, 1877-06-02
Food Influence Upon Character.

Ancient classical writers give us
very minute accounts OF The barbarie
magnifcence of the bsnquets OF an
cient Greece and Rome. The Iucon
gruous ingredients OF the pldtS are
strangely typical of eccentric attrocl
ties perpe,rated by the partakers OF
such dishes. Thousands Of nighlin
I gales tongues entered into the compo
siiion of an especially favorite dish Of
that Roman emperor who caused the
streets of his capital to be Illuminated
bv the burning bodies Of the Christian
slaves Looking at matters from q
standpoint which we have erected, the
diet OF mouarchs in the days ot deS~
poiic power must have been a matter
Of no slight importance. What hasiy
decisions, what bewiIdering political
CONF Ilications, may rot have been
caused by i's of indigestion on the
Part of the powers that were! Ii Is a
well established fact tina; leg OF NUT
ION caused q revolution in the atfilrs
of Europe. Napoleon the Great, just
before the battle of Leipsie. insisted
upon dining upon boiled mutton, con-
rrary 10 the advice of bis ehef de eW
sine, who seems 20 have properly un
ders,ood his business, and 10 have
been somewha. of physician, as well
as = cook. The Emperor's brain re-
>en,ed the liberty taken with its col
leacue-'he stomach the mOnarch's
equilibrium was overturned the bat
lie lost, and a new page opened in
history. Who drinks beer, thinks
beer" says the timehonored proverb,
AID It's truth Is well eyempIifed in the
literature of .he Tudor period, when
beer was the customary drink. 1t was
the ordinary beverage drink by the
viz Gin queen herself. The literature
of The era is like the strong fluids and
solids which nouTishrd the brains OF
the writers. 1t is coarse, pungent,
and vigorous, full of the sensuaiity OF
thought and expression which a gross
mauner of living te6ds to foster. Yet,
wilhal what a glorious literature
There were no diIettante writers in
those days; no serving up of the
thoughts of others in an adulieraied
form. All was fresh and original, per
fectly coinciiing with the modes OF
living in those medieval times.
Pursuing this tram Of thought, we
naturally glance at the great writers
of the sevenieeth and eighteenth cen
turies. Here we tind notable differ
ence in the style OF siving-a difference
which has had most remarkable IN
fuence npcn the literary productions
of tie age The French Queen o:
. Charles |, Henrietta Maria, in,roduc
ed more refined system of dietary
among the upper classes. This, taken
in connection with the habitual use of
gine-par;icu!arIy port-had lis in
tiacnce upon the minds of tho greater
thinkers Of the time. The style of
, wiring became more refined and pol
i>hed-lacking in the coarseEess of the
EliZlbethan era, while preserving It's
vigor and freshness. With The intro
ductiOn of tea commenced the age Of
ephemeral literature. The Iuttler and
| Spectator were the offSprings OF coffee
house chat. They are remembered
and qnoted now because they are al
most the chief records of the every
day life OF the period at which they
were written. With the mixture OF
food comes a mixture Of literature
most curious 10 note. Dean Swift
was fond Of tea, but he was also
lover of strong fluids and solids and
here We find key 10 the strangely
constituted mind which could pen
such grossness as his "Direciions TO
Servants" and yet produce that inimi
table journal TO Stella" than which
purer and tenderer piece of writing
does not exist in the English lam
guage. DR.. johnson was much ad-
dicted 10 the pleasures of the table
He was a huge eater ami drInker he
liked port and did it ample justice,
but tea was his tayorite beverage. HIS
literary productions form a curious
and remarkable confederation of the
tact that food has 4 material influence
upon character. He labored iuce ssant-
! ly at literary work yet, of all his
productions, not one Is left TO sustain
his reputation, save his dictionary
Such book mast be, necessarily, aud
10 very considerable extent, a com
pirisoE; Gui he invested the dry de.
tails with So much interest, that his
wo'k soon superseded The then current
dictionary for the Explanation OF
Hard words He gathered from all
sources, comparing things new and
old The result being a composition
which could Gnly have been attempts
| ed-much less successfully accomplish
ed-by a man Of such general and
I generous diet as the great !exicograph-
en- was-LondoR HouSekeeper.
SUN BATHS are very good in their
way, but the fellows who stand on the
corners ali day onght to try soap and
water once in while TO make them