, 1874-01-11


Spanish onions Handel ate enormously ami.
when he dinea at tavern, always ordered din
Eer for three. On being told that all would be
ready as soon Us the company should arrive, he
would e1claim: Den bring up de dinner, prrs-
ussimo. am de company
It il sometimes said that 'Plain living md
high thinking" should be tho motto Of the
scholar. The plain fact is. that of all laborcrs,
none mora imperious1y need more nutritious
Diet than the toilers With the brnin. If there ia
any system OF living which they should hold in
horror, it is tue
BRAS-BEEAD AND sAw-DCsT PHILOSOPHY
inculcated By Graham, Alcott L Co., aud prae-
ticed upon By nervous people, Yaetulina-
rians, and others. who are continually echemine
how to spin out the thread OF q miserable, sckly
existence, after all their capacities Of pleasure
and enjoy ment have passed awey. These pro-
found philosophers take special pains TO show
that there is nothing but disease lurking in all
the delicacies OF ocean, earth, aud air, which
Heaven has blessed Us With. AL the piquant
dishes which lie SO tenptingl7 on the we'll
spread table, to tickle the palate Of
the epicuro, are, according to their
view, impregnated with subtls poison.
One produces fatulency, another acidity; beef
is stimulating, ham il bilious, pork is scrotuoua
fish is indigesrble, pastry is dyspeptic, tea ia
nervous aud SO on, from the simplest article Of
diet to the most complicated eHor. Ut gas-
tronomic skill.
1t is little amusing that, while these asce,{o
philosophers declaim go vehensentfy against the
good things OF this life, and predict an ea.ly
grave Tor overy man who makes hearty, cats~
loss, miscellaneous meal, thoy are generally
PERFECT AMATEURS IN pHYs1c,
and swallow all sorts Of Quack medicines and
similar abominations with ininite relish. It IS
true thai tho theories Of the nran-bread phil
osophers have received some countenance
from few distinguished writer's, par
ticuiarly Dr.. Franklin and the poet
Shelley. who sesm to hare thought, that
by living wholly upon vegetable food, Nc
may preserve our physical and intellectual facul-
ties in a state OF much higher perfection. But
it is evident, in spite Of such speculations, that
man is carairorous animal, and must, once
day at least, be fed with flesh. fowl, or fish !; hs
cannot make a satisfactory rrpast of the roots
and fruits of the earth; :; for, though
His anatomical construction
Bears vegetables in grutnbllng sort Of way,
Yet certainly he thinks, beyoud u q;1es:ion,
Beef, veal, and mutton e2sier OF digestion
Franklin, indeed, Was not q very Jealous con.
vert to tho Grahamite doctrines. He hositated
for some time what course to pursue. till. ar
last, recollccting that. wheo cad had been
opened, some small 6sh had been found in its
stomach. he said to himself: II you eat one
another, / SEQ no reason why 70 may not est
yon."
There WAS much good sense in the ranark Of
sainted Archbishop OF York, who was very foad
Of roast goose, that SO good thing vas
NOT DESIGNED SPECIALLY FoH SINNERS
And not less wise was tho reply OF Stint Thomas
a Beckett to q mouk. who, aeaiag him eating
pheasAnt's wing With much relieh, Affected to ba
scaudalzcd, saying that he Thought Thomas 9
more mortified nan- "Thou art but ninny,"
said the Archbishop; "knowest thou not that q
man may be q glutton upon horse-beans; while
another may enjoy with refinement even the
wing Of q pheasant. and have Natures aid to
enjoy what Heavens bounty gave?"
In advocating due regard for the pleasurea
of the table. ne commend no wanton pzofus1on-
There ia medium between the abstemiousness
OF the anchor1te and the senHeless profusion OF
q Cesar who de7oured at meal tho revenue OF
several provinces, or Of those other Romans who
had single dishes composed Of SOD nightinsales'
tongues, OF the brains OF as many peacocks. 1Ee
dinners of people, their coarseneza or refns"
mens, their profusion or scantiness,-are
AN UNERnISa INDEX
Of the national life. There il, indeed, a. an
other has said. whole geological cycle Of
progressive civilization between the clsnmy
dough out OF which statuette might be nodded,
and the brittle films that melt upon the tongue
like flakes OF luke-warm snow. Tbs cook may
not rank very high in the scale Of humanity, but,
On the other hand. it requires no great stretch
OF Imagination to fo1esee that, should ever the
bran-bread and saw-dust system come IN fashion,
'.1ying skeletons would cease to be wonder;
Calvin Ejsons would meet us nt every corner;
man OF 80 or 90 pounds would be monster "a
corpu1oncy; and. ere many centuries could hare
elapsed. the human species would have gradual
IL dwindled into nothinsness, and vanished from
the earth.