SANDWICH

The Sandwich—a Word with Nefarious, Blasphemous, and Corrupt Origins

Where did the word “sandwich” come from?

The sandwich, which is most popular with world-wide eaters, functions as a noun or a verb and usually prefers to have its name pronounced as SAND wich. Besides the more obvious occupation of being something edible between two or more slices of bread, metaphorically speaking, it also likes to squeeze in between two other people, places, things, materials, etc.; as, he is willing to sandwich an appointment in between two other meetings or her car was sandwiched between two other cars in the parking lot.

The word sandwich that we use today was born in London during the very late hours one night in 1762 when an English nobleman, John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), was too busy gambling to stop for a meal even though he was hungry for some food. The legend goes that he ordered a waiter to bring him roast-beef between two slices of bread. The Earl was able to continue his gambling while eating his snack; and from that incident, we have inherited that quick-food product that we now know as the sandwich. He apparently had the meat put on slices of bread so he wouldn’t get his fingers greasy while he was playing cards. It’s strange that the name of this sex fiend should have gone down in history connected to such an innocent article of diet.

The Earl of Sandwich, the sandwich, and the town of Sandwich

The title, Earl of “Sandwich”, comes from Old English (O.E.) Sandwic, and literally means “sand village”, “Sandy Place”, or “Place on the Sand”. The old English wic is a loan word from Latin vicus, “hamlet”, which also gives us the word vicinity. The first recorded mention of the town was around 640 A.D.

According to Sue Fielder in her Open Sandwich site (reproduced here with her permission):

Hereditary English titles can be confusing. The family of the Earls of Sandwich has no real connection to the town itself, only the title. Apparently, the First Earl, Edward Montagu, originally intended to take the title of the Earl of Portsmouth—this might have been changed to honor the town of Sandwich, because the fleet he was commanding in 1660 was lying off the coast of Sandwich, before it sailed to bring Charles II back to England.

It is generally thought that neither the town of Sandwich, nor the word “sandwich” as an item of food, has any reference to each other, only with John Montagu, who happened to have the title. A sandwich could just as easily have been called a “portsmouth” if the First Earl, Edward Montagu, had not changed his mind.

Imagine ordering a “hamburger portsmouth, please” or a “bacon and egg portsmouth”. Well, why not? [J.R.]

The Fourth Earl of Sandwich was considered one of the most immoral men of his time.

John Montagu is said to have been immoral in both his private and public life, and gambling was just one of his lesser vices. He was the First Lord of the Admiralty, incompetent and very corrupt. In fact, it is very likely that he indirectly contributed to the success of the American Revolution because of his malfeasance as the chief admiral of the English navy. According to Jane Polley, “Sandwich managed to reduce the British Navy to a state of total confusion around the time that the American Revolution started—a contribution at least as significant as the munchable lunch.”

The Earl was a member of a group of Satan Worshippers called “The Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe”, also known as “The Hell Fire Club”. He boasted that he specialized in seducing virgins because he enjoyed “the corruption of innocence, for its own sake.” Sandwich was the executive officer of the Club and was described as being “as mischievous as a monkey and as lecherous as a goat.” He was also called “the most universally disliked man in England.” According to Daniel Mannix in his The Hell Fire Club, “In addition to being anti-religious, Sandwich was violently anti-democratic. He despised the general public and opposed any public figure who tried to get a better break for the common man. Because of his friendship with the King and his control of the English Navy, Sandwich was one of the most important men of the time and exerted a profound influence on the destiny of the British Empire.”

John Wilkes was responsible for scaring John Montagu almost to death.

The Hell Fire Club, founded by Sir Francis Dashwood was devoted to drinking, pornography in Latin verse, whoring, black masses, and satanic rituals. Most of the members were no doubt more interested in the drinking and the whoring but they went along with the rituals with at least one exception

For quite some time, John Wilkes, one of the members of the Club, apparently was growing irritated by the elaborate and boring ceremony of the Black Mass of The Hell Fire Club. Wilkes was described as “brilliant, amusing, an atheist, and utterly immoral” which were all the traits that qualified him to be a member of The Hell Fire Club.

