..............................The smoke ascends
To Heaven as lightly from the cottage hearth
As from the haughtiest palace. He whose soul
Ponders this true equality, may walk
The fields of earth with gratitude and hope;
Yet, in that meditation, will he find
Motive to sadder grief, as we have found;
Lamenting ancient virtues overthrown,
And for the injustice grieving, that hath made
So wide a difference between man and man."
Chapter 13. Dinners, Banquets, Etc.
Dinner, as we all know, indicates a certain hour and a certain habit
whose aim is the nourishment of the body, and a deliverance from hunger;
but in our modern civilized life it possesses other purposes also.
Man is a gregarious animal, and when he takes his food he likes company;
from this peculiarity there has sprung up the custom of dinner parties.
In attending dinner parties, however, the guests as a rule do not
seek sustenance, they only go to them when they have nothing else to do,
and many scarcely touch the food that is laid before them.
Their object is to do honor to the host and hostess, not to eat,
but to be entertained by pleasant and congenial conversation.
Nevertheless, the host, at whose invitation the company has assembled,
is expected to provide a great abundance and a large variety of savory dishes,
as well as a good supply of choice wines. Flesh and wine are indispensable,
even though the entertainers eschew both in their private life,
and most of the guests daily consume too much of each.
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