HOSPITALITY. I9I 



infringement of it the surest work of sympathy that can be ex- 

 tended to any man. But all the same, I know it is not good for 

 him to be encouraged in the idea that he is abused every time he 

 sacrifices his physical comfort tO' me or to any one else." 



It is not true kindness to a family to let the idea of physical 

 comfort predominate in the household. There are higher con- 

 siderations, such as benevolence and sacrifice, for the sake of contact 

 with other minds, the acquirement of social adjustability, the lesson 

 of the art of making the home the best society. 



A world-renowned gentleman was once asked, "Do you go 

 much into society?" "Yes," he answered; "constantly. My wife 

 and daughters are the most fascinatingly interesting and social peo- 

 ple I ever saw. We have a rich social life at home when we do 

 not go out ; but we all go a good deal and gather from others the 

 intellectual plants that blossom for us at home and, under other 

 forms, for our guests as well." The daughter of this man said, 

 on the other hand : "Mamma says she has never met any other 

 man in the world who is so mentally stimulating and hospitable all 

 around as father, and we girls think so, too ; but we get different 

 grades and shades and tones and qualities of life from each one 

 whom we meet." In homes like this, narrowness of outlook and 

 of judgment become impossible, and stagnation and pettiness are 

 unknown. 



The self-abnegation which shows itself through frequent hos- 

 pitality is rewarded by producing this fine social life of the family. 

 It gives that social adjustibility which is said to be "the primary 

 requisite of a real and vital social life." 



The spirit of true hospitality implies also that host and hostess 

 make the gift of the real and not of the superficial elements of the 

 home. 



• Charles Wagner, whose book, ''The Simple Life," won from Mr. 

 John Wanamaker the tribute of the purchase of several hundred 

 copies for gifts to his friends, and from President Roosevelt his 

 high commendation as he introduced the author not long since to 

 a Washington audience, tells a significant story of a certain mayor 

 in one of the subprefectures of France near a summering place 

 of the emperor. The mayor's head was turned by the thought 

 that his sovereign might one day descend one day upon his home. 

 At once the house of his father, where family traditions had been 

 sacredly preserved, all the simplicity in which his ancestors had 

 lived, appeared to him poor, ugly, ridiculous ; out of the question 

 to ask the emperor to climb the wooden staircase, sit in the old 

 armchairs, walk on the superannuated carpets ; so he remodelled 



