d as binding.

It is not usual, where taking wine is _en regle_, for a
gentleman to ask a lady to take wine until the fish or soup is
finished, and then the gentleman honoured by sitting on the
right of the hostess, may politely inquire if she will do him
the honour of taking wine with him. This will act as a signal to
the rest of the company, the gentleman of the house most
probably requesting the same pleasure of the ladies at his right
and left. At many tables, however, the custom or fashion of
drinking wine in this manner, is abolished, and the servant
fills the glasses of the guests with the various wines suited to
the course which is in progress.

37. WHEN DINNER IS FINISHED, THE DESSERT is placed on the table,
accompanied with finger-glasses. It is the custom of some gentlemen to
wet a corner of the napkin; but the hostess, whose behaviour will set
the tone to all the ladies present, will merely wet the tips of her
fingers, which will serve all the purposes required. The French and
other continentals have a habit of gargling the mouth; but it is a
custom which no English gentlewoman should, in the slightest degree,
imitate.

38. WHEN FRUIT HAS BEEN TAKEN, and a glass or two of wine passed round,
the time will have arrived when the hostess will rise, and thus give the
signal for the ladies to leave the gentlemen, and retire to the
drawing-room. The gentlemen of the party will rise at the same time, and
he who is nearest the door, will open it for the ladies, all remaining
courteously standing until the last lady has withdrawn. Dr. Johnson has
a curious paragraph on the effects of a dinner on men. "Before dinner,"
he says, "men meet with great inequality of understanding; and those who
are conscious of their inferiority have the modesty not to talk. When
they have drunk wine, every man feels himself happy, and loses that
modesty, and grows impudent and vociferous; but he is not improved, he
is only not sensible of his defects." This is rather severe, but there
may be truth in it.

In former times, when the bottle circulated freely amongst the
guests, it was necessary for the ladies to retire earlier than
they do at present, for the gentlemen of the company soon became
unfit to conduct themselves with that decorum which is essential
in the presence of ladies. Thanks, however, to the improvements
in modern society, and the high example shown to