Hence the direction of a table is no inconsiderable branch of a lady's concern, as it involves judgment in expenditure, respectability of appearance, and the comfort of her husband and those who partake their hospitality.
The mode of covering the table differs in taste. It is not the multiplicity of things, but the choice, the dressing, and the neat pleasing look of the whole, which gives respectability to her who presides. Too much or too little dinners are extremes not uncommon: the latter is in appearance and reality the effort of poverty or penuriousness to be genteel: and the former, if constantly given, may endanger the circumstances of those who are not affluent.
Generally speaking, dinners are far less sumptuous than formerly, when half a dozen dishes are supplied for what one now costs; consequently those who fortunes are not great, and who wish to make a genteel appearance without extravagance, regulate their table accordingly.
Perhaps there are a few incidents in which the respectability of a man is more immediately felt, than the style of dinner to which he accidentally may bring home a visitor. Every one is to live as he can afford, and the meal of the tradesman ought not to emulate the entertainments of the higher classes; but if two or three dishes are well served, with the usual sauces, the table-linen clean, the small sideboard neatly laid, and all that is necessary be at hand, the expectation of the husband and friend will be gratified, because no irregularity of domestic arrangement will disturb the social intercourse. The same observation holds good on a larger scale. In
