New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-12-09
OF CIVIC JUNKETs.

meat on them On the homes, we mean, and
not on the dogs; for though as general rule,
YOUR Aldermauic dog is prescriptivey round,
fat, and oily these Boston Aldermen must be
of the lean and hungry variety; though whether
they "think too much is matter which we
are too thoughtful to discuss. But we must
declare that VIC have been more than once In
the course of this Psychological fray, reminded
of the Dicast in "The Wasps" of Aristophanes,
who, after his public labors, went home
"To sip, and to swil, ard to riot at will"
These Boston Aldermen, it appears, have "great
3" warmth and duration Of Appetite" and are not
at all like the Alderman at Guildhall, who, when
Chamberlain Wilkes said to him: MI. AL
=" derman B., shall 1 help you to plate OF the
&c turtle, or a slice of the haunchi" replied;
" Neither one nor t'other; shall dine on beans
Z" and bacon" No; these Boston Aldermen,
it would appear, are Of that class OF whlcn
Macklin speaks in Love Ia Mode" when
he Gays: Dull as an Alderman after SIX
pounds bf turtle four bottles of port and
- twelve pounds of tobacco" We do not mean,
to be sure, that they are dull. On the con-
trary, it is certain, that they are monstrously
sharp, /. e., sharp set-not that they are sharp
set-that might be libel-but merely, they are good
trencher men, and think, like the strolliDg play
err in Goldsmith, that meat never tastes SO
well as when other people pay for it. Really,
Iif we may judge by the tone of the Boston
newspapers, and especially by that OF our Old
friend The Daily Adrertissr, Board of Boston
Aldermen is very much like an army
of Bashikouay ants in equatorial Africa,
which, if we may credit NJ. du Chaillu,
:. deyours all it oyertakes with a fury quite
I" irresistible" The difference between Bos-
ton Alderman and Bashikouay ant is this
that the insect, when taking detetc excur-
sion, goes on foot, whereas the said Alder
man always rides to his suburban banquet at
the expense of the city treasury. Hence, as
The Advertiser ugubriously points out, the AL
dermen have made perfect chsrioteers of them
selves during the last year-festiye Phaetons,
if we may say so-driving particularly to GER
tain mount Hope Cemetery" and there
dining like SO many gornandzing ghous-
which must have been aggravating, we think,
TO those having departed friends deposited in
those Elysian fields. The Chinese, it is true
annually take tea in the graveyard; but then
they provide cups, saucers, and spoons for the
ghests-which wasn't done in Boston.
Our readers will ere this have concluded
that Trimoptane Alderman is a miraculously
hungry creature. He is just that, aud no less.
/ When the Bashkouay ant aforementioned ar
rives in village everybody runs away, to
avoid becoming ant.fodder. You may stay il
you choose, to entomologizc, but if you do,
your bones will be picked in second of time.
SO, last Fourth Of July, it was voted by the
Common Council Of Boston, in consideration Of
the war, and the ll-clad soldiers, and the un-
common number of fresh widows and new
made orphans, to ntermit the great Faneuil
Hall Dinner. Did this make a fact for the
Aldermen Did their jaws, Ike thOse of the
A. of Apuleus "ache with with lone nss-S;oa;;in1ed
J " abstinence :" Not q whit of it q. m. ,n~
contrary ga most luxurious FEAST" says Tie
Boston TrareHer "was served at the Revere
{" House, at an expense of ELEVEN HUNDRED
I" DOLLARS" Chateaubriand records with
much competency that when he was ambassador
in London, one of his dinners of state " cost
{" him forty thousand frances" but then he
satisfied mob of plenIpotentiaries for that SUN,
while only twelve aldermen did dine ut this
magnificent elveven-h undred dollar dinner. But
this is not all The little Boston Transcript
calculates the cost of collations, Refreshments,
I" and carriages for lS60.l, at five hundred dol
Glars week." "Such," adds The Advertiser
sis the cost Of junketing." Such is the ineyi-
table price which well regulated city must
pay for the safety and ornament of smoking,
eating, and bibbng Board of Aldermen.
Another mentiorabe popularity Of the
Bashikouay ant is that it never drinks cham
payne wine at 1886 per dozen. 1t has its
faults Of character, but it isn't crapulous. If
it encountered wine-bin, il would like the
corks better than the contents OF the bottles
which is more than, il we may credit the news
papers can be said OF these Boston Aldermen.
The attacks upon this jovial Board were redo.
lent of beeswing and full of Baccbanalian sug.
gestions. 1t was hinted that these diguitaries
we're more expert in passing bottles than in
passing bills, except indeed the money.bills re-
CURED to pay for the bottles. 1t was limited,
hinted do we say' it was proclaimed. The
matter wasn't minced. Some papers went so
far as TO use the word "orgies," which strikes
US as rather a strong one; but not so strong as
" guzzle," which We noticed also. The gen.
cral impression. indeed, which one receives
from reading tho natural history of these