MR. GLADSTONE ON DOMESTIC THRIFT.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2942, 20 July 1878, Page 4

MR. GLADSTONE ON DOMESTIC THRIFT.

On Wednesday Mr Gladstone presided at a cookery lesson given by Miss May Vincent, of the South Kensington School of Cookery, Hawarden, and at the close of the lesson,

Mr Gladstone said—l am glad to see such an attendance, and I hope it will be kept up during the whole course. I speak now as a mere spectator and not as a critic, becnuse I feel if I were to attempt to be a cook myself I should be an extremely bad one, so bad that nobody would be able to eat anything that I dressed; and therefore I speak with the greatest humility, looking from a distance and taking down what one sees, as well as what one hears, of the habits of different countries in saving and the merits of particular persons. I think a great deal of our cooking is most admirable and that we have no reason to complain at all. But, comparing country with country, there is no doubt that some countries are very much more economical than others.' I am afraid it is the truth that we are the most wasteful people on earth. (Hear.) I remember once hearing a curious story, worth telling, of the Americans. I heard fromaperson whohad travelledin America, that one day in the yard of his hotel he saw a great heap of ox-tails. They were thrown away as any-refuse would be thrown away, and he was surprised at that, and began to imagine, " Oh, oh, then there is^ one country that is more wasteful than we are, and that is America." That is the conclusion I was disposed to draw, but afterwards I heard the explanation, which is a very curious one. The American habit of throwing away ox tails is an old English habit which they carried with them from this country when the Ameri- j can settlements were formed. But you all know that at the time of the French Revolution a great number of priests and others came over as refugees and were kindly received in this country. They spread their views all over the country, and I am told that these priests, long after American settlements had been formed— indeed, after America had been separated from us politically—•brought over the habit of making soup from ox tails, and taught it to the English people. Probably the way would be this—they would see ox tails thrown away, and being people to whom the saving of every farthing was important, they would buy ox tails and make soup for themselves. The consequence was that we got in that shape a most excellent soup, for there can scarcely be more excellent soup than ox tail, and that is the vrry reason why in one point we are more economical than Americana. I hope it will not be thought that what you have been show-ing is inapplicable to any portion of the community. Everything is shown so beautifully, with such nice apparatus, everything is kept separate and scrupulously clean. Of course a great many of our countrymen will not hare these conditions. The women cook under conditions which prevent them doing this perfectly ;' but still in principle I am sure what you have been kindly showing is applicable to all classes of the community, and, indeed, as we get among the classes who are poorer it becomes more important to act up to the principle of Using everything and applying it to its proper purpose so that there should be no waste. I very much hope that those who are here,presen"t will communicate with their neighbours, and try to impress upon them how desirable it would be for them to come and see you practising the kind of cookery that is desirable for them. I must say cookery is a wonderful art. The niceness with which things are made, the degree of skill and care belonging to the profession of a cook are very, remarkable things. Moreover, I believe it is also true that good cookery is a very great deal more wholesome than bad, and that it contributes very much to health, as well as being "more saving. The French are, undoubtedly, on the whole the best cooks in the world, and I believe it is also undeniable that they are the most economical cooks in the world, and that with all which can possibly be turned to account there is least possible waste. I hope we shall always be, as a people and as individuals, disposed to imitate our neighbours in those things in which we can improve by imitating them. .1 believe we hare,a great deal still to learn in this respect, judging in a rough manner from what I see, and that things might be done more wholesomely and soundly than they are at present, even among people who can afford it. —Times, May 3.