Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1889-04-20
OUR ENGLISH COUSINS.

The Cordiaiity with Which Guests Are
MISUNDERSTANDING Themselves at Home.
On arriving, the host and hostess greet
us at the door very cordially, and lead
tho way to spacious reception room,
where refreshments are served in true
English style. We were then told that
the dinner hour was o'clock. There
are fully fifty rooms on the second and
third floors, and the very courtly house
keeper escorted us in turn to those as
signed us. Promptly at o'clock all
meet in the drawing rooms, and without
special introductions treat each other as
acquaintance. Such is the freemasonry
of English society, although much pre-
fer our American custom of general in
Productions, which commits one to moth
ing in future meetings and yet for the
time being puts one on velvet with ones
neighbors. When the butler opens the
doors, the host assigns the gentlemen to
the ladies', who walk arm in arm into
the banquet hall. Behind each guest
stands q serving man, silent as num-
my, in fine livery of gold and purple
sometimes scarlet; pumps with large
silver buckles, silk stockings and carriers,
and powdered hair. The dinner is often
of twelve courses, and appropriate wines.
There is no fixed hour for the morn
ing's repast-from to 10-and no serv-
ants stop about the breakfast room, the
gentlemen serving themselves and ladies,
in most part, from the sideboards. The
aristocracy and middle classes do not eat
much at their first meal--eggs, toast.
mullins, cold meats, pasties and ten,
rarely coffee. That over, every one is
free. Each spends the time as inclined
The host and hostess let their guests do
just as they please You may be sure
that your host will not put himself out
for you in the least, unless you expressly
desire it. Everything in the house goes
on as usual, just as if you were not there.
But, per contra, the house and all that is
in it are practically yours while you stay
within its walls. Your host puts his SER
wants, his wine cellar, his larder, often
his horses and his game preserves, abso-
lutely at your disposal. You are at lib
erty to act, and are expected to act, pre-
cisely as if you were in your own house.
You can order a sandwich, bowl of
broth, glass of wine or spirits whenever
you please; you can announce your in
tention Of going off shooting the very
morning after your arrival, and guns and
dogs are waiting for you 1t is the COM
nonest occurrence for men, arriving in
the afternoon at friends house, to send
their dress suit down to the laundress to
be pressed before dinner. In England
guests are not only told to ''make them
selves at home,n but are actually allowed
to do so.
Each, then, does as he or she pleases.
In the first place, there is reading and
answering letters, of which letter the
English woman is especially fond. She
writes well and she writes often-whether
she has anything of moment to say or
not, and oftentimes a dozen letters are
exchanged over an invitation to an in
formal dinner, and these letters are
usually SO long and always so bright and
chatty that they not unfrequently tax
heavily the travellers time and mental
powers that she may be equally courteous
and Brilliant
The dailies and various magazines and
reviews of the day are literally distrib-
uted in the sitting room, while visits to
che library, picture galleries, hot houses,
Conservatives, gardens, park and stables
form part of the daily occupations. The
gentlemen generally go shooting in the
preserves, where the peasants beat up
the game-partridges, pheasants, hares,
rabbits, ETC., and they stand in the open
ing showing their skill in craftsmanship.
If they stay after o'clock the servants
bring luncheon. or they return to the
mansion and join the ladies who have
gone driving or horseback riding, at
very generous lunch.
The guests l repeat, conduct them
selves as If at home, without restraint or
ceremony; the host and hostess never in
trude, or worry, leaving you in perfect
freedom to pursue your humor. Every
body is supposed to know best how to
enjoy himself. Acquaintance formed
thus are like those of the ballroom, and
do not warrant their renewal; of course,
friendships and intimacies often come of
them. During the day all are in plain
dress, to be laid aside at the sacramental
dinner hour, for although you are left
undisturbed to follow the bent of your
own will and pleasure during the day,
and breakfast at any hour you please, it
is de rigueur to be at hand in regulation
toilet as soon as dinner is announced-an
hour after the dressing bell is sounded.
Charades, impromptu tableaux, readings,
music, ETC., help to pass the evening
Mrs. Frank Leslie in Kansas City
Journal.