TRUE HOSPITALITY.

Offer your guests the best that you have in the way of food and rooms,
and express no regrets, and make no excuses that you have nothing better
to give them.

Try to make your guests feel at home; and do this, not by urging them in
empty words to do so, but by making their stay as pleasant as possible,
at the same time being careful to put out of sight any trifling trouble
or inconvenience they may cause you.

Devote as much time as is consistent with other engagements to the
amusement and entertainment of your guests.

DUTIES OF THE VISITOR.

On the other hand, the visitor should try to conform as much as possible
to the habits of the house which temporarily shelters him. He should
never object to the hours at which meals are served, nor should he ever
allow the family to be kept waiting on his account.

It is a good rule for a visitor to retire to his own apartment in the
morning, or at least seek out some occupation or amusement of his own,
without seeming to need the assistance or attention of host or hostess;
for it is undeniable that these have certain duties which must be
attended to at this portion of the day, in order to leave the balance of
the time free for the entertainment of their guests.

If any family matters of a private or unpleasant nature come to the
knowledge of the guest during his stay, he must seem both blind and
deaf, and never refer to them unless the parties interested speak of
them first.

The rule on which a host and hostess should act is to make their guests
as much at ease as possible; that on which a visitor should act is to
interfere as little as possible with the ordinary routine of the house.

It is not required that a hostess should spend her whole time in the
entertainment of her guests. The latter may prefer to be left to their
own devices for a portion of the day. On the other hand, it shows the
worst of breeding for a visitor to seclude himself from the family and
seek his own amusements and occupations regardless of their desire to
join in them or entertain him.

You should try to hold yourself at the disposal of those whom you are
visiting. If they propose to you to ride, to drive or walk, you should
acquiesce as far as your strength will permit, and do your best to seem
pleased at the efforts made to entertain you.

You should not accept invitations without consulting your host. You
should not call upon the servants to do errands for you, o