The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-06-08

/
amounted to sixteen thousand dollars.
OMEN SHALL NOT LIVE by BREAD
ALONE"
The True History of Good and Wei
Appointed Breakfast.
1t was our good fortune to be one Of party of
five gentlemen that on last Sunday morning at
breakfast, to which we had been invited by Mr..
Victor Bero, ut his restaurant on Bourbon street.
The occasion was no special one, but had its in
stgaton In the best OF all impulses, the genial
hospitality OF ''mine host" The party was in
keeping with the occasion-all genial, hearty
men, none of them brilliant enough to monopo-
lze the conversation, nor 80 oonceited
as to become bore by the effort 10
do so, but oil blest with good but never
boistsrous spirit, and ever ready to indulge the
secret wish OF his companions :" for another bot
tle,'' with heart enough to drink it with them,
and head enough to get away with ID quietly,
and without the ostentatious inebriety OF your
'roaring blade" Indeed, OF each one OF them it
could have been truly spoken, that he twas one
of those few persons whom you might challenge
to convivai evening with q mathematical GER
tainty Of enjoying (which Talfourd assures
us-is the rarest quality Of friendship In say
ing this we pay no mean compliment to our host,
for. uchat men shall eat a breakfast together lie
by no means matter OF less consideration than
what they shall eat, and it Is one that requires
great tact and judgment, for. "a Hazitt says,
"What makes good society / answer, in one
word, real fellowship" and to get together six
men between whom this exists, separately as
Al 4
OF the breakfast We scarcely know what to say,
or what tone to assume In speaking OF il. II was
by no means gandy or pretentious affair, one Of
those "feeds" the old English wits and gour-
mands tell US Of nor was II prolonged to uu-
reasonable hours, when, as those same old Brob-
dgnegs would have us believe. the discourse
and the ale-'sye. grow better and better" Yet.
let 1t not be supposed that there was not hearty
gusto, because we did not ltnger over the vener-
able sherry and delusive Chabliss till we could
talk OF naught else than the Court ut Windsor,
and dwell on the themes OF Count arammont
OF Killigrews country cousin and his JOY at Miss
Wsrminster's ''accident'-of Hamilton and Lady
Ohes erfield, OF Jacob Hall and Miss Sheartis
garters, or Miss Churchill and the Duke OF York.
II was not such an affair az this, but merely
elegant breakfast all Of whose dainty details. to
tempt and then sweetly assuage the appetite,
might have been arranged by Brillat Savarin
himself. It was not rich and sumptuous feast,
"Wf sauce ragouts, and such like trashtrie,
That's little short o. downright wastrie;''
but Southern summers morning meal OF deli
cious n,orceaun OF fish and fowl and tenderest
lambkin, Of soft old wines and delicate, refresh
ing fruits. The table was exquisitely dressed
with fruits and flowers, and the room was cool
and shaded, with lace curtains hanging like Cos
amers from the open windows. In the bottles
ranged on the tables and in coolers we saw "the
palpable elements OF madness or OF wisdom,
silently waiting their time to kindle the imagine
ton, to point the wit, to open the heart and
loose the timid tongue. What stores Of senti-
ment in that old sherry What CLEANS OF happy
thought, of sweet remembrarces; what aids to
refectionl" This delicate claret brings with
purpureal CLEANS" it's own vineclad hills before
us as never DID the pencil Of Claude.
What mild, serene philosophy; what gentle
fancies lie perdu in this old Chabss that lures us
on so gently that 1t overcomes us, at last, like
summers cloud Then, from time. stained
bottle, shrouded with primeval cobwebs, you
may taste antiquity and feel the olden time on
your palate" As We sip this old wine. to the
We have broken into one Of those rich vaults in
which Sir Thomas Browne the chief butler of the
tomb, finds treasures rarer than jewels. "Some,
saith he, discover sepulchral vessels contain
jellies For besides lachrymatories, notable lamps,
with oils and aromatic liquors, attended ossua-
ries; and some yet retaining vinosity aud spirit
in them, which, II any have Ia ted they have far
exceeded the palates of antiquity; liquors, not to
be computed by years OF annual magistrates, but
by conjunctions and the fatal periods Of kingdoms.
The draughts Of consulsry date were but crude
unto these, and opimian wine but in the musk
unto them"
or these we all partook, lured first BY a most
importuning appetizer in the shape Of an anchovy
salad. delightfully."- dressed. Then came shrimps
and ice, to be followed by pompano, which-an,
well Pompano and Chablssl These two
words are, in themselves, the widest ;ubilnte
of the epieure can utter. We can but feel, when
in the act OF swallowing them, that we are en-
gagged in q religious act Of Thanksgiving act
to be dwelt on, after the hearty manner of
tongue and palate both healthily pure as
the dewy petals Of 3 morning rose-swal owed
by guilt felt gradually to be extending itself
in its intense delight-and, finally, received into
this is surely the thrice blessed of Jimmy crea-
lures; "the apex of African luxury, and able, |
were anything on the face of this fee BILE ear b |
able to detain 3 soul, on the brink of fate, one
short quarter Of an hour from an inferior
elysium." All, can it be possible that those end |
less songs of praise in the world to come are |
like this jubilate!
After this came other dishes and other wines,
but here our fancy fingered, and we eat frothy
omelets and ribs OF sucking lamb with peas,
and spring chickens and asparagus, pecked at
strawberries and cherries, while we sipped old
Lsfitte, in an absent kind Of way. We have
faint recollection that we were astonished to find
that strawberries were greatly improved and
lemon on them. 1t was only when we lit
our cigar with the coffee, that we were able |
to accept with any resignation that pompano
and cbabliss we're but earthly things, with the |
earthly fate upon them, which must all pass away,
Even as the grass" Then in the pale brandy,
sofsened by age we found the true "spiri" which
''disturbs Us with the joy of elevated thoughts"
All, Victori Poet, artist. philanh ropist long
may your days be among Us, and green In age as
n youth. !