'Cookery. 321 
ways been ancUtiil are in great abundance ; in England the reverse 
has been the case. Hence real money, gold and silver, to this 
day, is the only circulating medium of the former nation : while 
in England, the precious metals are nearly banished, and the iron 
age prevails. The hoarding of the precious metals during the 
reign of Robespierre and revolutionary principles, and the issue 
of paper money in France at that day, hardly forms an exception 
to the general remark. 
Hence, perhaps, if the females of England had been better skil- 
led in French cookery, the bank of England need not have stopt 
payment. 
4thly. Why is the hardware, particularly the cutlery, of Eng- 
land, so much superior to the same manufacture in other coun- 
tries ? 
Because it is evident, that the gros morceaux, that load the 
English tables, require this superiority: and the daily use of cut- 
lery at meals, instead of silver, naturally produces more demand, 
more competition and more skill. 
5thly. Why is the system of boxing more common in England 
than elsewhere, and the quarrels of the common people less mur- 
derous ? ♦ 
This is owing to the fashion of feeding. In England, the knives 
do not shut. The meat requires them to be too large for the 
pocket : those who find you meat, find also knives to cut it with. 
On the continent, every man carries in his pocket his own eou- 
team The persons who find meat, find forks only. Hence abroad, 
a vulgar, quarrelsome brute, has always his knife — =his snickersee, 
in his pocket to resort to ; an Englishman has nothing to betake 
himself to but his fists. Dr. Bardsley, of Manchester, has written 
a very learned, a very elegant, a very ingenious essay in favour 
of boxing, which some day or other I will republish. 
6thly. Why are the English better sailors than the French? 
The English are better accustomed to relish and digest the 
hard and solid provisions, on which a sailor must subsist. This 
is not the only, but it may reasonably be regarded as one cause. 
7thly. Why do the French excel in their manufacture of 
Snuff? 
Because it is necessary to suppress and obtund the odour of 
garlic, rocambole and shalot in their houses and their streets, aris- 
ing from its predominance in their cookery. Does their more 
extensive use of perfumes arise in any degree from the same 
cause ? 
VOL. III. 
Ss 
