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Ma*€h IS, lSff&l THE LMDII, 2^
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THE POOD OF LONDON". The Food of London....
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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S^Gjgasri^^^I^Tssk's Pwnsantrti Hte Ssft...
the story of the Guises * , to the charming records of Ramtouillet , where Catherine de Vivonnej . lovely and learned , s Who had so many languages in store That only fame could speak . of her hx more , lived like a Peri in a-cabinet chateau , lined with sky-blue velvet ,. where Julie D'Angennes sat as Diana in an assembly of gods and goddesses listening while Venture related his African , adventures , where she was married after fourteen years of eourtship , and where her husband broke his heart upon her death at sixty-four—though with- his broken heart he lived nineteen
years . In strong contrast to this paradise of frivolity Dn Dorau paints the haunts and the ways of Falstaff , the manners of dramatic knighthood , and of stage ladies , narrates the history of the English Icings so far as it concerns their " chivalry , " discusses " the institution of a gentleman , " amasses anecdotes of knight-making—including that of the Irish prince , who was knighted at seven years of age , and those of Richard Carrj Page , and Guy Faux , Esq . The tale of Henrich Von Hutten , and of certain sham knights , and alight and learned chapter on armour , complete this entertaining volume . Some quotations of Spanish hyperbole surpass the loudest rhodomontade of young America : — 1
Among the Spanish Rliodomontades chronicled by Brantom © , we findnone that have not reference-to personal valour : There is the choleric swordsman who walks the streets without his weapon , for the good reason that his hand is so ready to fly to his sword , if the "wind but blow on him too roughly , he ia never able to walk out armed without taking two or three lives . " I will hoist you so high , " says another Spanish cavalier to his antagonist , " that you will die before you can reach the earth again . " It . was A . fellow of the same kidney who -used not only to decapitate dozens of Moorish heads every morning , but was wont afterwards to fling them so high into the air , that they were half-devoured by flies before they came down again . Another , boasting of his feats rn a naval battle > quietly remarked , that , making a . tbrusb down-wards with his sword , it passed through the sea , penetrated the infernal region ; and sliced off a portion of the moustache of Pluto ! tc Ifthat man be a friend of yours / ' said a-cavalier , to a companion '; referring afc the same time to a swordsman with wlom the cavalier had had angry words , " pray for his soul , for he has quarrelled -with me . " What follows is better : —
Some of the old Spanish cavaliera used to maintain that their very beauty dazzled their enemies . However this may have been , it is a fact that the beauty of < 5 aleozo Mai * ia , Duke of Milany was sufficiently striking "to save him for a while-against the daggers of conspirators . One of these , named \ Lampugnaiio , longed to slay him , but did nob dare . He was , nevertheless ; resolved ; and he employed a singular means for giving himself' courage . He procured a faithful portrait of the handsome duke , and every time he passed it , he looked stedfastly at the brilliant eyes and graceful features , and then plunged , his dagger into the canvass , He continued this practice until he found himself enabled to look the 1 living dufcein the face -without vbeing dazzled by big-beauty ; and this- done , lie dealt his blow steadily , and destroyed his great and graceful foe . An abundance of anecdotes and quaint' and picturesque illustrations renders Dti Doran's volume very pleasant reading .
Ma*€H Is, Lsff&L The Lmdii, 2^
Ma * € h IS , lSff & l THE LMDII , 2 ^
The Pood Of London". The Food Of London....
THE POOD OF LONDON " . The Food of London . Bydeorge Dodd . Longman and Co . It- is considered tliat London contains-two millions and a half of inhabitants , and that upwards of nine hundred millions of rations are requisite to meet their annual wants . We may ( gyell be startled , and ask whence can be procured enough to fill this bottomless abyss of hunger . Judging by our daily experience , however , we find a beautiful regularity in the machinery employed for purveyance ; that the equilibrium of supply and demand is preserved with the greatest nicety ; and that not merely are these nine hundred millions of rations duly supplied , but that they are infinitely varied to gratify the most capricious palate .