Wilkes didn’t enjoy sitting in a robe watching the other “brothers” screaming blasphemies and daring God to prove His existence to them. Wilkes decided to give his fellow members a Black Mass that they would never forget. He had a baboon dressed in a devil’s suit and put it into a large chest normally holding utensils and ornaments used for the devil-worshipping ceremonies and which was located near the altar. The chest was fastened with a spring lock and Wilkes tied a “cord” to the lock and led it under the carpet to his seat. He cut a hole in the carpet so he could get a hold of the cord any time he wanted it.

With the small rope attached to the cover of the chest with which he could secretly release the beast during the “mass”, Wilkes waited until several of the “monks” were in front of the altar, imploring their master, the devil, to come among them and receive their adoration in person. He kneeled with the others in mock reverence and secretly pulled the cord, releasing the baboon which jumped on top of the altar in anger and fear, chattering at those it must have considered to be his tormentors.

The image of Satan terrified the mocking “worshippers”.

The brotherhood of Satanic worshippers stared at the gibbering monster with devil “horns” and “tail” and with horrified yells of “The devil! The devil!” they ran around trying to escape. The semi-drunken men tried to run, but before they could get away, the baboon made another flying leap and landed on the Earl of Sandwich’s shoulder. Mad with fright, the Earl tried to tear the animal loose, but the baboon kept clinging to him, chattering with rage before it finally fled out of an open window.

Before the “devil” left through the window and while it was still clinging to Sandwich’s shoulder, the Earl was running around the room screaming, “Spare me, gracious devil! You know I never committed a thousandth part of the vices of which I boasted. Take somebody else, they’re all worse than I am. I never knew that you’d really come, or I’d never have invoked thee!”

Sandwich spent the rest of the evening trying to regain his reputation as a hardened-impious lecher by wild speeches full of the most vile blasphemies. The Earl’s outburst when the baboon leaped on his shoulder had revealed him as a fundamentally deeply superstitious man. In spite of his cynical manner, he had a profound belief in the forces of evil and an all-abiding terror of eternal punishment for his sins.

Wilkes also made another “mortal enemy” of Samuel Johnson, the compiler of the famous A Dictionary of the English Language, 1755, by writing a comic review of Johnson’s “immortal dictionary.” Wilkes made fun of Johnson’s remarks on grammar in which he said: “The letter ‘h’ seldom, perhaps never, begins any but the first syllable” of a word. In his review, Wilkes wrote that “The author of this observation must be a man of quick appre-hension and of a most compre-hensive genius.” Such comments went on for several paragraphs and Johnson apparently never forgave Wilkes.

By the way, Benjamin Franklin was an honored guest of the Club during his visits to England. His explanation was that attending the meetings was an excellent occasion for meeting the luminaries of the British government. Although his explanation may have been valid, it was little things like this that led many to believe, no doubt unjustly, that Franklin was a dirty old man.

John Wilkes was expelled from The Hell Fire Club for “insulting the dignity of the Club.” This was just the beginning of the efforts by the Earl of Sandwich to get vengeance on Wilkes for the humiliation and embarrassment the Earl suffered.

One famous confrontation between John Montagu (a.k.a., The Earl of Sandwich) and John Wilkes went like this:

Sandwich: “Sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox.” Wilkes responded with, “That will depend, my lord, on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress.”

Sandwich died in 1792 and it was suggested that his epitaph should have been, “Seldom has any man held so many offices and accomplished so little.”

