occasions worthy of the name.

The most expensive entertainment given by any one should be merely an
incidental illustration of his already recognized financial means. It
should never be so beyond his usual ability as to arouse among his
neighbors the wonder, how he could afford it? When people who are
known to have only a moderate income give "spreads" disproportionate to
their daily mode of living, the thoughtful observer instinctively
questions their taste and good sense. Usually such ostentatious
display brings more or less derision on the ones who are foolish enough
to spend more money to make their neighbors stare for a day than they
use to make themselves comfortable for a year. No matter how elaborate
the entertainment the guests should not be allowed to suspect that
their host has exhausted his resources, or that he might not be able to
do this same thing at any time that he chose.

As already suggested, the character of the entertainment in a private
house should never be such as to involve a total departure from the
habitual customs of the household. It is granted that provision must
be made on a grander scale for larger numbers; the _quantity_ of things
will necessarily be augmented, and mere bulk wears a certain air of the
imposing, and when to this is added the vital element--the magnetism of
a brilliant company--the participant will seem to breathe a rarified
atmosphere, and to an extent to be exalted above the level of everyday
life. Yet that level should not be lost to sight nor cease to be the
basis of measurement. The quality of elegant serving and mannerly
eating should be just what is every day observed at the family dinner
of the same household. The guest should get a correct idea of the home
atmosphere of the house, even though it be slightly congealed by the
formality and reserve which the presence of strangers naturally
inspires.

When people assume to entertain socially they should not give a false
showing of themselves or of their means. The proudest spirit
acknowledges the limitations of poverty with dignified truthfulness; it
is the moral coward who seeks to hide these limitations by a greater
display than his circumstances warrant. And he reaps as he sows. His
"entertainments" fill an idle hour for the class of visitors who
gravitate mainly to the supper-room, while the giver of the feast,
under the tension of this social effort, suffers a weariness of the
spirit as well as o