I have often, therefore, wished to have been present at one of those pleasant repasts which Horace invited one of his neighbors to share, viz:  a good chicken, a lamb (doubtless fat,) and as a desert, grapes, figs and nuts.  Uniting these to wine, made when Manlius was consul, and the delicious conversation of the poet, I fancy I could have supped very pleasantly.

At mihi cum longum post tempus venerat hospes Sive operum vacuo, longum conviva per imbrem Vicinus, bene erat non piscibus urbe petitis, Sed pullo atque hasdo, tum [Footnote:  Le dessert se trouve precisement designe et distingue par l’adverbe tum et par les mots secundas mensas.] pensilis uva secundas Et nux ornabat mensas, cum duplice ficu.  Thus it was only yesterday I regaled six friends with a boiled leg of mutton and a kidney A L’PONTOISE.  They indulged in the pleasures of conversation so fully that they forgot that there were richer meats or better cooks.

On the other hand, let persons make as much research as possible for good cheer; there is no pleasure at the table if the wine be bad, and the guests collected without care.  Faces will then be sure to seem sad, and the meal will be eaten without, consideration.

Summary.

But perhaps the impatient reader will ask how, in the year of grace 1825, can any table be spread which will unite all of these conditions?

I will answer this question.  Be attentive, readers.  Gasterea, the most attractive of the muses, inspires me.  I will be as clear as an oracle, and my precepts will live for centuries:—­

“Let the number of guests never exceed twelve, so that the conversation may be general.

“Let them he so chosen that their occupations may be varied, their tastes analogous, and that they may have such points of contact that introduction may be useless.

“Let the dining-room be furnished with luxury, the table clean, and the temperature of the room about 16 degrees Reaumur.

“Let the men be intelligent, but not pedantic—­and the women pretty, but not coquettes.

“Let the dishes be of exquisite taste, but few in number at the first course; let those of the second be as pleasant and as highly perfumed as possible.

“Let the coffee be hot, and let the master select his own wines.

“Let the reception-room be large enough to permit those who cannot do without the amusement, to make up a card party, and also for little coteries of conversation.

“Let the guests be retained by the pleasures of society, and by the hope that the evening will not pass without some ulterior enjoyment

“The tea should not be too strong, the roast dishes should be loaded artistically, and the punch made carefully.

“None should begin to retire before eleven o’clock, and at midnight all should have gone to bed.

“If any one has been present at an entertainment uniting all these conditions, he may boast of having witnessed his own apotheosis.  He will enjoy it the more, because many other apotheosis have been forgotten or mistaken.”