The National Register.
London, England, 1819-02-21 00:00:00

TIIE PLAGUE.

Sir J. Jackson's Motion for a C9mmittee, to enquire whether
the Plague he Communicable by Contagion, being one likely
to excite much public inte ra, we have referred to a variety
of publications, written re. pee' ing that dreadful visitation of
Providence ; and we find that it is by no means a novel
opinion, that the malady is not a contagfons one ; at leant in
the sense we have hithei to entertained of that werd, connected
with this disorder," In an Historical Account of the sc.
vital Plagues that have appea:ed in the World since the sear
IS till,"iby Dale Ingram, Surgeon, printed in 1735, the Author
(1) very ably combats the prevailing opinion of ilr being e.
disorder capable Of being transported, iu usercbandise,froni
one country to another ; and argues, we think successfully,
tliat the malady is wholly attributable to the distemperature
of the armosplicre, chewing that the materials whichere sup-
liosed capable of retaining and communicating the Plague,
exist all the year in those countries that are liable to its visi-
tations, although the disorder itself never appears bnt at cer-
tain seasqns, and is sure to ci:ase when the cold winds set in,
and purify the air. In abort, hits chapter on gnarantines is
replete with information, and exhibits very enlarged views
on a subject,whieli, from its fearful consequences to mankind,
mist nece,sarily be encumbered with deep-routed popular
prejudices.

(1) It is sail, that Mr. Ingrain was at Smyrna in 1733, when the
Plague rage 1 r'rere aad that he was 'steam eil as oae very conver-
sant with the disease.

The following just remark is extracted from Shadgett's
Weelay Review, a poblicaturn laudably directed to the ex-
posure oftliose pernicious principles which abound in the
works of Paine, Cohbett, Wonky, Sherwin, And their worthy
eiradjutors ;"When Frederick King of Pi %Wild was aiding and
Mistiming Voltaire in his impious conduct—when kr was ec-
cubrisging him in his rittacx upon the Altar—lie little inst.
gifted -that he was sowiii4 the seeds of a •ystent of usirelliott
and revolt, which would endanger nil the 'nubile* of Europe ;
skate society to its basis; and be the cause of innumerable
cailaniffies- to the Poeple over whom lie ruled—and of disgrate
and affliction to his descendants. Yet so it was. And the
band or the offended Deity was never more visible than it
has berm in tile depredations and calamities %hick the !loyal
Family of Prussia experienced from the hands of a ruthless
military Tyrant —an ad venturer without principle or humanity;
a in, pussesmil the power, and exercised it to its utmost, of
torturing the feelings of those whom lie hated, and made them
endure, in all its bitterness,
• The vulgar scorn of coign "
Monday Mr. Cathie, ui Fleet ?keel, Wens liberated from
NeNtate, by giving bail at Judge's Chambers, in' the: anther
went by the Sticiety for the Suppression of Vote. • This is the
third indictment against him for scats,' the rums work i all
of which lie intends to defend
.• •
Humus AND NioOßE.—Perla.pi the most pattering eom.
pliment ever paid to the gullies of Burns, was by his brother
pue t, moor.- ; who in a letter to his friend, Sir John Stephen.
son, en the National Melodies at lee.aud, says," It Burns
bad been an Irisli.nan (and I would willingly have given lap
all oar claims trponl)ssian for his heart would have been
proud of stela music, and his genius would have made it int-
, mortal."

