like to be
'one of the company,' whether in palace or in farm-house. I always
brighten up when I see the dining-room door thrown open to an angle
hospitably obtuse, and am pleased alike with the politely-worded
request, 'Will the ladies and gentlemen please walk out and partake
of some refreshments?' or the blunt, kindly voice of mine host,
'Come, friends; dinner's ready.' Still I assert my freedom from any
slavish fondness for the creature comforts. It is not the bill of
fare that so pleases me. In fact, some of the best meals of which I
have ever partaken, were those the materials of which I could not
have remembered twenty minutes after. Exquisite palatal pleasures,
then, are not a _sine qua non_ in the enjoyment of table comforts.
No, indeed. There is a condiment which is calculated to impart a
high relish to the humblest fare; but without this charmed
seasoning, every banquet is a failure. Solomon was a man of nice
observation, even in so humble a matter as a meal. Let him reveal
the secret in his own words: 'Better is a dinner of herbs, where
LOVE is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.'

By a merciful arrangement of Providence, man is so constituted that
he may think, talk, and eat, all at one and the same time. Hence,
the table is often the scene of animated and very interesting
conversations, provided _love is there_. Many of our Saviour's most
interesting and instructive discourses were delivered while
'sitting at meat,' and the 'table-talk' of some authors is
decidedly the most meritorious of all their performances.

But the truth is, there are not many meals where love _is_ entirely
absent. Cheerfulness is naturally connected with eating; eating
begets it probably. It is difficult for a man to eat at all, if he
is in a bad humor. Quite impossible, if he is in a rage; especially
if he is obliged to sit down to his dinner in company with the man
he hates. There are so many little kind offices that guests must
perform for each other at table, so many delicate compliments may
be paid to those we love or revere, by polite attentions to them,
and so necessary, indeed, have these become to our notion of a
satisfactory repast, that to banish such amiable usages from our
tables would be not only to degrade us to the level of the brute,