the exact hour at which they dine, having mislaid the note,
and then retire to walk for an appetite. If you are too late,
the evil is still greater, and indeed almost without a
remedy. Your delay spoils the dinner and destroys the
appetite and temper of the guests; and you yourself are so
much embarrassed at the inconvenience you have occasioned,
that you commit a thousand errors at table. If you do not
reach the house until dinner is served, you had better retire
to a restaurateurs, and thence send an apology, and not
interrupt the harmony of the courses by awkward excuses and
cold acceptances.

When the guests have all entered, and been presented to one
another, if any delay occurs, the conversation should be of
the lightest and least exciting kind; mere common-places
about the weather and late arrivals. You should not amuse the
company by animated relations of one person who has just cut
his throat from ear to ear, or of another who, the evening
before, was choked by a tough beef-steak and was buried that
morning.

When dinner is announced, the inviter rises and requests all
to walk to the dining-room. He then leads the way, that they
may not be at a loss to know whither they should proceed.
Each gentleman offers his arm to a lady, and they follow in
solemn order.

The great distinction now becomes evident between the host
and the guests, which distinction it is the chief effort of
good breeding to remove. To perform faultlessly the honours