"EPICURUS THE HOG."

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XII, Issue 6, 30 May 1884, Page 27

"EPICURUS THE HOG."

(From the Pall Mall Gazette.)

One of the most interesting papers in the March magazines is that in the National Review, in which Lady John Manners impeaches the lnxury of society in the present day. Forty or fifty years ago," she says, " the machinery of life was less cumbersome, less complicated and less costly than it is at present." Now, however, especially in well-appointed country houses, society gives itself up to a succession of meals, " which succeeded each other with brief intervals for rest, from morniug hours till long past dewy eve." The account given by this representative of •• our old nobility " of the feeding of the aristocracy is somewhat startling. " Before the ladiee — indeed, before most of the gentlemen — leave their beds, dainty little services of tea and bread and butter are carried to them. Sometimes the younger men prefer brandy and soda. Fortified by these refreshments, the non-sporting guests come to breakfast about ten. Four hot dishes, every sort of cold meats that might fitly furnish forth a feast, fruits, cakes, tea, coffee, cocoa, claret on the sideboard, constitute a most satisfactory breakfast, often prolonged to within two hours and a-half of luncheon. The shooters have probably 1 breakfasted earlier. The important institution of luncheon begins at two. Again the table is spread with many varieties of flesh and fowl, hot and cold proofs of the cook's ability ; plain puddings for those who study their health, creations in cream for those who have not yet devoted themselves to that never-failing source of interest. Coffee is often served after lunch, which is usually over soon 'after three. If a shooting party has gone out, Norwegiau stoves crammed with hot dishes of an aowetizing character have been dispatched to the scene of action. THe ladies gather round the tea-table about five, usually snowing mftch appreciation of any little surprises in the way of muffins, or tel-cakes, provided by a thoughtful hostess. When the shooters come in, some will probably join the ladies, perhaps a fe«r may like a little champagne, but tea and talk tempt the majoiity." Then comes dinner, which is served at 8 or 8.30, and at which the floral arrangements are probably of the most elaborate description, the resources of the head gardener having been taxed to the utmost, while sometimes baskets of flowers from Paris or Nice form the centre of a group. "By 10, or 10.30, dinner is generally over. Coffee is brought into the dining-room, while the gentlemen smoke. It is whispered that some of the ladies enjoy a postprandial cigarette. Liquenrs and tea are offered during the evening, and keep up flagging energies till the ladies ostensibly go to bed, after a little money has changed hands at poker or 100. Then the serious business of the night begins for the gentleman, who dive into the recesses of the Bmoking-room, and brews of many kinds are prepared, effervescing waters, whisky, brandy, claret, lemons in profusion, must be at hand." As it is in the feeding, so it is with the dressing ; there is the same increase of expenditure and the same extravagance* Ladies, we are told, spend more money on their toilets than their mothers and iar more than their grandmothers did. Many ladies whose fortunes cannot be considered large spend £600 a year on their toilets, and it is not nnusual for the annual expenditure on dress alone to rise to £1,000. Sixty guineas is not an uncommon price for one court dress. Notwithstanding all this costumes change with the barometer, and ladies change their dresses three times during the evening. The natural result is that no young man dare marry unless he is on the way to be a Croesus ; marriages decrease and familiea decay. House rent, too, has gone up, and London has grown co large that busy men have to spend £200 in hansoms, even while keeping carriages of their own. Wages have nearly doubled, but Lady John does not regret this, regarding it rather as a matter for congratulation to all who reflect how essential it is for servants to lay up against a time of sickness and old age. But entertainments, the writer points out, are now on a much more extravagent scale than formerly, and the startling sact is cited that £2000 is occasionally spent on flowers alone for a single ball. Bents at sea-side places have risen, and grouse-shoot-ing is a large item of expenditure, for it seems that £1600 or £2000 is not unfrequently paid for good grouse-shooting and a comfortable lodge. Few will dispute the statemeut of the writer that "in order to indulge in luxuries on the scale referred to, and at the same time to provide for the poor, very large fortunes are essential." While the number of millionaires and demi-millionaires has increased greatly of late years, the majority of people in what is called "society " have only moderate means, whilst a still larger proportion are struggling with financial embarrassments— by no means a surprising fact, when one thinks of some of the figures quoted above. Lady Manners is equally outspoken about the extravagence of both ladies and gentlemen. On the subject of smoking she says : " A very large number of our countrymen have developed Teutonic capacities for smoking. If ten or twelve cigars are consumed in tweaty-four houis, with interludes in which cigarettes and pipes are substituted, the sum that vanishes in smoke, varying according to the price of tobacco, is considerable. In a few instances the expenditure on cigars amounts to five pounds a day. And here is a sentence which shows to some extent what " society " means to-day : •' Last season the leading dressmakers were receiving almost more orders than they could get through for the most expensive dresses. Florists, even at this time of the year, find no difficulty in selling huge sheaves of flowers, by courtesy called bouquets, at sums ranging from three guineas to fancy prices. Hairdressers have a brisk sale for fluffy fringes, tresses of every shade. It is true that occasionally the golden plaits and the beautiful silver hair that we regard as tbe glory of advancing years are made of the finest alpaca wool, but they are very profitable merchandise. French artists are decorating reception-rooms with snojj^ brocades, relieved by tints of gold, for those who appreciate their taste ; our own upholsterers furnish suites of rooms with tbe softest plush or glowiDg damasks and every imaginable appliance for luxurious lounging. And yet in the closest proximity to the dwellings of the rich the direst povtrty too often exists ; but while the writer recognises the startling contrasts which are presented in the state of society, she sees some elements of bope and encouragement,

and all must join in the wish that finds expression in her concluding sentence : " Perhaps the day may come when one-half of the world, may set itself in earnest to find out how the other half lives. When that knowledge is gained some may see their way to ordering their lives in such a manner that, without neglecting their social duties or compromising the future of those who come after them, they may themselves enjoy the one luxury that never palls— the luxury of doing good."