. Let any one , " says Archbishop Whateley , " propose to himself the problem of supplying with daily provisions of all kinds such a city as our metropolis . Let him imagine himself a head commissary , entrusted with the office of furnishing to this enormous host their daily rations . Any considerable failure in the suppl y * even for a single <} ay , might produce the most frightful distress . " Even so recently as the Christmas-of 1854 , it will be recollected , the difficulty of providing in advance for so large a mass as the population of London for three consecutive « days , frustrated the design of a public holiday . To show bow requisite it is that every portion of the purveying machinery should be kept in regular play , and how enormous are the consequences when a wheel becomes disarranKed , Mr : Dodd looks at the subject from an
inverse point of view . "The people of England , " saya he , speaking of the mournful episode in the Crimea in-1854-5 , " provided munificently for the wants of the soldiers ! The- Government officers , each in his separate capacity endeavoured to fulfil the duties of his office honestly ; yet , if anything disturbed the harmonious action of this delicate machine , how sad were the results ! It was well intended to send coffee raw instead of roasted , to retain the aroina ; but what if the soldiers had neither stoves nor fuel ? It was proper to send salt beef and porkj but what if there were no facilities tor dressing it ? It was considerate to send flour and biscuits , and Christmas gitts of all kinds ; but what if there were neither horses nor waggons to convey them from the ships to the camp ? " And , he might huve added ; roada tor the waggons to run upon . b
o important is this subject that in several countries of Europe the Government itself interferes , and 'undertakes to become the purveyor of the nation . An A ' ranoe , in particular * this system has been largely developed . Both butchers and bakers are under-fcovernment control . The prices of bread and meat arc regulator ! by authority . In Paris and other towns , shops tor the sale of these articles are established in-districts marked , out according to the number of the population , and no butcher or baker can sot up n rival business without the permission of the police . But what are th « rcsulta ? Does this system ke « p down prices ? koea it preaervo the quality of the food ? Does it prevent trickery and dishonesty ia the sellers ? By no means . it is not even clncaciaua m keeping the price of meat in its proper ratio to the amount of live stock in the country ; and it ia notorious that during the nigh prices of last year the Government was not able to prevail upon
the momed holders * of grain too sell . Another evil , resulting - from ; the system , isi that it makes the-Government dangerousl y ' responsible to the people ; a failureof the eereal crops is--synonymous with the overthrow of a dynasty . It ? was < the knowledge o-f / this > delicate connexion * between" the people and their ritlerd-that ' induced > the Emperor to gamble in political economy by fixing an > uniform / price of , bread , whatever ' rise took place in the price of wheat . The French- ^ say that whatever the English ? Government undertakes to do it makes a mess of ; but whatever their Grovernnient" undertakes it carries out triumphantly ; and , on the contrary , that whatever private enterprise attempts in this-conratry it succeeds ixr . ; whereas , in Tr-ancey private association or private enterprise invariably fails ; It is pTobably owingito' this cause that we never apprehend a deficiency in the food supply . " Whereas , on the
Continent , the commissariat of the nation is regulated on the same principles as the commissariat of an army , and all depends'upon the vigilance and promptitude of one man and his * agents * the purveyors for the British people are many and their name Leg-ion . Yet if a person wereto asfcwho manage * the supplies ?—who sees to the markets being'sufficiently ' stocked ? - -who undertakes that the nation shall not starve ? The answer' womTdi be , * ' Nobody does ; " and ia one sense it is true Nobody does in particular ; Hundreds and thousands having no connexion one with the other , ' ignorant of'their neighbour ' s transactions ') are engaged in this mighty work . But is-there not ' danger in depending upon so many distinct ; and separate- hands ? Suppose they should cease suddenly to make their usual purchases , who is ^ nsweri able ? Ought the Government of any country to leave th « staple article of human subsistence to the- caprices and the chances of commercial speculation ? These questions , menacing as they seem , in appearance , are ex- ceedingly futile . Experience shows that the laws on -which commercialenterprise is based are fixed and certain ; that they move with ; the regularity
