To judge of the quality of Montefiascone, one must drink it at its home; like other white wines of the former Papal States, it will not bear the shock of distant carriage. As for the German ecclesiast, one should not take him too seriously, but consider him rather from the picturesque point of view, as Rowlandson and Combe have done with the reverend Syntax. "Other times, other manners,"--to-day his reverence would have made the journey by rail and not by post, and thus, doubtless, would have missed the _fiasci_ of Montefiascone. One must also bear in mind that the wine in question, being of the muscat type, is extremely heady and exciting to the nerves, its deleterious effects being masked by its unctuousness and engaging aroma; so that an unsuspecting beer-drinking bishop, accustomed to copious libations of a milder fluid, might readily and unwittingly find himself under the table, and, even though a hierarch, prove an easy subject for a _De Profundis_. Many years have elapsed since the prelate's demise; and it is to be supposed that, meanwhile, the nectar of _Est_ has been rendered less potent and even more delectable in heavenly vineyards. [Illustration: PROMENADE DU GOURMAND Frontispiece of "Le Manuel du Gastronome ou Nouvel Almanach des Gourmands" (1830)] [Illustration] SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER "Sir, _Respect Your Dinner_; idolize it, enjoy it properly. You will be many hours in the week, many weeks in the year, and many years in your life the happier if you do."--THACKERAY. A review of the dinner-table were incomplete without a reference to several writers, other than those already cited, who have wielded a more or less pronounced influence on gastronomy. Of such, two English authors deserve especial mention, each of whom has sought to prove that the art of the gastronomer is the art of being happy; and that, if blessed with a good appetite and sound digestion, one may round off many a corner of life's miseries.