THE HOSTESS.
All of us who try to penetrate behind the veil, and to sound the hidden depths of human nature, must bo aware (rays a writer In the "Queen") of the curious difference there is between the seeming and the real m most of tha characters we know. Manner plays bo large a part m forming our estimate of each other, and salient qualities so blind us to the deeper and perhaps more important, that It is small wonder if we make mistakes m that estimate, and take tbe moat Bhowy for the most powerful. That pleasant smiling oordial lady, who makos all her gueats so welcome — would you believe that not a servant oan Btay with her — that her children dread her eooiaty — tfo&t her husband would rather faoe tbe|.fabled Medusa than her when her temper la up— and that Bhe ha 3 a fnnd of bitterness within that honied manner which seta her at cross corners with all her intimates ? The world sees that aha is constantly changing her friende, and that ia all It cannot imagine why she should— so delightful a person, bo ready m her aurfaca sympathy, bo ready even to give personal hep when needed, and so charming aa a dlnner-glver. Those who know her only aßsheseems to be, are m the dark aa to wbat Bhe ia m reality, nor how entirely her charm is of the outaide with nothing to spare for the substance within. So soon as she becomes familiar, Bhe becomes insolent. Her mania is to find fault, to command, to bully, to Interfere, m a word, to set otherß to rights ; which she does with sharp epigrams and not muoh consideration for tender skim. From this mania springs all the reat — the daughters' shrinking, the husband's dread, the servants' swift departure, the. intimates' sudden break ; for who will submit to perpetual goads and stings — to whips and thongs 1 Surely no one ! Henoe it is that our charming hoßteas haa not a real friend m the world, and that thooG who know her best like her least, and thpee who know her least praise her most.
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Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1832, 4 May 1888, Page 3
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358THE HOSTESS. Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1832, 4 May 1888, Page 3
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