grief, and I prefer the latter way in cases where mourning lasts for three years.

In China to-day condoling visitors bring mock money which is buried with the dead. There are elaborate funeral

repasts, attended by relatives and friends.

Among the Irish it has for generations been the custom to call at the home of death and sit for hours with the bereaved. There are drinking, feasting and chatting, for all the world as though it were a social function.

Civilization brings understanding and kindliness, and to-day "when the call of condolence is made ten days or two weeks after the funeral, the intimate friends of the family should be careful to avoid all subjects that would cause pain. The call should be brief. It is poor form to remain longer than fifteen minutes unless one is a particularly intimate friend."

The Ceremonious Calls of Modern Life.-The ceremonious call is quickly becoming obsolete. With the minuet and the high handshake, it belongs to yesterday. But distinct traces of the ceremonious type of visiting still prevail and are to be found in our modern life.

The "at-home" day, for instance, is a survival.

There was a time when fashionable districts of New York were divided into regular sections wherein on a given day in the week a whole neighbourhood was "at home." Ladies in visiting dress, with trains and bonnets and tight gloves, carrying card cases, tripped into this house, out of that, and again into another.

During the heydey of the "at-home" call, huge quantities of visiting cards were left at every house. The number of cards was regulated with precision and care. These calls were not based upon civility or friendliness. Visiting, under this system, was purely a ceremony.

Both card-leaving and the "at home" are to-day practically obsolete, though our so-called "duty calls" are a survival. For instance, two weeks after having been entertained at a formal dinner one is expected to call and leave cards. When one is notified of a death, one is expected

to call and leave cards. A bride in a new neighbourhood expects her neighbours to call and leave cards. Every book on etiquette has a list of these obligatory calls. They cannot very well be regarded as friendly or informal; they are more or less ceremonious.

The morning call was at one time a very popular social institution. It appears to have been a remote but distinct sequence of that system under which subordinates were required to call from time to time and show loyalty to their superiors. It existed principally in court systems under which courtiers were required to present themselves at stated intervals to do homage to the king.

In the 17th century, for instance, in the empire of Mogul,

All those that are at Court are obliged, under a considerable penalty, to come twice every day to salute the King in the assembly, once about ten or eleven o'clock in the morning when he renders justice; and the second time about six hours at night.

The morning call, which is now practically obsolete, but which still exists in Washington and in certain small towns, appears to be a survival. Persons of lesser rank in the social scheme call upon their superiors before noon any day except Sunday, and leave cards to show they have been there. It is another way of "doing homage."

In the United States caste consciousness is not as pronounced as it is abroad, and the call is a social pleasure rather than a social device. The only calls that still carry with them a flavour of ceremoniousness are those previously enumerated, concerning condolence, congratulation, inquiry, etc.

The Informal Call.-During the early periods of Christianity it was the custom of neighbours to call upon one another at Christmas, New Year, and other important holidays. Ricard tells us that "everyone called upon everyone else" exchanging the good wishes of the season.

When the Dutch came to settle in New York they brought with them the custom of making friendly, informal

New Year calls. This custom has remained with us, and to-day the New Year call is usually one of the jolliest and most delightful of the season.

When visitors call informally it is customary to serve refreshments of some sort. Usually tea and cake are served to callers in the afternoon. In Manila native fruits are offered the visitor. In New Mexico the customary refreshment, when they are in season, is piñon nuts. In Sicily liquor is served the guest.

The phrase for hospitality in the Society and Sandwich Islands is, "Let us eat together." These people are most hospitable and they will share their last bit of food with a guest.

In Japan calls are usually made in the morning. Dainties are served to the guests on white paper-confectionery and little cakes, ordinarily—and they are eaten with chopsticks. What he cannot eat the visitor carefully folds in the paper and deposits in his pocket sleeve to carry away

with him.

Among most peoples, eating together is the greatest sign of hospitality, and to refuse to eat with a host is regarded as a serious insult. Among us, a hostess dislikes to be refused the cup of tea or the dainties she offers.

"The Book of Etiquette" is partial to the friendly informal call and recommends it to those who want to entertain simply and unostentatiously. It says in part:

If you feel that, because you are not fortunate enough to own a pretentious dwelling and to hire impressive butlers and maidservants to welcome your guests, you should not make calls and have them returned, you are depriving yourself of a pleasure infinitely greater than all elaborate display and ostentation. Simple, informal calls made for the purpose of creating and developing friendships, and made with a feeling of genuine cordiality and friendliness, are even more gratifying than the stiffly formal social calls.

Do not feel that you are obeying etiquette's decrees when you neglect your friendships merely because your home and facilities do not warrant extensive social intercourse. True etiquette is universal in its appeal and reaches the country woman in her little cottage as directly as it reaches the stately dowager in her city mansion.