The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1879-12-25
NO. 43.
Rules Of Hospitality.

SS ~ AAVspltdUty.
Render your guest as comfortable rs nos.
sible. and his stay pleasant. To this end
AS soon after bis arrival as possible, saddle
him with every one OF your hobbies and rIda
him to exhaustion !.
II you are public speaker rehearse TO him
half dozen of your longest and dryest
speeches. 1t will give you good practice
Friends should be utilized.
II you are addicted to writing. read 10 him
everything of yours that you can lay your
hands on.
Tell him about your business troubles. and
when he would speak Of his pleasant trim to
the mountains cut him off with a diagnosis
OF your internal ailments.
VI course you will show him through your
library; but do not allow his mind to become
absorbed in any one volume to the neglect of
the others. BE might be pleased to find
iavorite, perhaps but II you give way to his
wishes ne may 90 away unimproyed By the
magnitude and versatility Of your literary
wealth.
ous by all means have passages ready to
1urn tom the more pretentious work to
reao 20 your guests. Not only will you sur
prise him BY your intimacy with literature,
out you will also give him a taste of your
Evolutionary Attachments.
But be sure to explain everything you read.
IL ISN'T to be supposed that many people
nave YOUR powers of intuition. It were idle
to expect it,.
Make him feel at home by following your
own usual course at home. Rehearse all the
harrassments Of the day at your place of BUSH
| ness. IL must act upon him in one ef two
ways. Either it will remind him of himself
in his home, and therefore, make hsra feel at
| home indeed. or it will call up thoughts OF
bis own serene business life, made all the
more pleasant when thus favorably contrast
ed with your own.
| II the children crawl into his lap and be-
| daub him with their molasses- covered fin
gers, show yourself an indulgent parent by
non.interference.
Should they attempt the same thing with
you, another phrase OF fatherly duty may be
illustrated. Show that with all your indul-
gent love you can be firm on occasions. Box
their ears warmly.
1t is good manners to yawn occasionally,
espectallyif by some mischance your guest
falls into the reprehensibls practice (for
guesD of talking about something interesting
to himself. 1t shows him the large amount I
of self-denial you are exercising that he may
be entertained. 4
| Never forget that, as he who goes to
Greece is expected to do as the Greeks do,
SO the guest who enters your house should
accommodate himself to his surroundings.
He wouldn't expect the Greeks to un.Greek
themselves because be happened to be in
their midst, would he !?
Follow these rules religiously, and we as
sure you that none others will be needed
They will serve for all the guests you will
ever have.-Boston Transcript.
|
Character.
| The consciousness Of character Is not a
sign of its possession. He who has most
character has least thought of his superior
ity. As Carlyle reminds US, ''the healthy
know not Of their health, but only the sick.
| II, in any sphere OF mans life, then in the
moral sphere, as the Utmost and most vital
OF all, it is said that there be Wilderness
that there be Inconsistencies, which is tile
evidenceof this.'' The hero is heroic with
out thinking Of it. The man Of integrity
does right instinctively. ''How could I do
otherwise ?" is his response to any word of
| nruieo for his & -J.9s
body feel and do just as l do?" says
| the person OF real character, concerning is
or ber peculiar course Of fearless upright
ness. ''Who is there, that being as am,
would go into the temple to save his life?''
said grand Nehemiah, when counseled to
seek the sanctuary for his own protection
II will not go inn By experience Of their
contrast with others, some come to realize
their possession of unusual character and
others, again, have characters of rare power
which have never been called into action and
prominence. Those who are skilled In char
acter reading may discern the pre-emi-
nence OF these persons, or some peculiar
emergency may bring their superiority
to general notice. But, in some instaa-
ces, their remarkable strength of charac-
ter fails OF being known to the world, s.iust
BECAUSE" as Bushnell suggests, 'the storm
they were made for has not begun to blow"
Character may be ready to assert itself, but
waits long for its opportunity. True man +
hood or true womanhood, in very high
degree, may exist in person who litt le
thinks OF his or her superiority in its pos
session, and who is as yet unrecognized by
the world as its remarkable possessor. Such
person needs only an occasion to be known
and admired Of all. The rare treasure is
there, even though the mine has never been
opened to view.