nmer's the best
pistol-shot in England.'

'Ah, Wycherley, how goes it, old fellow?' said the youth, stretching out
two fingers of his well-gloved hand. 'You see Edderdale is come over.
Egad! we shall have all England here soon--leave the island to the Jews,
I think!'

Sir Harry laughed heartily at the conceit, and invited him to join our
party at supper; but he was already, I was rejoiced to find, engaged to
the Earl of Edderdale, who was entertaining a select few at his hotel,
in honour of his arrival.

A waiter now came to inform us that Mr. Crotty was waiting for us, to
order supper, and we immediately proceeded to join him in the Saal.

The baronet's eulogium on his friend's taste in _gourmandise_ was well
and justly merited. The supper was admirable--the 'potage printaniere'
seasoned to perfection, the 'salmi des perdreaux, aux points
d'asperges,' delicious, and the 'ortolans a la provencale' a dish for
the gods; while the wines were of that _cru_ and flavour that only
favoured individuals ever attained to at the hands of a landlord.
As _plat_ succeeded _plat_, each admirably selected in the order of
succession to heighten the enjoyment and gratify the palate of the
guest, the conversation took its natural turn to matters gastronomic,
and where, I must confess, I can dally with as sincere pleasure as in
the discussion of any other branch of the fine arts. Mr. Crotty's forte
seemed essentially to lie in the tact of ordering and arranging a
very admirable repast. Wycherley, however, took a higher walk; he was
historically _gastronome_, and had a store of anecdotes about the
dishes and their inventors, from Clovis to Louis Quatorze. He knew the
favourite meats of many illustrious personages, and told his stories
about them with an admirable blending of seriousness and levity.

There are excellent people, Arthur, who will call you sensualist for
all this--good souls, who eat like Cossacks and drink like camels in the
desert; before whose masticatory powers joints become beautifully less
in shortest space of time, and who while devouring in greedy silence
think nothing too severe to say of him who, with more cultivated palate
and discriminating taste, eats sparingly but choicely, making the
nourishment of his body the nutriment of his mind, and while he supports
nature, can stimulate his imagination and invigorate his understanding.
The worthy votaries of boiled mutton and turnips, of ribs and roasts,
believe them