The only advice I would give you is — regard them as medicines rather than for eveiy- day consumption, and i-ecollect the remark of Adam, in "As You Like It," who accotinted for his vigour as follows : — " Though I look old, yet I am strong and lust)-, For in my youth I never did apply Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood." COOKERY AS A BRANCH OF EDUCATION". Before bringing these pages to a close, there is one subject remaining that demands our greatest attention, and that is this : — How far is it possible to impart even an elementary knowledge of the principles of cookery to the poor and imedu- cated classes 1 There is probably no country in the world that has any pretensions to civilisation in which there is so profound an ignorance of even the rudiments of cookery as in our own. Indeed, the difference in the mode of life between a French family and an English one, in which say the goodwife in the former is allowed thirty francs and the latter thirty shillings a- week for housekeeping purposes is something astounding. In the former there is comfort and even luxury, and, in addition, money is regularly saved ; whereas, in the latter, the week which commences with a hot dinner on Sunday usually terminates in the plainest kind of food, such as bread and dripping, and that too often obtained ori credit. Again, amongst the English poor it will be observed that there is scarcely any variety of food whatever. The hot dinner on Sunday is almost invariably the same. A bladebone of beef and a heap of baked potatoes cooked at that real poor man's friend — the baker's oven : the usual charge for baking being twoj^ence on Sundays and three-halfpence on week days. Week after week the fare is the same — baked meat and baked potatoes : the one change coming with Christmas, and, like it, but once a year, when " the goose " takes the place of the meat, the huge heap of sage and onions being placed in a saucer underneath the goose to catch the fat. Again, in sending a rice pudding to the baker's, the baker's man is frequently obliged to take out some of the rice, as otherwise the pudding would be so close as to be barely eatable, the rice having no room to swell. Sometimes a batter pudding is sent with the dish so full of batter that it would be certain to overflow when baked unless some were removed. PRINCIPLES — COOKERY AS A BRANCH OP EDUCATION. XGV Perhaps the gi-eatest difficulty to be contended with is the rooted and unreason- able prejudice to be met with in some of the poor. They despise soup and fish, unless the latter be a bloater with their tea. Great changes have, however, taken place lately in regard to education, which is now compulsory, and the young girl who a few years back was the mother's chief help in hovisehold duties, is now, at any rate for a certain number of days, compelled to attend a school. In all these schools needlework forms part of the regular routine of school duty, but not cooking. It should, however, be borne in mind that it is quite as important for the future wives of the poorer classes to be able to cook their husbands' and children's food as to make or mend their clothes. Now, hithei'to in almost every poor family in the kingdom, the eldest girl has been kept at home to assist her mother, and what little knowledge she possesses of cooking is thus handed down by tradition.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

The only advice I would give you is — regard them as medicines rather than for everyday consumption, and recollect the remark of Adam, in "As You Like It," who accounted for his vigour as follows : — " Though I look old, yet I am strong and lusty, For in my youth I never did apply Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood." COOKERY AS A BRANCH OF EDUCATION. Before bringing these pages to a close, there is one subject remaining that demands our greatest attention, and that is this : — How far is it possible to impart even an elementary knowledge of the principles of cookery to the poor and uneducated classes ? There is probably no country in the world that has any pretensions to civilisation in which there is so profound an ignorance of even the rudiments of cookery as in our own. Indeed, the difference in the mode of life between a French family and an English one, in which say the goodwife in the former is allowed thirty francs and the latter thirty shillings a- week for housekeeping purposes is something astounding. In the former there is comfort and even luxury, and, in addition, money is regularly saved ; whereas, in the latter, the week which commences with a hot dinner on Sunday usually terminates in the plainest kind of food, such as bread and dripping, and that too often obtained on credit. Again, amongst the English poor it will be observed that there is scarcely any variety of food whatever. The hot dinner on Sunday is almost invariably the same. A bladebone of beef and a heap of baked potatoes cooked at that real poor man's friend — the baker's oven : the usual charge for baking being twoj^ence on Sundays and three-halfpence on week days. Week after week the fare is the same — baked meat and baked potatoes : the one change coming with Christmas, and, like it, but once a year, when " the goose " takes the place of the meat, the huge heap of sage and onions being placed in a saucer underneath the goose to catch the fat. Again, in sending a rice pudding to the baker's, the baker's man is frequently obliged to take out some of the rice, as otherwise the pudding would be so close as to be barely eatable, the rice having no room to swell. Sometimes a batter pudding is sent with the dish so full of batter that it would be certain to overflow when baked unless some were removed. PRINCIPLES — COOKERY AS A BRANCH OP EDUCATION. XGV Perhaps the greatest difficulty to be contended with is the rooted and unreasonable prejudice to be met with in some of the poor. They despise soup and fish, unless the latter be a bloater with their tea. Great changes have, however, taken place lately in regard to education, which is now compulsory, and the young girl who a few years back was the mother's chief help in household duties, is now, at any rate for a certain number of days, compelled to attend a school. In all these schools needlework forms part of the regular routine of school duty, but not cooking. It should, however, be borne in mind that it is quite as important for the future wives of the poorer classes to be able to cook their husbands' and children's food as to make or mend their clothes. Now, hitherto in almost every poor family in the kingdom, the eldest girl has been kept at home to assist her mother, and what little knowledge she possesses of cooking is thus handed down by tradition.

Cassell's dictionary of cookery