[Chapter XVI.]
TABLE MANNERS.
LESSON 9.
Purpose.—To show the importance of good table manners.
Method.—An item read with or without comment or questions asked.
The Lesson.
Perhaps the question of how to eat is not of quite the importance as what to eat, but in some particulars pertaining to the laws of health the two are of equal rank. How to eat is of much more importance than many young people think, inasmuch as it is a certain test of delicacy and refinement. If a person eats immoderately fast, no one truly refined will set him down as a gentleman. If one defies the regulations which society has made relative to table manners, he is classed as decidedly ill-bred or ignorant. It is well to study the etiquette of the table, and to put in use those practices that have been decided by the best society as being proper.
Questions.—Should the rules of society as to table manners be disregarded? What does a lack of good table manners indicate? Are table manners indicative of character?