The post. [volume] (Middleburg, Snyder County, Pa.) 1864-1883, 1877-11-15
Eating and D,inSln1.


It was not only 10 solid food, but
also in sweets aud kickshaws, says
writer in the Etlinbuyg Recoiver.
that the English table Of tho six.
teenth century abonnded. Geutle-
men aud merchants had Ave or six
dishes followed by jellies, march
paine, tarts aud confections. or
tho potato and such venorons roots
as arc brought out Of Spain, Portiu-
gallo and the Indies 10 furnish mp
our bankets.' Harrison in his dcs.
cription forbears to speak. OF ten
and coffee be is quite silent, though
he has something to say Of tobacco,
the use Of which was spreading
rapidly, SO that q few years later
Hentzner, the German traveller.
could say. "The English are con-
stantly smoking tobacco. We have
only to reflect what life in England
would DO without tea, coffee and
potatoes to be convinced how en-
tirely different life in Elizabeth's
days was from ours. Itis, however,
with something like an inward pang
that we record the fact that 25yO00
tuns OF homegrown wine were made
in England in Harrison's time but
we remember the Grunbergsr still
made near Berlin. aud pass on hold-
ing out diaphragms. That the Eng
lish drank quantities offoreign wines
is plain from the fact that thirty kinds
Of strong and fifty six Of the light
wines were to be had in London.
The strongest were best liked. aud
the strongest OF all was called, Har-
ison tells us. Theologisum, answer
ing TO the Priest" OF Madeira and
the Pfafenwein OF the Germans.
The merit Of such wine was, that it
was both strong and genuine,
for, as Harrison tells us, "the mer-
chant thought his soule should havo
gone straightwaite to the dwell, II he
should have served { b Q mt b Q
priests-with other than the best
Il is to be considered whether O
great part of the loss Of influence
Of the English clergy at the present
day may not be ascribed to their
abandonment Of orthodox theologi>
cal port. As for the lower classes,
they made good cheer wherever
they could get it, and though their
daily fare was hard, they had fro-
quent opportunities Of feasting and
carousing at bride ales aud drink,
ing and other occasions, each guest
bringing dish, and the good man
of the house where the feast was
held onfy finding drink aud house
room. The working men in town
alwaws ate butchers meat, Gnd
though they were more frugal in the
country, they saw fresh meat far
more often then tho modern laborer-
On such occasions, though their t.lk
was course, they had one merit in
which tue modern workman rs I.
rule has no share they were very
much ashamed ut being overtaSan
by drink, or ''cupshotten." 80 Har-
rison calls it. AS to bread, tho rich
ate wheaton bread, ard tho poor
bread made ofrye or barley, aud in
times OF scarcity of beans, oats, or
even acorns nay, says Harrison,
they ate these even in times OF plen-
ty, for though "never has thors
been so much land cared that il
ti.led--'never has corn beep b dear.
so that without famine the old pro
verb has been verified that hanger
setteth his first foot into the horse
manger' If the world last awhile
a. this rate, wheat and rye will be
grain for the poor man to feed on,
ami somo caterpillars there are
that is to say, the dodgers, or two
legged ca,erpillars, the m!ddlemen
who bought up corn aud regrased
bread-'thlt can sale 90 much al
ready" All this fool was not di-
tested without drink. We have seen
that the rich drink wine, but in Har-
rison's England the drink OF the
common man was beer made OF bars
Icy, water aud hops. Those were
not the days of great brewers, nor
was there any excisemen to stand in
the way Of private brewing. Eng
lish 'home-brewed was then the na-
tioual beverage, and Harrison not
only gives us an excellent receipt
for making beer 'as yellow as gold
but tells us how his thrifty wife
brewed him 200 gallons Of beer for
twenty shillings. In our days it
would seem strange il o country
clergyman on poor perfermeut not
only brewed bat consum ID 200 gal.-
Ions of beer in q year and this
glimpse out OF Harrison's daily life
is perhaps as good a proof as any to
be found in his book OF the liberal
way in which all classes lived 10 the
days Of Elizebeth. But il must be
remembered that 10 that age II was
beer for breakfast, when there were
any breakfast, beer for dinner, aud
beer for supper. The tap Of the
beer barrel must have been forever
running at time when there were
no water drinkers and no Temperance
societies, and when there we're no
substitutes except milk for malt ii.
quors, such as We possess in tea and
coffee, not to mention our aerated
waters.
a