The Hawaiian gazette., 1885-04-01

In modern European literature the orange
had its fair share of place. Milton placed il
in Paradise, though in some confusion OF
doubt. he makes it grow on the tree Of life:
High eminent, blooming and ambrosia fruit,
OF vegetable gold
He speaks also of groves of trees:
Whose fruit FURNISHED with golded rnd'
Hung amiable, les perian fables true.
II true here only, and OF delicious taste
Many later bards have sung Of the orange,
but none more lovingly than Sidney banier,
in his "Tampa Robins" where the northern
bird carols OF Sunlight, song and ;he orange
tree:"
Burn golden globes in lcaiy ky
Ny orange planets crimson
(Bthe meteor that no mortal Fears
And thrill the heavenly orange tree
With orbits bright OF mnstsclsy.
Prose and traffic, however, are the systems
in which the golden globes" of this age move,
somewhat eccentrically at times, for the crops
are variable, and puff from "a norther may
nip the growth Of a whole southern season.
But the fruit is ever in demand, and their are
fashions in eating it to describe which might
REQUIRE chapters or volumes. The connonest
method is that Of suction, as performed by the
street arabs, who then proceed malicously to
place the rind on the pavement and watch Tor
a downfall Of man or woman typical OF that
which an orange in paradise caused. But the
rind is not always thus wickedy used. 1t
comes to us in conserves and marmalades and
cordials, ard there was u superstltlous faith
in il as a curative of physical evil, the earliest
evidence of which is to be found in Boswell's
Life of johnson" The author Of "Rasselas
planted orange trees in the Happy Valley, but
in London he used the rinds of the fruit in
some homely mysterious way that Ii not at all
satisfactorily explained by the late Mr.. Gro
ker. Boswell's own literal report, which can
be trusted above all other authorizes, says:
81 won small bet from Lady Diana Beauclerk
by asking him (Johuson) to one OF Ills Pc
culiarities, which her ladyship said l burst
not do. II seems he had, been frequently OBJ
served at the club to put into his pocket the
Seville oranges after he had squeezed the
juice Of them into the drink which he had
made for himself Beauclerk and Carrot
talked of it to me and seemed to think that he
had strange unwillingness TO be discovered. |
We could not divine what he had did with
them and this was the bold question to be put. |
saw on his table the spoils of the preceding |
night, some fresh pees nicely scraped aud cut
pieces ooh sir, said l, Il now partly see
what you do with the squeezed oranges which |
you put in your pocket at the club johnson |
Il have great love for them Boswell
And pray, sir, what do you do with them! |
You scraps them, it seems, very neatly, and |
what nextl' JohUson-'Nay, sir, you shall |
know their fate no furthur' Bos well-'Then |
the world must be left in the dark. 1t must
be said assuming a mock solemnity) he |
scraped them and let them dry, hut what |
he did with them next he could never be |
prevailed upon to tell Johuson-'Nay, sir, |
you should say it more emphatically; he could |
not be prevailed upon, even by his dearest |
friends, to tell"
What did DR.. johnson do with his orange |
peel He could not be prevailed upon to tell, |
even by his dearest friends, and the letter to |
Miss Boothby, quoted Croker, containing
supposed explanation, is too gross to be genu-
iue, for the rough philosopher was at least
chilvalrous and polished to women. He was
scrofulous, believed in the touch, aud may |
also have had some faith in dried orange peel |
as a remedial agent. Is there not among the /
medical and other learned faculties of Pbila-
delphia enough OF wise enterprise TO begin |
and pursue to the end an inquiry as to DR.. |
Johnson's propensities to pocket the skins of
Seville oranges, dry them, 'scrape them, and |
use them for a purpose that would not reveal |
even to his dearest friends Was it a murder |
GUS purpose? Was the orange peel an ingre-
dent in "hel-broih!" Concerning squeezed |
oranges, much nigh; be said, but they are |
generally despised, and this essay must avoid |
contempt aud brought TO a close before all the |
juice is squeezed out Philadelphia Bulletin. |