In those times, there was little refinement of taste, and the culinary art was probably in its infancy. Hence we find the dishes in quality and number rather suited to satisfy the appetites of huntsmen than the delicate palate of a courtier of our day. Sugar and spices were used in profusion, perhaps because they were scarce and expensive, rather than on account of their flavour. Fowls were coloured red or green; while meat, and such other solid eatables as could only be boiled or roasted, were gilt all over. The expense of such an entertainment must have been immense; and when we add, that the value of most of the gifts was vastly greater than at present, and that, besides the presents to the bridegroom, Giovanni Galeazzo gave away 150 beautiful horses, and his kinsman, Bernabo, jewels and golden coins to a large amount, the whole sum disbursed on this occasion would appear so enormous as to make one doubt whether a petty sovereign could really afford such ostentatious prodigality. But when we consider that the flourishing state of the commerce of Italy attracted thither all the wealth of Europe, we are no longer surprised at an expenditure which, however great, might at that time have been borne not by a reigning duke of Milan or Florence alone, but even by many citizens of the various Italian republics. During the repast, an innumerable crowd of jesters, mimes, and trick-players of all sorts, amused the company with their gambols; and such was the noise produced by trumpets, drums, and other martial instruments, by the vociferation of the performers and the applause of the spectators, that no single voice could be heard; and a contemporary historian compares it to the wild roar of a tempestuous sea. SAVINGS-BANKS IN RUSSIA.