Sir Francis Dashwood’s group, the Monks of Medmenham (AKA The Hell Fire Club), despite claims of satanic activity associated with their gatherings, the meetings of Dashwood, Lord Sandwich, John Wilkes and their inner group of thirteen usually consisted of, as Wilkes wrote:

“A set of worthy, jolly fellows, happy disciples of Venus and Bacchus, got together to celebrate women in wine and to give more zest to the festive meeting, they plucked every luxurious idea from the ancients and enriched their own modern pleasures with the tradition of ancient luxury.”

Although the descendants of the sandwich may have rescued the Earl’s name from infamy, it is unlikely that he was the only one, or even the first one, to eat in this fashion. The idea is probably as time honored as bread and leftovers. French peasants customarily set off for the fields with cold meat wedged between generous slabs of black bread. Even the Romans are known to have nibbled layers of meat and bread called offula.

Now for an update with the 11th Earl of Sandwich, in the year 2003

In the July 22, 2003, issue of the International Herald Tribune, there was an article titled: “Making bread from a famous name” by Sarah Lyall in which we learn about the 11th Earl of Sandwich and his son, Orlando Montagu, setting up a sandwich-selling business known as, “The Earl of Sandwich.”

One Sandwich Earl or another has been in Parliament continuously since the 1660’s.


• The most famous Earl of Sandwich was the fourth one.
• He was the First Lord of the Admiralty and he financed the expedition of Captain Cook, who named the Sandwich Islands after him.
• Later, they were named Hawaii.
• Since the fourth Earl’s all-night gambling session in which he would not stop to eat and ordered some meat between two pieces of bread, all of the subsequent Earls of Sandwiches have been linked with sandwiches.
• In fact, the grandfather of the 11th Earl was referred to as “Lord Snack.”
• In 2001, The Earl of Sandwich (the company) began delivering upscale sandwiches, made with fresh ingredients from small British producers, to businesses across London.
• The company also sells sandwiches to Waitrose supermarkets; the packages bear the family crest.
• In the autumn of 2003, The Earl of Sandwich company is preparing to embark on its biggest venture yet, when it opens its first cafe, at Disney World in Florida.
• When he shops at Waitrose supermarkets, the 11th Earl enjoys buying Earl of Sandwich sandwiches, each of which bears his family signature.
• It would appear that this “upper crust” family is now striving to make “bread” with its famous name.

20 Great Ways to Find More Free Time

Are there a hundred different things you wish you could do with your life someday — anything from exercising to meditation or yoga to writing that novel you always wished you could write to reading more to relaxing and watching the sunrise? But perhaps you never have the time, like most people.

The truth is, we all have the same amount of time, and it’s finite and in great demand. But some of us have made the time for doing the things we love doing, and others have allowed the constant demands and pressures and responsibilities of life to dictate their days.

It’s time to move from the second group back into the first. Reclaim your time. Create the life you want and make the most of the free time you lay claim to. It’s not hard, though it does take a little bit of effort and diligence.

Not all of these will be applicable to your life — choose the ones you can apply and give them a try:

