The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1880-01-28
THE GOOD OLD DAYS.
The EXtrRvagant Sprees OF Our CeIebra-
ted Forefnthers.

The EXtraVagRnt Sprees OF Our Ceiebra-
ted FOrefNthers.
The following is from an address by.
james Parton before the New York His
torical Socitty: This venerable society
has seen fit for many years to hold feasts,
especially in June, when the festive
strawberry gladdens the heart of man.
lie had asked. why this collation. every
month"; What connection between
sandwiches and history? But vener-
able member had rebuked him, saying
gravely: Let no man speak dis1 espect-
fully of sandwiches here, tor sandwiches
built this house" One of the first acts
of the Purtans in 1920 was TO abolish
that most time-honored and beloved
least, Christmas. Some of them made
the observance of the day a matter of
conscience, and the governor had spared
them "til they should be better in
formed;" but he had forbidden public
games on that day. But in truth the
Puritans never succeeded in abolishing
Christmas, although they no longer OBJ
served it openly, according to the old
chronicles. They had simply changed
the date on which it had been observed
for 3 1000 years, and observed it after the
old fasllion-on the last Thursday of
November.
The Puritans had little to make merry
with. For years they had nothing to
drink but water; and often the only
Wand was lobster, with nothing to
make salad of Then it was that the
clam made its appearance in history.
But often, when the pilgrims had made
ready feast of ground-nuts and clans,
the Indians would come and eat it. To
put stop to these breaches of etiquette
the pilgrims hanged a man, not an In
dian-that would not have been strange
or original-but they hanged one of
their own number for stealing from an
Indian. In this tragic way the clam ap-
naughty town the vender of the clam,
and even the horse who draws his load,
are often mentioned in tones of dispar-
agement; hut it is far otherwise inNew
England, where they have grand an
nual Episcopal clam bakes."
When America began to export furs
and tobacco and Goldfish, the people of
the country lived extravagantly. Bring
ing molasses from the West Indies, they
soon learned 10 make rum of it, and rum
became circulating medium; but rum
and tobacco soon vitiated the feasts of
our torefathers. Even at the meetings
of the clergy the room was often dark
with smoke of tobacco and the steam of
hot rum. If anyone supposed that in
colonial times the peogle were more
austerely virhlous than they are now,
let him examine the records of the soci
ETY.. and he would soon find the magni
tude - of his error. John Adams,
who began the temperance move
ment in this untry, records
that the price of rum was in
those times shilling a gallon, though
sometimes it was raised to pistareen,
and in small towns there would be r.
dozen rum taverns, which were alarm
ingly injurious to the people. Other
records show similar facts From read
ing Franklin's memoirs, the lecturer. in
common with others, had thought that
sage temperance man. But the saga
cious Franklin, who knew well what to
tell, omitted to state that after he be-
came prosperous gentleman he was no
longer a teetotaller.
The absurd and barbarous habit Of
drinking healths was observed in all its
rigor, but even this was to be preferred
to the slangy habits of modern times.
Later, tea and coffee came into fashion,
though chocolate. had preceded these
dainties in the popular favor, and the
chocolate was commonly boiled with
sausages and the whole mess eaten with
spoon. The coffee in olden times was
probably very bad, and even as late as
John Randolph's time there was ground
for his immoral remark: Waiter, if
this is tea, bring me coffee; il this is
coffee, brinGme tea"
In the time of the revolution, while
the army was starving at Valley Forge,
the people in the great cities were liv-
ing in luxury and extravaganza; and
later, when the commerce of the country
was pouring in wealth, the style of liv-
ing was incredibly luxurious The con-
sequences of this extravaganza were Sc
riOus. For one thing it broke up Pres
ident Washington's cabinet. Dinners
did it. The salaries of the secretaries
were all insufficient to keep up the style
of living that was thought necessary.