Dinner, which differs in French households from breakfast more in having soup than in any other particular, is generally eaten at six, and is over in time to go to the theatre at eight. Pai'ties begin in Paris at about midnight, or after the opera, and the doors of many of the large public balls open at that witching hour. Many who rise earlj', take a nap after the breakfast, and, in Spain, this is done by all classes ; shops are closed and the streets deserted for a couple of hours for the " siesta " — but then the Spaniard begins his work before day. In England, family breakfasts are generally of cold meats, and the dinner comes at eight in the evening, the ladies having a cup of tea in the afternoon, at about five o'clock. In the cold countries of the North, especially among the Scandinavians, more meals are taken — often as many as five, at which meat is served — and these do not correspond to our meals or those of Southern Europeans, enough even to bear the same names. Indeed, the hours for eating must be regulated by the hours of employment. If one is in the whirl of fashionable life of a great city, and nightly out until four or five o'clock in the morning, the heavy meal of the da}^ must come late, and a light supper at midnight becomes a necessity. If you are a hard-working farmer, living in the country and going to bed between nine and ten, the meal hours must correspond. We often read of great changes in the dinner hour ; that Henry the Eighth " dined " at ten in the morning. So he did. But until very modern times the heavy meal at close of day was called supper; they eat it in England to-day at nearly the s.ame hour, and call it dinner. " What's in a name? " Supper Parties. — Suppers are now given at balls and parties, after the opera, etc., and it is rare to invite a guest to supper alone. An invitation to a dancing or card party is generally understood to include a supper of some kind, although it is PHILOSOPHY AND PRECEPTS OF ETIQUETTE. 389 never mentioned. Such terms as "an oyster supper," "a champagne supper," etc., are never heard among decent people. Oysters and champagne may be given, but attention is not called to the fact any more than one would ask a guest to "a meat and claret dinner" when these were to be given. In fact, the terms mentioned should be restricted to the vulgar haunters of bars and billiard rooms. Common Sense Hours. — Meals should be timed by common sense. It is probably more healthful to take a rather light breakfast, which, in a malarious country, should always include coffee. At noon a more substantial meal is in order, but as, in this country, several hours of hard work are to follow, it should not be too heavy, and a quarter or half an hour's rest after it is time well spent. The dyspepsia so common in this country comes from taking, as a habit, more food than is necessary, and then working with head or body immediately afterwards. Digestion requires repose and most people eat far more than nature calls for. The best time for a heavy dinner is after the hard work of the day is over and a couple or more of hours can be given to comfortable rest, reading, conversation or light amusement. Eat slowly, not too much at any one meal, take small pieces which can be easily masticated, and do not go directly from the table to violent exercise or severe brain work. Make your dinner (or evening meal, by whatever name you choose to call it,) a pleasant, social affair, which tempts you to linger over it; not a place to bolt, in haste, a certain amount of unmasticated food, and then liy from. Cul- tivate the beauties and the social aspects of the meal daily, and it will prove not only a delight, but a source of health as well as of civilization. Then your dinner parties to strangers will need only a little more care than the daily event, not a contrast which ^ upsets the household. XVII. Luncheon— Invitations and Service.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Dinner, which differs in French households from breakfast more in having soup than in any other particular, is generally eaten at six, and is over in time to go to the theatre at eight. Parties begin in Paris at about midnight, or after the opera, and the doors of many of the large public balls open at that witching hour. Many who rise early, take a nap after the breakfast, and, in Spain, this is done by all classes ; shops are closed and the streets deserted for a couple of hours for the " siesta " — but then the Spaniard begins his work before day. In England, family breakfasts are generally of cold meats, and the dinner comes at eight in the evening, the ladies having a cup of tea in the afternoon, at about five o'clock. In the cold countries of the North, especially among the Scandinavians, more meals are taken — often as many as five, at which meat is served — and these do not correspond to our meals or those of Southern Europeans, enough even to bear the same names. Indeed, the hours for eating must be regulated by the hours of employment. If one is in the whirl of fashionable life of a great city, and nightly out until four or five o'clock in the morning, the heavy meal of the day must come late, and a light supper at midnight becomes a necessity. If you are a hard-working farmer, living in the country and going to bed between nine and ten, the meal hours must correspond. We often read of great changes in the dinner hour ; that Henry the Eighth " dined " at ten in the morning. So he did. But until very modern times the heavy meal at close of day was called supper; they eat it in England to-day at nearly the same hour, and call it dinner. " What's in a name? " Supper Parties. — Suppers are now given at balls and parties, after the opera, etc., and it is rare to invite a guest to supper alone. An invitation to a dancing or card party is generally understood to include a supper of some kind, although it is never mentioned. Such terms as "an oyster supper," "a champagne supper," etc., are never heard among decent people. Oysters and champagne may be given, but attention is not called to the fact any more than one would ask a guest to "a meat and claret dinner" when these were to be given. In fact, the terms mentioned should be restricted to the vulgar haunters of bars and billiard rooms. Common Sense Hours. — Meals should be timed by common sense. It is probably more healthful to take a rather light breakfast, which, in a malarious country, should always include coffee. At noon a more substantial meal is in order, but as, in this country, several hours of hard work are to follow, it should not be too heavy, and a quarter or half an hour's rest after it is time well spent. The dyspepsia so common in this country comes from taking, as a habit, more food than is necessary, and then working with head or body immediately afterwards. Digestion requires repose and most people eat far more than nature calls for. The best time for a heavy dinner is after the hard work of the day is over and a couple or more of hours can be given to comfortable rest, reading, conversation or light amusement. Eat slowly, not too much at any one meal, take small pieces which can be easily masticated, and do not go directly from the table to violent exercise or severe brain work. Make your dinner (or evening meal, by whatever name you choose to call it,) a pleasant, social affair, which tempts you to linger over it; not a place to bolt, in haste, a certain amount of unmasticated food, and then liy from. Cultivate the beauties and the social aspects of the meal daily, and it will prove not only a delight, but a source of health as well as of civilization. Then your dinner parties to strangers will need only a little more care than the daily event, not a contrast which ^ upsets the household. XVII. Luncheon— Invitations and Service.

Twentieth century home cook book