Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1903-10-28
ENGLISH woMEN'S HOSPITALITY.
Test Is Welcome Of UNLIMITED Guest tt
Dinner

Test Is Welcome Of UNLIMITED Guest to
Dinner.
The frank English woman who an
no'lnced that her motto III social affairs
was Guilt for outlet" only SAID open
ly what many hostesses. on both sides
OF the ocean, really feel about the duties
Of hospitality There are people with
whom our motto is Tea for tea but
whom we do not invite to lunches be-
cause we owe them none; and dinners
are even more closely calculated with an
inner circle still. For all these hospit-
able occasions. too, we plan and pre-
pare; our menus are carefully chosen,
our houses set in order, our welcome
ready as the guests assemble. But can
hoSpltallty-the real tning-De systema-
tized and planned and cut and dried
after this fashion? Can the charm and
essence of it be kept in give-and-take
arrangement on conventional lines? The
human heart, for all it's deceitfuness
knows better: and we sigh "Oh, dear
OF course we shall have to invite the
Jones-Brownsv' with conscious feelings
of hostility, not hospitality
The real thing is very different. A
woman with the genuine spirit of Il
hostess can welcome an unlimited guest
on day when the cook is distinctly
cross and dinner appears to be turning
out failure. 1t is Il pity that things
should be so, but still the friend is con-
sidered before the food. eff her house
were on fire" said an appreciative guest
Of such Il woman. ''she might not invite
you in: but under all other circumstances
she Is the very soul of welcome" Into
Il home like this many guests come, some
of them angels unawares, and life broad
ems and deepens in proportion. The
giver Of state dinners cannot understand
how beefsteak and baked potatoes can
make meal tit 10 invite Il visitor to
share; but the true hostess knows that
life is more than meat She knows also
that welcome is charming. and apology
embaira SSing- SO she does not apologize
deliberately for her simple table, but
makes the guests feel. instead, that her
whole house is at their disposal, and that
their presence is Il real pleasure The
pleasantest lunch | ever had" said Ii
young society woman the other day,
was at the home of So-and-so, the cele-
brated writer.
What did you have for lunch"
asked Il friend.
what did we have? How absurd, l
don't remember" was the quick answer.
Mutton, l think, and potatoes, perhaps
but such welcome and such charming
talk that the ordinary elaborate luncheon
has seemed fiat ever since.
The Bible tells us to be -'given to hos
pitality." By this, plainly, ten-course
dinners are not meant, nor afternoon
teas, nor house parties. Hospitality
may be defined as one of the response
bilities of having a home. AS long as
we possess q roof of our OWN and there
are strangers in the lander friends, Ell
ther-we have it in our power to fulfill
the duty of hospitality. If we can make
our homes the very symbols of home to
some tired outsider, some bomestick
friend, some thoughtless boy or girl who
needs its atmosphere without knowing
it, we have learned the secret of that
grace of hospitality which is a real
Christian virtue-and rare one in mod
ern life.-Harper's Bazaar.