ODOURS AND PERFUMES. 513 
having no thought of the difficult, toilsome trampings of his 
ancestors. Sydney Smith and his associates, on first starting the 
Edinburgh Review (1802), proposed as its motto Virgil’s well- 
known line from the first Hneid—* Tenui musam meditamur 
avend ”—“ We cultivate literature on a spare diet of Oatmeal.” 
Carlyle, at Lord Ashburton’s house, ‘“ The Grange,” caught 
sight of Macaulay’s face in unwonted repose as he was turning 
over the pages of a book. “TI noticed,” said he, “ the homely 
Norse features that you find everywhere in the Western Isles, 
and I thought to myself, ‘ Well! anyone can see that you're an 
honest, good sort of fellow, made out of Oatmeal.’” Sydney 
Smith called Scotland “that garret of the earth, that knuckle- 
end of England, that land of Calvin, Oat-cakes, and Sulphur.” 
During the Commonwealth, Porridge was the nickname given by 
the Dissenters to the Book of Common Prayer. 
ODOURS, AND PERFUMES. 
Sypney Smrru declared: ‘“ God has given us wit, and flavour, 
and brightness, and laughter, and perfumes, to enliven the days 
of man’s pilgrimage, and to charm his pained steps over the 
burning marle.” That specific odours (fragrant, or the reverse) 
can exercise medicinal effects (particularly as regards meats and 
drinks) on the health of the body, is undeniable. Likewise (as 
stated elsewhere) this health can be “ remarkably preserved by 
wholesome, fragrant dishes, and drinks from the garden of fruit 
trees, all the years.” ‘‘ Such are both alimentall, and physicall ; 
they cure disease, and preserve health, discharging the body 
of the beginnings, and seeds of many diseases. This they do 
in severall respects : first, by the organs of the body ; secondly, 
by the affections of the minde. The sweet perfumes of fruits 
work immediately upon the spirits for their refreshing; but 
meat, and drink act by ambages, and length of time. Sweet, 
and healthful ayres are speciall preservatives to health, and 
therefore much to be prised. Is the carative part of physick 
so worthy, and excellent as the preservative part? It’s better 
to stand fast, than to fall, and rise again!” ‘ Physicians,” 
writes Montaigne, “might, in mine opinion, draw more use, 
and good from odours than they doe. For myselfe have often 
perceived that according unto their strength, and qualitie, they 
change, and alter, and move my spirits, and worke strange 
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