German frankness, "Oh, I am so happy!" No
presents hung on the tree, but those intended for each person were in
a group beside a plate of cakes and bonbons, with a card bearing the
name. Each of the company found his own, delicately assisted by the
hostess and her daughters. Then the servants were called in, to find
their presents on side tables, to receive and express good wishes and
thanks, and to join in the general joy of the household over the
engagement. After supper in the dining-room, we talked awhile, there
was music from the piano, then the married daughter and her family
withdrew with kind "good-nights;" and before a late hour all the other
guests had done the same, not, however, until the national airs of
America and of Scotland had been sung by all present, in honor of the
guests from these countries.

Private hospitality is kind and open, but so far as our observation
went, conducted within certain specified limits seldom overstepped.
Order of precedence is carefully observed, and more honor is shown to
age than with us. The best seat in the drawing-room is the sofa. A
single guest would never be offered any other place, and among a
number the eldest or the most honored would be invariably conducted
there. Hence no one would venture to take this place of honor
uninvited. Sometimes one is secretly glad of not being invited to
crowd behind the table which usually stands, covered with a spread,
inconveniently close before the sofa, and of having instead a chair,
with a better support for the back.

One is expected to bow to the hostess and to each guest on coming to
the table, and also on leaving it. Odd as this seems at first, it soon
becomes a habit rather pleasant than burdensome, and one grows
insensibly to admire the outward politeness of this German custom.
Greetings and farewells are more ceremonious, even between intimate
friends, than with us; and to omit a ceremonious leave-taking or to
substitute a light bow and "good day" would not make a pleasant
impression on a German hostess. Americans, especially young ladies,
are much criticised for their independence and lack of courtesy. A
German friend told me that a young American lady who had formerly
been an inmate of her family called to bid her good-by before leaving
Berlin. "I was amazed," she said, "at such politeness." It is not
alone in matters of courtesy that young American ladies shock the
Germans. Though a young lady has more freedom in Germ