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i speak not of your grown porkers — things between pig and pork — those hobbydehoys, but a young and tender suckling, under a moon old, guiltless as yet of the sty, with no original speck of the amor immunditia, the hereditary failing of the first parent, yet manifest — his voice yet not broken, but something between a childish treble and a grumble — the mild forerunner, or praeludium of a grunt. He must be roasted. I am not ignorant that our ancestors ate them seethed or boiled ; but what a sacrifice of the exterior tegument ! There is no flavor comparable, I will contend, to that of the crisp, tawny, well-watched, not over-roasted, crackling, as it is well called, — the very teeth are invited to their share of the pleasure at this banquet in overcoming the coy, brittle resistance, — with the adhesive oleaginous — O, call it not fat ! but an indefinable sweetness growing up to it, — the tender blossoming of fat — fat cropped in the bud — taken in the shoot — in the first innocence — the cream and quintessence of the child-pig's yet pure food, — the lean, no lean, but a kind of animal manna, — or, rather, fat and lean (if it must be so) so blended and running into each other, that both together make bit ambrosian result, or common substance. . . . His sauce should be considered. Decidedly, a few bread-crumbs done up with his liver and brains, and a dash of mild sage. But banish, dear Mrs. Cook, I beseech you, the whole onion tribe. Barbecue your whole hogs to your palate, steep them in shalots, stuff them out with plantations of the rank and guilly garlic ; you cannot poison them, or make them stronger than they are, — but consider, he is a weakling — a flower. — Charles Lamb. A DELICATE ROAST PIG. Lay a nicely-dressed pig in a tub of cold water all night; in the morning change the water, and let it remain until it is time to roast it ; then wipe it dry, rub the inside well with sage, cayenne and salt mixed, and stuff it with a dressing made of bread-crumbs, salt pork chopped fine, pepper, salt, sweet marjoram, and an egg. It should be roasted on a spit before the fire ; but, lacking convenience for this mode, the pig must be placed (the feet turned under) on a rack in the dripping-pan with some water, in which are some sprigs of sage and marjoram tied in muslin. Keep it well floured until half done ; then take it out, wipe off the1 flour, return it to the oven, and baste well with butter, repeating this several times until the pig is roasted. Serve on a large platter with a potato or small ear of unhusked green corn in its mouth. The herbs may be taken from the dripping-pan, the gravy thickened with flour and seasoned to taste with pepper and salt. Then serve in a boat. Allow three hours for roasting. BAKED FRESH PORK. If the skin is left on the pork, as it is in some markets, scrape it with a dull knife, wash it thoroughly with a wet cloth, and score it in little squares ; if the skin has been removed trim oft some of the superfluous fat ; using a sharp, thin knife cut out the chine or back bone, disjointing it from the ends of the ribs, so that the meat may be carved with ease ; PORK. 119 CORNED HAM, BAKED.