No. 6. 



Smithficld, London. 



177 



markable in the supply of the market, at all 

 times of tlic year, with animals of the finest 

 dei=cription. 



I may bo inquired of, what I think of the 

 English meats. The fatness of the beef and 

 mutton is most remarkable. I have seen 

 single beasts in the United States as fat as 

 any I have seen here; but these are com- 

 paratively rare exceptions; and here the 

 general character of tiie beasts and sheep is, 

 in this respect, most striking. It would, 

 however, I fear, be hopeless to attempt to 

 persuade an Englishman of that which is 

 my honest conviction — that our meats are 

 sweeter to the taste than those which I have 

 eaton here. Our poultry is incomparably 

 better. An Englishman will be likely to 

 set this down as mere prejudice, which pos- 

 sibly it may be, for who can escape such 

 prejudices, or be fully conscious of them 

 when they exist? — but 1 believe it is not 



prejuaice, but Indian corn — the grain upon of genius, industry, and s-cience, over the 

 which our animals are fatted — Vi'hich gives elements of 



to their meat a peculiar sweetness, which is 

 not produced by other feed. Our beef ani- 

 mals are not killed until five to seven 

 years old, and our sheep seldom until three 

 3'ears old. Here sheep are killed at about 

 fifteen months, and beasts at two years and 

 upwards. The flesh of these young animals 

 is wanting in that consistency which more 

 age would give, though an extreme on the 

 other side, and the hard-working of our oxen 

 until eight and ten years old, are liable to give 

 a toughness to the meat, which would not be 

 found if fatted at an earlier, though not a 

 very early, period. If price is to be taken 

 as a correct index of quality, then it will be 

 found that the beef of the small West High- 

 land cattle, and the mutton of the Welsh 

 sheep, are decidedly superior to any other, 

 the prices which they command being al- 

 ways higher than others. The smaller size, 

 and the better intermixture of lean and fat 

 meat which they present, render them more 

 convenient for family dishes, and more at- 

 tractive than those immense rumps of beef, 

 and saddles and legs of mutton, covered 

 with an inordinate thickness of fat, which, 

 by their grossness, repel any but the nrost 

 inveterate epicure — the animal who seems 

 to live only to eat. 



My conviction is, that there is no agricul- 

 tural improvement in England so great and 

 striking as that which has been effected in 

 their live stock: I refer particularly to its 

 size, aptitude to fatten, early maturity, s}^m- 

 metry, and beauty. Of the milking and 

 dairy properties of their stock, I shall speak 

 hereafter. I must include, likewise, in my 

 commendation, their horses — working, car- 

 riage, pleasure, and race-horses. It could 



scarcely be expected to be otherwise. The 

 highest degree of skill has been concen- 

 trated upon these objects; and this skill has 

 been stimulated by premiums of the most 

 honourable and liberal character, and by ex- 

 penditures absolutely enormous. The splen- 

 did and magnificent premiums of gold and 

 silver plate for successful competition, which 

 one sees on the tables and side-boards of the 

 fortunate winners all over the country, and 

 which are exhibited with an honest pride, 

 while they display the highest triumphs of 

 artistical skill and taste, serve only to fan 

 the flame which they enkindle, and to quick- 

 en an ambition which never can be quiet 

 while a more distant point remains to be at- 

 tained. How happy would it be for the 

 world, if human ambition were always di- 

 rected to objects so innocent and commend- 

 able; to purposes which benefit, instead of 

 those which curse, the world ; to the triumphs 



nature, instead of the bloody 

 conquests of power, avarice, and despotism, 

 over human comfort, liberty, and life ! 



Smitltfield by night. — Smithfield by night, 

 and in a dark night, presents a most extra- 

 ordinary scene, which, though I have wit- 

 nessed it, it would be very difficult for me 

 adequately to describe. A large proportion 

 of the stock arrives in the neighbourhood of 

 Ijondon either on Saturday or early on Sun- 

 day, where they are fed in the fields, or the 

 extensive lairs prepared fur their reception. 

 These lairs, especially Laycock's, at Isling- 

 ton, are well worth a visit, being composed 

 of open yards and most e.xtcnsive sheds, co- 

 vering fourteen acres of ground, furnislied 

 with watering troughs and mangers, and di- 

 vided into diflerent compartments. Here the 

 farmer or drover is supplied with hay or 

 straw for his stock, not by the day or night, 

 but by the truss, the hay which is sold in 

 London being always put up and tied in 

 bundles of 56 pounds each — certainly an 

 excellent arrangement, which, while it pre- 

 vents all temptations to waste, requires a 

 purchaser to pay only for that which he has. 

 The cattle here get a little rest and refresh- 

 ment in these stalls after their long jour- 

 neys; and here they are visited by the sales- 

 men preparatory to their appearance in the 

 market on Monday. It would not be sur- 

 prising, likewise, and not altogether unlike 

 some occurrences on the other side of the 

 water, if some purchasers, with an acquisi- 

 tiveness not disturbed by religious scruples, 

 should occasionally make their way there 

 and anticipate the bargains of the ensuing 

 day.* About midnight the different detach- 



' I will eay, however, by the way, and as an act of 



