178 WOLF-HUNTING. 



of which city it is, at all seasons, a popular dish. The fish 

 chiefly preferred for it is the dab, but in Paris all kinds of 

 pond-fish are pressed into the service ; and so good was it held 

 to be by Thackeray, who was in the habit of feasting on 

 bouillabaisse at Terre's Tavern, Rue Neuve des Petits Champs, 

 that his muse absolutely cantered into rhyme on the merits of 

 " the rich and savoury stew," for which, he says, 



" A Cordelier or Benedictine 



Might gladly, sure, his lot embrace, 

 Nor find a fast-day too afflicting, 



Which served him up a bouillabaisse." 



" When Louis XIV. dined with his cousin the Prince de Conde 

 at Chantilly," observed M. Villemarque, " Vatel, the chef -de-cuisine, 

 failing to obtain suitable fish for the banquet, in a fit of despera- 

 tion fell, like Cato, on his own sword ; but, surely, had the artist 

 served up a dish of bouillabaisse, the fish for which might have 

 been caught at any moment in the reservoir hard by, he might 

 have acquired additional fame, instead of committing self-murder." 



" True," replied M. Coste ; "but, unfortunately, the dish is of 

 modern invention, and was not known in the days of the Grand 

 Monarque." 



" Then a man of such genius as Vatel should have improvised 

 it in the emergency," said Villemarque, whose acquaintance with 

 the history of French dishes was evidently not on a par with his 

 knowledge of dry bones or a Celtic ballad, the data of which he 

 could fix with rare accuracy. 



When the present Lord Chief Justice of England was engaged 

 as counsel on a great mining case in South Wales, in addressing 

 the jury it devolved on him to comment on the evidence given 

 by Dr. Buckland, the eminent geologist, and, if possible, to 

 weaken it by ridicule. So, assuming an air of gravity and doubt 

 in his countenance, he said : " You have heard, gentlemen, the 

 evidence of the learned professor, who has told you far more 



