Page:Book of Etiquette, Volume 1, by Lilian Eichler.djvu/314



Never attempt to make false impressions. That is one great fault found among certain country people. When city friends call, they attempt to overawe them with their superiority. While the city friends are with them, they do not notice their village friends at church, nor do they invite them to their house. They devote themselves exclusively to their friends from the city—and invariably those friends return home disappointed and disillusioned.

When people move in the neighborhood, it is considered polite to pay them the first visit—"to extend the hand of welcome," as the expression is. The hostess should offer a cup of tea with crackers or cake, and she should make herself agreeable in every way. However, the acquaintance should not be forced; if the new-comers are haughty and aloof, it is well to leave them to themselves, until they have absorbed some of the good-fellowship and courtesy of the village.

There is very little need for formal calling cards in the small village where everybody knows everybody else. A great many of the conventionalities of city life are, of course, found in the country; but a great many more of them are lacking. And among them are the strictly formal introductions, calls and social functions that are observed with such punctiliousness in the city. Simplicity should be the keynote of country life, and quiet, dignified manners should be the ideal of country people.

Hospitality does not mean the giving of sumptuous banquets or elaborate dinners. It does not mean the ex-