hry Davy, passes for a finished
gourmand.

Roasting, boiling, frying, broiling, do not alone constitute the arc of
cooking, otherwise the savage of the Oronoco might be _maitre d'hotel_
with Prince Esterhazy.

The science of gastronomy made great progress under Louis XV., a
brilliant epoch for the literature of gastronomy: together with the
fashions, customs, freedom of opinion, and taste for equipages and
horses brought from Great Britain--some new dishes taken from the
culinary code of this country, such as puddings and beef-steaks, were
also introduced into France. Thanks to the increasing progress and
discoveries in chemistry, and to the genius of our artists, the art of
cookery rose to the greatest height towards the end of the last century.
What a famous age was that of Mezelier, l'Asne, Jouvent, Richaud, Chaud,
and Robert.

History will never forget that great man, who aspired to all kinds
of glory, and would have been, if he had wished, as great a cook as
he was a statesman--I mean the Prince de Talleyrand, who rekindled the
sacred flame in France. The first clouds of smoke, which announced the
resurrection of the science of cookery in the capital, appeared from
the kitchen of an ancient bishop.

A revolution like the French, which presented to their eyes such
terrible spectacles, must have left some traces in their physical or
intellectual constitution. At the end of this bloody drama, the mind,
bewildered by the late dreadful scenes, was unable to feel those sweet
and peaceable emotions, in which it had formerly delighted; as the
palate, having long been at rest, and now become blunted, must require
high-seasoned dishes, to excite an appetite. The reign of the Directory,
therefore is that of Romances a la Radcliffe, as well as of Sauces a la
Provencale. Fortunately, the eighth of Brumaire pulled down the five
Directors, together with their saucepans.

Under the Consulship, and during the empire, the art of cooking, thanks
to the labours of Beauvilliers, Balaine, and other artists, made new and
remarkable improvements. Among the promoters of the gastric science, the
name of a simple amateur makes a distinguished figure--it is Grisnod
de la Reyniere, whose almanac the late Duke of York called the most
delightful book that ever issued from the press. We may affirm, that the
_Almanach des Gourmands_ made a complete revolution in the language and
usages of the country.

We are yet too near the restoration t