instead of the celebrated garum of the Romans; that famous pickle having been prepared sometimes of the scombri, which were a sort of tunny fish, and sometimes of the silurus, or shad fish; nay, he observed, that there was a third kind called garum hæmation, made of the guts, gills and blood of the thynnus.

The physician, finding it would be impracticable to re-establish the order of the banquent, by presenting again the dishes which had been discomposed, ordered everything to be removed, a clean cloth to be laid, and dessert to be brought in.

Meanwhile, he regretted his incapacity to give them a specimen of the aliens, or fishmeals of the ancients, such as the jus diabaton, the conger-eel, which in Galen's opinion is hard of digestion; the cornuta, or gurnard, described by Pliny in his Natural History, who says, the horns of many were a foot and a half in length; the mullet and lamprey, that were in the highest estimation of old, of which last Julius Cæsar borrowed six thousand for one triumphal supper. He observed, that the manner of dressing them was described by Horace, in the account he gives of the entertainment to which Mæcenas was invited by the epicure Nasiedenus,

Affertur squillos inter Murena natantes, etc. and told them, that they were commonly eaten with the thus Syriacum, a certain anodyne and

astringent seed, which qualified the purgative nature of the fish. Finally, this learned physician gave them to understand, that, though this was reckoned a luxurious dish in the zenith of the Roman taste, it was by no means comparable, in point of expense, to some preparations in vogue, about the time of that absurd voluptuary Heliogabalus, who ordered the brains of six hundred ostriches to be compounded in one mess.

By this time the dessert appeared, and the company were not a little rejoiced to see plain olives in salt and water: but what the master of the feast valued himself upon was a sort of jelly, which he affirmed to be preferable to the hypotrimma of Hesychius, being a mixture of vinegar, pickle, and honey, boiled to a proper consistence, and candied asafoetida, which he asserted, in contradiction to Aumelbergius and Lister, was no other than the laser Syriacum, so precious as to be sold among the ancients to the weight of a silver penny. The gentlemen took his word for the excellency of this gum, but contented themselves with the olives, which gave such an agreeable relish to the wine, that they seemed very well disposed to console themselves for the disgraces they had endured; and Pickle, unwilling to lose the least circumstance of entertainment that could be enjoyed in their company, went in quest of the painter, who remained in his penitentials in another apartment, and could not be

at hand. Pipes is to act as Pallets' second, and is waiting in his room.)

On the first approach of twilight, somebody knocked at his door, and Pipes having opened it at his desire, he heard the voice of his antagonist pronounce,-"Tell Mr. Pallet that I am going to the place of appointment." The painter was not a little surprised at this anticipation, which so ill agreed with the information he had received from Pickle; and his concern beginning to recur, he fortified himself with a large bumper of brandy, which, however, did not overcome the anxiety of his thoughts. Nevertheless, he set out on the expedition with his second, betwixt whom and himself the following dialogue passed, in their way to the ramparts.-"Mr. Pipes," said the painter with disordered accent, "methinks the doctor was in a pestilent hurry with that message of his. "Ey, ey," answered Tom, "I do suppose he longs to be foul of you." "What!" replied the other, "d'ye think he thirsts after my blood!" "To be sure a does," (said Pipes, thrusting a large quid of tobacco into his cheek with great deliberation). “If that be the case," cried Pallet, beginning to shake, "he is no better than a cannibal, and no christian ought to fight him on equal footing." Tom observing his emotion, eyed him with a frown of indignation, saying, “You an't afraid, are you?" "God forbid!" replied the chal

lenger, stammering with fear, "What should I be afraid of? the worst he can do is to take my life, and then he'll be answerable both to God and man for the murder: Don't you think he will?" "I think no such matter," answered the second: "If so be as how he puts a brace of bullets through your bows, and kills you fairly, it is no more murder than if I was to bring down a noddy from the main-top-sailyard." By this time Pallet's teeth chattered with such violence, that he could scarce pronounce this reply.—“Mr. Thomas, you seem to make very light of a man's life; but I trust in the Almighty I shall not be so easily brought down. Sure many a man has fought a duel without losing his life. Do you imagine that I run such a hazard of falling by the hand of my adversary?" "You may or you may not," said the unconcerned Pipes, "just as it happens. What then! death is a debt that every man owes, according to the song; and if you set foot to foot, I think one of you must go to pot." "Foot to foot!" exclaimed the terrified painter, "that's downright butchery; and I'll be damn'd before I fight any man on earth in such a barbarous way. What! d've take me to be a savage beast!" This declaration he made while they ascended the ramparts. His attendant, perceiving the physician and his second at the distance of an hundred paces before them, gave him notice of their appearance, and advised him to make ready, and be