The hydraulic press., 1858-11-20

It was one Of the Alterations o.
Byron that he did not like to see wo.
men eating. In his opinion no beauty
could stand that test, or como from
tho ordeal of a feast without mitiga-
ton of her charms. He refused to at
tend supper at the house Of Rogers,
so that poet tells us, because women
were going to be there. a.i @
Allowing something for exagger-
alton, the noble bard's aversion to
witnessing women at their meals may
be considered not unreasonable
nor absurd. The spectacle Of a fair
creature whom we have been accus-
toned to surround with poetical graces
and the halo of an exquisite tender
ness, indulging an avid appetite, soil
ing her red lips with unctious viands
and working her slight jaws just like
any common mortal, must be trying
indeed to ones reverence. 3 She
seems a creature .dtHam ts
too bright and good
For human natures daily food"
and the extravaganza of sentiment
leads one to wish that she could be
nourished in some less vulgar and
more ETHEREAL mode. Yet there may
be grace in eating, as in anything
else. Some women of refinement can
so conduct themselves at table that,
without an ill-bred watching Of them,
it shall not be known they eat at all;
and this modest demeanor they main
tain without the slightest appearance
Of affectation or effort. What can be
more beautiful than the manner in
which an accomplished housewife
presides at her own tea-table, serving
her guests with charming self-posses.
sion, ease, and grace, and, between.
the intervals of her attention to their
wants supplying her own in a quiet,
unnoticed way. If she is addressed
she is ever ready to reply without
awkwardness, not being compelled to
make the uncourteous pause resulting
from a full mouth Fastening to void
itself through the throat. Such a
woman we feel to be q lady, a good
wife, a creature worth dying for-if
those days were not over. In the
early times, when floors were strewn
with rushes for carpets, and when
the thousand appliances were un-
known which now distinguish man
when at his repasts from all other an
finals, the process Of eating must have
been greatly more repulsive to sem
sitive gentlemen than at present. The
noblest lady in the land was compel
led to put her fingers into the food
and convey it thus to her mouth. I'm
agine, oh ye delicate feeders Of to>day
-ye happy wielders Of knife, fork,
and spoon-the gross spectacle Of q
heroine Of old romance tugging at q
greasy bone! But there was such q
thing as table etiquette even then.
We know not whether the knife and
fork era had begun ere Chaucer's
time, but asessage in the prologue
to his Canterbury Tales proves not
only that he had q nice observation,
but that there was an idea in those
days Of good manners at table. De-
scribing q nun. .n; asrs
-sta prioresse
That Of her smiling was full simple and coy"
he mentions as one Of her charms her
decent mode Of eating: m
| aAt meate was she well y-taught withall;
She let no mofsel from her Ep-pes fall,
Nor wet her fingers in her saucer deep. az s
/ Well conld she carry morsel and well keep.
i That-te drop Ger fell upon her breast. SO gC.
In curtesy was set full much her lest [pleasure.]
Her over lippe wiped she % clean - u -
That in her cup-pe was isosmall spot seem
/ OF grease when she drunken had her draught."
| The text as given here is slightly
modernized in point of photography,