1763 Sir James Porter; C.-M. De La Gondamine 8.3 



Treasurer records it, the bill of fare for this repast as a 

 sample of an English menu of the time. 



Cod's head and whitings Fresh Salmon 



2 dishes boiled Fowles A Ham 



Tongue and Udder Calves head hashed 



Turkey Roast Chump of Beef 



Fricasie of Lamb 2 dishes Hot Lobsters 



Coast of Lamb and mint 2 dishes Minced pyes 



2 boiled puddings 2 apple pyes 



Marrow pudding Butter and Cheese 



At an earlier dinner one of the guests included in the 

 foregoing list of visitors is briefly termed by the Treasurer 

 " Mr. Porter, Emb." As the contraction after the name 

 was the way in which Colebrooke wrote " Ambassador," 

 there can be little doubt that the person in question was 

 Sir James Porter, who had been our Ambassador at Constan- 

 tinople from 1748 to 1762, and was now on his way to take 

 up the post of Minister Plenipotentiary at Brussels. It was 

 while in London at this time that he received the honour 

 of knighthood. He had become F.R.S. in 1749. 



During the summer of this year, when French men of 

 science, whom the Peace now allowed to visit this country, 

 began to arrive in London, an eminent group of them dined 

 with the Club on May i2th. One of these philosophers, 

 Charles-Marie De La Condamine, had many years before 

 this time gained a world- wide reputation as a mathematician 

 and a cultivated traveller. During his journeys he had ex- 

 plored the Mediterranean coasts of Asia and Africa, and was 

 the author of important observations on the attraction of 

 mountains on the pendulum in South America. As far back 

 as 1748 he had been made F.R.S. He dined four times with 

 the Club during the months of May and June of 1763. Horace 

 Walpole gives a thumb-nail sketch of him as he appeared 

 on the streets of London : " We have got another curious 

 Frenchman La Condamine qui se donne pour philosophe. 

 He walks about the streets with his trumpet and a map, 

 his spectacles on, and hat under his arm. To tell you the 

 truth he is absurdity itself." 1 



1 Letters, June 5 and 30, 1763, vol. v. pp. 340, 344. 



