The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-11-14
Etiquette.

1 TIRE lord Steward Is commanded by the Queen;
toinIie -5-,-7-1- 70 diaHsf o -
i'A'--a's o'clock Fun pr..,.
windsor Castle.
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The card is 0 by s inches. Such is the
style Of invitation to dinner with the
Queen Of England. The guests all assem-
Bile in the drawing room and there await
Her Majesty's entrance. There is no reg
ular announcement made, but the guests
are generally notified Of the approach Of
the sovereign lady, andal formthemselyes
into a crescent to receive her. She does
not greet each guest by offering her hand,
but usually extends her hand TO the ladies
present. She Is always accompanied by
herdaughter. When theguest OF the day Is
not ofroyal blood the arrangements as to
precedent are generally privately arranged.
The guest Of the day, however, sits on
Her Majesty's right baud and the royal
family on the left. At the table there are
always three servants to every six guests;
one TO place the plates and the Others TO
fetch the eatables. Her Majesty eats at
state dinners wishoutgloves, and when she
finishes every one Is expected to stop i'm
mediately. When the meal Is over the
Queen leaves the room first, and Is follow
ed by the rest Of the guests.
II Is optional in England whether the
hostess Is present at q gentleman's dinner,
but they usually are, and often have an
other lady for company. The lady Of the
house receives her husbands guests with
him. In England the gentleman always
m. ~. .t-6A a NnN 60 aaRnFt n INHY tHOm
the drawing room TO the dinner table.
This point is now automatically decided by
the highest authority in the world.
A family dinner differs from state affairs
in every essential point. was presented
to a nobleman-an Earl-who was consid-
ereda first-class authority on such matters,
and stating what l desired was treated
with the greatest courtesy. Without TAX
ing up your valuable space with the cues
tons, I will simply give the answers. They
will certainly be plain enough to the class
OF readers who will peruse my poorly
written letter.
ing room first, and the mistress last, To
digress a little / would state that OF late
years there have been so many changes in
dinner etiquette that n has to keep well
posted, or be considered. old fashioned. l
will give part OF the old and all Of the
new STYLES. 1t used to be the fashion oil
the hostess TO ask the guest whether he
would take soup or fish, butnow the soup
is sent around whether the guest wants 1t
or not, and OF course everybody has 1t be.
fore them whether they eat 1t or not. III
the servants donotg go round with the wine,
the gentlemen help their ladies and them
selves. It used to be the fashion for the
hostess to say, "Shall l help you to apiece
Of the chicken orduck?" mot fowl. Now
everything is passed by the servants. It
used to be the style for the first served to
wait until every one was served before he
began to eat, but now every n begins
Immediately that he is helped.
Young ladies are limited to three glasses
OF light wine, while married ladies, accus-
toned to good society, often drink six.
II used also to be the fashion for q gen
tleman to ask the ladies TO drink with him,
but not so now -,
The different wines with different dish
es are rs follows:
With fish or soup use sherry or saul
terne.
With roast meat use hook or claret.
With turtle use punch.
With whitehall use champagne.
With game use port or burgundy.
Between the roast and confectionery use
sparkling wines.
With sweets use madeira.
With desert use port tokay,' madeira,
sherry or claret.
Ice is never put in rcd wines, even in
summer. Burgundy should be slightly
warmed. Claret cup and champagne cup
should always be iced; and these are the
only two wines in which ice is used.
Every kind OF wine has its different kind
OF glass; champagne glasses for champagne
onlv, goblets for claret and b%urgundyil
green glasses for hook; large b~ell-shaped
glasses for port. Port, sherry and Ma
deira are decanted in the late style, but
hook and champagne appear in their ma
tive bottles. Claret and burgundy are al
ways handed around in Claret jugs.
The servants all leave the room when
dessert is on the table, and the coffee and
liquors arc handed around about a quar-
ter OF an hour after dessert has been on the
table-aiter this the ladies retire.
The old fashioned way OF refusing the
last niece OF bread in u dish, or the last
glass OF wine in n dccanteris now obsolete.
The precedence OF rank at private din
ner is rs follows: Foreign ambassadors
take precedence Of the English mobiles,
archbtshops rank with dukes, bishopsrank
with earls. Ordinary foreign counts take
no precedence in England, but rank with
Endlish baronets. An earl's grandson and
all near relations (untitled) OF the aristoc-
racy, precede tho esquires and country
gentlemen. Then come wives OF country,
gentlemen OF no profession, barristers
wives, naval officers and their wives, mill
tary men and their wives. There Is no
specific place for physicians, who, however
are ranked in the royal house as next to-
knights, and whose wives would, there
ioref go after barristers' wives,
The present fashionable style OF giving
a dinner is a Ia Russo, but it has not yet
become general land will not until some
OF the old fogies die off, SO sometimes
dinners arc given with a happy combina:
ton OF both the old and new styles.
will describe a dinner as usually given IN
England: Soup is put opposite the lady Of
the house, and the butler holds the plate
close to the tureen, and one ladletul is
sent TO each guest, the butler handing the
plate to the footman for the purpose. The
gentleman on the hostess right generally
relieves the lady from serving the fish,
after soup, by his assistance. Next comes
the meat, chicken and turkey. The inev-
table saddle OF mutton is placed before
the host, and the chicken and turkey be-
fore the lady, who is assisted by the gen:
tleman on her right. Before either, OF
these dishes are uncovered the side dishes
are placed on the table.
The second course follows; the gamelis
placed before the host, and the puddings
before the lady; the ielles and blanc
mango on the sides.
No one helps himself or another at these
dinners. The servants pass everything;
The second course having peen removed
the cheese is passed around, and thanks
are returned before desert.
When the ladies have all finished, the
hostess bows to the most distinguished
lady present, as q signal, and all rise while
the ladies leave the room. The host goes