of the sun ¦; and that they never fail when left free in' their operations . Many attempts have been made to acquire correct estimates of the = quantities of food consumed in London . The official tables of the Board of Trade , commercialreturns , population averages , ' personal emp * nses , have ' been , made the bases of calculation ; but the results are very unsatisfactory . Yet many curious- facts have-been elicited , and exhibit thewonderful capacity of the metropolitan stomach . " One railway com - pany aloiie—the Eastern . Counties—brought to London 22 , 000 tons o f solid food in 1853 ; and the-Christmas week ' s conveyance by the same' company ^ even at a time when the trade was not so fully developed , was in-one year ? as follows *—7 , 447 sacks of flour , 11 , 546 sacks of malt * 3 , I £ 8 sacks of wheat ; 3 , 414 sacks of barley 1 , 374 sacks of oats , 1 , 052 sacks of seed , 353 tons of country-killed meat , 193 tons of fish , 94 tons of poultry and game ; , 133 ttin ' sof beeri 5 , 594 sheep , ; 545 oxen , 1 M pigs , 10 , 600 quarts of milk , and 2 , 400 > loaves of bread | hesid « s 6 , 000 turkeys , which formed part of the contents ^ of 17 , 209 parcels sent up > by passenger train-. "
Much curious information respecting the grain crops , _ the importation of corn , the metropolitan granaries * speculators , salesmen ; millers , bakers , flourmills , biscuit-mills , and the system of bread making and baking , is also conveyed in this useful volume . Prom- it we learn that the United Kingdomcontains four-and-a-half million acres under wheat crop , the < total value of which is about J = MO , 0 f t 0 jO 0 O r that : we require besides this something like * i £ 10 , 000 , 000 worth of foreign wheat annually ; and that this sura , converted ^ into grain , together with the barley , oats , rye , peas , and beans , required for home consumption , equals 54 , 009 , 000 quarters , or something like 8 bushels for each person per annum .
It was-supposed when the duty was taken off imported corn that its admission into our markets would be free and easy . But , say that a corn ship leaves New York for London . Before reaching the Thames it has to meet a bill of charges , comprising winnowing , measuring delivery , brokerage , insurance * commission , and freightage ; and afterwands primage , entry , city dues , metage , lighterage , porterage , granary rent , fire insurance , turning , factorage , commission , guarantee , interest , and petty charges . It would be impossible to go into the question of white and brown bread , fernwmted and unfermented breads ; yet it is a subject which deserves some attention , both in a sanitary and ,-monetary point of view . For example , it is stated that a sack of flour will make 100 ^ 41 b
loaves of unfermented bread against 941 of fermented , and that it is more digestible than the latter . Again , it is asserted , respecting the excellences of brown bread , that it contains more of the constituents wluch make up bone , muscle , and fat , than white bread—that is , of tlie constituents which make up man , considering him as a chemical produot . Professor Johnston says , " We give our servants household bread ; while' we live- on the finest of the wheat ourselves ; the mistress eats that which pleases the eye more * the maid eats what sustains and nourishes the body more / ' Thua the servant , nccording to him , has the- best of it . In Germany , bread , it appears , is frequently made of wheat-flour an « l beet-root . The white beet-root being the best ; the red the next in quality , and the common mangel-wurzel fclic worst . Parsnips , also , are occasionally , mixed with flour to make bread .
Mr . Dodd goes > into the article of butchers' meat in all its branohes > and displays grent familiarity with his subject . He takes , us to the cattle-shows , and explains their objects and results- ; he treats of the roaring of live stock * and the consumption of foreign cattle j he introduces us to graziers , salesmen , drovers , and butchers ; reveals their mode of doing Tmsiness ; acquaints us with the' extent of the annual metropolitan sales , and notes the prices and value of London cattle . He Also gives us- an animatod picture of what our dinners" are doing before they are brought up to town , and make their debut at Smithfteld .
" Striking ia the aspect in which our London supply presents itself to vicw < when we consider the question—how many animnla arc alive and growing at once , destined for the London cattle-market ? It is supposed that , taking ? the average ago of bullocks and . sheep when brought to market at four years and two yenrs respectively , the numbers cannot be far short of 1 , 000 , 000 bullocks and 4 / Q 0 t ) , <) 00 sheep , thua marked out for the metropolitan uinwertables . Some arc on the wild moors of northern ) Scotland j some are on their way to the trysts at Falkirk and Galloway ; sorao are under the charge of railway companies , for transport to the richer aoil of Suffolk and Norfolk ;
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 15, 1856, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15031856/page/19/
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