arouse him, and kindle up the slumbering fire of his genius; but such occasions on that wild theatre of revolutionary passion, were both frequent and striking. On the 3d of July, when the constitutional monarchy was tottering, and the new republic was struggling into existence; on the 2d of September, when the patriot armies were flying before the German eagles, and Paris was threatened with ruin ;—at the great trial, when the life of the king was at stake, and the capital and all France was in a whirl of tumultuous excitement ;-at the bar of the revolutionary tribunal, when himself and his friends were arraigned as traitors to their country and to liberty;-in the dungeons of the conciergerie, when the axe of the guillotine was suspended over their heads, and the roll of muffled drums announced the approach of their last hour;-these were the occasions and the themes which waked the faculties, and kindled the genius of the great orator of the Gironde. The passage in his life which seems most obvious to censure, is his indecision at the king's trial; but there are considerations even here which go far to mitigate, if not absolutely to justify. We are not able at this day by the light which history furnishes, to comprehend all the circumstances under which the Girondins acted, or to appreciate fully the motives that influenced them on this occasion, arising out of the novelty as well as the peculiar difficulties of their position. Carnot, an upright and honest, as well as a great man, voted for the king's death on the ground of political necessity. Vergniaud placed his vote on the same ground; he dared not, he said, balance the life of an individual against the welfare of the country. Vergniaud, however, went farther than Carnot did, and strived, though in vain, to avert the doom of the king.

We have already spoken of the eloquence of Vergniaud. Although his fame was built up almost in a day, it has not proved ephemeral. He is conceded to have been one of the first orators of his age. In his criticism upon the memoirs of Barrère, Mr. Macaulay, with all his national partialities, speaks in just terms of Vergniaud. No man, we are inclined to believe," he says, ever rose so rapidly to such a height of oratorical excellence; his whole public life lasted barely two years. This is a circumstance which distinguishes him from our own greatest speakers, Fox, Burke, Pitt, Sheridan, Windham, Canning. Which of these celebrated men would now be remembered as an orator, if he had died two years after he first took his seat in the House of Commons ?"

But Vergniaud's renown rests not alone upon his eloquence; it is built up also upon his patriotism, his integrity, his devotion to country, and the cause of human freedom. If he is worthy of a place by the side of Burke, and Chatham, and Sheridan, as an orator, he is worthy also of a place by the side of Russel, and Sidney, and Hampden, as the volunteer soldier of liberty-by the side of Adams, and Hancock, and Henry, as the patriot lover of his country. Associated on the historic page with names like these, the memory of Vergniaud deserves to go down to posterity.

A DESULTORY DISSERTATION ON DIETETICS.

THE Science of eating and drinking is one of the few things we all acquire by intuition, and it is a faculty that once indulged is never forgotten, but clings to us with a tenacity that lasts with life itself. A real good dinner constitutes one of the realities of life, and to a hungry stomach, is among the most agreeable of enjoyments. Few comparatively, however, regard the subject in a scientific light, or possess the refinement of fancy or educated taste essential to the luxurious indulgence of the palate of classic times; we moderns preferring to appease simply the cravings of appetite, by devoting the more solid and substantial viands to the digestive process, rather than to gratify our organs of taste by the ingenious combinations of which food is susceptible by culinary art. So universal, indeed, is the indulgence of this custom, that mankind have been divided into but two-the great classes of those who eat to live, and those who live to eat the former of course being by far the wiser part. This great family of eaters may, however, be subdivided into the following varieties:-Such as live by the "sweat of their brow," according to the Divine edict; those who luxuriate on the bounty of their hospitable neighbours, in contravention of the original law; and others who live upon half-pay," or rather merely vegetate upon the crumbs and fragments which descend from the tables of their opulent friends. All men are devotees to their dinner, be it either munificently or meagerly endowed; and all aim with equal zeal to do honor to the duty with a most exact and religious fidelity. There is an old adage which tells us that "fools make feasts and wise men eat of them;" but we are inclined to skepticism as to the validity of the maxim, for it certainly is a sage and praiseworthy thing to confer a good service on oneself, and certainly no man is in so happy and complacent a condition as he who has just partaken of a generous and substantial meal. It has been affirmed, that man partakes of the nature of the animal of which he eats; from this statement, also, we are disposed to record our dissent; for although a man may possess a prevailing penchant for mutton, for example, it does not seem to follow that he acquires in consequence any more sheepish expression, than he who indulges his preference for beef or bacon.

