'Next morning, at seven o'clock, I was at the banker's, and received his orders, and at six o'clock that evening was steaming out of Alexandria, bound to Naples _via_ Malta. A little over twenty-four hours, and I had SEEN THE ORIENT THROUGH SHERRY--pale, golden, and serenely beautiful! 'Pass the punch.' * * * * * Very welcome is our pleasant contributor--he who of late discoursed on 'honeyed thefts' and rural religious discipline--and now, in the present letter, he gives us his views on meals, feeds, banquets, symposia, or by whatever name the reader may choose to designate assemblies for the purpose of eating. Please make room at this table, right here, for me. Surely at a table of such dimensions, there should be plenty of room. Many a table-scene do I now recall, in days gone by, 'all of which I saw, and part of which I was,' but nothing like this. Tables of all sorts and sizes, but never a CONTINENTAL table before. I suppose the nearest approach to it was _the_ picnic dinner the wee youngsters used to eat off the _ground_! A CONTINENTAL table! The most hospitable idea imaginable. Give place! Do you demand my credentials, my card, my ticket? Here we have it all; a little note from mine host, Mr. LELAND, inviting the bearer to this monthly repast, and requesting, very properly--it was the way we always did, when we used to get up picnics--that the receiver of the note bring some sort of refreshments along. Thank you. This seat is very comfortable. What more appropriate, at such a time, than the discussion of _the Meal?_