Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1871-10-26
DIxxER-TrME.-A well-known provert

DINSER-TrME.-Awe well-known proverb
tells that the rich may dine when they
IKE. bat The poor must dine when they
can and although this question Of din
ner time is most important ore both to
rich and poor. II has been solved in very
differen. way at different times Of the
worlds history.
As moIern nations become more high<
ly civilized. their hours gradually grow
later and later; but even il various rea-
sous could be given to account for this de-
clination, it is nevertheless great evil
which no one has been either willing or
able to stop Some few men have chosen
to keep to primitive hours. bu. BY SO do
ing they hare been forced to leave society.
and in consequence society has soon drop
ped them out OF her memory.
The ancients were more natural in their
habits than We are. Thus, the Roman
citizen rose with the lark. and went to bed
whom darkness came on. and it was only
the rich who could afford TO live by can
delight. Those idle persons among them
who did so were called by Seneca, in con-
tempt. lacifmge.
Fashion now forces her votaries to re-
verse the proper order of things. by dining
at night and supping in the morning
DR.. Franklin. when matters we're not so
bad rs they are now. tried good-humor"d-
ly to show the people Of 'Fratte the ad-
vantages to be gained by the adoption of
early hours aud be calculated that in the
city Of Paris alone 96. 6.075. 1000 francs, or
nearly four million pounds. would be saved
every year by the economy Of using sun
shine instead of candles from the 10th Of
March to the Goth Of September.
The Emperor Of Brazil. in his recent
visit to this country. appears to have been
sadly puzzled by our late hours One
day he visited Lincoln's Inn between six
and seven in the morning. and was sur.
prised not to find any lawyers there. An
ether day he started of from his hotel be-
fore breakfast to Kew Gardens. and re-
turned for that meal at eightA. ".
When the dinner vas eaten early in the
morning, it was not always the practice n
take previous meal, so that. in point OF
fact, the old dinner was q knife-and fork
breakfast. such as is common now on the
continent. In Coiton's "Ancler.' the
author says: my diet is glass os ale
az am dressed. and no more till dinner. -
Viator answers: Il will light pipe. for
that is commonly mt breakfast, too"
In 100. the diuner-hour had shifted
TO two O'Clock; at that time Addison dined
durin, the last thirty years Of bis life.
and Pope through the whole Of his. Very
great people dined at four ss early as Il 20.
and Pope complains of Lady SuHolk's dia-
iag at that late hour: but in 1851 We end
the Duchess oe Somerset's hour was three.
This. however. only shows that slightly
different dioner-honrs were prevalent st
the same period and we know that when
the Duchess Of Gordon asked Pitt to dine
with her at seven. his excuse vas. that he
was engaged to sup with the Bishop ol
Winchester at that hoar. In 1850, the
poet Cowper sP-aks of four as the then
| fashionable time; aud about ls04-5 an
alteration took place at Oxford. BY which
those colleges that diued at three began
90 dine at four. and those which diued saI
four postponed their time 10 I've. Ai,eu
the battle Of Waterloo. six O'Clock was
promoted to the honor Of being the din.
ner-hour. Now. we have got on to eight
and niue; the epigram tells rs. :
"The gentleman who dimes the latest
fs In our street esteemed the greatest;
5us surely greater than them al
Is he who never dimes At ALL, ..s...
We have seen that. within four hun
dred years, the dinner hour has gradual
ly moved through twelve hours of th,
day-from nine 4. ~. to nine ?. r.. Na
ftare, however. viii revenge herself q
fashion. and have her own way in "a,
long run; for ss the dinner-hour become.
!! gradually later. d must iusritabiy resar.
to the rafly hours Of past centuries, ans
the Irishman's description of his friend
habits viii be literally true Of "a. for ",
shall aet dine tiil-e6nnuuv.-Cknns
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