The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1868-12-02
CuriOSitieS or Diet.

~ nNOt ~ to"'Ht o'ohS, "IllCn
expresses ALL the attributes Of
good living in their perfection, is
scarcely half " century old and is,
of course, due to tho Fronch, who
compounded If; with their usual
skill in adaptation, from tho Crock.
From tho indiscriminato and vul-
gar g1uttony Of Vittolius and Hol-
iogabalus, those old hcathcns Of
tho decline and fall, to tho refined
and delicate tasto Of the cpicurlan
Lucullus thoro is u wide interval.
Yet, no. human, being is wholly
without interest in tho science Of
gastlonomy, since there arc none
but must cat to live. They who
reverse tho rule and only live to
cat arc not gourmands in The true
sense, and loso the zcst Of pleas
urc in the ovcrtasking OF the pal
ate. One OF tho most refined and
philosophic Of modern writer's la
mcnts with pathetic carncstncss
the dire necessities that compel
us to pay tribute to the cupbo; ID,
in tho declaration, "l can get rid
of everything but this perpetual
stomach ; he must cat, and I cam
not mako him respectable.
The most graphic and thought
ful Of modern historians, far from
dcspising such trincs as tho pcr-
sonal traits and foiblos Of great
men, dwell upon all such items
with interest, as among the best
revelations of character. Whom
wc read Of the reformcr Luther,
that he was full Of habit and Il
hearty eater, that he loved Rhine
wine and TorGan beer, VIC get at
uncc al insight into tho life and
spirit Of the man that is worth
whole volumes in folio Of contro-
vcrsial theology.
Charlcmagnc, the first Western
Emperor, who died in S14, although
a very frugal liver, was extremely
fond Of game. On ordinary occa-
sions, writes Capetirno, there
were but four plates on his dinner
table, besides u piece Of game
which tho hunters brought to the
Emperor ready spittcd, since they
knew this was his f;lvoritc meat.
The historian adds that this prince
used rarely to drink moro than
three times at his repast.
Augustus Caesar was fond of
brown bread, littlo fish, cheese
made Of new cows milk, and fresh
figs. Suctonius relates that he
drank habitually but three glasscs
at each meal, which shows him to
have been OF much moro sober
and simpler tastes than most of
his SUCCESSORS. ..r... ..
Apicius, tho celebrated Roman
gourmand whose namc has fur
nishcd provcrbial phrase to the
literature Of dictctics, was passion
atcly fond Of lohstcrS. Small blamc
to him for that, since this is the
most delicate and delicious Of shell
fish next to tho oyster, which
must ever bear away tho palm.
Having heard that the coast OF
Africa yielded lotsters larger and
moro delicate than tho Italian,
Apicius Immediately chartered a
vessel and set sail to ascertain tho
fact and bear home tho prize
across tho Mediterranean. a rich
old fellow was this old Apicius
who spent on his table hundred
million scstcrccs (about 1000, 900
Of our money! and ono fno day,
having cast up his accounts, and
found if his debts wcrc paid, he
should have left but ton million of
scstcrccs (s500,0oW he quietly
swallowed poison, through fear of
dying Of hunger.
The latin poet Martial, who
died in the year iO5 Of our era,
had special tastc for tho thrush
and the hare, preference which
he himself declared in his epigram
-"Intcr ayes turdus, 81 quis, nc
judicc, ccrtcn. Inter quadruncdes
gloria prima lcpns.' ...
The Emperor Alexander Scvc-
rus was 50 fond Of rabbits that,
according to his biographcr, Lam.
pridius, he ate ono at ovcry meal.
Frederick, Emperor Of Germany,
who died in 1103. WAS madlv in