 His sonâs famous âHistory of the Caliph Vathekâ looks as if it had been planned for an Aldermanâs dream after a very heavy dinner at the Mansion House.  There is devotion in it to the senses, emphasis on heavy dining.  Vathek piqued himself on being the greatest eater alive; but when the Indian dined with him, though the tables were thirty times covered, there was still want of more food for the voracious guest.  There is thirst: for at one part of the dream, when Vathekâs mother, his wives, and some eunuchs âassiduously employed themselves in filling bowls of rock crystal, and emulously presented them to him, it frequently happened that his avidity exceeded their zeal, insomuch that he would prostrate himself upon the ground to lap up the water, of which he could never have enough.â  And the nightmare incidents of the Arabian tale all culminate in a most terrible heartburn.  Could the conception of Vathek have first come to the son after a City dinner?