Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-25

pleases: and though this should be
very indifferent and utterly disagree
able to the taste Of his company. they
must not find any fault: nay, on the
contrary. good breeding forces them
outwardly to approve and to com
mend what il set before them.
Now the contrary of this happens
to the master of an ordinary unnl.
Men who nav for what they eat Will
insist on gratifying their palates; how
ever nice and even whimsical these
may prove: and, if everything ts not
agreeable to their taste, will challenge
a right to censuM. to abuse ana 10
d-n their dinner without control.
'ro prevent, therefore, giving OF
tense to their customers by any such
disappointment. 1t hath been usual
with the honest and well-meanine host
/ to provide a bill Of fare which all per
sons may peruse at their first entrance
into the house: and having thence &C
auainted themselves with the enter
tainment which they may EXPECT may
either stay and regsle with what ~
provided for them. or may depart 10
some other ordinary better accommo'
dated to their taste
Fielding says that he Will not only
prefix a general bill OF fare TO MS
whole entertainment, but will likewise
give the reader particular biiis OF rare
to every course served up.
The provision, then, which we nave
here made IL no other than Human
Nature" declares he. The learned
reade~ cannot he ignorant, he amrms'
that there is such a prodisious variety
in human nature that COOK VIII
have sooner gone through all the sew
eral species Of animal and Vegetapie
food In the world than an author VIII
be able to exhaust so extensive SUD
ject
1t can be seen. then. plainly In these
few lines, that tom Jones is I" ne
q substant dish. smacking of ma
terial things, fixed firmly in the sou :
without much pretense to dellcacN. IL
the reader chooses to read on, he does
so at his own risk.
Even the hearty Fielding appre
hended this objection, for ne lmmeoi
ately declares: AN objection may per
hans be unprecedented from the more
delicate, that this dish Ia too common
and vulgar: for what else Is the SUP
ject of all the romances, movers plays
and poems with which the stails
ahound?"
Here indeed. our author rather
ONefAnOOtS tne marx IOi hc w o.
admits that his own concoctloh IL
ractically the same as all otner read
ing dishes. But to continue:
MANY exquisite viands might ne
rejected by the epicure. II it was
sufficient cause for his contemnine
Of them az common and vulgar that
something was to be found In the most
paltry alleys under the same name.
In reality, true nature is as an
ficult to be met with in authors 3
the Bayonne ham. or Bologna 50 usage,
is to be found I'm the shops
He feels. but does not say: True
human nature. however, is TO be met
with in my writings. You have come
to the right shop. this time. good
reader" Such la the natural egotism
Of the real writer.
Fielding insta a great cook who
began his feasts by first setting plain
things before his hungry guests. ris-
ing afterwards to the very Quintes.
sence Of "a uce and spices"
In like manner, he declares. we
shall represent human nature at first
to the keen appetite of our reader,
in that more plain and simple manner
in which 1t is found in the country.
and shall hereafter hash and ragoo ii
with all the high French and Italian
seasoning OF affects ton and vice
which courts and cities afferd."