timulate the minds of their guests as they do to gratify
their palates? What a boon it would be to many a bashful man, sitting
next to a lady with whom he has nothing in common, if some public
entertainer during the dinner relieved him from the necessity of always
thinking of what he should say next? How much more he could enjoy the
tasty dishes his hostess had provided; and as for the lady--what a
number of suppressed yawns she might have avoided. To take great pains
and spend large sums to provide nice food for people who cannot enjoy
it because they have to talk to one another, seems a pity. Let one man
talk to the rest and leave them leisure to eat, is my suggestion.

The opportunities afforded at the dining table may be turned to many
useful purposes. Of course not all are ill-paired, and many young men
and ladies meet, sit side by side, engage in a friendly, pleasant
conversation, renew their acquaintance at other times, and finally
merge their separate paths in the highway of marriage. Perhaps China
might borrow a leaf from this custom and substitute dinner parties for
go-betweens. The dinner-party method, however, has its dangers as well
as its advantages--it depends on the point of view. Personal
peculiarities and defects, if any, can be easily detected by the way in
which the conversation is carried on, and the manner in which the food
is handled. It has sometimes happened that the affianced have
cancelled their engagement after a dinner party. On the other hand,
matters of great import can often be arranged at the dinner table
better than anywhere else. Commercial transactions involving millions
of dollars have frequently been settled while the parties were sipping
champagne; even international problems, ending in elaborate
negotiations and treaties, have been first discussed with the
afterdinner cigar. The atmosphere of good friendship and equality,
engendered by a well-furnished room, good cheer, pleasant company, and
a genial hostess, disarms prejudice, removes barriers, melts reserve,
and disposes one to see that there is another side to every question.

In China when people have quarreled their friends generally invite them
to dinner, where the matters in dispute are amicably arranged. These
are called "peace dinners". I would recommend that a similar expedient
should be adopted in America; many a knotty point could be disposed of
by a friendly discussion at the dinner table. If internatio