Flitch of bacon custom claimed, he writes "... it is a little paradise, and the more like an antique one, as, by all I have said, the married couples seem to be driven out of it." Walpole concludes, "If you love a prospect, or bacon, you will certainly come hither." An anonymous humorous piece appeared in Joseph Addison's "Spectator" in 1714 purporting to explain the rarity of the flitch being awarded in terms of the poor quality of the applicants. The writer claims that the source is the "Register of Whichenovre-hall" but the truth is that the piece is almost certainly entirely fictitious. The
What Is a Nation? French citizen has to have forgotten the massacre of Saint Bartholomew, or the massacre that took place in the South in the thirteenth century. While many nations, such as France, begin with a feudal regime such as a monarchy, others, such as the United States and Switzerland, are formed by acts of consensual aggregation. France and many others, however, survived their feudal roots while maintaining their identity. Renan inquires what is the organizing principle? It can't be race, because France is "Celt, Iberian, German...The most noble countries, England, France and Italy, are the ones where the blood is most mixed."