ish, he need give no reason. "No, I thank
you," is quite sufficient. The host or hostess should not insist upon
guests' partaking of particular dishes, nor put anything upon their
plates which they have declined.

THE TABLE.--None will deny that the appearance of the table affects
one's enjoyment of the food upon it. A well-appointed table with its
cloth, though coarse in texture, perfectly clean and neatly laid, its
glass and china bright and shining, and the silver showing by its
glistening surface evidence of frequent polishings, gives far more
comfort and enjoyment than one where little attention is given to
neatness, order, or taste. In many families, effort is made to secure
all these important accessories when guests have been invited; but for
common use, anything is considered "good enough for just one's own
folks." This ought not to be, and mothers who permit such a course, need
not be surprised if their children exhibit a lack of self-respect and
genuineness as well as awkwardness and neglect of manners.

The table around which the family meals are taken, ought to be at all
times the model of what it should be when surrounded by guests. As a
writer has well said, "There is no silent educator in the household
that has higher rank than the table. Surrounded each day by the family
who are eager for refreshment of body and spirit, its impressions sink
deep; and its influences for good or ill form no mean part of the warp
and woof of our lives. Its fresh damask, bright silver, glass, and
china, give beautiful lessons in neatness, order, and taste; its damask
soiled, rumpled, and torn, its silver dingy, its glass cloudy, and china
nicked, annoy and vex us at first, and then instill their lessons of
carelessness and disorder. An attractive, well-ordered table is an
incentive to good manners, and being a place where one is incited to
linger, it tends to control the bad habits of fast eating; while, on the
contrary, an uninviting, disorderly table gives license to bad manners,
and encourages the haste which is proverbial among Americans. The woman,
then, who looks after her table in these particulars, is not doing
trivial work, for it rests with her to give silently these good or bad
lessons in manners and morals to her household as they surround the
daily board."

A well-appointed table requires very little time and labor. No pretense
or ostentation is necessary; neatness and simplicity are far more
pleasing.

SE