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Leader (1850-1860), 15th March 1856, Edition 1 of 2, Page 259

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      the story " of the Guises , to the charming records of RambouMet , where Catherine de Vivonne , lovely and learned , Who had so many languages in store That only fame could speak of her in 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 Voiture related his African adventures , where she was married after fourteen years of courtship , and where her husband broke his heart upon her death at sixty-four—though with his broken heart he hv . ed nineteen of

      years . In strong contrast to this paradise frivolity Dr . Doran paints the haunts and the ways of Falstaff , the manners of dramatic knighthood , and of stage ladies , narrates the history of the English "kings 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 Riebard Carr , Page , and Guy Faux , Esq . The tale of Henricb Von Hutten , and of certain sham knights , and a light and learned chapter on armour , complete this entertaining volume . Some quotations of Spanish hyperbole surpass the loudest rhodomontade of young America : —

      Among the Spanish Bhodomontades chronicled by Brantome , ye find none 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 hia sword ,-if the wind but blow on him too roughly , he is never able to walk , out armed without taking two or three lives . " I will hoist you so high , " says auother Spanish cavalier to his antagonist , " that you wOl 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 in a naval battle , quietly remarked that , making a thrust downwards with his sword , it passed through the sea , penetrated the infernal region , and sliced off a portion of the moustache of Pluto ! "If that man be a friend of yours , " said a cavalier to a companion , referring at the same time to a swordsman with whom the cavalier had had angry Words , " pray for Ms soul , for he has quarrelled with me . " What follows is better : —¦

      Some of the old Spanish cavalier 3 used to maintain that their very beauty dazzled their enemies . However this may have been , it is a fact that the beauty of Qaleozo Maria , Duke of Milan ; was sufficiently striking to save Mm for a while against the daggers of conspirators . One of these , named Lampiignano , longed to slay him , but did ' not dare . He was , nevertheless , resolved ; and he employed a singular means for giving himself courage , fie procured a faithful portrait of the handsome duke , and every time he passed rfc , he looked stedfastly at the brilliant eyes and graceful features , and then plunged his dagger into the canvass . He continued this ^ practice until he fouaid himself enabled to look the living duke in the face without being dazzled by Ms beauty ; and this done , he dealt his blow steadily , and destroyed his great and graceful foe . An abundance of anecdotes and quaint and picturesque illustrations renders Dr . Doran ' s volume very pleasant reading .

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      the mouied holders of grain to sell . Another evU , resulting from the system is , that it makes the Government dangerously responsible to the people ; a failure of the cereal carops is sjraonyinous with the overthrow of a dynasty . It was the knowledge of t < his delicate connexion between the people and their rulers 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 mega of ; hut whatever their Government undertakes it carries out triumphantly ; and , on the contrary , that whatever private enterprise attempts in this country it succeeds in j whereas , in "France , private association or private enterprise invariably foils . It is probably owing to this cause that we never apprehend a deficiency in the food supply . "Whereas , on the Con ^ tinent , the commissariat of the nation is regulated on the same principles as the commissar iat 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 Legion . Yet if a person were to ask who manages the supplies?—whc » sees to the markets being sufficiently stocked ? - —who under takes that the nation shall not starve ? The answer would be , " Nobody does ; " and in 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 an-d separate hands ? Suppose they should cease suddenly to make their usual purchases , who is answer ? able ? Ought the Government of any country to leave the staple article of human subsistence to the caprices and the chances of commercial speculation ? These questions , menacing as they seem in appearance , are ex * ceediagly futile . Experience shows that the laws on which commercial enterprise 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 .

      Manv attempts-have been made to acquire correct estimates of the quantities of food consumed in London . The official . tables of the Board of Trade , commercial returns , population averages , personal expenses , have been made the bases of calculation ; but the results are very unsatisr factory . Yet many curious facts have been elicited , and exhibit the wonderful capacity of the metropolitan stomach . " One railway company alone—the Eastern Counties-r-brought to London 22 , 000 tons of 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 , 1 S 8 siacks of wheat , 3 , 414 sacks of barley , 1 , 374 sacks of oats , 1 , 052 sacks of seed , 353 toils of country-killed meat , 193 tons of fish , 94 tons of poultry and game , 133 tuns of beer , 5 , 594 sheep > 545 oxen , 181 pigs , 10 , 600 quarts of milk , and 2 , 400 loaves of iread ; besides 6 , 000 turkeys , which formed part of the contents of 17 > 209 parcels sent up by passenger train . "

