation possemeed of fine feelings, we may say,
coal, seed together in order to support the open-
.- "f rife,. palaces; in various districts, to be •
unteraction to the publichouse influence on the
,miew,(ses at large It would also have the effect of
nian from many a dirty home, though I
prsfsr the home to receive a brush from the
(l wand and a little of his money saved from drink and
he coffee palace, to be lavished upon a w I domestic
aii,i4iehlesdifi(ir,6linisid. own fireside instead of heel ping to pay
to those who would wish for his
l'atr"ba4e- lie's a good sort of fellow, this working
e`en't England, although rouse his blood if he
'cc, meet sickly charityyouatioat and
anli""" t h• • people over-
hr:.n him into their net The wee-kin
_' rod (n is well looked after intellectually. He
"college in Great Ormond-street ; and you require
* 'lcing
nervous organism to stand and read a
ivnoesis of the lectures to be given when Professor
'Phdid4l4ll.. Huxley. FEB., and Professing. John
names appear on the list. Our brains
.ftemielectu_ we read that" microscopic fungus"
re and molecular atoms " another. SO
see Ucentallvox , he need not be lost at any rate.
might ahrimt have imagined written on the
All hope abandon ye who enter here."
• em would lnstituti "UM on earth
ons th oppose such great
Pee , where, on the one hand you have
iinTl7l:4'lie.ref refreshment houses, and on the other,
„I 'e'en,* and Meologioal academies for the
ella sad religious subjeota
zo(-sone the Institution of the coffee-house movement
rlarimbue had in London ums or four
Parw,,,..i_reeleweesstsi, namely, 'The food of health,"
,nweeld (the most commodious of them all);
429, Oxford-street ; "The Garden," Us
Alderegate-street "Reform' 228,
roads in connection with the Food Reform
five 'bet, loud of health" restaurant was opened some
4g. by Mums. Franks and Co., the
er-loTnt4"._ si Great Tower-street, London, tea mer-
'ander tine e e able
11,
of Mr. J.
;Amnia a
. It is buffrll Ile four storeys high, 45 feet
, Yew enter you will be Ansa with the
"' svervthing you touch. Its mirrors all
Pictures homely 4Boatload and
rePrellefebefq twreerh4l:lll222Bolllras

tend to enliven the interior. The spoons and forks are
so bright that they daezle your eye like a golla, The
tables always free from the slightest incongruity (no
mustard-stained cloths nor heaps of fat upon plates,
such as one meek With in a restaurant of flesh-con-
sumers). No insolent waitresses hanging about before
you have forced down the first mouthful, making a
study of your facial delineation in order to ascertain if
you are thinking about what you shall give them, and
cogitating as they look at your boots, whether your
mother or your slater had cleaned them, or whether
you had pulled the small shoeblack's tar and compelled
him to do them for • halfpenny. The girls are rather
too fond of courting, and %ore are not wanting young
men profuse in offers to escort them hotne, and bunches
of flowers come to them so often as to lead one to think
that they are not purchased out of the slender purses
of the waitresses. No intoxicating liquors are sold.
You can obtain as much milk, tea, coffee, chocolate,
ginger beer, lemonade, soda water, ginger ale,
pots« water, and seltzer, as ever you please to pay for.
Butthe charges are too high, the pleas too
grand, for a workman to care to enter. You could
pay one shilling for • meal, and secure about as much
of spasms as would last you for a few hours. After-
wards there comes the sinking, about which so many
persons complain, and which is obviated by • meat
diet. When a working ULU leaves his shop for dinner
he imagines that he requires something more than
slops and vegetable swill, and he has to be careful of
his superfluous cash if he have many children and a
wife ready to lay out, to the best advantage, what he
Is so good to give her.
No, we want reform. It is not always pleasant to
have this according to some people's ideas. A small
boy accosted me the other day, and gave me a hand-
bill with " reform " on it from an undertaker offering
to perform the last rites "on a cheap and improved
system." That boy's seal overcame his discretion.
It is all very well to look to the monetary sower of
an undertaking, and to cater to • young and rising
generation; but unless the vegetarians can awake to
their opportunity and put their genius to some
sensible use, it mu«, as • reform, be heard of and die,
for their ma", ofaresedi is at present calculated to
bring them into contains. The sons of toil cannot
sit down everlastingly
to sipping " stirabout " (oatmeal
porridge), and, fin out how live on sixpence •
day, come to the co usion that it is useless attempt.
lug to get the food of • certain claw of enthusiasts
which is attended with such trouble.
Even clerks in these days, with a limited sum at
their disposal, cannot pay the prime charged even if
they could get their fill, and it certainly is a fact that
man/malwork-people are better requited for their
sery and yet they hesitate "to rush in when
angels,' &a.
It ia a good sign of the times when young men are
seen frequenting public refreshment places where
alcoholic drinks are absent. It speaks well for the
future. It is a grand sight to see clean well-conducted
maidens lightly tripping along to serve • young and
good looking youth with haricot beans, and lentil
patties, and hot steaming soups, and (who knows, Mr.
Editor?) everybody is marrying and giving in marriage,
the girls may succeed in bettering their condition, for
doubtless they are looking after the main chap«.
No doubt the extension of (not vegetarian
restaurants in particular) refreshment houaes without
the sale of strong drink will draw away many foolish
young fops from the front of the gin-drinking bars of
London, where, nightly, you may see them " putting
In their mouths an enemy to steal away their brains"
In order that they may, with sensual delight, behold
the face of, and talk to, the latent country arrival.
I could once have said "solo iseit vako" (I am
willing but unable) to become • vegetarian, but their
arguments only strengthen me in my resolve not to
leave the "flesh Pate of Egypt." We are all more or
leas vegetarian&
MyMaker has provided me with
a certain food calculated to build up my framework,
and until I can procure • nicer dish 1 shall remain ea
I am. He was • heartless soul who turned up his
most sensitive organ at, and kicked away with an oath,
the leg of a turkey, and closed his ears to the sound of
"Lamb and mince sauce."

