Captain Elliot is now attached to the squadron commanded by commodore Chauncey on Lake Ontario, and has signalized himself in such a manner, as to have received the most marked acknowledgments from that gallant and intrepid officer. The private life of captain Elliot affords a delightful and reposing contrast to that character in which we have all along seen him invested. The warm and generous friend, the kind and hospitable companion, and the affectionate husband, are, at such seasons, all that remain of him who in the chace of fame is so prodigal of existence. He then cultivates assiduously all the tender charities of life, and veils from sight, the noble stock round which they twine for support, by the intervening blossoms. The heart that no danger could move, yields to the slightest touch of compassion. Thus the proud oak, when tempests rage on high, FOR THE PORT FOLIO. LETTER ON COOKERY AND EATING. MR. OLDSCHOOL, I HAVE for some time furnished my friend, the editor of the Emporium with some desultory papers connected with the science of cooking food, the science of eating it to the best advantage, and the science of drinking with as much pleasure as is consistent with the enjoyment of health: for I am of opinion, that a man is unwise who purchases pleasure too dear, or as Franklin expresses it, who pays too much for his whistle. Indeed, I do not know a more important object of inquiry to a traveller, than the meals of the people through whose country he journeys. I know not a more faithful exponent of the state of knowledge, or the character of the government. You are invited to dinner at the house of a person of fashion-where can you havo so good an opportunity of observing the state of refinement, and the height to which the manufactures of equipage, of dress, of furniture, of articles of use as well as of decoration, are carried in the country? Is not the actual state of the gold and silver trade, of the pottery, the glass ware, the cabinet work, the silk, the woollen, the cotton manufactures, the printing, the dyeing, the painting, the varnishing, the gilding, &c. displayed at once, and examinable by a single coup d'œil? As to the government of a country: let our traveller after viewing the luxuries common in the higher ranks of society, attend to the meals of the middling classes and the poor. If he find pleasurable refinement carried to an excessive height in the first case, while, in the last, the difficulty of subsistence borders upon actual starving, and the numerous classes of society gradually dividing themselves, at the expense of the middle ranks, into the poor and the rich, will he not say, that such a government, however plausible in theory, is bad in practice. However abounding the country with science and wealth, it is unwisely managed for the great purposes of society, the comfortable subsistence, and reasonable happiness of the great mass of individuals who compose it-that, however powerful abroad, such power is purchased too dear, when it produces misery at home? I greatly fear these remarks will apply to the most scientific, the most powerful, the most energetic nation now known: a nation, where there is more individual wealth, more individual industry, and more individual knowledge than is to be found, in any other portion of the globe -the British nation. But where, at the present day, at the same time, in the immediate vicinity of exquisite refinement, and unbounded riches, there dwells the most abject state of poverty. Where every energy, mental and bodily, of the great mass of the people, is strained to the very uttermost, and where such exertion is absolutely necessary to ensure even an existence; where the objects of taxation, and the amount of assessment, are so numerous and complicated as to form a science sui generis of no common difficulty, and where an eighth of the whole population are absolutely and literally paupers. Should our traveller, crossing the Atlantic, come here, and observe the universal prevalence of meat and fish breakfasts and suppers, among the poorest of society, the consumption of animal food, in some shape or other, three times a day-the convenient furniture in the commonest habitations, and the numerous families of young children throughout the whole country, exhibiting marks of plenty impossible to be mistaken-he may feel some dislike to the harshness of outline in the manners of the populace; he may turn with disgust from the incessant din of political disputation; he may not, approve of so much of the doctrine of equality as marks our manners, and he may smile, perhaps, at occasional features of national egotism; but he must see, that the great end of society, the comfort of the people, is, some how or other, more ef fectually secured here than elsewhere. I confess myself decidedly hostile to the ancient mode of writing history. The details of battles, the harangucs of generals to their armies, the bloody pages of eternal warfare, afford little instruction, but inspire me with great disgust. With me, the objects of history, are to know in what manner the various forms of government have been founded, altered, or subverted: which of them in their day produced the greatest amount, not of national glory, but of comfort to the individuals composing the nation: what were the defects of the best governments, and in what way can their good and bad qualities be made use of to present advantage, so as to profit by their excellence, and avoid their defects. Next to this, the