the time will have arrived when the hostess will rise, and thus give the
signal for the ladies to leave the gentlemen, and retire to the
drawing-room. The gentlemen of the party will rise at the same time, and
he who is nearest the door, will open it for the ladies, all remaining
courteously standing until the last lady has withdrawn. Dr. Johnson has
a curious paragraph on the effects of a dinner on men. "Before dinner,"
he says, "men meet with great inequality of understanding; and those who
are conscious of their inferiority have the modesty not to talk. When
they have drunk wine, every man feels himself happy, and loses that
modesty, and grows impudent and vociferous; but he is not improved, he
is only not sensible of his defects." This is rather severe, but there
may be truth in it.
In former times, when the bottle circulated freely amongst the
guests, it was necessary for the ladies to retire earlier than
they do at present, for the gentlemen of the company soon became
unfit to conduct themselves with that decorum which is essential
in the presence of ladies. Thanks, however, to the improvements
in modern society, and the high example shown to the nation by
its most illustrious personages, temperance is, in these happy
days, a striking feature in the character of a gentleman.
Delicacy of conduct towards the female sex has increased with
the esteem in which they are now universally held, and thus, the
very early withdrawing of the ladies from the dining-room is to
be deprecated. A lull in the conversation will seasonably
indicate the moment for the ladies' departure.