New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-03-11

tie table with still ard dry champagne, as II knew ms
name and my cust 10 drink those wines eve
dsy OF my Ete. am a. bad as my neighbors oal
Why are We so bad, ask Why are we not more rsa
soEGhle
five receive very great men or ladies' a. our houses,
will lay q wager that they Will select mutton and
gcossberry for their dinner forsakng the ears
which the men in white Berlin gloves are handing round
in tie Birmine ham plated dshes. Asking loris ant "a
dies who have grest establishments OF their own, %
French dinners aLd dehcEcies 10 Ike inviting grocer
70 meal OF figs OF pastry cook banquet OF .ssp
berry fgrs They have hSd enough OF them. And
great felix's, if they Ike you, take no coun; OF your
FEAST and grand preparations AID can but ea NATION
ike men.
One cannot have SJmptusry laws now sdays, or ~
strict 4 gsstI al than any other tdc but
wish a check could be put upon our dinner est.svs
gsnces by Some means, and au confident that the plea
sures Ct lie would really be increased By mOieSli1D.
man mi b, give dinners for one according 70 the
present pattern. Half your money Is swallowed up n
dessert, which nobody wants in the La t. AMI whcd
always fru6ge arriving at the end OF plenty. Sr
vices OF culinary kickshsvs swallow up money, which
gives nobody pleasure, except the pastrycook waom
cnr,hes. Everybody lives as If be had three or ioIr
Thousand aycar
again 81 this Cvcrv hening luxury. What Is mere de-
cercy in a very weakly man Is absurdy-nay, wicked.
mes in & poor one frog by nature, am an insane,
ely creature 10 attempt to swell myself 70 tac SIZE OF
the OK my neighbOr. On that could establish N tae
middle classes OF London Antl6RfTte and AnI Des-
sert movement would 20 down to posterty n9t III
deserving Of my country IN such case, ana N, NJ ne
ranked among the social beueisctors Let u have
meeting az Willss Rooms Ladies aud Gentlemen, Tor
the purpose snd get ew philanthopsts, philosophers
anu bhops or So speak, A. people, IN former days
refused 20 take sugar let get up asociey which shall
decline TO cat desseTtand mSdedshes
In this wsy. say. every man VINO now gives l'hner
might give two and take host OF poor friends AMI
reatiyes, who are excluded from his Hospitality
For dinners given mostly in the lower eiasseso ny
wsy of revenge ; and Mr.. and Mrs Tnomp on AK Mr.
ara Mrs johnson because the latter have asked them
man az this rate who gives Tour dinners OF t"enty
persons in the of tie each dinner costing
him something very near upon thirty pounds, receives
in return We will fav, forty dinners from the rien 70
whom he hes himself invited That H. NJ. and Mrs
johnson pay hundred and twenty pounds, a5 do all
their frie nds fer iotyOur dinners ot when they par
take. so that they may calculate at every tine taey
dine with their respected friends they pay about TWEEN
weight shillugs per 11G What sum this IA, dear
Johnson for you and me 70 spend upon our wastco.ts
What does poor Mrs. Johnson for all these garlh
splcndors who has had her dinner at with hes der
children in the nurseryl Oar custom ia not hospitality
or pleasure but 70 be able 10 OF certain number
of acquaintance from the dining list
One OF these dinners OF twenty again is scarcely eY-
er pleasant SIS far regards society. You may Chance
10 get near pleasant neighbor and neyhboress wa'n
your Of the table is possibly cOmtJul1le BW
there can be no general conversation Twenty people
cannot engage together IN talk You would want
speaking.uumpet 10 communicate from your place Oy
the LADY OF the house (Or wish 20 give my rc'pectej
reader the place OF hono 10 the lady nj the opposite
at the right OF the host If you have Joke or
met to make, you cannot utter t before sucn crowd
Joke is nothing which can only get laugh out OF
third marty of the company The most eminent wags
of my acquaintance dumb in these great parties:
and ycur Tacoaisur or storyeller he prudent w1u
invariably hold his tongue For what can De more
od as than 10 be compelled to tell story the top Of
your voice be called 10 repeat for the bcnent OF
n distant peron who has only heard part OF the anrc
dotei There are stories OF mine which would iad
utterly they narrated in any but an under tone
others IN which laugh. overcome by emotion, AM
so-torth--whst call my iRges stories Now Il = ini'
possible do justice to these except in the midst Oh
general hush and ia small circle; so that om couI-
monty silent Ard advocate "a positively new IN
party of twenty, the chances much against you
that somebody should have heard the story before in
which case YOU are done.