object of inquiry with me, is what are the arts and the sciences that are most productive of national improvement, and best calculated to spread comfort and convenience, use and plenty, through all classes of society. Let others live for their own motives and with their own views; as plentifully, as comfortably, as happily, as I can. with Virgil, in his compliment to Rome, Hæ tibi erunt artes, Parcere subjectis et debellare superbos. I want to live I do not say Give me the wish of le bon roi Henri quatre," may each peasant in my dominions have his turkey for dinner on Sunday." Inquiries, therefore, into the domestic comforts, manners, customs, and modes of living-into the dress, the houses, the furniture of the ancients, and into their modes of cooking too, are with me investigations of far more interest, than to trace the course of Hannibal over the Alps, or count the millionssacri ficed to the ambition of Cæsar. Hence, the private life of the ancients appears to me far from being an ignoble or useless subject. I have, therefore, now and then, turned my views to that part of it which relates to their cookery. As the Emporium has been unable to stem the torrent of war, I offer you some occasional dissertations on that subject, which I had originally intended for that work. The description of the supper of Trimalchio by Petronius, is not commonly known, though familiar to the learned. I have translated it, as giving a picture of Roman luxury in its highest but worst style. It is possible that Petronius meant to satirize Nero, but of this there is no decided evidence. Yours, EPICURI DE GREGE PORCUS. FOR THE PORT FOLIO. To the readers of the Port Folio we offer, without comment, the following learned and interesting article. To most of them, we are persuaded, it will be new, many of them will derive from it information which they will deem, in no inconsiderable degree, valuable, and they will all, we trust, find in it something curious, instructive, and entertaining-something to fill up pleasantly and usefully, one of those numerous intellectual vacuities which necessarily occur even in minds the most active, although stored with the greatest abundance and variety of knowledge. It presents, as far as it goes, a faithful miror of the state of manners that prevailed among the wealthy and voluptuous Romans, in the days of their decline-a perfect picture of the costly and magnificent Symposium, to which those masters of the world were so passionately devoted, when luxury and vice were fast preparing them to experience, in their turn, the yoke of the conqueror We do not hesitate to say, that to those who are ambitious of an acquaintance with the real state of society, among the people of ancient Rome and her eastern colonies-decidedly one of the most important objects of her history-the supper of Trimalchio will be a much more valuable and interesting article, than the most minute and circumstantial account of the conspiracy of Cataline, the battle of Pharsalia, or the assassination of Cæsar. Hence the good sense and sound decision of the antiquary, who declared, that he would give more to know how Cæsar supped and spent his evenings, than how he spoke in the senate chamber or fought in the field. ED. THE SUPPER OF TRIMALCHIO, FROM PETRONIUS. Tandem ergo discubuimus, &c. At length we took our places on the sopha, when some slaves of Alexandria poured water, cooled with snow, on our hands and feet, and cleansed our nails with great dexterity. This was done, the slaves singing all the while. I was determined to ascertain if the whole family (of slaves) sung: I asked for something to drink, which was quickly brought by a boy, who entertained me with a song in a voice as shrill as any of them. So that one would have taken the place to belong to a keeper of pantomimes, rather than to the master of a family. The relish (gustatio) which was in the first style, was now brought in. All the guests were seated except Trimalchio, for whom, by a new fashion, the first seat was kept vacant. The pro-、 mulsis or vessel which held the relish, was a large turenne or basin, whereon was the figure of an ass, wrought in Corinthian brass; it contained two compartments that dropped down like purses or baskets, the one holding unripe, the other ripe olives. It was covered with silver covers, on which were engraven the name of Trimalchio, and the weight of the vessel. On plates, supported by bridges cemented to them, were dormice dressed with honey and sprinkled with pepper. There were also sausages on silver chafing dishes; and beneath, were prunes of Daniascus, with seeds of pomegranate. While we were thus employed, the entrance of Trimalchio was announced with music. The cushions of his couch were very small, which occasioned some thoughtless persons to laugh. Indeed, he had covered his shaven head with a scarlet cloth, and round his shoulders, thus incumbered, he had thrown a purple mantle, ornamented with tassels. On the little finger of his left hand he wore a large gilt ring; on the last joint of the next finger, he had a gold ring, smaller indeed, but studded with polished steel. Lest this should not be finery enough, he exhibited the wrist of his right arm, ornamented with a golden bracelet set in ivory. Picking his teeth with a silver tooth pick," my friends, says he, abI was not inclined to come so early to the repast; but lest my sence might be a delay to you, I deprived myself of indulgence: Give me leave, however, to finish a game I had begun." |