Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1864-06-21
fFrom the Eound Table.
praakfaat

Breakfast.
With oil their pretensions to epsureanism, the
old Romans did not know how TO breakfast. An
tiquiiys fashionable "spread for that meal, even
in the mansions Of the patrlcisns consisted Of sim
pie bread and cheese. The Equestrian order
starved themselves in the early part of the day,
to gorge on the abomin4ble compounds they call
ed uxures late in the afternoon. And yet those
mistaken voluptuaries fonced they knew how to
! live, and while reclining on their couches, 10 an
atmosphere redolent with garlic, and stutfng their
epigastrums with sow's paps, incomplete rabbits
obtained by the Cesarean operation" and lam
preys fattened on the flesh Of slaves, considered
/ themselves in the seventh heaven Of sensuous en-
! ioyment We only remember to have read Of
one Roman who cared much about bis dejeuner-
the beastly Gaba. Suetonious says he boo-hooed
for it, Il his servants failed to bring il to bis bed
,de al daylight. HIS imperial majesty, however,
was an exception to all dietary rules TOR after de-
vouring supper for six, over night, be could dis
patch a breakfast Of the same proportions, in bed
the next morning. No wonder bis bOated impe
rial face was Of the same tint as bis imperial toga.
If travellers in Africa are to be believed breakfasts
in the interior Of that continent are scarcely Of
|
manor uorn to rise early 10 partake Of them.
Bruce assures US that in Abysslnla they consist OF
i've OK collops, highly peppered TO supply the alb
sense Of eookng-the collops being made into
sausage-shaped hllels, which are thrust into the
mouths oftse guests by black Hebes sandWiched
10 among males Of the company. The civilized
. epcure has no objection to a steak only Z" just
done through . but the Abyssinian style seems,
If We may use the expression. to be running
"rareness into the groand. Clapperton, who
visited another part of Africa about third Of 8
century later than Bruce, mentions among the
items Of the Sultan Of Bausss's breakfast carte,
grilled water-rat and fried and stewed crocodile
eggs The eggs, it may be supposed, we're some
what musky, but as we have DR. kanes testimony
that rat soup is not a bad breakfast in the neigh
borhood OF the Nsrth pole, grlled rodent may
possibly be endurabe under the equator
Leigh Hunt who had yerv judIcious notion of
good living and who, when be played jackal TO
Byron, was led, Tom Moore says, with "sops eve
~ day from the lions own pan,' has left behind
him pretty fair recipe for d " Breakfast 10 Cold
Weather" Here it Is" lmprimis, tea and Coffee
secondly dry toasli thirdly, butter; iourhly.
eggs; filthy, ham sixthy, bread, salt, mustard,
knives, forks, etc" This bill OF fare is we'll
enough as specimen Of an Engllshman's idea OF
the morning meal but 1t would not meet the
views Of Seotchman or an American. We like
the Accomplishments of the esSayists breakfast
better than the collation. itself. "One Of the first
things" says Hunt, that belongs to Cold " ca
ther Breakfast is good fire. There is delight
fu mixture Of The lively and the snug in coming
down to ones breakfast room OF cold morning
and seeing ,verything prepared for us-a blazing
crate, clean tabe-cloth and tea things the
newly washed faces and combed heads Of set of
good.humored urchins and the sole empty chair
at its accustomed cJrner, ready for ocoui alton"
A very nice picture; but one would lAe to have
some guarantee for the behavior Of the urchins.
1t was our lot once upon time, to breakfast with
being Of that genius who, although perfectly
good humored was possessed OF a lively desire to
wash his hand. in the slop bowl and put his chub-
by little feet in the butter-idiosyncrao Of ur-
chinhood which interfere with the sublime calm
necessary 70 epicurean enjoyment and perfect di.
geston. This may seem to some folks an lima
tured enection on rosy childhood" but we ven-
,ure to say that the Breakfast Table Professor OF
the Atlantic Monthly, or any otter man who un-
dtr,tands the philosophy Of the thing will entire
y agree with us.
; Few peoples as our Hungary friend Kossuih
would say, have q better idea Of the proper con-
stituen,s Of breakfast than the Cannie Scots
The " Glasgow bodies" and eke the burghers of
Inverness at the foot OF the Highlands thoroughly
understand what is good for the inner man 10 the
morning. Po,ted char--a rare fish Of the Scotch
och. game pies hot bu,tered barley bannoeks,
and oatmeal cakes, mullins, rolls, erumpets, What.
hes, yenison pasty, picked salmon, potted lobster
huttered toast, broiled tinnap haddits," and
broiled bacon, are among the danies they set be-
fore newly risen man in that hospitable region. 1t
mu / be confessed that they flank these comesti.
with iorbidded diluenls-such as Glenvet and
U.qurbaugh. But what will you have OF 1.-THE
climate is drizzy, and the meokle Scotch mist
seems to quel Oh the fiery influence of the stimu.
ants But after al an American breakhsl-es.
pecially ut this appetzng season-is the beau ideal
Of a matutinal feast. "Juno when she banquets
has nothing equal to il. What is Olympan Am
brosIa 10 Bugkwheat Cakes And then at coffee
making we can beat even the frenoe. Not that
we always do it-but here are artists among US
whose decoetions Of the fragrant berry put the
Partisan Cafes to shame Our broed spring
chicken 10 a thing TO thank Heaven upon with ep-
curean ubctlou. Talk OF your English spacthcoeks
they are not worthy Of being named in the
same decade with it. Done Of an amber brown,
anointed with fresh butter, aud duly seasoned It is
dish to take the reasons prisoner. Some prefer
broilei quail, aud one might
-" decide vnhout great wrong to either,
Il were mgeh better 10 hate boh than nsi,hsf.n
We wonder how the children Of Israel fixed their
quails. If Moses was the man We take him to
have been, he spli, biz birds down the back, and
ooosed them on gridiron. Again, the American
porter.house steak--would that il had more