Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1867-04-12
Hospitality.
JIM NJ. KNIGHT

jim NJ. KNIGHT,
| Hospitality.
| Bayard Taylor thinks man is naturally ~
| no, pitabe ANNA" and describes the nature,
Of the English, French and Germans;
You arrive in England stranger, and Trc
sent letter of introduction TO some gent'c,
man. His reception strikes you as cold and
| formal; he makes no special offers of assist
| ance and you are inclined to think that his
acquaintance will be of little service. BY
| and by however. you will fine that lie has been
silently interesting himself in your behalf
He has remembered wishes that YOU have
carelessly uttered, and procured you oppor.
tunitics for realizing them; the want of dem
onstraion has been more than compensated
by by solid service,
In Paris you find Just the reverse Nothing
can surpass thu enprssSmem with which you
arc received. Everything is at your disposal;
you will make the man happy by the fsees
use Of his time and trouble Nevertheless
you must beware of taking these offers liter
ally. unless you are prepared for disarroint-
hauS,ed The capacity for action A few Gle
CANT cards are exchanged and there the mat
ter rests.
In Germany we have the medium between
the two eatremcs--a genial, cordial manner
moderate prefers OF service, and consc encous
performance thereof, whenever il is needed
Acts of Kindness between strangers are more
common than in almost any other civilized
country. | once stopped Tor i.ht in
country inn in remote ? IT Of Bavaria. The
delegate to the Legislative Chamber in Nuns
eh had jus, been elected by the people in the
district, and they gave him farewell ban
quet that evening. In the midst of the sol
emnities was politely invited TO attend a
place was made for me beside the President
'he principal pcisonages present were de-
scribed and then introduced and before the
meeting closed, | received an invitation to
Yet was convinced that no one of the assem-
ly had any knowledge Of me, further than |
was an American traveller
There is custom in Spain which always
seemed to me to be the perfection of hospitals
ity. a Spaniard, for instance, on entering a
cafe where he is accustomed to take his re.
freshmcntS, will notice stranger present.
possibly foreign traveller Calling one Of
the walters to him, he quickly pays the s,ran
gers bill, takes his own ice and chockolet,,
and goes away without ever having spoken
TO the man he has thus surrepti;iously enter
tanned. When the unconscious stranger cal,
for his bill he is asoniShed TO find that he
owes nothing. If travelling by diligence
from Mexico TO Vera Cruz | found il impossi-
bic 10 pay for meals al the hotels along the
road, some Of my fellow passengers had al.
ways done it in advance One of them a
Portuguese gentleman, afterward visited me in
New York, bringing with him quantity Of
the choicest Havana cigars rs present. If
ever visit the banks of tie Tagus, l hope TO
fad him still living.
In the remote part of Sweden and Norway,
where there are no accommodations for tray
elers, the elergymen are always expected TO
entertain them. This som etimes heavy tax
upon some members of that i'll paid class, but
it is cheerfully endured from Il sense of duty.
Few houses, indeed are closet against the
stranger. aud the poorest host oftentimes de-
eiines taking any payment. / oft,n made
journey through France, under circumstances
which compelled me to lodge in the humblest
caF'arets; and, although only few sous were
required for food and lodging, yet the homes
'ysfhe simple kindness Of the peasants, the
little attention they were so careful 10 nav
and 50 delicate in paying, were grateful ex-
amples of the hosrtable spirit.
l half suspect that .tle rude Corinthiaa
boor,' who
against The housless stranger shuts the
door,,
existed only in Goldsmiths Imagination. or
hat he generalized from n single unpleasant
personal experience. 4 habit by the BY to
which most men are addicted.) The Corin,hi>
ans are rude, certainly, but no branch of tho
Sclavonic race is inhospitable
In the stagnation Of China, the milk Of hu-
man kindness has grown somewhat stale. yet
even here certain form cf hospitality is kept
up, however the spirit may be lacking.
pt~~ -.