White Celery Soup

Slice up fine six heads of celery, four onions, and four ounces of raw ham; put these into a stewpan with four ounces of butter and a pint of white stock, or water; simmer very gently over a slow fire until the celery becomes quite soft; then add half a pound of flour, mix together, moisten with a quart of good veal stock, stir the soup over the fire for twenty minutes; rub the purée through a tammy into a dish, and having poured it into a soup-pot, make it hot; add half a pint of cream, and serve with fried crusts, separately.