The age-herald., 1898-01-08
FOND OF GOOD LIVING.


 The present generation has almost con- founded the great French gourmand, Bril- lat-savarin, with the ordinary French chef who now pervades the civilized world to so great degree, holding him to be- noth- ing more than a precursor of a somewhat more elevated type, of this his modern brother. But history gives a negative to this assumption. Brillat-Savarin was not a cook at all in the sense in which Carme or Robert were cooks. Nor was he the keeper of a tavern or eating house, like so many others who have entitled themselves to the gratitude of their hungry fellows. On the contrary, this illustrious Ffenchman was first and above all a literary man who has left in his "Physiologie de Gout monument to his learning and industry In the realm of all that pertains to eating and the pleasure of the table, giving life to the anecdotes of ancient historians by mingling their remarks with the modern jests of the society in which he moved
 Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, or Brillat de Savarin, as he sometimes styled himself, was born at Belley in the Ain, April l, 1755. He filled out a good seventy-one years of activity in several directions with credit to his country, and passed away in Paris Feb. 2, 1926. A tall man, whose excellent health persisted to the last, and, above everything, man of great good nature, he was almost entirely free from the pangs 6 was devoted to his studies, and, best of al, , was left a competency sufficient to meet every want. He became a lawyer, pos sessed himself of an adequate practice, and lived a jovial, contented country life until he was 34 years old. All this time he was eating-and eating for more than his own selfish advantage; for 1t is from this period that some of his most precious recipes for the preparation of lucious and digestible dishes are to be traced. Among these are nrfin 1arlxr 1,.,f~ pheasant, an omelette with tunny and sev- eral more.
 When the revolution burst upon France 1t changed nearly everything, the current of Brilat-Savarin' life with the rest His many loyable qualities had endeared him to those who were now learning to style themselves his fellow citizens, and they sent him to the constituent assembly in Paris accordingly He was probably a bet ter eater than lawmaker, for nothing re- mains in the records of the legislative body to which he was accredited to prove his usefulness. But he satisfied his own peo- pie, nevertheless, for, when he returned to them he was promptly elected president of the civil tribunal of his department. In 1793 they chose him to be the mayor of his na- tive town This work proved to be unsuit- ed to him. So. to avoid further honors, he bethought himself of travel. Switzer- land was very near, and thither he first resorted; but his journeys were sufficiently extended and prolonged to include two years in the United States, and the pages wherein he records his impressions of America are among the best he ever wrote, both for sprightliness of description and accuracy of observation.
 The directory was at the height of it's power when he returned to his native land The manner of his departure had worked confscation of his estates. Friends there fore procured for him the position of secre- tary on the staff of the armies of the re- public of Germany. Then he became com missary of the government in the depart ment of Seine-et-Oise. Finally the sen ate made him counselor in the court of cessation for the term of his natural life, and there he was henceforth to be found during his hours of labor, devoting his leisure the while to the elaboration of his great work on the physiology of taste.
 Some of the aphorisms in this large vol ume-there is only one complete transla- tion into English-have passed into prov erbs. 1.-The discovery of a new dish is more beneficial to humanity than the dis covery of a star," is one of these. "The destiny of nations depends upon the man. ner in which they take their food" is an- other. This sounds well, and is not so trite, Dessert without cheese is like a pretty girl with only one eye." "The dys- peptic and the drunkard enjoy neither food nor drink" is true as truth. Common sense shines in this: Good living is an act of our judgment by which we grant a preference to those things which are agreeable to our taste above those which lack that quality" Western Americans, more particularly, may not agree with him here: "To say that we should not mix our liquors is a heresy. The tongue is easily sated. After the third glass, the finest wine gives but obtuse sensation" '"To wait too long for tardy guest is want of consideration for those who were punc- tual,' is a rule too often forgotten. And, as behooves one of his race, the good Bril- lat-Savarin was nothing if not gallant. 'The Parisian charter is in five words" he says. What woman wills, God wills"