In these large assemblies. a wit then Is Of no use,
and does not have a chance rdc0HieHT does not ct
fair hearing and both of these real ornaments of am
nertbble thus utterly thrown away. have seen
JACK JoLLIFFE who can keep table OF eight or ten per
eus in roar OF laughter for four hours remain utterly
mute IN great Entertainment smOthered by the mum
hers and the d0wager each side OF him and Ton
YARNoLD the most eminent of our conversauonss sit
through dinner as dumb "a the iootnan behind him
They 10 not Joke unless there is sympahisng
society and prefer to be silent rather than To throw their
good things away.
IT, that dinners should be more simple, more frequent
and should contain fewer persons Ten - the utmost
number that a man OF moderate means should ever In
vite 10 his table although great house, msnaged6y
great establishment, the case may be different mal
and may look a. II they were glad to see ten
people hut in great dinner they abdlcaIe !helr posi-
ton EOst and hOsteEs-arc mere creatures IN the
hands OF the sham buffers sham iOOtmen, aud tall con
fectioners emissares who crowd the room--and are
guests at their table, where they are helped last
and Of which they occupy the top and bottom have
maj kcd many lady watching with timd glance3 the
large artificial najord0mO who ofca'es for that night
only and thought 20 myself "Ah, my dear madam, how
much hspper might We all be 1t there were bu, half the
speuGor, half the made dthes, aud half the company
assembled
II any dinner giving person who reads this shall be
induced by ny representations 10 pause in bis present
career OF OF the Injuries OF his table snl
instead OF giving feast % twenty persons
to have three mple dinners for ten my dear Nephew
will not have been addressed in vain. Everybody will
be betgercd aud while the gI'sts will be better pleased
aud more numerous, the hest VIII actually be left with
money In his pocket.
In the original preface this edition. Mr. Tnackeray
gives a touch OF his american experience good
nsuredly complains Of the booksellng zeal which has
seized, with indscrminse Juror his early writing
and sgrin presented them to the public. 81 own
says he, 10 feeling Of anything but pleasure Ia re-
viewing some OF these misshapen juvenile creature.
which tie publisher has disin,crrcd and reEusctated
There two performance especially, (among the
critical tnd biographical works oil the erudi,e Mr. Ye
low Plust) which | very sorry to see reproduced
and Gsk pardon Of the author Of the 'Caxtons for
lamToon, which know he hImself has forgiven, AMI
WElch V-h could recall mad never seen that en
nent writer but in public when this satire W.,
pcDned and wonder at the recklessness 0: the youay
man who could Gncy such per-onality wa, Harmless,
joculany and never cslculste that il might give pain
The best experiences o,my life have been gained since
that time Of youth and gsety and careless laughter
elute to them, perhaps, because would not have any
kid and friendly American reader judge of me by
these Wild performances OF early years Such retro
Il L..
oeeasioned, cannot if it would, begsy The oldscenes
return, the remembrance Of the by gone time, the
chamber in which the stories were written the faces
that 'hone round the table Song biographers in this
country have been pleased depict that homely apart
ment after very strange aud romantic fshion snl
an author in the diresstuggles Of poverty watedupoa
by family domestic in "al the spendor Of his menia
decorations" has been crcumstantalIy described 70
the reader amusement ss well &C the writer's own