Mrs. Lybbe Powys (then Caroline Girle) mentions in her lively Journal: “We had a breakfast at Holkham in the genteelest taste, with all kinds of cakes and fruit, placed undesired in an apartment we were to go through, which, as the family were from home, I thought was very clever in the housekeeper, for one is often asked by people whether one chooses chocolate, which forbidding word puts (as intended) a negative on the question.” Table decorations were unknown even at large banquets, people sat on benches and were served in the simplest manner. Lady Newdigate gives an account of suppers and prices when she was staying at Buxton— “Being examined by the Bart in regard to our suppers and what we paid, he [her cousin] owned that we were charged but one shilling and it seems they pay two. Upon this poor Mrs. Fox [the landlady] was attacked and abused in very gross terms. So she came to us with streaming eyes to beg we would explain to the Edmonstones that our suppers were never anything more than a tart and cold chicken which we eat when the company went to supper above, whereas the E.’s order a hot supper of five or six dishes to be got at nine o’clock.” She also gives many details as to the items constituting her meals: “We are going to sup upon crawfish and roasted potatoes. Our feast [dinner] will consist of neck of mutton, lamb steaks, cold beef, lobsters, prawns, and tart.” This is the menu of a dinner given to Prince William of Gloucester in 1798— Salmon Trout. Soles. Fricando of Veal. Raised Giblet Pie. Vegetable Pudding. Chickens. Ham. Muffin Pudding. Curry of Rabbits. Preserve of Olives. Soup. Haunch of Venison. Open Tart Syllabub. Raised Jelly. Three Sweetbreads Larded. Maccaroni. Buttered Lobster. Peas. Potatoes. Baskets of Pastry. Custards. Goose. Forks were two-pronged and not in universal use; knives were broad-bladed at the ends, and it was the fashion to eat peas with them. “The taste for cleanliness has preserved the use of steel forks with two prongs.... With regard to little bits of meat, which cannot so well be taken hold of with the two pronged forks, recourse is had to the knife, which is broad and round at the extremity.” It is to be wished that two-pronged forks still survived in the public restaurants of to-day, as the use of the present forks in such places is one of the minor trials of daily life.