1. Take a time out. Freeing up your time starts with taking a step back to take a good look at your life. You need to block off at least an hour. Several hours or half a day is better. A whole day would be awesome. A weekend would be even more ideal, though not necessary practical for many folks. With this block of time, take a look at your life with some perspective. Is it what you’ve always wanted? How would you get to where you’ve always wanted to be? What do you enjoy doing, but don’t have enough time to do? What things actually fill up your day? Are there things you could drop or minimize to make more time? We’ll look at some of these things in the following items, but it starts with taking a time out to think and plan.
2. Find your essentials. What is it that you love to do? Make a short list of 4-5 things. These are the things you want to make room for.
3. Find your time-wasters. What do you spend a lot of your time on that isn’t on your essential list? Take a close look at these things and really think about whether they’re necessary, or if there are ways to reduce, minimize or eliminate these things. Sometimes you do things because you assume they’re necessary, but if you give it some thought you can find ways to drop them from your life. Figure out what you do simply to waste time — maybe surfing certain sites, watching TV, talking a lot at the water cooler, etc. You’re going to want to minimize these time-wasters to make room for the more important stuff, the stuff that makes you happy and that you love to do.
4. Schedule the time. As you sit down and think about your life and what you want to do, versus what you actually do, you will be looking at ways to free up time. It’s crucial that you take a blank weekly schedule (you can just write it out on a piece of paper, or use your calendar) and assign blocks for the things you love — the stuff on your essentials list. If you want to exercise, for example, when will you do it? Put the blocks of time on your schedule, and make these blocks the most important appointments of your week. Schedule the rest of your life around these blocks.
5. Consolidate. There are many things you do, scattered throughout your day or your week, that you might be able to consolidate in order to save time. A good example is errands — instead of running one or two a day, do them all in one day to save time and gas. Another example is email, or any kind of communication — batch process your email instead of checking and reading and responding throughout the day. Same thing with meetings, paperwork, anything that you do regularly.
6. Cut out meetings. This isn’t possible for everyone, but in my experience meetings take up a lot of time to get across a little information, or to make easy decisions that could be made via email or phone. As much as you can, minimize the number of meetings you hold and attend. In some cases this might mean talking to your boss and telling her that you have other priorities, and asking to be excused. In other cases this might mean asking the people holding the meeting if you can get the info in other ways. If so, you’ve saved yourself an hour or so per meeting (sometimes more).
7. De clutter your schedule. If you have a heavily packed schedule, full of meetings and errands and tasks and projects and appointments, you’re going to want to weed it out so that it’s not so jam-packed. Find the stuff that’s not so essential and cancel them. Postpone other stuff. Leave big blank spaces in your schedule.
8. Re-think your routine. Often we get stuck in a routine that’s anything but what we really want our days to be like. Is there a better way of doing things? You’re the creator of your life — make a new routine that’s more pleasant, more optimal, more filled with things you love.
9. Cut back on email. I mentioned email in an earlier point above, regarding consolidating, but it’s such a major part of most people’s lives that it deserves special attention. How often do you check email? How much time do you spend composing emails? If you spend a major part of your work day on email, as many people do (and as I once did), you can free up a lot of time by reducing the time you spend in email. Now, this won’t work for everyone, but it can work for many people: choose 2-3 key times during the day to process your inbox to empty, and keep your responses to 5 sentences.
10. Learn to say no. If you say “yes” to every request, you will never have any free time. Get super protective about your time, and say “no” to everything but the essential requests.
11. Keep your list to 3. When you make out your daily to-do list, just list the three Most Important Tasks you want to accomplish today. Don’t make a laundry list of tasks, or you’ll fill up all your free time. By keeping your task list small, but populated only by important tasks, you ensure that you are getting the important stuff done but not overloading yourself.
12. Do your Biggest Rock first. Of the three Most Important Tasks you choose for the day, pick the biggest one, or the one you’re dreading most, and do that first. Otherwise you’ll put that off as much as possible and fill your day with less important things. Don’t allow yourself to check email until that Big Rock is taken care of. It starts your day with a sense of major accomplishment, and leaves you with a lot of free time the rest of the day, because the most important thing is already done.
13. Delegate. If you have subordinates or coworkers who can do a task or project, try to delegate it. Don’t feel like you need to do everything yourself. If necessary, spend a little time training the person to whom you’re delegating the task, but that little time spent training will pay off in a lot of time saved later. Delegating allows you to focus on the core tasks and projects you should be focusing on.
14. Cut out distractions. What is there around your workspace that distracts you from the task at hand? Sometimes it’s visual clutter, or papers lying around that call for your attention and action, or email or IM notifiers on your computer that pop up at the wrong time, or the phone, or coworkers. See if you can eliminate as many of these as possible — the more you can focus, the more effective you’ll be and the less time you’ll waste. That equals time saved for the good stuff.
15. Disconnect. The biggest of distractions, for most people, is the Internet. My most productive times are when I’m disconnected from the grid. Now, I’m not saying you need to be disconnected all the time, but if you really want to be able to effectively complete tasks, disconnect your Internet so you can really focus. Set certain times of the day for connectivity, and only connect during those periods.
16. Outsource. If you can’t delegate, see if you can outsource. With the Internet, we can connect with people from all over the world. I’ve outsourced many things, from small tasks to checking email to legal work to design and editing work and more. That allows me to focus on the things I’m best at, the things I love doing, and saves me a lot of time.
17. Make use of your mornings. I find that mornings are the absolute best times to schedule the things I really want to do. I run, read and write in the mornings — three of the four things on my Essentials List (spending time with family is the other thing on the list). Mornings are great because your day hasn’t been filled with a bunch of unscheduled, demanding, last-minute tasks that will push back those Essentials. For example, if you schedule something for late afternoon, by the time late afternoon rolls around, you might have a dozen other things newly added to your to-do list, and you’ll put off that late-afternoon Essential. Instead, schedule it for the morning, and it’ll rarely (if ever) get pushed back.
18. The Golden Right-after-work Time. Other than mornings, I find the time just after work to be an incredible time for doing Essential things. Exercise, for example, is great in the 5-o’clock hour, as is spending time with family, or doing anything else relaxing.
19. Your evenings. The time before you go to bed is also golden, as it exists every single day, and it’s usually completely yours to schedule. What do you want to do with this time? Read? Spend time with your kids? Work on a hobby you’re passionate about? Take advantage of this time.
20. Lunch breaks. If the three golden times mentioned above don’t work for you, lunch breaks are another good opportunity to schedule things. Some people like to exercise, or to take quiet times, during their lunch breaks. Others use this time to work on an important personal goal or project.

