A "Toast" to Eighteenth Century England

It was considered appropriate for aristocratic men in eighteenth century England to say a few words at the banquet table. They enjoyed the tradition to such an extent that they did so without pausing to "relieve" themselves.

In a footnote of Amanda Foreman's book, Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire, p. 25, she writes, "The practice of proposing and replying continued throughout the dinner and with even more vigour after the women had left. Toasting the ladies, toasting the food, each other, and whatever else came to mind went on for so long there were chamber pots in each corner, and the person who has occasion to use it does not even interrupt his talk during the operation." It was a quote taken from Frenchman Andre Parreaux's, Daily Life, p.36.