The Monticellonian., 1918-12-20


 stood to carve.it
 In those days If was considered q matter or course that lady should know how to carve though Gas was the with the mistress ot Mount Vernon) she might not spell correctly The accomplishment, like the making of jalns and cider, was appropriate for a housewife
 Christmas at Mount Vernon ill those tines was an exceedingly Jolly and festive occasion. Wash ngton was the richest Wan in Virginia, and the equipments of his household were tn many re- spects more luxurious than could he found in fine houses of his Weli-t0-do neighbors. For example. the guests at this Christmas dinner were provided with silver forks-a luxury 1t that period, when gentlemen customarily ate with their knives. becauSe it Was out of the question to ft peas and many other such edibes to the mouth with 1he threetined steel forks commonly in use.
 II k Il shock To learn that the father of his country ate with his knife, yet such k unhenabty the fact. That sage historian, Peter Farley, tells Il story (probablY apoehrHphaD of occasion when somebody tried to kill the immortal George by putting poison on his peas. Showing his knife beneath Il lew Of them and raising them to his lips, he looked across the table at his enemy, and said, Shall I eat of thesefa Still holding the knife suspended he again transixed He man with his gaze and repeated the question. So over. come the woudhe peisoner by Washingtons seeming presciencp that he fled from the table and the perilous peas remained uneaten.
 At that epoch, in Virginia, the men who waited on the table in most of the country houses wore plantation garb. At Mount Vernon, however. the household servitors were attired in handsome and even striking livery of scarlet. white and gold and the butler dream of gorgeousness. One man for each two guests the minimum allow. anee. Not only there yfnds to be supplied hut constant succession of bottles containing wines of choice vintage for the consumption of the male guests.
 Ladies in those days drank next to nothing at all. To take more than sip of wine. for either maid or matron, would have been regarded as the height of impropHety. But for the men-all through this Christmas dinner the bottles were kept going around. Mr. Bryan Fairfax of Aexan- dria would say to Mir. c. W Lewis across the table, George, glass of wine with you!9 With pleasure, Cousin Bryan!' the latter would reply as he bowed and drank. Then Mir Fairfax would ~ through the same performance with every man
 the tabe-and it went throughout the
 past.
 The eatables served at the dinner were nearly all of them products of the Mount Vernon estate From gastrdnomic point of view, no region in the world was richer than that section of old Virginia There were eanyashack ducks to he shot on the river in front of the house; cartridges and ventson were plentiful and the proprietor of the mansion raised his own beef. pork and nut ton. The only vegetables sweet potatoes, white potatoes. and beans.
 From a latter-day standpoint the repast was conducted in peculiar fashon. All the dishes. including three kinds of meats and several of game, were put on the table al once. While Mrs Washington carved the turkey, the gentlemen who happened to be opposite the mutton, the veniSon, etc, were expected to lend expert assistance in the dissection of those comestibles. The buildings were eaten before the withdrawal of the eloth the removal of which left bare il shiny expanse of mahogany, upon which the fruit nuts, and de canters were set forth in festive array When the cloth had been withdrawn the host would lift his glass, filled with choice Madeira and drink the health of his guests. Five minutes of general conversation would follow, perhaps. and then Mrs. Washington would rise. giving the signal for the departure of the ladies' Every body would get up; the ladies would make an eab- crate eurtsy to the gentlemen. and the latter would COW profoundly in response. With the re- 1irement of the women the real drinking would