• BRITJSR SE4MEN.—The sixth Report of the Committee of
presented to the House of Commons in 1817, sets
out with tin• following paragraph :—'• Esteeming the Naval
sepal fruity of this con iii ry as the principle on which its eve'.
nal rower, internal safety, and general prospediY, in the
.highest degree depend, your Committee are et opinion, that
the sense which :it-y entertain of lite necessity let economy,
Casiturt, with a doe regard to the interest Of the State, be at.
lowed to interfere with the supportof such a maritime I,rce
as may be deeMed necessary in time of peace, nor with the
preparations• for its 'adequate angiatittation in the event of
war.. And. as Natal external attire in tone of peace ispririet-
pally connected with the purchase and preparation ill Mate-
rials /or future exigency, there is no part of the public service
in which an ill-jfitiged teuipoi try economy might be ultimately
productive of such commie' aerie expence."—The following
passage occurs in the same report with regard to is registry of
Seamen : •• Your committee observe, that in pursusnce of the
Act of 7 and 8 Williams 111. cap. 21, there appears on the old
estimates, .from the year loin down to the year 1711, an an-
imal sum, out less on an average than 35,0001. voted for the
object of a rigistiy of Seamen: this ait will appear on a
comparison with the other is., vat esp. nces of that period, was
a very considerable' one indeed : and by the same .let a li-
beral mainieliance for Seamen, their widows and children, is
provided out muds of Giceowich Hospital; and
though that system-Appears to be abandoned in the reign of
Queen Anne, propp:ii Jlll for a in gistry bare been Incipiently
renewed, hat without any practical result, until the change of
system iu 1814 enabled the Admiralty to combine it is ith the
general system of Gteenwich. Your Committee Gave, of
course, becu desirous to esti:, tarn what assistance, in case of
enrea gency, the coriutry might expect from the nieu so regis-
tered and pensioned. They are iuturincd, tliat it is out pus:a-
ble at pi Clint to make a return of the number of pensioners
who may below fit for his Alajility'S service; but the bust M-
ira anc:.4 othe• rs of threat a iCil 'at 'arc of opinion, that of
the 22,000 otit-penaioheis now on the books, mob as than from
Lt,l.lint to 15,000 are capable of relive mud ust fnl service
admit, and that a In tiller considerable wieldier might be timid
useful to shore or Inn woo se. vice. The espei meet (for
such in this point of view it na sy be called), of rridesvonsing
to hold a large number of awe Seaman, disposable for the
putitle'service in case of emergency, is one of g ICY! UallUU•11
Whereat ; midyear Committee recommend to the Gummi:ear,
to pay a minute practical attention to the operation of thra.
part of the system. With respect to the pectinisny part Ott,
w %list they cannot butt tagiellt the areal i of espcni e,
yI4IIP Committee have nothing to suggest, ewe', I that in as
much as these allowani'es to the nit pcioiouers of Greenwich
hays becti formed al.er the scale of the out petitions of
l seeress they should undergo lite same inurlifkirlions which
your Committee lave iecummended with respect to the
tattier iii their Report oil the army
/avant( Or PARLt,tmENT.—The following advertisement
appeared iu The West &dos. a Paper publistieu at Truro, in
the free asiJ independent county el Cos —" Te Gentle-
men of Forimie.—Any I Gentlemen, whir would wish to
sectary sent* tea the nest Parliament, may be aecomnsodated
at Ute Rio (nigh of ttttt .—There are bat 13 vote.,
maim ity eight. All letters, demi:led for A. 1.1. to be left at
the Carter foal o.fice, will be daily attended to.—Jan. 21
1619.

SEED CORN.It has Inca found, in ram; reemt experiment:.
thur; bear nu Ltilurel in a given num ter of -nils l 4,•••
after having itt.Att.d, whale tY om Of a acute of gu,0,1 bee,;flat bid 1:0
heated have filled to vtgetate. In eousequen;e, iniolty is on ~
to ascertain wlieditt heqted gesiA t.ut lase tub4uti;tcd s id: eJ •
vintw, lot cuulawa

rrß 21

RETIEIk OF LITERATLIIIL.

-4.7"1 rim REDIVIVILI—THE COOK'S ORACLE.— Cos.
14:1i prs.fi:4lll!.7,ipis fat R 4:. 4 its iltr
14..41 Eloanqifool Pas for prisste tt,c rust: of
echos! is t.Se Kitthts sf a Pitoll4 OS.
,fur
,ssr-
pose of align -,tiv the A liestary Esjaysta of ptiztlte
alis-
Ss:gra I cossoisisi Ecips;:ni

To litie.ntell, in whatever sense we ace.Tt the ptira'e,
is certainly a vary desirable thing. To live well, in
the sense in which this Modern Apicius uses it, the
means are more generally wanting than the incenation.
•Jnotly; therefore, is he entitled to the thanks of the
titinuiretts'elass to which his Wurk is dedicated, (and
numerous, or rather innumerable, will our readers allow
it t 4 bu,when we tell them it is addressed to " Tasteful
Palates, Keen Appetites, and CapaCious Stomaclis,".
ros4e,),lhr -the pains he has taken to eerie:sue the
,cale'.uf culinary enjoyment, at .a moderate expense;
and to lay open, to
.ul!,. the. fine flavours and .subtlr.
Selishes-nritich ere now chiefly confined to the tableS of
the luxttrams ; hot that their expellee is such as to
proscribe (or, as the Otaheittans, a tolerably epicurean
race, for savages, would say, to taboo, the use of them,
from persons of very moderate incomes ; but that, as the.
most simple things are not always the most ohviuns, the
Sara of their application is, in general, confined
to these who make it their profession to dive into ,
the areana of good things, and minister to the gratifi-
cation of. the taste which it is their interest to render •
fastidious.

