Degustate

Sceptics were they who, revelling at the table of Louis XIV in the sauces of a Bechamel, or lingering at the board of the great Condé over the chefs d'œuvre of a Vatel—that illustrious martyr to a point of culinary honour!—or inhaling gently and delicately, and degustating slowly, and with marvellous discrimination, the exquisite and quintessential results of the vigils of an Ude, who refused, in their turns, to believe that the science professed by these great men could be capable of improvement, or was susceptible of higher elevation.

Two young limbs continue the feast — one, not unlike the Fat Boy in "Pickwick," degustates with more vigour than refinement, and makes us think he must be the original of the schoolboy who wrote the most laconic and soul-moving reputation, surveys the offing through a telescope on the outlook for privateers.

On the Sabbath Day he lies abed till nine, indulges in the luxury of a hot bath, degustates a leisurely breakfast, and takes his wife and family to church.