however, are seldom hastily formed. The gushing and violent attachments
that sometimes spring up between young girls are sure to be of mushroom
growth and duration, unless there is genuine character and merit in
both. During the period of the continuance of such friendships, a great
deal of "selfishness for two" is often developed and manifested. Very
often when young people are visiting together their attentions to each
other seem to make them forget their duties and the attentions due to
other people. Here is one of the best tests of the true character of a
young girl: her conduct in the house where she is a visitor. If she is
truly well-mannered and kind-hearted she will certainly be on her guard
to conform to the hours and habits of the household where she is a
guest; she will avoid making any demands upon the time of her friend
that would cause that friend to neglect her daily duties or put to
inconvenience the other members of the family. She will divide her
attentions with all the members of the family, having special regard for
the very young or the very old. She will, above all things, be prompt
and punctual at meal-time. Her own tact and judgment will enable her to
judge how much assistance she should offer, if any, to the friends she
visits--a matter which must always be determined by circumstances. In
some families and under some circumstances it might be a breach of
decorum and an act of officiousness on the part of a visitor to make any
offer of assistance in the matter of the daily household arrangements.
In other families and under other circumstances it might be an act of
the kindest and best politeness to undertake every day during her visit
a portion of the daily home-duties. That which a young girl who is a
visitor in any family should first of all observe, is the wishes and
convenience of the older people of the household. If the friend she is
visiting should show too much disposition to make everything about the
house bend to the occasion of the visit, the visitor should deprecate
this, both by word and example. Every mother of young daughters knows