In the course or compiling this Work, the Author
of it has shewn a fortitude, which ought to entitle him
to a place in the Saint +
,' of the Almanac
des Gounnaxdr, and, a probity which all other experi-
mentafists would do well to imitate, before they pre.
tome to give the pretended results of their theories to
the Public ; with a perseverance " not to be subdued or
evaporated by the igniferous terrors of a roasting fire
in the dog.days." The receipts have been written down
" with a spit in one hand, and a pen in the other ;"
and with a conscientiousness which must afford him
abundant gratification in the retrospect. Every re.
ce!pt has been tidy and honestly eaten by hiata:ll,
More he admitted it to the honour of being trended
down to posterit, along with the Glasses:, the tiedala's
the Molten's, the Hendereoa's, and valet illustrious
worthies,who have sedulously endeavoured to prove the
truth of that definition which particularises wan as a
cookies; aniumf. Yet, notwithstanding t..e re tsonable
confidence which the consciousness of as upright in-
tention gives to all our effints,this most worthy "officer
of tee meth," far from being led away b, a con ceited
reliance upon the iiithifibiiity of his ewe taste, though
we doubt not time he embraces_ every opportunity in
his power to retinu attut Correct it, had the modesty and
gall:het: to call its.at select band of friends to assist
him with their juigiseist upon every case ; and whom
he beialeave to thatii: for that activity and zeal in his
service which melts them, " regardiest of their wear
and tear of teeth and stomechr exert themselves as it
"alicir ,labour appeared a pleasure to chem." We
can only mere Urn, that se convinced are we of the
value of.his commuitications, and so charmed with his
hgehuous and unatfeeted manner of imparting them,
that should he ever have occasion for any additional
force to dais " committee of taste," we shall be happy
to present ourselves at his hoard, armed with an ink-
horn, arid a knife and fork, and ready to make our re-
ports,with that strict impartiality, and rigid adherence
to truth, by which we see.armions• to have all our pro-
ceedings distinguished rebentau a aes miaow.
After a preface highly seasoned with attic salt, the
:ether preceetle to give eu:na advice to %emitters, mis-
tresses and servants, which may be perused, and puce
used oil, to great adventaee by all parties. Then
follow directions on, the usual subjects, boiling, roasting,
broiling frying, and se forth—but not given in the
uettal style —the mysteries, anti difficulties, and refine-
ments of each branch being simplified and elucidated
an a more perspicuous and useful manner than we have
seen befute .in ails work which has professed to do the
tame thing : there are likewise directioes given re-
specting the eltuiee of culinary articles, which will be
found very serviceable to young hotrekeepers ; and by
atteniiir4 to them much,expenee will be spared to the
principals,. and much trouble to the servauts : —l;et.the
very essence of the hook is literally the essences them-
selves—the *saucier, the foreerneuts, and. the grnvies.
lime- -this modern Apicius comes in With all-the at-
tention to modern gord that can be dtc'ired, at the
tame tine that he never loses sight of that itttention to
economy which the pressure of the modern times
testis* however sorely against his will, in souse
measure, even to the Gourmand. Oar readers will not,
on a perusal of this work,withhold from its author the
title whidi he so well deserves, of a " rational epicure;*
nor will they deny that he has honourably acquitted
}Mulch* of the laudable ohject lie had in vie v, ac-
conli•; to his own statement ; when he says, The
eusoless of my book is, to increase the curators of
moderate Fainiiies, and moderate Furtuaes ; and I have
taken es much pains to bring the Enjoyments and In-
64;;;leles of the most opuleut within reach of the

0
•

TETE NATTANAL nrcasTEn

middle rsigki. of ,:,,cietr, as I hart in directing the pre-
paration of t!rme tLaborate made-dishes, and piquante
re!ishes, the most ingenious and accomplished ‘• officers
of the mouth" hate invented for the amusement ar.e-
-• found Paiat armand thorough-brod Gran& Gourmets&
of the first ircignit :de. In a4,litloa to this claiiu upon
our gratitude, the author of there pages occasion-
l;l(. it: us by l iimedical knowledge ; and, after esi-
lJrgin4 orm tie introortmee keeping- the digestive
powers hi good repair, kindly informs those who cannot
enjoy a savoury morsel on :u of their teeth, or
rather on account of the want of them, where they may
purchase Patent Masticators. which will ingeniously
perform fear them the office they are unable to perform
for themselves ; on the other hand, to those who may
inadvertently exert their masticative faculti..s rather
'wooer than nature finds convenient or agreeable, he
suggests a course of Peristaltic Perstuuler.i, the very
name of which, it may be imagined, must win* those
tvho have any bowels at all, to make at least a trial of
their merits. To conclude the whole, as he begins with
'!itiaking us laugh., he ends with mating us sing ; giving
us an. Anacreontic, from tvhich•we may venture to pre-
dict,.`that if his public spirit should ever tempt him to
copy the example of his predece-Nor and name-sake,
• Apicius, in spending his whole fortune in the cause
of good living, he'will, at least, stop slot t of hangin:,
himself, as the Roman worthy* did, when he found
•be could live well no longer.