Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-07-28
THE ART OF ENTERTAINING.
Safe Rules to Observe in Order to be
Successful.

safe Rules to observe IN Oruer TO De
Successful.
From the Boston Courier.l
1t is not infrequently said that the art
of hospitality is dead, just as it is from
time to time said that every other good
thing which ever blessed the race of man
kind is likewise dead and departed. There
are those who excuse themselves from en-
tertainlng by saying that guests nowadays
demand so much that is not possible to
satisfy them unless one has resources such
as are possessed by only two or three per-
sons in a generation, and that if one can
not come up to the standard set by people
of enormous wealth, it is idle to attempt
to do anything.
That all this is the most arrant nom
sense is probably known to the inmost
hearts of the very persons who proclaim it,
and it is one of the many plausible ex-
cuses that selfshness is fond of making
rather than to take the trouble needed to
do anything for others The spirit of
hospitality is as much alive now as it ever
was, and it is one of the blessings for
which all men should join ..in thankfulness
to the gods that it is immortal. The men
and women of to-day are as ready to be
entertained simply as they ever were, but
they are as ready as they ever have been
to perceive when they are entertained in
a perfunctory manner, and are ready to re-
spond to genuine kindness.
The secret of entertaining now, as it al
ways has, been, is to have the guests
pleased. If one gives an entertainment
for the sake of showing his ingenuity it
is as futile as if he gave it to display his
wealth, and only a little less vulgar. Given
the true spirit of hospitality, the real wish
that the guests shall be happy as first
principle, then all other things may be
added to the improvement of the delight
fulness of the occasion, but this is the es-
sential.
One of the chief practica, difficulties
with entertaining is that hosts do not give
the right sort of care to their entertain
ments. They do certain things, usually in
the way of providing what shall be eaten
and what shall be drank, and unless in the
case of musicale this is apt to be the ex-
tent of their cares. How many hosts or
hostesses follow the example of that clever
French woman who said, "My dinners are
famous because | never give one without
having fully planned out the lines of con-
yersation with reference to showing each
guest at his best?" A famous Spanish
dinner-giver is said to have been in the
habit of secluding himself for fortnight
before one Of his dinners for the purpose
of studying up clever bon-mots, but such
course could hardly result in anything but
display of wit in which the guests were
merely the audience, and the ideal enter
tanning is where the host makes no dis
play of himself or his cleverness beyond
what is needful to keep things in motion.
1t is one of the safest and most import
ant rules of successful entertaining to
leave nothing to chance. 1t is well to
plan beforehand everything which is to
fill up the measure of the time allotted to
the guests. If something else comes in to
crowd out part of the programme, there is
no harm done, and the doleful possibility
of empty time is avoided. 1t is of still
more Importance that the guests be se-
lected with a view to fitting well together,
whether it be upon the principle of like
ness or of contrast. Many a promising
dinner has been spoiled by the introduc-
tion of a single incongruous guest, who
has thrown the company out of harmony
and rendered all the efforts of the host use
less to effect pleasant whole
1t is difficult not to conclude that the
genuine entertainer, like the genuine poet,
Is rather born than made by education or
precept, and yet even the poet needs edu-
cation and experience, and the way to
learn to entertain is to entertain. He or
she who is beginning should write in let
tiers of light upon the memory, 'Never un-
dertake 10 do what one can not do WELL"
and "Never labor for the glory of the host
at the expense of the pleasures of the
guest" and then if one has a friendly
heart and due regard for simplicity, the
rest is not so difficult.