never by the bowl; and the plate must never be tilted on any occasion. In eating, one must not bend the head voraciously over the plate, extend the elbows, rattle the knife and fork, or soil the table-cloth; but he must be quiet and gentle in all his movements. 6. Anything like greediness, haste, or indecision, is illbred. Never take the choicest piece, nor take up one piece and lay it down in favor of another, nor hesitate as to which piece you will take, or whether you will take one at all. To be particular about such trifles shows a degree of selfishness which is inconsistent with good manners. 7. There are different ways of disposing of the stones and seeds of fruit, such as cherries, plums, raisins, etc. They should be conveyed from the mouth and deposited upon the side of the plate in the least offensive manner. Very dainty feeders press out the stones with the fork in the first instance, and thus get rid of the difficulty. This is the safest way for ladies. 8. Taking wine with people, and giving toasts at dinners, once considered as traits of refinement, are now somewhat out of use in some parts of Christendom. To remain long in the dining-room after the ladies have left, is a poor compliment to both the hostess and her fair visitors. Still worse is it to rejoin them with a flushed. face and impaired powers of thought. A refined gentleman is always temperate. 9. Nevertheless, if you are asked to take wine, it is polite to select that which your interlocutor is drinking. If you invite a lady to take wine, you may ask her which she will prefer, and then take the same yourself. Should you, however, prefer some other vintage, you can take it, by courteously requesting her permission. 10. Unless you are a total abstainer, it is extremely uncivil to decline taking wine if you are invited to do so. In accepting, you have only to pour a little fresh wine into your glass, look at the person who invites you, bow slightly, and take a sip. It is particularly ill-bred to empty your glass on these occasions. 11. If you should unfortunately be so awkward as to overturn or break anything, never apologize for it; for there is simply no possible excuse for such a blunder. 12. If you send your plate to be helped a second time, it is well to hold your knife and fork in the left hand. 13. The lady of the house should never send away her plate, or appear to have done eating, till all her guests have finished. Nor should she reprove her servants before guests, nor make excuses for anything that may go wrong. 14. All well-ordered dinners begin with soup, whether in summer or winter. The lady of the house should help it, and send it round without asking each individual in turn-it is as much an understood thing as the bread beside each plate; and those who do not choose it are always at liberty to leave it untasted. 15. Finger-glasses containing water slightly warmed and perfumed are placed before each person at dessert. In these you dip your fingers, wiping them afterward on your table-napkin. If the finger-glass and doily are placed on your dessert-plate, you should immediately remove the doily to the left hand, and place the finger-glass upon it. 16. Never address your conversation to a person immediately on taking your seat at the table, because the partaking of food is regarded by some as a kind of sacrament, which they precede by a private grace whenever it is omitted as a ceremony for the company present. By speaking to them at this moment, you might give them a disagreeable interruption. 17. It need hardly be said, that the proper place for eating is at the table, and that fruit or other kind of food should not be eaten in the streets, or at public assemblies, where it is not provided for all. Well-bred persons will always observe the proprieties of time and place. 18. Never play with any of the things upon the table, or handle them idly; nor make a grating noise with your chair on taking or leaving your place. 19. Avoid hasty movements, and be sure that the food never falls from your plate upon the table-cloth. 20. However poor or scanty the fare, let it be partaken of with a cheerful disposition and a proper observance of forms. FOR PREPARATION.-I. General John W. Phelps, feeling the importance of teaching the general precepts of good behavior in our schools, has published a small manual (Cheney & Clapp, Brattleboro', Vt.), from which the above chapter is taken by permission. II. Pleas'-ant, pre-çed'-ençe, în-de-çiş'-ion (-sizh'un), doi'-ly (D'Oyley, its first maker), Chris'-ten-dỏm (Kris'n-dum), sǎe'-ra-ment. III. Explain re in reunions ;-est in choicest;-in in inexpressibly ;-en in eaten. Correct "should not be ate." IV. Define rendered, occasion, amenities, etiquette, vulgar, refined, voraciously, inconsistent, compliment, apologize, sacrament, viands. V. Classify the maxims above given under a few heads, as, for example, (a) position while eating; (b) care of finger-glasses and napkins; (c) disposition of parts that cannot be eaten; (d) wine; (e) soup and fish; (f) hasty movements, etc. Make, from the above, a list of ten maxims which you consider specially of importance. Compare these maxims with those collected by Washington (XLVI.). CXXVII.-NEW-YEAR'S EVE. 1. Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, 2. Ring out the old, ring in the new; 3. Ring out the grief that saps the mind, 4. Ring out a slowly-dying cause, And ancient forms of party strife; 5. Ring out false pride in place and blood, Ring in the love of truth and right ; 6. Ring out old shapes of foul disease; The larger heart, the kindlier hand; Alfred Tennyson. FOR PREPARATION.-I. Where is it the custom to ring the bells at midnight when the New-Year begins? II. Feud (fūd), ān'-cient (-shĕnt), măn'-nerş, văl'-iant (-yant). = III. Some suffixes are used to denote small objects of their kind (e. g., kin in lambkin (little lamb), ling in duckling (little duck), let in rivulet (little river), driblet (drop or drip-let); also, ie in such words as laddie, and many pet names of persons are spelled this way, to mean little or delicate (e. g., Katie little Kate); y is used for ie in many of the names (e. g., Johnny, Nancy little Ann, etc.). The suffix let is probably the same word originally as lit in little; kin is the same as in kindred, and (like the German word Kind) means child. Words formed in this way are called "diminutives." Make a list of twenty diminutives. IV. Redress," saps the mind," feud, "party strife." "Thou V. What personification is continued through the poem ? "For those that here we see no more" (3) (what is "for those "?) What is meant by "narrowing lust of gold"? Give an example to illustrate it. sand years of peace" (the "millennium," see Revelation xx.). pride in place and blood” (pride on account of office, rank, or family connection). "Civic slander" (the slander used in political contests). "False CXXVIII-MIGRATION TO KENTUCKY. 1. The Virginians thronged toward the Ohio. An ax, a couple of horses, and a heavy rifle, with store of ammunition, were all that were considered necessary for the equipment of the man who, with his family, removed to the new State; assured that, in that land of exuberant fertility, he could not fail to provide amply for all his wants. 2. To have witnessed the industry and perseverance of these emigrants must at once have proved the vigor of their minds. Regardless of the fatigue attending every movement which they made, they pushed through an unexplored region of dark and tangled forests, guiding themselves by the sun alone, and reposing at night on the bare ground. |