ne and this."
If after trial it were still amiss,
He'd bid you give it a new turn of face,
Or set some dish more curious in its place.
If you persist, he would not strive to move
A passion so delightful as self-love.
Cooks garnish out some tables, some they fill,
Or in a prudent mixture show their skill.
Clog not your constant meals; for dishes few
Increase the appetite when choice and new.
E'en they who will extravagance profess,
Have still an inward hatred for excess.
Meat forced too much, untouch'd at table lies;
Few care for carving trifles in disguise,
Or that fantastic dish some call _surprise_.
When pleasures to the eye and palate meet,
That cook has render'd his great work complete;
His glory far, like _sirloin knighthood_[xi-1] flies
Immortal made, as _Kit-cat_ by his pies.
Next, let discretion moderate your cost,
And when you treat, three courses be the most.
Let never fresh machines your pastry try,
Unless grandees or magistrates are by,
Then you may put _a dwarf into a pie_.[xi-2]
Crowd not your table; let your number be
Not more than seven, and never less than three.
'Tis the _dessert_ that graces all the feast,
For an ill end disparages the rest.
A thousand things well done, and one forgot,
Defaces obligation by that blot.
Make your transparent sweetmeats truly nice
With Indian sugar and Arabian spice.
And let your various creams encircled be
With swelling fruit just ravish'd from the tree.
The feast now done, discourses are renewed,
And witty arguments with mirth pursued;
The cheerful master, 'midst his jovial friends,
His glass to their best wishes recommends.
The grace cup follows: To the President's health
And to the country; Plenty, Peace, and Wealth!
Performing, then, the piety of grace,
Each man that pleases reassumes his place;
While at his gate, from such abundant store,
He showers his godlike blessings on the poor.

[Decorative illustration]

FOOTNOTES:

[xi-1] Charles I, dining one day off of a loin of beef, was so much
pleased with it, knighted it.

[xi-2] In the reign of Charles I, Jeffry Hudson (then seven or eight
years old, and but eighteen inches in height) was served up to table in
a cold pie at the Duke of Buckingham's, and as soon as he made his
appearance was presented to the Queen.

"Desp