Gazpacho; or, Summer Months in Spain, is the title of a new book by W.
George Clark, published in London. Gazpacho, it seems, is the name of
a dish peculiar to Spain, but of universal use there, a sort of cold
soup, made up of familiars and handy things, as bread, pot-herbs, oil,
and water. "My Gazpacho," says the author, "has been prepared after
a similar receipt. I know not how it will please the more refined
and fastidious palates to which it will be submitted; indeed, amid
the multitude of dainties wherewith the table is loaded, it may well
remain untasted." It at least deserves a better fate than that. The
volume relates, in a pleasant, intelligent, and gossiping way, a
summer's ramble through Spain, describing with considerable force the
peculiarities of its people, and the romantic features by which it
is marked. The clever painter could not have better materials. The
party-colored costumes of the peasants, like dahlias at a Chiswick
show; the somber garments of the priests, the fine old churches, the
queer rambling houses, looking centuries old, the dull, gloomy streets
of Madrid, the life and activity of the market-place. Such are the
objects upon which the eye rests, and of which Mr. Clark was too
observant to neglect any. The following passages will give an idea of
the materials of which the Gazpacho is made up:--