SS Cornucopia; 



the qnolaiion, I even found that the betic order, 

 sectaries boasted of the great number 

 ot their martyrs, and that their antago- 

 nists did not pretend to deny the fact. 



There is .scarce a prejudice, or a 

 legend, which this once popular writer 

 has not condescended to adopt, as the 

 strongest argument. 



FINANCIAL COjtPARISONS. 



The revenues oftlie Post-oflice in 1715 

 were alone equal to the whole revenues 

 of the kingdom at the restoration in 1662. 

 The revenues of Excise in 1815, were 

 27,206,000 ; which is more than six times 

 the whole oftlie revenue previous to the 

 seven jears war, and to three times our 

 revenue in 1 775, onlj forty-two years ago! 



The whole revenue in 1815 was sixty- 

 millions, whicii is more than twelve 

 times what our revenues were previous 

 to the seven years war, that is, in 1754; 

 and about thirty times wiiat they were 

 at the time King William founded the 

 Bank of England, and began the nati- 

 onal debt. 



While things have gone on so in Bri- 

 tain, nations on the continent of Europe, 

 making allowance for the general in- 

 crease of wealth, and the depreciation 

 of money, are nearly in the same situ- 

 ation with respt ct to revenue and ex- 

 penditure, that they were half a century 

 ago. National debt, and possessions in 

 the East and West Indies, are the chief 

 features that distinguish Britain from 

 •what other nations are now, or what she 

 herself was formerly, 



GOOSE. 



Diodorus Siculus (ii. 3,) mentions the 

 goose as a regular and favourite dish of 

 ^Egyptian kings. On several monu- 

 ments constructed by them, priests are 

 represented cflering' the goose in sa- 

 crifice. 



Athenaeus (xiv. 74,) records the fond- 

 Jiess of Lacedaemonians for the goose. 

 The Greeks fatted their geese with 

 figs, which much enlarged the dimen- 

 sions of the liver; such livers, called 

 erxwra, were greatly esteemed. 



The Romans not only valued tiie 

 goose as a good dish, but kept holy 

 geese, at the public expense, in honour 

 of those which saved tiie capitol. A 

 something of vulgarity became attached, 

 in imperial times, to eating goose. Pe- 

 •tl'onius says: 



" At albus anser, 



Et pictis anas enotata pennis, 



Plebeium sapit." 



According to Lampriditis, (Geta 5,) 

 the Emperor Geta had given orders to 

 his coojc to sei-ve bis dinners in alpha- 



[Aug. 1, 



To-day every dish was fo 

 begin with an a, ai:d to-morrow with 

 a b. Under him the amer had the 

 lionor of ushering in every cychis of 

 repasts. 



Alexander Scvems (Lampr. 37,) com- 

 monly dined on chicken, but added a 

 goose on solemn occasions, such as the 

 birlh-day of those worthies whom lie 

 honoured w ifh a select veneration. 



Pliny awards to iVJessalinus Cotta the 

 lionor of inventing a dish, consisting of 

 goose's fret grilled. Sed (juod cmisttit, 

 Messalinus Cotta, Mcssala oratorisfiUus, 

 palmas pedum ex his torrere, atque pa- 

 tinis cum gallinaceorutii cristis coudire 

 reperit. 



In modern times, the goose has be- 

 come consecrated to St. Martin, and 

 medals have been struck, representing 

 on one side a goose ; on the reverse, the 

 word Martinalia. Whence this singular 

 associatiim of idea? 



The festival of Saint Martin, of Tonrs, 

 is indicated in the Catholic calendars to 

 be held on the 11th November. This 

 bishop was once so popular in France, 

 that his feast had an octave, that is, was 

 celebrated a second lime the week fol- 

 lowing. And it was a rule among his 

 devotees to roast a goose for the family- 

 dinner on the day of his anniversary. 

 This festival falls exactly when geese 

 are in season; and it was always cele- 

 brated with a voracity the more eager, 

 as it occurs on the eve of the jtetit 

 careme, when fowls could no longer be 

 presented on the tables of a religious 

 age. JMartin Schocck, a Flemish monk, 

 had made it a ease of conscience, whe- 

 ther, even on the eve of the little lent, 

 it be allowable to eat goose. An liceat 

 Martinalihus auserem comedere. Exerc. 

 xvii. p. 205. But, after diving into the 

 weedy p<iol of casuistic argument, the 

 delighted devotee emerged with the per- 

 mission to roast his goose. And thus 

 the goose came to be a standing dish on 

 the continent at Martinmas, as in En- 

 gland at Michaelmas. 



Geese formed at one time so impor- 

 tant an object of rural economy, that 

 the first poulterers in France were 

 called oyers. Charlemagne had con- 

 tributed to give them a vogue by his 

 fondness for the dish, and for the animal 

 which peopled the ponds of his various 

 residences. 



Geese are rarely boiled; they are 

 u.snally roasted. They are eaten young, 

 under the name of green geese, with 

 sorrel sauce, or with apple sauce, or 

 ■with gooseberries. Tliey aie eaten adult, 

 uuder 