In discussing the carnivorous 'propensities of the species, the fact that tastes and appetites vary to an almost indefinite extent, will be apparent at a glance. Every country has, also, some peculiar habits at their repast: some, like the orientals, indulge the recumbent posture, others, like the Europeans, take their food sitting around the table. The Romans regarded their supper as their chief meal, as we do the dinner; it was styled triclinium, from three couches on which the guests reclined. The guests commonly were accustomed to lie upon the bed, leaning upon their left elbow, with their upper part raised up. There were two or three on every bed; the one at the upper end, the next with his head leaning on the other's breast, the third in the same manner. At public feasts, where many hundreds were invited, capacious couches were made, and accommodated to four or five persons at a table. Thus prepared to eat, they ornamented their heads with garlands of roses, and other pleasant flowers, to refresh their brain, and preserve it from the ill consequences of excess of drinking, and the

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powerful operation of the wine. For this purpose they also banded their heads with fillets of wool linen, to arrest the circulation of the blood in the veins of the temples, which, as they supposed, conveyed to the brain evil vapours, which disturbed it.

We learn from Gilbert's Lectures on Commerce, that the luxuries of the table commenced about the period of the battle of Actium, and continued to the reign of Galba. Their delicacies consisted of peacocks, cranes of Malta, nightingales, venison, wild and tame fowls; they were also fond of fish. The reigning taste was for a profusion of provisions; whole wild boars were served up, filled with various small animals and birds of different kinds. The dish was called the Trojan horse, in allusion to the horse filled with soldiers. Fowls and game of all sorts were served up in pyramids, piled up in dishes as broad as modern tables. Mark Antony provided eight boars for twelve guests. Caligula served up to his guests pearls of great value, dissolved in vinegar. Lucullus had a particular name for each apartment, and a certain scale of expense attached to each. Cicero and Pompey agreed to take supper with him, provided he would not order his servants to prepare anything extraordinary. He directed the servants to prepare supper in the room of the Apollo. His friends were surprised at the magnificence of the entertainment. He then informed them, that when he mentioned the name of the room the servants knew the scale of expense. Whenever he supped in the room of Apollo, the supper always cost £1,250. He was equally sumptuous in his dress. A Roman prætor, who was to give games to the public, requested to borrow one hundred purple robes for the actors. cullus replied, that he could lend him two hundred if he wanted them. The Roman furniture in their houses corresponded with their profuseness in other respects. Pliny states, that in his time more money was often given for a table than the amount of all the treasure found in Carthage when it was conquered by the Romans.

Lu

The author of " Apician Morsels" informs us, that Julius Cæsar sometimes ate at a meal the revenue of several provinces.

Vitellius made four meals a day; and, at all those he took with his friends, they never cost less than ten thousand crowns. That which was given to him by his brother was more magnificent. Two thousand select

fishes were served up, seven thousand fat birds, and every delicacy which the ocean and Mediterranean sea could furnish.

Nero sat at the table from mid-day till midnight, amidst the most monstrous profusion.

Geta had all sorts of meat served up to him in alphabetical order.

Heliogabalus regaled twelve of his friends in the most incredible manner. He gave to each guest animals of the same species with those he served them up to eat. He insisted upon their carrying away all the vases or cups of gold, silver, and precious stones, out of which they had drank; and it is remarkable that he supplied each with new ones every time they asked to drink. He placed on the head of each a crown interwoven with foliage of gold, and gave them each a superbly ornamented and well-yoked car to return home with. He never eat fish but when he was near the sea; and when he was at a distance from it, he had them served up to him in sea

water.

Towards the latter time of the republic, people were not satisfied if, in the midst of winter, roses were not seen floating on the Falernian wine, and if, in summer, it was not cooled in golden vases. It was necessary, amidst

the dangers of the sea, to go and find the rarest birds. After the conquest of Asia, female singers and batadines were introduced.

In point of profusion, nothing was equal to that which reigned at the banquet of Ahasuerus, who regaled, during sixteen months, all the princes and governors of his state, and kept open house for seven entire days, for all the people of the great town of Suza.

Excesses of this kind are of more modern date. According to Pius III., Sindrigile, Duke of Lithuania, never made a meal at which less than thirty different kinds of meat were present: and he sat six hours at his table. Cardinal S. Sixtus entertained, at a most incredible expense, the daughter of Ferdinand, king of Naples. Precious odours were given to wash in at the change of every course; and, by means of the diversity and the arrangement of the meats, the labors of Hercules, and part of Ovid's Metamorphoses, were seen represented on the table.

Peson was

Specimens of inordinate eaters and drinkers might be cited ad nauseam. Roman history furnishes us with several examples of extraordinary drinkers, which it is equally amusing to quote. Women even addicted themselves to wine; and there have been those who, at every health they drank, drank as many draughts as there were letters in their names. made prætor by Tiberius for having drank for three nights running. Flaccus obtained the province of Syria for a similar exploit. Novellus took down at one draught three large measures of wine, in presence of the same emperor.

