246 LETTERS TO BROTHER JOHN. 



well, when I called modern cookery the " Black 

 Art" ? Yet this is one of the elegancies of modern 

 refinement ! We stimulate our palates with wine, 

 that we may relish more food; and then swallow 

 more food, that we may relish more wine : 



" We swallow firebrands in place of food ; 

 And daggers of Crete are served us for confections." 



And this is feeding, according to the improved 

 method according to the rules and regulations of 

 refined society ! Why, the very hog that revels in 

 the red garbage of the shambles all hog, and beast, 

 obscene, and filthy as he is is, nevertheless, not 

 beast enough for this ! What difference does it 

 make, in the true spirit and very reality of the 

 thing what real difference, I say, does it make 

 whether you force down your throat more food than 

 you want, by means of a glass of wine, or by means 

 of a long stick, as they cram Norfolk turkeys ? 

 " The rose, by any other name, would smell as 

 sweet;" and cramming is cramming, call it by what 

 name you please, and effect it how you will. 



But it may be said, that if it were not for these 

 provocatives, persons with delicate stomachs would 

 not be able to eat at all. Nonsense. He who says 

 this, is ,either a fool or a Jesuit. If they do not 



