of an healthy and strong Conftitution much furer, if they were not cram'd fo much as they are by fond Mothers and foolish Servants, and were kept wholly from Flesh, the firft three or four Years of their Lives.

But if my young Mafter muft needs have Flefh, let it be but once a Day, and of one Sort at a Meal. Plain Beef, Mutton, Veal, &c. without other Sauce than Hunger, is beft; and great Care fhould be us'd, that he eat Bread plentifully, both alone and with every Thing elfe; and whatever he eats that is folid, make him chew it well. We English are often negligent herein; from whence follow Indigeltion, and other great Inconveniencies.

14. For Breakfast and Supper, Milk, Milk-Pottage, Water-Gruel, Flummery, and twenty other Things, that we are wont to make in England, are very fit for Children; only, in all thefe, let Care be taken that they be plain, and without much Mixture, and very fparingly feafon'd with Sugar, or rather none at all; efpecially all Spice, and other Things that may heat the Blood, are carefully to be avoided. Be fparing alfo of Salt in the feafoning of all his Victuals, and ufe him not to high-feafon'd Meats. Our Palates grow into a Relifh, and liking of the Seafoning and Cookery, which by Cuftom they are fet to, and an over-much Ufe of Salt ; befides that, it occafions Thirst, and over-much Drinking has other ill Effects

upon

upon the Body. I fhould think, that a good Piece of well-made and well-bak'd brown Bread, fometimes with, and fometimes without Butter or Cheefe, would be often the best Breakfast for my young Mafter. I am fure 'tis as wholfome, and will make him as ftrong a Man as greater Delicacies; and if he be us'd to it, it will be as pleasant to him. If he at any Time calls for Victuals between Meals, ufe him to nothing but dry Bread. If he be hungry more than wanton, Bread alone will down; and if he be not hungry, 'tis not fit he fhould eat. By this you will obtain two good Effects, 1. That by Cuftom he will come to be in Love with Bread; for, as I faid, our Palates and Stomachs too are pleas'd with the Things we are us'd to. Another Good Another Good you will gain hereby, is, That you will not teach him to eat more nor ofther than Nature requires. I do not think that all Peoples Appetites are alike, fome have naturally ftronger, and fome weaker Stomachs. But this I think, that many are made Gormands and Gluttons by Cuftom, that were not fo by Nature: And I fee in fome Countries, Men as lufty and ftrong, that eat but two Meals a Day, as others that have fet their Stomachs by a conftant Ufage like Larums, to call on them for four or five. The Romans ufually fafted 'till Supper, the only fet Meal, even of those who eat more than once a Day; and those who us'd Breakfasts, as fome did

at

at eight, fome at ten, others at twelve of the Clock, and fome later, neither eat Flesh, nor had any Thing made ready for them. Auguftus, when the greatest Monarch on the Earth, tells us, he took a Bit of dry Breadin his Chariot. And Seneca, in his 83d Epistle, giving an Account how he manag'd himfelf, even when he was old, and his Age permitted Indulgence, fays, That he us'd to eat a Piece of dry Bread for his Dinner, without the Formality of fitting to it, tho' his Eftate would have as well pay'd for a better Meal, (had Health requir'd it) as any Subject's in England, were it doubl'd. The Mafters of the World were bred up with this fpare Diet; and the young Gentlemen of Rome felt no want of Strength or Spirit, because they eat but once a Day. Or if it happen'd by Chance, that any one could not faft fo long as 'till Supper, their only fet Meal, he took nothing but a Bit of dry Bread, or at moft a few Raifins, or fome fuch flight Thing with it, to ftay his Sto inach. This Part of Temperance was found fo neceffary both for Health and Business, that the Cuftom of only one Meal a Day held out against that prevailing Luxury, which their Eaftern Conquefts and Spoils had brought in amongst them, and those who had given up their old frugal Eating, and made Feafts, yet began them not 'till the Evening. And more than one fet Meal a Day, was thought fo monsterous, that it

was

was a Reproach as low down as Cafar's Time, to make an Entertainment, or fit down to a full Table, 'till towards Sun-fet; and there-. fore, if it would not be thought too fevere, I fhould judge it moft convenient, that my young Mafter fhould have nothing but Bread too for Breakfast. You cannot imagin of what Force Cultem is; and I impute a great Part of our Difeafes in England, to our eating too much Flesh, and too little Bread.

15. As to his Meals, I fhould

think it beft, that as much as Meals. it can be conveniently avoided,

they should not be kept conftantly to an Hour For when Cuftom has fix'd his Eating to certain ftated Periods, his Stomach will expect Victuals at the ufual Hour, and grow peevith if he paffes it; either fretting it felf into a troublesom Excefs, or flagging into a downright Want of Appetite. Therefore I would have no Time kept conftantly to for his Breakfaft, Dinner, and Supper, but rather vary'd almost every Day. And if betwixt thefe, which I call Meals, he will eat, let him have, as often as he calls for it, good dry Bread. If any one think this too hard and fparing a Diet for a Child, let them know, that a Child will neverftarve nor dwindle for want of Nourishment, who, befides Flesh at Dinner, and Spoon-meat, or fome fuch other Thing at Supper, may have good Bread and Beer as often as he has a Stomach: For thus, upon

fecond

fecond Thoughts, I fhould judge it beft for Children to be order'd. The Morning is generally defign'd for Study, to which a full Stomach is but an ill Preparation. Dry Bread, though the beft Nourishment, has the leaft Temptation; and no Body would have a Child cramm'd at Breakfast, who has any Regard to his Mind or Body, and would not have him dull and unhealthy. Nor let any one think this unfuitable to one of Eítate and Condition. A Gentleman in any Age, ought to be fo bred, as to be fitted to bear Arms, and be à Soldier. But he that in this, breeds his Son fo as if he defign'd him to fleep over his Life in the Plenty and Eafe of a full Fortune he intends to leave him, little confiders the Examples he has feen, or the Age he lives in.

. 16. His Drink fhould be on

ly finall Beer; and that too he Drink. fhould never be fuffer'd to have.

between Meals, but after he had eat a Piece of Bread. The Reafons why I fay this, are thefe:

§. 17. 1. More Fevers and Surfeits are got by Peoples drinking when they are hot, than by any one Thing I know. Therefore, if by Play he be hot and dry, Bread will ill go down; and fo if he cannot have Drink, but upon that Condition, he will be forc'd to forbear; for, if he be very hot, he fhould by no Means drink; at least a good Piece of Bread first to be eaten, will gain