COOKERY COOPER. 



441 



ctl at 25. The son of the same actor enter- 

 tained his friends with pearls, which he dissolved in 

 vinegar. Under Tiberius, there were schools and 

 teachers of cookery in Rome. One of the family of 

 the Apicii invented many new dishes ; for example, a 

 salt dish of fishes' livers ; also many cooking utensils, 

 and the art of fattening swine on dried figs. Another 

 wrote a book on cookery, and invented the art of 

 Keeping oysters fresh. The emperor Vitellius was 

 once entertained by his brother with 2000 choice fishes 

 and 7000 birds. Vitellius himself once had a single 

 tlish prepared of the livers, the young, and the brain of 

 many select birds and fishes. Roman cookery was 

 remarkable for the almost universal use of oil or oily 

 substances. In the later ages of Roman greatness, 

 the object of the cook was to please the palate, rather 

 than to provide for the healthful nourishment of the 

 system. In the middle ages, the Italians, who o^t- 

 stripped the rest of the nations of Europe in every 

 branch of civilization, attained, also, much earlier, a 

 degree of accomplishment in the culinary art. They 

 carried it to much perfection as early as in the six- 

 teenth century, and probably earlier, as some pas- 

 sages of their novelle lead us to suppose. The artists 

 of that country delighted much hi convivial assem- 

 blies, and the chief cook of St Pius V., Bartolommeo 

 Scappi, published, in 1570, an excellent work on the 

 art of cookery (Opera di Bartol. Scappi, cuoco secreio 

 di Papa Pio V. divisa, etc. con tidiscorsofunerale, che 

 fu fatto nelle esequie di Papa Paolo 111., 4to). The 

 princesses of the house of Medici appear to have 

 transplanted the Italian cookery to France, at least 

 to the French court. The Italian cookery was, how- 

 ever, very similar to that of the ancient Romans, 

 as even the mode of preparing dishes at present pre- 

 valent in Italy has still retained much of the ancient 

 character. We refer particularly to the abundant 

 use of oil. In fact, this character prevails more or 

 less in the cookery of all nations of Latin descent. 

 However great the influence may have been which 

 Italian cookery exercised on the French system, it is 

 to the inhabitants of France that we owe the usage of 

 seasoning meat mostly with its own gravy, whereby a 

 much greater variety is obtained, and the dishes are, 

 at the same time, more wholesome than those 

 prepared in the old modes. From the accounts of 

 the household of Louis XV., it appears.that the court 

 dined with moderation. From eight to nine dishes only 

 were served ; but two-thirds of the meat used hi the 

 kitchen was taken for gravy. Of course this was pos- 

 sible only in a royal kitchen ; but the tendency of the 

 modern culinary art appears clearly enough from this 

 instance. The French, probably, were induced to 

 make this change because only a small portion of the 

 southern part of their country furnishes oil, and good 

 butter is produced only in a small part of the north. 

 When theFrench revolution brought the" third estate" 

 into honour, the old national French soup, pot aufeu, 

 came into notice a dish on which the French pride 

 themselves justly. The new mode of cooking became 

 now more and more popular. But, soon after the great 

 excitement of the revolution had subsided, and men 

 had leisure to think of their palates, an over-refined 

 style of cookery was introduced, and gave rise to 

 works like the Jilmanac des Gourmands. The dishes 

 of this latter period are not to be rashly ventured on, 

 but to be eaten with a wise circumspection. The 

 British took quite a different turn from that of the 

 Italians and French. Owing to their situation on an 

 island, which prevented them from constant associa- 

 tion with other nations, at least as far as respected 

 the people at large, and probably owing, hi part, to 

 their national disposition, their cookery has been 

 mostly confined to simple, strong, and substantial 

 dishes. The art of roasting has been carried by them 



to much perfection. With other British customs, th-* 

 British cookery likewise came to the United States ; 

 but that country, which has departed from the Bri- 

 tish standard in regard to many things of more im- 

 portance, has not confined itself to a servile imitation 

 of British cookery, but has borrowed much from the 

 European continent. Soup has become general ; and, 

 in preparing vegetables, the French way has been 

 followed more than the British. But the system of 

 cooking in the United States has many defects. 

 Many dishes are spoiled by butter and fat, and, on 

 the whole, far too much meat is eaten a very natural 

 consequence of which is the everlasting complaint of 

 dyspepsy. A country so rich in fruits ought to al- 

 low them a large place in its cookery. If the culi- 

 nary art were properly investigated, many facts 

 would be brought to light, which have as yet been 

 little attended to. Thus, for instance, it would be 

 very interesting, in a medical point of view, to show 

 the intimate connexion of different diseases, hi various 

 countries, with the common dishes. 



COOMBE, WILLIAM, author of several popular 

 works, including the Diaboliad ; the Devil upon two 

 Sticks hi England, a continuation and imitation o" 

 Le Sage's novel, but far inferior, in spirit and graphic 

 delineation, to the original ; the Tour of Dr Syntax 

 in search of the picturesque, &c. The last mentioned 

 poem was originally written for Mr Ackermann, and 

 published, by him, in the Poetical Magazine with 

 Rowlandson's illustrations. Mr Ackermann, in 1812, 

 published a history of Westminster Abbey, hi 2 

 vols, 4to, from the pen of this gentleman, who also 

 was a principal contributor of essays, short pieces il- 

 lustrative of engravings, &c., to many of his miscel- 

 lanies. Mr Coombe's last poem was the History of 

 Johnny Quae Genus, which, like his Syntax, English 

 Dance of Death, and Dance of Life, was accompanied 

 by Rowlandson's prints. In his youth, Mr Coombe 

 inherited a moderate fortune, which he soon dissipat- 

 ed; and, during the last years of his long life, 

 literature was his principal support. He died, June 

 18, 1823. 



COOPER, ANTHONY ASHLEY, first earl of Shaftes 

 bury, and a statesman of considerable eminence in 

 the reign of Charles II., was born hi 1621. At the 

 age of fifteen, he entered Exeter college, Oxford, 

 whence he removed to Lincoln's Inn, with a view to 

 the study of the law ; but was chosen representative 

 for Tewkesbury,in 1640, while only in his nineteenth 

 year. At the commencement of the civil war, he 

 sided with the king's party, though he appeared to 

 deem mutual concession necessary. In consequence 

 of tliis opinion, finding himself distrusted by the court, 

 he went over to the parliament, and, in 1644, storm- 

 ed Wareham, and reduced all the adjacent parts. He 

 had some share hi the private negotiation between 

 the king and lord Hollis, at the fruitless treaty of 

 Uxbridge, and is said to have contrived the insurrec- 

 tion of the club men. When Cromwell turned out 

 the long parliament, Sir Anthony was one of the mem- 

 bers of the convention which succeeded. He was, 

 nevertheless, a subscriber to the protestation, which 

 charged the protector with arbitrary government, a 

 fact which did not prevent him from becoming one 

 of his privy council. After the deposition of Richard 

 Cromwell, he was privately engaged in a plan for 

 the restoration of Charles II., which he subsequently 

 aided with all his influence. He was one of the 

 twelve members who carried the invitation to the 

 king, and was, soon after, made a privy counsellor, 

 and a commissioner for the trial of the regicides. In 

 1661, he was raised to the peerage, by the title of 

 baron Ashley, and appointed chancellor of the ex- 

 chequer, and a lord of the treasury. He was also a 

 leading member of the Cabal. He promoted the de- 



