Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-01-07

Ae NAiniate mas much 10 do with national
'haracteristics, the eating and drinking Of
people has also its full share. The nations
IN winch much animal food is consumed are
ihose with strong vascular systems, marked
oy energy endurance, courage, and capacity
lor labor, In no country in the world Is
'lere 50 large consumption of animal food
a IA the United States. Tie average
10 each person, as derived from statistics
Of meat consumption in the leading
cites, varies from halt pound 10 u pound
per day while in continental Europe the
average consumption OF meat per head is
only from two TO three ounces per day. At
muiutudes OF American tables meat regular
ly appears three times day, while even
laborers are wont to make two of their daily
meals principally from animal food.
The amount of food upon which a French
man lives IS surprising small An English
lnan OF an American would starye upon fare
winch appears 10 q frenehman 10 constitute
least OF fat things Indeed, it Is demon
'trated that the daily waste OF food in one
average American family, in good circum-
stances, would support a family in France of
equal size The French people surpass all
civilized mankind in the art Of household
economy. With the refuse bits and scraps
OF food which elsewhere are thrown to the
dogs, the art of French cookery constructs
dishes 50 appetizing and satisfying as to excite
the wonder Of the beholder, who cannot
comprehend how the sncculent dish is made,
any more then he can guess what it Is made
Ut
writer in Household " ords SAID OF the
English appetite for animal food next TO
the habeas corpus and the freedom of the
press, there are few things that the English
people have greater respect for, and
liYeiier faith in, than beef" The John Bulls
who won the battles Of Crecy and Agincourt
against armies from two to five times their
number were fed on beef Give them
great meals Vi beef, says Shakespeare, in
% hing Penny V, and with the Drawn and
courage bred OF such yiauds, these sturdy
knglishmen bore down all opposition. sweep
ing before them the herds Of pigmy French
men ike 50 manikinS. 1t was Charles the
Second who knighted loin of beef and
with the words, Rise up, Sir Loin,' gave
70 that familiar Wand the noble name which
It has ever since worn in the shambles 1t IS
the roast beef Of old England which figures
in 81 much British song and story, and lends
it< most appetizing flavor to the memory OF
the tstherland, when the ubiquitous English
men Is on his travels through less hearty
and les hospitable elines.
But It is not alone in the realm OF the hJ-
vine that England excels. She Is famous also
for the finest and igeiest Of mutton. South
down mutton IS sought for. the world over,
and imported By the epicures OF Boston and
St. Petersbourgh There Isl fneEess OF
hber, delicacy Of texture, and superiority
Of flavor in the true Southdown. fed on the
rich, moist, succulent grass of English downs,
which the mutton If other lands seldom
| equals, and never surpasses. Ii i tender as 4
spring chicken, and its alteln ate Layers Of
fat and lean. 20 iuicy and sweet that they
almost melt in the mouth, are enough to
tempt the appetite even yi the most diihca,t
palate
Queen Elizabeth, says tie domestic histori
ans Of her reign, used 10 breakfast with her
ladies on meat, bread and strong ale This
hearty diet may ia part account for the life
long yigor Of the sturdy daughter Of Henry
the Eight
Before the Iay. vi turtle soup and iri.as-
-ees. the breakfast and dinner diet ot English
men tnd English women was even more
solid aud substantial than 1t j. to-day
some startling statistics might he made
up oul IT the eonsumption OF food II was
sydney Smith who said that Englishmen are
50 given TO over-estng that they consume,
On an average full twice as mnch as would
I suffice 10 keep them in good condition of
| body. Having ascertained hv weight the
amount If food Ae could live upon 20 a. TO
/ preserve health ana strength and compared It
/ with the amount he actually consumed. he
found that between tile age OF 10 and - he
had eaten and drank t wagon loads OF meat
and drink more than would have preserved
HIM IN life and health. and that the money
value ot thi- mass OF nourishment was about
seven thousand pounds sterling. Sir John
R0s-. one ofthe Arctic vOyagers, SAYS that an
! Esquimaux will eat - pounds Of flesh and
oil every dav he lives But this IS surpassed
! by Capt. Cochrane, who travelled through
| Russia and Siberia on foot, and tells Us that
! one of the natives consumed in ~ hours the
hind-quarter Of an Ok and 20 pounds Of fat,
hesiieS large quantity Of melted butter Tor
/ his drink lie repeatedly saw a lskut
deYour 40 pounds OF meat ina day, and he
I adds '' have seen three # these gluttOns
consume q reindeer At one meal" Such
trencher teats as these, though apparently
authenticated irresistibly suggest the Irish
mans story OF one MS com patriots who had
such an unbounded stomach that he actually
devOured 4 whole OK for his dinner, and
picked his teeth with the horn
Air Motley tell Us that the Emperor
Charles the Fifth was an enormous eater
"He breakfasted at 5 on a fowl seethed in
| milk and dressed with sugar and spices.
After this he went to sleep again He
dined at L., partaking always Of 20 dishes.
lie supped twice, the first soon after yespers,
and the seoend time at midnight or | clock,
which meal was perhaps the most solid Of
the four After meat he ate great quanti
" Of pastry and sweetmeat7, and he irrigated
every repast by vast draughts OF beer and
wine. His stomach, originally wonderful
one, succumbed after 40 years Of such
labor We should think it would. Forty
years ofsueh gormandizing should be enough
to kill the strongest constitution. He died
at s.. Philip the Second, the same histor-
ian tells us, had an inordnate fOndnes7 for
pastry, which he consumed to such degree
as to create habitual pains in the stomach.
This may account, perhaps, Tor some Of the
cruelties Of his reign The picture Of Philip
ordering an auto ds fe after meal Of goose
berry tarts which had disagreed with him is
an ediiying one for the painter.
Frederick the second Of Prussia. whose
reputation for severe simplicity. though
great, is in some degree undeserved, was
very fond of good eating and drinking.
The king, wrote Mira beau, who was IN
Berlin at the time, ''eats every daY of 10 or
l. dishes at dinner, each very higly season
ed besides, at breakfast and supper, bread
ami butter covered with salted tongue and
pepper. We are at the last scene No
wonder A short time before, gentleman
dined with Frederick, when eel pie was
brought to table which he declared was 20
hol that it looked as if it had been baked
IN hell 70 The king was immoderately tond
Of these eel pies. peppered to excess. Mira
besa again tells Us that Frederick, about
month before his death, ate for his breakfast
IN July plate OF sweetmeats composed OF
sugar, white OF eggs and sour cream, then
straw berries. cherries and cold meat
That early king of England, who died ot
eating too many ampreys and oily iish, Of
which he was immoderately fond, has had
more then one parallel among eupeptic mon
archs hing John is said to have died if
great surteit Of peaches and new ale.
modern epicure, who would think it saeri-
lege to broach any liquor lass then ten years
old, would probably exclaim. Served him
right.
Among the Stuarts, IL l. related of Queen
Henrietta Maria that she would eat pheas
ants on Friday, at her first banquet in
England, in spite OF the circumstances Of
her French confessor She was then scarcely
l.. and might have pleaded the whimsical
excuse of Erasmus, that, though she had a
Catholic soul, she had 4 Protestant stomach.
The season of Lent - a sore trial TO many
vigorous Christians Dean Swift, in one OF
hrs epigrams, thus sets forth the sbsurdity
Of the too vigorous Journalism Of some reii
gionists in dietie matters