Never descend to the breakfast-room without having washed your face and brushed your hair. Cleanliness is a part of good breeding.
Never appear at breakfast, even in sultry weather, without your coat, waistcoat, collar and necktie. Are you a gentleman or a Hottentot?
Never, even in winter, take your seat at the table in your top-boots, with your overcoat buttoned to the chin, and with a sealskin cap drawn down to your eyebrows. But if you are breakfasting in Franz Josef’s Land, this warning may be disregarded.
Never fail to help the ladies first, before gorging every edible in sight. You will thus cultivate a reputation for self-abnegation that may stand you in stead.
Never, if a guest, inspect the butter suspiciously, smelling and tasting it, and then say, “Pretty good butter—what there is of it!” Never, having perceived your blunder, hasten to rectify it by calling out, “Ay, and plenty of it, too—such as it is! Ha, ha, ha!” Better abstain from criticism altogether, since nothing is costing you anything.
Never insist on starting this meal with soup. Cazuela, or breakfast soup, is a Spanish-American custom that has not yet been imported.
Never, before expressing your preference for tea or coffee, ask your hostess which she would recommend as the least poisonous? She might not consider the insinuation as complimentary to herself.
Never dispose of eggs by biting off the small end, throwing the head far back, and noisily sucking them out of the shells. A spoon, or even a fork, is preferable. Besides you might encounter a bad one when too late.
Never wipe your nose on your napkin, or use it in dusting off your boots on rising. Napkins have their legitimate uses, handkerchiefs theirs.
Never, on finishing with your napkin, fastidiously fold it away in its ring, nor carelessly hang it on the chandelier. Use judgment in little things.