      THE FOOD OF LONDON . The Food of London . By George Dodd . Longman and Co . It is considered that 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 well 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

      olhce of furnishing to this enormous host their daily rations . Any considerable failure in the supply , even for a single day , miglit 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 o a public holiday . To show how requisite it is that every portion of the purveying machinery should be kept in regular play , and how enormous ore the consequences when a wheel becomes disarranged , Mr . Dodd looks at the subject from an inverse point of view . " The people of England , " says 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 fulfi l 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 aronoa ; but what if the soldiers had neither stoves nor fuel ? It was proper to send salt beef and pork ; but what if there were no facilities for dressing it ? It was considerate to send flour and biscuits , and Christmas gifts of all kinda ; but what if there were neither horses nor waggons to convey them from the ships to the camp ? " And , lie might have added , roads for the waggons to run upon . is this

      So important subject that in several countries of Europe the Government itself interferes , and undertakes to become the purveyor of the nation . In France , in particular , this system has been largely developed . Both butchers and bakers are under Government co ' ntrol . The prices of bread and meat are regulated b y authority . In Paris and other towns , shops tor the sale of tliese articles are established in districts marked out according to the number of the population , and no butcher or baker can set up a rival business without the permission of the police . But what ore the results ? l > oes this system keep down prices ? , £ > oca it proaervo the quality of the tood ? Does it prevent trickery and dishonesty in the sellers ? By no means . is emcacious the

      m . noc even m Keeping pneo ot meat in ita proper ratio to the amount of live stock in the country ; and it ia notorious that during the " » gh prices of lust year tho Government was not able to prevail upon

      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 . From it we learn that the United Kingdom contains four-and-a-half million acres under wheat crop , the total value of which is ahout ^ 40 , 000 ^ , that we require besides this something like «? £ l 0 , O 0 O , O 00 worth of foreign wheat annually } and that this sum , converted into grain , together with the barley , oats , rye , peas , and beans , required for home consumption , equals 54 , 000 , 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 afterwards 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 , fermented 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 94 £ of fermented , and that it is more digestible than the latter . Again , it is asserted , respecting the excellence of brown bread , that it contains more of the constituents which make up bone , muscle , and fat , than white bread—that is , of the constituents which make up man , considering him as a chemical product . Professor Johnston says .

      " We give our servants household bread , while we live on the finest or the wheat ourselves ; the mistress eats that which pleases the eye more , the maid eats -what sustains and nourishes the tody more . " Thus the servant , according to him , has the best of it . In Germany bread , it appears , is frequently made of wheat-flour and beet-root . The white beet-root being the best , the red tlie next in quality , and the common mangel-wurzel tho worst . Parsnips , also , are occasionally mixed with flour to make bread . Mr . Dodd goes into the article of butchers' meat in all its branches , and displays great familiarity with his subject . Ho takes us to the cattle-shows , and explains their objects and results ; he treats of the rearing of live stock , and the . consumption of foreign cattle ; he introduces us to graziers , salesmen , drovers , and butchersj reveals their mode of doing business ; acquaints us with tho extent of the annual metropolitan sales , and notes the prices and value of London cattle . He also gives us an animated picture of what our * ' dinners * " are doing before they are brought up to town , and make their debut at Smithncld .

      " Striking is the aspect in which our London Bupply presents itself to view , when we consider tho question—how many animals are alive and growing ; at once , destined for tho London cattle-majrket ? It is supposed that , taking the average age of bullocks and sheep when brought to market at four years nud two yeara respectively , tho numbers cannot be far short of 1 , 000 , 000 bullocks and 4 , 000 , 000 sheep , thuu marked out for the metropolitan dinnertables . Some nre on the wild moors of northern { Scotland ; some are on their way to tho trystB at Fallurk . and Galloway ; some are under tho charge of railway companies , for transport to the richer soil of Suffolk and Norfolk ;

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      ' Maich 15 , iSfifi-T THE LEADSB . 2 Sg

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 15, 1856, page 259, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2132/page/19/