248 THE HOME, FARM AND BUSINESS CYCLOPAEDIA. 



yourself separated by a dense crowd of guests, you are at liberty to recog- 

 nise those who are near you, and those whom you encounter as you make 

 your way slowly through the throng. 



If you are at the house of a new acquaintance and find yourself among 

 entire strangers, remember that by so meeting under one roof you are all 

 in a certain sense made known to one another, and should, therefore, con- 

 verse freely as equals. To shrink away to a side-table and affect to be 

 absorbed in some album or illustrated work ; or, if you find one unlucky 

 acquaintance in the room to fasten upon her like a drowning man clinging 

 to a spar, are gaucheries which no shyness can excuse. 



If you possess any musical accomplishment, do not wait to be pressed 

 and entreated by your hostess, but comply immediately when she pays 

 you the compliment of inviting you to play or sing. Remember, however, 

 that only the lady of the house has the right to ask you. If others do so, 

 you can put them off in some polite way, but must not comply till the 

 hostess herself invites you. 



Be scrupulous to observe silence when any of the company are playing 

 or singing. Remember that they are doing this for the amusement of the 

 rest ; and that to talk at such a time is as ill-bred as if you were to turn 

 your back upon a person who was talking to you and begin a conversation 

 with some one else. 



If you are yourself the performer, bear in mind that in music, as in 

 speech, " brevity is the soul of wit." Two verses of a song, or four pages 

 of a piece, are at all times enough to give pleasure. If your audience de- 

 sire more they will ask for it ; and it is infinitely more flattering to be 

 encored than to receive the thanks of your hearers, not so much in grati- 

 tude for what you have given them, but in relief that you have left off. 

 You should try to suit your music, like your conversation, to your com- 

 pany. A solo of Beethoven's would be as much out of place in some 

 circles as a comic song at a Quakers' meeting. To those who only care 

 for the light popularities of the season, give Verdi, Suppe', Sullivan, or 

 Offenbach. To connoisseurs, if you perform well enough to venture, give 

 such music as will be likely to meet the exigencies of a fine taste. Above 

 all, attempt nothing that you cannot execute with ease and precision. 



If the party be of a small and social kind and those games called by the 

 French les jeux innocents are proposed, do not object to join in them when 

 invited. It may be that they demand some slight exercise of wit and 

 readiness, and that you do not feel yourself calculated to shine in them ; 

 but it is better to seem dull than disagreeable, and those who are obliging 



