Pray you, sit down;
For now we sit to chat as well as eat.
— THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.
HATTED food," says the old proverb, "is half digested," and there is no doubt
that quiet and agreeable conversation at' meals increases enjoyment and facili-
tates digestion. The crisp remark, the brisk banter, the tart gossip, the spicy
anecdote, the sparkling wit and bubbling humor, when served up in the intervals between
the various courses, have all the exhilarating effect of wine without its dangers, prevents
dull pauses, and sustains that lively flow of the animal spirits so favorable to the due per-
formance of every function, especially that of the stomach and its associated organs. The
intrusion, however, of serious discourse and topics of business requiring deep thought
and awakening grave reflection or anxious emotion, is fatal to good digestion.
" Tact never violates for a moment this law; never introduce the orders of the house,
the vices of the absent, or a tariff of expenses, or professional privacies ; as we say, we
never talk ' shop ' before company. Lovers abstain from caresses, and haters from insults.
If you have not slept, or if you have slept, or if you have a headache, or sciatica, or lep-
rosy, or thunder-stroke, I beseech you, by all angels, to hold your peace."
" Shun the negative side. Never worry people with your contritions, nor with dismal
views of politics or society. Never name sickness, even if you could trust yourself on
that perilous topic ; beware of unmuzzling a valetudinarian, who will soon give you your
fill of it."
Among the guests are some, perhaps, of the highest rank, always some of high political
importance, about whom the interests of busy life gathers, intermixed with others eminent
already in literature or art, or of the dawning promise which the hostess delights to dis-
cover and the host to smile upon. All are assembled for the purpose of enjoyment ; the
57
58 HOME DISSERTATIONS.
anxieties of the minister, the feverish struggle of the partisan, the silent toils of the artist
or critic, are finished for the day ; professional and literary jealousies are hushed; sickness,
decrepitude and death are silently voted shadows ; and the brilliant assemblage is pre-
pared to exercise to the highest degree the extraordinary privileges of mortals to live in
the knowledge of mortality without its consciousness, and to people the present hour with
delights, as if a man lived and laughed and enjoyed in this forever. Every appliance of
physical luxury which the most delicate art can supply, attends on each; every faint wish
which luxury creates is anticipated ; the noblest and most gracious countenance in
the world smiles over the happiness it is diffusing, and redoubles it by cordial invitations
and encouraging words, which set the humblest scranger guest at perfect ease.
As dinner emerges into the dessert, and the sunset casts a richer glow on the branches,
still or lightly moving in the evening light, and on the scene within, the harmony of all
sensations becomes more perfect ; a delighted and delighting laugh invites attention to
some joyous sally of the richest intellectual wit reflected in the faces of all.
Page 48
Presented as published in 1891. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Pray you, sit down; For now we sit to chat as well as eat.
— THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.
HATTED food," says the old proverb, "is half digested," and there is no doubt that quiet and agreeable conversation at' meals increases enjoyment and facilitates digestion. The crisp remark, the brisk banter, the tart gossip, the spicy anecdote, the sparkling wit and bubbling humor, when served up in the intervals between the various courses, have all the exhilarating effect of wine without its dangers, prevents dull pauses, and sustains that lively flow of the animal spirits so favorable to the due performance of every function, especially that of the stomach and its associated organs. The intrusion, however, of serious discourse and topics of business requiring deep thought and awakening grave reflection or anxious emotion, is fatal to good digestion.
" Tact never violates for a moment this law; never introduce the orders of the house, the vices of the absent, or a tariff of expenses, or professional privacies ; as we say, we never talk ' shop ' before company. Lovers abstain from caresses, and haters from insults. If you have not slept, or if you have slept, or if you have a headache, or sciatica, or leprosy, or thunder-stroke, I beseech you, by all angels, to hold your peace."
" Shun the negative side. Never worry people with your contritions, nor with dismal views of politics or society. Never name sickness, even if you could trust yourself on that perilous topic ; beware of unmuzzling a valetudinarian, who will soon give you your fill of it."
Among the guests are some, perhaps, of the highest rank, always some of high political importance, about whom the interests of busy life gathers, intermixed with others eminent already in literature or art, or of the dawning promise which the hostess delights to discover and the host to smile upon. All are assembled for the purpose of enjoyment ; the
anxieties of the minister, the feverish struggle of the partisan, the silent toils of the artist or critic, are finished for the day ; professional and literary jealousies are hushed; sickness, decrepitude and death are silently voted shadows ; and the brilliant assemblage is prepared to exercise to the highest degree the extraordinary privileges of mortals to live in the knowledge of mortality without its consciousness, and to people the present hour with delights, as if a man lived and laughed and enjoyed in this forever. Every appliance of physical luxury which the most delicate art can supply, attends on each; every faint wish which luxury creates is anticipated ; the noblest and most gracious countenance in the world smiles over the happiness it is diffusing, and redoubles it by cordial invitations and encouraging words, which set the humblest stranger guest at perfect ease.
As dinner emerges into the dessert, and the sunset casts a richer glow on the branches, still or lightly moving in the evening light, and on the scene within, the harmony of all sensations becomes more perfect ; a delighted and delighting laugh invites attention to some joyous sally of the richest intellectual wit reflected in the faces of all.