The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-12-29
THE APPETITE OF KINGS.
Emperor An Enormous Eater-Bour
bon Monarchs as Trenchormen.

(From the British Medical Journal.)
Whether they reign by divine right
or by the will OF the people, Provi-
dence would seem to have endowed
royal personages with appetites In
proportion to their exalted position.
According to Motley. Charles v was
an enormous eater. "He breakfasted
at on a fowl seethed in milk and
dressed with sugar and spices. After
this he went to sleeep again. He din
ed at IL. partaking always of 20
dishes. He supped twice--frst. soon
after vespers and the second time at
midnight or o'clock, which meal
was perhaps the most solid Of the
four. After meal he ate great guam
tity Of pastry and sweetmeats and he
irrigated every repast by vast drafts
OF beer and wine.''
Roger Ascham, standing hard by
the imperial table at the feast Of the
Golden Fleece" watched with won-
der the Emperor's steady progress
through "sod beef, roast mutto1,
charred hare" after which che fed
well Of capon.' Ascham adds that
Charles drank "the best that ever I
saw; he had his head in the glass FIVE
times az long as any Of them, and
never drank less than good quart at
once Of Rhenish wine."
Naturally the nemesis Of gour anu
dyspesia's overlook him; bu,, says
Sir William Stirling. even in his worst
days Of suffering from these diseases
before setting out for Flanders, the
fullness and frequency of the meals
which occurred between his spiced
milk In the morning and his heavy
supper at night 90 amazed an envoy
of Venice that he thought them
worthy Of special notice in q dispatch
to the senate Of his republic.
In his cloister life eating was the
only physical gratifcation which the
emperor could still enjoy. To the
last he continued to dine on rich
dishes. and the supply Of his table
was the main subject of the corres-.
pondence between the major-domo
and the secretary of state. Spain and
Portsual were ransacked for fish.
partridges, sausages and other dain-
ties to please the worn-out palate OF
the Emperor, and presents Of game,
venison. beef, veal and other pro-
visions were showered upon Charles
In his retreat.
The Renaissance introduced Italian
cooks and pastry into France, and the
banQuets Of Henri III recall those Of
Heliogabalus. It IL related that at
one Of them Catherine de Medici, the
Queen Mother, ate 80 much that she
was Ill almost unto death. ~
Louis XIV had a truly kingly ap-
petite. He often took at one meal
four platefuls Of different soups, a
pheasant, a partridge, a large platsy
ful of pastry, fruits and hard-boifed
eggs. 1t is no wonder that the Jour-
nal de la Sante du Roi. diary kept
by his physicians till within a few
years OF his death. Is a long record of
indigestion. intestinal storms and at
tacks Of gout, with constant physick-
ing. blysters and bleeding.
| Fagon succeeded In getting the
King to submit to dieting, but even
then he would eat, in ADDITION to
toast and pigeon soup. three-roast
chickens.
The Bourbons were nearly all
mighty trenchermen.
In our own day there are or were
royal personages worthy to feast with
Charles v. In can Onlooker's Note
Book" attributed to G. w. E. Russell,
which appeared some years ago,
there Is the following passage:
can illustrious couple arranged to
pay Q. two nights visit at a country
house of which the owners were
friends Of mine. For reasons of ex-
pediency we will call the visitors the
duke and duchess. though that was
not their precise rank. When a thou
sand preparations too elaborate to be
described here had been made for the
due entertainment of them and their
suite and their servants the private
secretary wrote to the lady of the
house inclosing a written memoran-
dun Of his masters and mistress re-
quirements in the way Of meals.
"The day began with cups Of tea
brought to the bedroom. While the
duke was dressing an egg beaten up
with sherry was served to him not