a ee 
ad 5 i 
De 

9.) 
die by the hands of Patroclus ! Pondering 
in my mind, I am unable to refolve whe- 
ther I fhould fnatch him» alive from the 
bloody field, and place him amongit the 
wealthy inhabitants of Lycia, or {uffer 
him to be flain by the fon of Mencetius.”” 
Here, according to thefe authors, the. 
poet introduces Jupiter complaining that 
he cannot prevent the’ death of Sarpedon, 
becaufe it had been decreed by the Fates 
that he was then to die. Itappears to 
me, that the paffage will fcarcely admit 
of any fuch interpretation. The two firft 
lines of it do, indeed, convey ‘an idea of 
this kind; but, from the fequel, it is 
evident that Jupiter acknowledges no 
power fuperior to his own will: Had it 
been decreed by the Kates, that Sarpedon 
was, at that very time, to fall beneath the 
{word of his enemy, and that even his 
divine father fhould not fnatch him from 
the jaws of deftrufiion, Jupiter would 
never have deliberated in this manner. 
In this cafe, deliberation mult have been 
abfurd. 
The reply of Juno to the fpeech which_, 
has now been quoted, affords a farther 
iluttration of the fubject. She demands 
of Jupiter, ‘“‘ If he intends to redeem 
from death a man due to the Fates ?” 
This interrogation plainly fhews that 
Homer regarded Deftiny as placed under 
the immediate controul of the Father of 
the Gods. Davin IrvVING. 
—— ‘ 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SiR, - 
OBSERVE in your number for June 
lait, a queltion put to Dr. MiITCHILL, 
how pot-afh-cake is made? The queftion 
refers, I fuppofe, to the mention of that 
fort of bread in his letter to Mrs. F. print- 
ed in the magazine for April laft. A 
cuery by fo reipectable a perfon as Mr. 
C. Loft, certainly deferves an anfwer, and I 
fhall give him one in a manner as fatisfac- 
tory, I hope, as can be expeéted from a 
fermale of fome experience in houle-witery, 
thougly ef but fmall acquaintance with 
Jetters. 
I hiave examined feveral of your Englith 
books of cookery, where receipts and di- 
rections are given for making a great va- 
riety of good eatable things, but do not re- 
_ collest to have ever obferved in the CHap- 
TER OF CAKES, any compolition of the 
kind we callin America pot-a/b-cake. On 
this account, I the more readily undertake- 
a reply to Mr. Lott, as I flatter myfelf the 
account [ am about to give will furnifh a 
new receipt to Mrs.Glafs’s Collection, and 
\ that for the future this kind of cake may 
4 
a ‘Receipt far Pot-afh Cake. 
873 
make a ficure inall compilations of the kind. 
In undertaking this tafk I do not mean 
to prefume too much upon my own’powers. 
I have therefore colle&ted information from 
many difcreet houfe-keepers of my acquain- 
tance, who underftand the manufacture of 
pot-afb-cake.’ And the bittory I give you 
of it, may be confidered as genuine, and ' 
the refult of our joint experience and 
knowledge. I have alfo converfed with 
proteffor Mitchill on the fubjeét, and have 
availed myfelf of his manner of explaining 
and interpreting the butinefs. He is an 
old hand at this fort of difcuffion. While 
I was a very little girl, f was much pleaf- 
ed with a letter of his toa young lady, I 
believe in the year 1788, on the “* Philo- 
fophy of Houle-keeping,” wherein he ex- 
plained the myffery of bread-making,. in 
a plain and familiar manner, This piece 
was publithed by Mr. Carey in a periodical 
work, called the dmerican Miufeum, and 
indeed circulated through the United States 
in many of the belt newfpapers of that, 
time. I have heard fome of his hearers 
fay too, that five or fix years ago he ufed to 
give a lecture or two, during his annual 
eourfe en economical chemiftry in Colum. 
bia‘college, on the principles of cookery ; 
a fubje&t fince fo nobly, fo advantageoufly 
difcuffed by Count Rumrorp. I have 
heard the Prorgssor exprefs his high 
admiration of the CounT and his writings, 
which he confiders as fupereminently con- 
ducive to public good and private utility. 
I think it is a pity that they two were not 
perfonally acquainted, that they might lay 
their heads together about things. ~ 
‘The cake under confideration is called 
pot-afb cake, becaufe pot-ath is one of the 
articles which enter into the compofition of 
it. They call it likewife Landy-cake, be- 
caufe it can be made fo handily, or in fo 
quick and eafy a manner. Some perfons 
too havenamedit Lonug-Ifland-pound-cake, 
upon a fuppofition that the inhabitants of 
that large and pleafantifland, in the State 
of New York, were peculiarly addiéted to 
the ule of ic. This, however, isa miftake, 
for the women on the continent, for a hun- 
dred miles up the country, to my certain’ 
knowledge, make as much fot a/b-cake, 
eat as muchin their families, and love it as 
well, as the Long-Ifland women do, 
A good receipt tor this cake is as fol- 
lows: Take of good wheaten flour two 
pounds, of butter half a pound, of fugar 
half a pound; add to thefe a heaped tea- 
fpoonful of fale of tartar, or any* other 
form of pot-ath or pearl-ath, that will hifs 
when yinegar is poured on it. The pot- 
af mult be diflolved in a little water be- 
I fore 
£ 

