Under “The Press”:—
“News from the humming city comes to it.”
The line under the toast of “The Ladies” is brief and graceful:—
“Made to be loved.”
Toasts and Toasting.
Toasting and drinking were more general half a century ago than they are at the present time. In the earlier years of the Queen’s reign temperance, if not teetotalism, was, it is true, making headway, but in a great measure convivial customs were maintained, and toasting was popular. Books were published to supply suitable toasts, for public and private parties. Such compilations must have been extremely useful to those who attended social gatherings, and were not able to express graceful and pithy sentiments.
We have before us a little work issued in London in 1847, under the title of “The Social and Convivial Toast-Master; and Compendium of Sentiment.” It consists of prose and poetry arranged under various headings, such as Loyal and Patriotic, Naval and Military, Masonic, Bacchanalian, Amatory, Sporting, Political, Sentimental, and lastly, Miscellaneous. It cannot be without interest to reproduce from this rare volume a few examples of the toasts of the earlier Victorian era.
The opening section of the book is devoted to loyal and patriotic toasts. The first toast is this:—