that those who have mouths should understand what to put in them. It
gratifies the doctor to confer with him, and who does it not please to
be considered a man of importance? He is therefore a member of the
Privy Council, and a more useful member he is too than many Right
Honourables I know of--who have more acres than ideas. The Board
assembles after breakfast, and a new dish is a great item in the
budget. It keeps people in good humour the rest of the day, and
affords topics for the table. To eat to support existence is only fit
for criminals. Bread and water will do that; but to support and
gratify nature at the same time is a noble effort of art, and well
deserves the thanks of mankind. The cook too enlivens the consultation
by telling marvellous stories about strange dishes he has seen. He has
eaten serpents with the Siamese, monkeys in the West Indies,
crocodiles and sloths in South America, and cats, rats, and dogs with
the Chinese; and of course, as nobody can contradict him, says they
are delicious. Like a salmon, you must give him the line, even if it
wearies you, before you bag him; but when you do bring him to land his
dishes are savoury. They have a relish that is peculiar to the sea,
for where there is no garden, vegetables are always most prized. The
glorious onion is duly valued, for as there is no mistress to be
kissed, who will dare to object to its aroma?

"Then I like a Sunday at sea in a vessel like this, and a day like
this, when the men are all clean and tidy, and the bell rings for
prayers, and all hands are assembled aft to listen to the captain as
he reads the Church Service. It seems like a family scene. It reminds
me of dear old Minister and days gone by, when he used to call us
round him, and repeated to us the promise 'that when two or three were
gathered together in God's name, he would grant their request.' The
only difference is, sailors are more attentive and devout than