Good topics to avoid at a dinner where one does not know the personal history of each guest present, are divorces, jokes on foreigners of any nationality, mixed marriages, politics, religion, in fact anything that could be taken as a personal attack by another guest.
Toasts.
Origin of Toasts.
The proposal of a health in an after-dinner speech dates back to mediæval times. At that time the loving cup was used at every banquet. It was filled to the brim with wine and in the center was placed a piece of toasted bread. The cup circulated the table, each one present taking a sip of the wine. When it came back to the host he drained the remaining wine and ate the piece of toast in honor of all the friends assembled at his table.
The ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Assyrians and the Egyptians drank each other's health at dinner, but post-prandial oratory was not adopted until modern times. The Greek toast was, "I salute you, be happy;" that of the Romans, "I drink your health."
Etiquette of Toasts.
It is highly improper for a person to drink to his own health, hence the only thing to do when one's health is being drunk by his friends is for the individual honored to leave his glass alone, and bow his thanks in a dignified manner, rising to talk only when he is called on for a speech.
Perhaps one of the wittiest toasts on record is that of Franklin. After the victories of Washington had made his name well known throughout Europe, Franklin chanced to dine with the French and English ambassadors, when these toasts were drunk. The son of Britain rose and proudly remarked: "England—the sun whose beams enlighten and fructify the remotest corners of the earth."
The Frenchman, glowing with national pride, drunk: "France—the moon whose mild, steady, cheering rays are the delight of all nations; consoling them in darkness and making their dreariness beautiful."
This furnished Franklin with a fine opening and his quaint humor bubbled over in his retort: "George Washington—the Joshua, who commanded the sun and the moon to stand still, and they obeyed him."