Three Secrets to be HAPPY

We all know that money can’t buy happiness … but many times we act as if we’d be happier with a bit more money. We are conditioned to want to be rich (when we know the rich aren’t happy either); we are trained to want the latest gadget or style that television tells us to want; we want to earn more money because then we’ll have the good life.

But none of that will bring us happiness. No matter how much we earn, no matter how much we have in the bank, no matter how nice our clothing or cars or toys, none of it will make us happier. And the sad thing is that it could take us decades of pursuing wealth and luxury items before we realize this.

So what will bring us happiness? Luckily, it’s three things that don’t cost a thing. These three things have been proven by research — surveys of hundreds of thousands of people about what they have, what their lives are like, and how happy they are.

Here they are, the Three Secrets to Happiness:

1. Good relationships. We have a human need to be close, to be intimate, with other human beings. Having good, supportive friendships, a strong marriage or close and loving relationships with our family members will make us much more likely to be happy. Action steps: Take time, today, to spend time with your loved ones, to tell them what they mean to you, to listen to them, and develop your relationship with them.

2. Positive thinking. I’m obviously a big proponent of positive thinking as the best way to achieve your goals, but it turns out that it can lead to happiness too. Optimism and self-esteem are some of the best indicators of people who lead happy lives. Happy people feel empowered, in control of their lives, and have a positive outlook on life. Action steps: Make positive thinking a habit. In fact, this should be one of the first habits you develop. Get into the habit of squashing all negative thoughts and replacing them with positive ones. Instead of “I can’t” think “I can”. It may sound corny, but it has worked for me, every time.

3. Flow. This is a popular concept on the Internet these days — the state we enter when we are completely focused on the work or task before us. We are so immersed in our task that we lose track of time. Having work and leisure that gets you in this state of flow will almost undoubtedly lead to happiness. People find greatest enjoyment not when they’re passively mindless, but when they’re absorbed in a mindful challenge. Action steps: Find work that you’re passionate about. Seriously — this is an extremely important step. Find hobbies that you’re passionate about. Turn off the TV — this is the opposite of flow — and get outside and do something that truly engages you.

You’ve been given the Three Secrets to Happiness. Don’t waste them!