, 1888-02-24
A DIPLOMATS DINNER.
a Plain and Cheap Banque Where Every
body Was Extremely Well Pleased.

A Plain and Cheap Banquet Where Everv-
body Was Extremely Well Pleased.
Some years ago an accomplished diplo-
mate at Washington, the representative
u a power not of the first Importance,
expressed his regret to a friend that he
could not give dinners, S'because," H.
SAID, my government is poor, and l
cannot afford it," The conversation oc-
CURED at the profuse n splendid table
OF a rich and courteous host, whose feasts
were of great fame, and whose invita-
tlons were credentials of admission to the
best society. A young diplomatic COM
a ID who sat by heard the remark, and
smiled as he said: ''My government is
poorer than yours, and / am but lately
arrived. But what is diplomacy without
dinners9 and 1 am going to give one. 1t
will not be like this, but the splendor is
not an essential part of the feast. 1 shall
give a plain and cheap dinner, to which
l invite you both"
His was gay, and his In vita
ton was gayly and gladly accepted be-
cause he was one of the delightful men
in Washington. His colleague, however.
who had spoken first, shrugged his
shoulders, and said that, for his part. Le
couldn't do it; he couldn't ask people TO
come TO his house and eat a poor dinner.
Not so fast, , replied his friend; Il
didn't say a poor dinner, but Il plain and
cheap dinner. I hope it will be good.
nevertheless, although there may be TO
baked carp o. stewed ni~ghtingales'
tongues. But come and see"
The young minister of the small and
poor kingdom was one of the most ac-
complished men in Washington He was
known to have corrected a justice of the
supreme court in regard to n decision of
a United States our in a western state,
and to have made the correction in Eng
ish, which was a foreign tongue to him,
but in English so exquisitely chosen and
urbanely expressed that the Justice was
probably unconscious of the modification
OF the correction. The young minister
had no foolish, fond reserves. my gov
eminent is poor, l am poor, we are all
poor in my country" he said, ''and |
and my secretary work like day laborers
here in Washington to acquire and to re-
port necessary information to my gov
eminent" But nobody was more sought;
there was nobody whose coming more
surely brought pleasure to any circle
than that of the young minister.
The day of the dinner came, and n
palmer and pleasanter dinner was never
known in Washington. Every guest,
from the secretary of state and the Eng
lish envoy to all their neighbors at table,
gave every week, indeed, repasts much
more magnificent. But the simple din
ner, admirably cooked and served, with
out display of table service, without the
carp and nightingales' tongues, but with
the e%nlivening and inspiring charm of
the host and the welcome variety of
~plainness, after the luxurious e~xtrava-
gance and ostentation of the usual din
ner, was so fresh and delightful that the
satisfaction and pleasure were universal,
and the skeptical colleague who had
thought great cost essential to a success
full dinner owned himself converted, and
the next month ventured upon a similar
feast, and with the same success
George William Curtis in Harper's Maya
zine.