pride. There is often affectation in shunning affectation. It
is better in things not material to submit to the established
habits, especially when, as in the present case, the balance
of convenience is decidedly on the part of fashion. The
ordinary custom among well bred persons, is as follows:--soup
is taken with a spoon. Some foolish _fashionables_ employ a
fork! They might as well make use of a broomstick. The fish
which follows is eaten with a fork, a knife not being used at
all. The fork is held in the right hand, and a piece of bread
in the left. For any dish in which cutting is not
indispensable, the same arrangement is correct. When you have
upon your plate, before the dessert, anything partially
liquid, or any sauces, you must not take them up with a
knife, but with a piece of bread, which is to be saturated
with the juices, and then lifted to the mouth. If such an
article forms part of the dessert, you should eat it with a
spoon. In carving, steel instruments alone are employed. For
fowls a peculiar knife is used, having the blade short and
the handle very long. For fish a broad and pierced silver
blade is used.

A dinner--we allude to _dinner-parties_--in this country, is
generally despatched with too much hurry. We do not mean,
that persons commonly eat too fast, but that the courses
succeed one another too precipitately. Dinner is the last
operation of the day, and there is no subsequent business
which demands haste. It is usually intended, especially when
there are no ladies, to sit at the table till nine, ten, or
eleven o'clock, and it is more agreeable that the _eating_
should be prolonged through a considerable portion of the