The following are some of the most striking examples. Maximus ate sixty pounds of meat per day; Albinus swallowed in one morning three hundred figs, one hundred peaches, ten melons, twenty pounds of muscat, one hundred becfigues, and forty oysters. Phagon devoured before Aurelius a wild boar, a hog, a sheep, and one hundred loaves, and drank a pipe of wine. Domitius, an African, and Audebonte, the notorious glutton, died at table from eating too much.

Marshal Villiers had a Swiss soldier under him who was an enormous eater. The Marshal one day had him brought before him, and asked him, how many rounds of beef he could eat? "Ah! Monseigneur, I can eat a great many-five or six at least." "And how many legs of mutton?" " Legs of mutton! not many-seven or eight." "And ducks!" "Oh! ducks, not many-a dozen." "And pigeons?" "Oh! as regards pigeons, Monseigneur, not many-forty, perhaps fifty, according to appetite." "And larks -how many of them can you eat?"""Larks, Monseigneur," replied the Swiss," for ever."

While on the subject of hard eaters, we are reminded of the droll announcement of a certain parish clerk, in England, to the effect that the vestry were to meet for the purpose of eating the church and digesting other parochial matters! D'Israeli has an amusing chapter on the eating customs of various nations, from which we quote a passage or two. The Moldavian islanders eat alone; a habit which probably arises from the primitive and uncivilized custom of barbarous tribes, who fear that others who may suffer from as keen an appetite, but who have more strength of constitution, should come and ravish the whole meal! Those who inhabit the Phillippines, on the contrary, are remarkably sociable at their repasts. So strong is this feeling implanted in their rude natures, that it is stated they make it a rule, however intense their inward cravings, never to partake of their meal without a guest, even though compelled to run in search of some hungry mate. We cannot forbear, while it occurs to us, exulting in the polished

convenience of table napkins; for they are as much a positive essential as an indication of refinement and delicacy. The tables of the opulent Chinese are made to shine with a lustrous polish, and are also covered with rich silk carpets, elegantly worked and embroidered. They do not make use of plates, knives and forks; each guest has two little ivory or ebony sticks, which he handles very adroitly. It is said that in s me parts of China, when an entertainment is given, the redoubtable host exhibits his condescension and politeness by absenting himself, while his guests regale themselves at his table with undisturbed revelry. The Otaheitans, who are otherwise naturally sociable, and gentle in their manners, yet feed separately from each other. At the hour of repast the members of a family divide, as follows:two brothers, two sisters, and even husband and wife, have each their separate baskets. They place themselves at the distance of two or three yards apart, turn their backs, and eat their dinners in profound silence. Among most rude people, the habit of partaking of food and drinking at separate times seems to be very general: the custom, doubtless, took its rise from necessity, which too often rendered it imperative. Many curious modes are also in vogue, with barbarous nations, touching their method of entertaining guests. The Indians, many of their tribes, at least, divert their visitors by performing uncouth antics, and singing for their diversion while indulging in the hospitalities spread before them. The demonstrations of friendship in a rude state, have a savage and gross character, bordering also on the ludicrous. The Tartars pull a man by the ear to press him to drink, and they continue this flattering torment till he opens his mouth, when they clap their hands and dance before him with great glee. No custom is, perhaps, more amusingly absurd, than that resorted to by the Kamschatkan when he wishes to make another his friend. He first invites him to eat the host and his guest then strip themselves in a cabin, which is heated to an uncommon degree. While the visitor is devouring his food, the other busily occupies himself with stirring the fire to produce an increased intensity of warmth of his attachment and regard. The poor guest is doomed to undergo this scorching ordeal, till nature absolutely_revolts, and endurance can no longer abide the test, when they compound! In some instances, it is said, the poor victim of this ardent test of friendship positively becomes a martyr to his stomach and the fiery heat-instances being on record of death having ensued therefrom. If he survive, the stranger has, however, the right of retaliation allowed him; and he usually exacts the same from his too kind host; and this he does, with an ardor and zeal if possible increased in its intensity by his own recent involuntary sufferings. The only intelligible reason assigned for this peculiar custom is, that it affords a test of the sincerity of a friend's regard, and his power of endurance and fortitude, should his services in this respect be demanded on behalf of his worthy host. As a mark of distinguished esteem, the negroes of Ardra drink out of one cup with their friends at one and the same time. There are others who eat in a similar style; kneeling down before their guest, they cut an enormous slice from a sea-calf, then cram it with great force into the mouth of their hapless visitor, furiously crying out-there; and cutting away what protrudes from his lips, snatch and devour it with avidity.

If we turn to the natives of Greenland, we shall find their carnivorous habits tending almost exclusively to animal substances. Their dishes are, however, generally such as are not likely to be excessively provocative to any but northern palates; their greatest delicacy being in many cases part of a whale's tail, rendered soft and easy of digestion by being half-putrid, or, perhaps, a seal's carcase, in the same delicious state. Among other delectable