"MIND AND MATTER."

Western Star, Issue 1353, 11 May 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

"MIND AND MATTER."

Several recent bits of literary gossip are rather interesting. It is reported, for instance, that R ; der Haggard has found, it convenient to make some change in the character of his food. This ought, perhaps, to be called dietetic gossip. Mr Haggard has, it seems, become a vegetarian. For what reason ? The explanation set forth is that, after due experiment, he found he could work longer and to better effect on what is called " a meatless diet." If that is true, ought w e to expect that the future works of the author of " She " will be better than " She ? " and excel " King Solomon's mines ? " and JJsurpass " Allan Quatermain ?" One would like to know on what kind of food these stories were produced. In two of them there is a good deal of bloody Avork performed, and it might be imagined that particular passages were written after a feast of underdone beefsteak. It used to be said that Mrs Radcliffe, in order to dream the horrors she specia'ly wanted, used to partake of suppers that would have killed three horses. That we may regard as mere fiction, otherwise it would be natural enough to fancy that " The Mysteries of Udolpho " was the result of a supper of pigs' feet and a quart of stout. There 'is a passage in " Allan Quatermain " tlutjseems to have been inspired by a dish 01 frogs stewed with garlic. It cannot be denied that food and drink, both as to quantity, are important factors in literary workmanship. The Waverley Novel may be said' to have been the product of a character that required to be sustained by ample aud generous feeding. Indeed, vigor ous brain-work is always a great hungermaker. Even poets r« quire to eat, and their food is-hct nc-icas'arily celestial, except in c rta>n cases, like those of Homer, Shakespeare, Shelley, K>ats, and Tennyson, where the qua'ity of the work ambrosia. Shelley was not for the m )st part a vegetarian, and consumed great quantities of bread. We cau't associate either his teeth or those of Keats with the tearing of beef or jbhe chewing of tripe. Delicate fruits and choice wines seem more natural to them. In the poetry of Burns we perceive the wholesomeness of porridge-and-milk, and occasionally the glorious odour of haggis, flavoured with the blood of John 'Barleycorn. Professor Wilson was a mighty feeder, if we can believe Christopher North. The result is a few pages of immortal humour, but littla of essential poetry. Dear Jamie Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, was more of a poet than Wilson, and we can well believe that, although he had little refinement in his character, " Bpnnie Kilmeny" could only have been effused after a feast of fairy food; There was not in all Scotland or England, or even Ireland, which is or was a rich haunt of the fairies, another man who could have wtitten " Kilmeny." Not even the Wizard Walter, with all his genius, could have done it. As for Wordsworth, it was not in him. Byron, who used to laugh at Hogg, could not have touched it. The only man who might have written " Kilmeny " was Shelley, but it never occurred to him. It was left to the poor shepherd of Yarrow, whose food was not unlike that of the Ayrshire Ploughman, enriched now and then with a bit of braxy. We sincerely wish Mr Rider Haggard all success in his vegetarian experiments. It might, however, be as well to remind him that a distinguished literary man tried the same dietetic game, and failed. That was the late George Henry Lewes, first husband of G-eorge Eliot. Mr Lewes confessed th>t on leaving off the old system ot eating beef and other animal substances he felt lighter, and could work at once after dinner. By-and-by, however, he discovered that his system was going down, and he was compelled to " return to his mutton." This confession was made in the course of one of his essays, and the impression Mr Lewes wished to convey was that for himself, at least, the old method of feeding gave him great sustaining power. In such matters much depends upon the constitutional character of the person. One of the healthiest class of Workmen are the "Scottish ploughmen and agricultural labourers, the bulk of whose food is oatmeal, milk, oatcake, and cheese. A literary man, living much in town, could hardly be expected to follow the same course, especially if not a Scotchman. As regards eating, Thomas Carlyle practised in London much of his early Northern simplicity. He was not above or beneath takiag a bit of moor mutton or a cut of one of the simpler fishes, but the staple of his food was " meal and milk." The late Lord Lytton was rather nice as to the nature of his food, but excessively temperate as to quantity. Yet both he and Carlyle performed an immense amount of work, and lived to good round ages. If we are not mistaken Mezzofanti, the great Italian linguist, lived almost entirely upon eggs, and was " weel eneuch sff," as Scotch mothers used to tell their bairns i n giving them bannocks without butter. Bread and water wcu'd perhaps simple as food for novelists, poets, and artists. But there is no reason why the best and noblest literary and artistic work should not be done upon a diet of bread and milk. Cervantes wrote the most of his immoital Don Quixote in prison, where the fare was of the most elemeDtary character ; acd to be only just to authors and artists in these inlands, many of their most renowned works have been produced uncomplainingly under

circumstances that would make some of our jolly paupers break into rebellion. Vegetarianism has much to commend it, but for the most of us, living as we do under the pressure of a complex system, a " mixture of dishes " seems to be necessary We shall await with interest theliterary result of Mr Haggard's experiment Should he write better than he has yet done, that -will be a proof that vegetarianism is best for him, if not for his fellow-novelists, some of whom, like Zola, seem to feed on carion.