33 2 On the Construction of Kitchen 



read, and the importance of the subjects of my inves- 

 tigations are felt. 



Persons who have been satiated with indulgences 

 and luxuries of every kind are sometimes tempted by 

 the novelty of an untried pursuit. My best endeavours 

 shall not be wanting to give to the objects I recommend 

 not only all the alluring charms of novelty, but also the 

 power of procuring a pleasure as new, perhaps, as it is 

 pure and lasting. 



How might I exult could I but succeed so far as to 

 make it fashionable for the rich to take the trouble 

 to choose for themselves those enjoyments which their 

 money can command, instead of being the dupes of 

 those tyrants who, in the garb of submissive fawning 

 slaves, not only plunder them in the most disgraceful 

 manner, but render them at the same time perfectly 

 ridiculous, and fit for that destruction which is always 

 hear at hand when good taste has been driven quite off 

 the stage. 



When I see in the capital of a great country, in the 

 midst of summer, a coachman sitting on a coach-box 

 dressed in a thick heavy greatcoat with sixteen capes, I 

 am not suprised to find the coach door surrounded by 

 group of naked beggars. 



We should tremble at such appearances, did not the 

 shortness of life and the extreme levity of the human 

 character render us insensible to dangers while at any 

 distance, however great and impending and inevitable 

 they may be. 



But to return from this digression. 



It is frequently useful, and is always amusing, to trace 

 the differences in the customs and usages of different 

 countries to their causes. The French have for ages 



