102 Presidentship of James West 1768 



substantial character for fully twenty years, now begins to 

 show further symptoms of the gradual change in the fashions 

 of diet which had been spreading through Society outside 

 of the conservative walls of " The Mitre." This modifica- 

 tion is shown in the more frequent appearance of vegetable 

 dishes during the summer months. Beans, peas, artichokes, 

 asparagus come in their seasonal order. Potatoes may all 

 along have been on the table though not inserted on the 

 menu, but they are definitely mentioned in the record of 

 the dinners this year. The vegetables drop out of the 

 list of eatables during winter. Brocoli appears for the first 

 time on 3rd May 1770. Potatoes and French beans are 

 recorded on I3th September in the same year. 



There were few foreign guests at the table of the Club 

 this year. Count Briihl appeared twice in the winter and 

 spring. On the second occasion he was invited by Dr. 

 Maty, who as Secretary of the Royal Society saw that 

 hospitality was shown to foreigners. At the same time 

 he had another foreign guest, Count Zinzendorff, whom 

 Lord Chesterfield describes as " a very pretty man, well- 

 bred, and with a great deal of useful knowledge, for these 

 things are very consistent." 1 It is said of him that he liked 

 to live well, and that at his own table " with a true Apician 

 eloquence he generously instructed all the novices in good 

 living. As Solomon discoursed of every herb, from the 

 cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop on the wall, so he began 

 with a champignon no bigger than a Dutchman's waistcoat- 

 button, and ended with the wild-boar, the glory of the 

 German forests." 



The Earl of Huntingdon dined many times with the 

 Club in the course of the year. Mr. West was likewise a 

 guest until his election as President. Benjamin Franklin 

 came again by invitation of his friend Sir John Pringle. 

 Joseph Banks, Thomas Pennant, Howard of Graystock, 

 Daines Barrington, the Bishops of Oxford and St. David's, 

 Sir Thomas Robinson and others were among those who 

 dined with the Philosophers at the Mitre. 



1 Chesterfield's Letters to his Son, vol. ii. p. 310. 