My present purpose is to write about • soiree, held on
the 96th instant at the " Food of health." Farringdon-road,
under the auspices of the "Food Reform Society." The
chairman was Mr. F. P. Donning, and the speakers
Professor Meyer, J. Burns, Esq., and .1. Homfny, Req..
Birmingham. The programme contained five ;tongs, the
first " Little Jack homer,"
n sung in • inset ludicrous
manner, words actually being nursery rhymes which
our good nurse drove into our infantile ears, until she
almost succeeded in deafening us, and we had many and
many • tame to try our little lungs against her unruly
tongue, next was '' The Franklyn 's dog.' by the Messrs.
Galena, than—

GRACE BEFORE KRA.S.
" These fruits, do thou, 0 Bather, bless,
Which mother earth tons cloth give.
No blood bath stained our feast to-day,
In Thee we trust, sad peaceful live."

_
Which I need hardly say would have choked me if I,
hypocritically, b-ad attempted W sing it, and then when
the supper was over we had—

GRACE •FTER ZAT.
"We thank Thee. Lord, for thus thy fruits
Which mother earth to WI doth give ;
No blood bath stained our feast to-day,
In Thee we trust and peaceful live
The following was the wee served up—soups, Chesterfield,
Britaniere ; savouriee, haricot beans, rissoles, Farringdon
, hash lentil, omelet, milk puddings and pastry, carrot tart,
blanc mange ; fruit and sundries, stewed rhubarb, stewed
gooseberry ; cheese, salad.
The Chairman at the commencement said that some
of the guests present had probably come out of curiosity,
some were vegetarians and some were not, and probably
you could not tell the flesh-eater from the vegetarian.
They might look worse and possibly not much better. A
few years ago vegetarianism was • curiosity, but to-day it
was making wonderful progress on all 'ldea
From some cause or another • song entitled "The
forage for me was not sung, owing, I suppose, to the fact
that one of the singers was a meat-eater. It was an
exaltation of farinaceous over the animal. The Chairman
read the lines in • half-hearted way, for which I wan very
thankful ; soy feet became uneasy, there was a movement
of all my toes, and from them to my back, and the top of
my head as though my blood was having • quarrel with
the people u rs, and thence to the bottom,
tom, the nerves
certainly no acting harmoniously together. Just fancy
their singing—

" Away with your beef and your mutton,
Aratint with your capers and sauce."

And here, let the old ladies weep and begin to believe that
John Chinaman's (like Othello's) occupation is gone.
"To the dogs with your tea and your coffee, &c., èc., Am."
It seems almost an inomsgraity that the proprietors can be
led to open their plane for the entertainment of vegetarian
enthusiasts, and summon to their aid as speakers such
gentlemen as came to this soiree, with the avowed objects
of denouncing those things which the medical profession
at large (except quacks) have pronounced. in their place,
valuable in repairing bone, and preventing waste of tissue.
I have already told you that the proprietors are tea
merchant& .

—icofees7r Meyer then delivered a long exordium on his
school life at Christ's Hospital, London. his Indian
experience, his antagonism to animal flesh, his long
abstinence from alcohol, and, particularly, the unheroic
way in which he had deprived himself for some days of
solid food, whilst punishing himself by going through 500
pages of printed matter, in various languages, the
numerous books which he had on his mind, tending to
somewhat impair his health, which his friends ascribed to
his vegetarian regimen, but which, he said, they had for-
gotten the cause, his long abstinence from food,
_merely
living upon water for days. He denounced the Mangos
House Caner' on the ground of expense, described his
abhorrence of tobacco, on the recollection of early youthful
sickness from the smoking of a cigar, which he was
Induced to purchase at the instigation of a Christ Church
boy, and which had laded him all his life
He described his experience of a storm at ries
when NO cattle on deck had teo be thrown overboard, and
the dreadful calamity which ensued : how the poor beasts
In the water as their fellows were being torn
str
picssuggled
by the sharks, and how, in consequence, the sea
became blood. Such • sight as that would have made me
sick ; but it would not have deterred me as a landsman
from putting my teeth through • mutton chop as soon as
I needed It, any more then • boiled slug would have
frightened • vegetarian from looking on his greens next
time _ . .

NIL Borns spoke as • vegetarian.
Mr. Homfral, of Birmingham, somewhat startled his
auditory by stating that he dined off 3d., and seemed to
hold out the theory that unless we adopted a cheaper
diet, pup dread fetellty would come to us through
foreign competition. He was 00 years of age, and had
practised teetotalism four years I should like to know
how to live on 3d for a mid-day niaal. I shall probably find
out some day. It was the first and last vegetarian soiree I
shall over attend. I am convinced so far as Baldish
farmers are concerned, the used not begin to put their
house in order, for the ysgetantan invasion is in embryo,
and the day long distant before we shall adopt the violent
and radical change in this matter of diet My wife, who
is a Weymouthiati, will not Listen lo the idea of beginning
the reformation in her borne (If reform is the proper
word). The young man present amused themselves by
practical Joking. The speeches were received with much
Jeering.
In response to the 0 mil man's application for donations
to carry on the work of the " Food Reform Society " an
envelope containing part of • radish was the only reply.
The meeting then broke up amid unfavourable remarks.