receives on Tuesdays," if the lady has a day. Were not ladies able
to deny themselves to callers there would be no time in crowded
cities for any sort of work, or repose, or leisure for self-
improvement. For, with the many idle people who seek to rid
themselves of the pain and penalty of their own vapid society by
calling and making somebody else entertain them, with the
wandering book-agents and beggars, or with even the overflow of
society, a lady would find her existence muddled away by the
poorest and most abject of occupations--that of receiving a number
of inconsiderate, and perhaps impertinent, wasters of time.

It is well for all house-keepers to devote one day in the week to
the reception of visitors--the morning to tradespeople and those
who may wish to see her on business, and the afternoon to those
who call socially. It saves her time and simplifies matters.

Nothing is more vulgar than that a caller should ask the servant
where his mistress is, when she went out, when she will be in, how
soon she will be down, etc. All that a well-bred servant should
say to such questions is, "I do not know, madam." A mistress
should inform her servant after breakfast _what he is to say_ to
all comers. It is very offensive to a visitor to be let in, and
then be told that she cannot see the lady of the house. She feels
personally insulted, and as if, had she been some other person,
the lady of the house would perhaps have seen her.

If a servant, evidently ignorant and uncertain of his mistress and
her wishes, says, "I will see if Mrs. Brown will see you," and
ushers you into the parlor, it is only proper to go in and wait.
But it is always well to say, "If Mrs. Brown is going out, is