CANNIBALISM. 



227 



condemned the human slaughter, (or rather let 

 us call it, the inhuman slaughter) as wrong and 

 unnecessary in his eyes, he would have yearned for 

 a dish, made from the leg of a healthy sergeant 

 newly slain : and if salted swine in its raw state, 

 with green coffee-berry garniture, had been on the 

 same table, he would have rejected this, and would 

 have made his meal on that. 



We can only come at the true flavour of flesh- 

 meat, by eating it raw ; — seeing that, rich sauces, 

 fire and cookery, so change the nature and appear- 

 ance of it; — that after it has undergone the 

 culinary process, an expert connoisseur, in things 

 appertaining to gastronomy, would find it a difficult 

 task to know, whether he were about to partake 

 of monkey-pie, or human pasty. 



I myself (but not at Walton Hall) have witnessed 

 individuals in genteel life, make a hearty meal 

 of pie made of carrion crow, having mistaken it 

 for one of pigeon. In this instance, it was appetite 

 and not prejudice that " ruled the roast : " for had 

 the parties been aware of the real nature of the 

 pie, we may take it for granted, that it would have 

 been ordered out of the dining room ; abhorred 

 and untouched. 



In my opinion, the veriest savage in existence 

 is conscious that he commits a crime, when he 



t 2 



