Page:A New System of Domestic Cookery (1824 edition).pdf/40

xxx all situations of life, the entertainment should be no less suited to the station than to th efortune of the entertainer, and to the number and rank of those invited.

The manner of carving is not only a very necessary branch of information, to enable a lady to do the honours of her table, but makes a considerable difference in the consumption of a family: and though in large parties she is so much assisted as to render this knowledge apparently of less consequence, yet she must at times feel the deficiency; and should not fail to acquaint herself with an attainment, the advantage of which is evident every day.

Indeed, as fashions are so fleeting, it is more than probable that before the end of this century, great attention to guests may again be the mode, as it was in the commencement of the last. Some people haggle meat so much, as not to be able to help half-a-dozen persons decently from a large tongue, or a sirloin of beef; and the dish goes away with the appearance of having been gnawed by dogs. If the daughters of the family were to take the head of the table under the direction of their mother, they would fulfil its duties with grace, in the same easy manner as an early practice in other domestic affairs gradually fits them for their own future homes. Habit alone can make good carvers; but some principal directions are hereafter given, with a reference to the annexed plates.

The mistress of a family should always remember that the welfare and good management of the house depend on the eye of the superior; and consequently that nothing is too trifling for her notice, whereby waste may be avoided.