The Republican., 1890-07-25
ON ENTERTAINING.
Duties of the Hostess and the Obligations
of GnestS.

Duties of the Hostess and the Obligations
of Guests.
Hospitality should be, like the quail
ity of mercy, thrice blessed. 1t ought
to be as much of pleasure to entertain
as it is to be INSTRUMENTATION it is a
pleasure. There are houses which peo.
pie instinctively avoid. There are
others where every body likes to go.
The magnificence of their furnishings,
the richness of the fare, have nothing to
do with the enjoyment which the enter
tainers give their fortunate guests.
1t frequently happens that the food is
OF the plainest, that the furniture is OF
the simplest, but there are comfort,
genuine, though not obtrusive welcome.
Cleanliness and convenience are essen
tial to the happiness of all well-ordered
beings. A fuzzy, stuffy bed-chamber,
unaired sheets, an empty match case, an
empty water pitcher, dried-up ink
stand and rusty pen will put damper
upon the good intentions of the most
amiably-disposed guest.
All these details are remembered by
the hostess who knows how to entertain
and she is blessed and remembered and
held up to other women as shining
example. A cheerful expression in the
guest room emphasizes the good will OF
the entertainer, and this may be in soft
and harmonious coloring, walls and car
pets and hangings being in keeping.
There is nothing friendlier than COM
Portable lounge, unless it be a comforta-
rble armchair, and if there are half a
dozen interesting books the wakeful
guest may smile at insomnia, and be
wholly unconscious that breakfast is
late. Dismal things should be religi-
ously excluded from the spare room;
hair wreaths, and framed certificates
and lachrymose madonnas. An excel
lent New England clergyman recalls
with shudder to this day horrible
room to which he was assigned where
the silver coftin-plates of dead and gone
scions of the house stood in a row on the
mantel. They had been removed by the
provident survivors and were there pre-
served, to the torment of those who So
journed under their roof.
The house whero one does not like to
go, as was intimated, may be luxuri-
ously furnished and bristled with i'm
provements. Who does not know it?
The dark, damp parlor whore the blinds
are never drawn; where the chairs and
tables are put primly in their places
and stay there; where the family walk
on tiptoe and speak in whispers; where
the doctrine of everlasting condemna-
tion is firmly held and has cast its
shadow over every thing.
One cause of apparent coldness and
formality is, frequently, self-conscious-
ness-too great anxiety lest this or that
may not be quite right. If accidents
happen, as they will and must in every
house, the only way to get over it is not
to care. Apologies do not help the
matter, and little blunder or misshap
good-naturedly laughed off, frequently
breaks the ice and sets both hostess and
guests at ease, as nothing else could do.
Sydney Smith considered the spec.
tacle of a woman preserving her com
posure and continuing her composure
when the awkward carver had splashed
her silk gown with gravy, the triumph
of civilization.
The anecdote points moral and might
adorn tale. In it lies the whole secret
of well-bred composure, which is the
crowning virtue alike of the model host.
ess and the model guest.
In regard tG the former there is an
other fault to be guarded against-over'
entertaining. The visitor, who has
come to stay several days, should be left
to herself whenever she desires privacy.
An hour alone, or more, is to some peo.
pie daily necessity. A parting caution
to the guest is an injunction to be in the
family, but not of ito avoid seeing OF
hearing things not meant for the eyes OF
any friend, however intimate. And last
of all, hospitality imposes obligations
which can not be enumerated here, as
such category would be disrespectful
to even the average Intelligence. The
inner life of every household is sacred
and should be SO held. If one has been
admitted to it, or has been an accidental
observer, its sacredness should be in
violable always. Inter Ocean.