The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-09 00:00:00

DIPLOMATIC ETIQUETTE.

An anecdote is hieh has scarcely transpired even at
Frankfort, where the occurrence has recently taken
place, proves what importance is bestowed on prece-
dence by the diplomatists of Germany. According to
custom, the Ministers of every country give precedence
at home to the members of the foreign diplomacy This
is but a compliance with tLe ordinary rules of politeness
whereby the master of a house always cedes k pas to
his guests. At Frankfort, ns elsewhere, the Diet,
which is on its own ground, does the honours of prece-
dence to the Ministers of foreign States ; but in the
way of reciprocal courtesy, the Ministers and Envoys
to the Diet have resolved to give up the pas to the
president of that assembly, so that the corps diploma-
tique have the pus after the president, but before all
the other Members of the Dist. It is the Austrian
Minister who is in possession of the Presidency ; whilst
he was present all was therefore settled ; but having
left Frankfort for a time his station devolved ad interim
to the Prussian Minister, who, though but tcicporaiy
President, laid claim to precedence over the foreign
diplomatists. Hence the momentous discord we have
to record among the events of 1840.
Mr. Ansteil, the Russian Minister, to whom M.
d'Oubril has now succeeded, had invited the corps di-
plomatique to a dinner at his house. According to
him and his colleagues, it was the French Minister, as
being the senior member of the diplomatic body, who
was to have the vas ; according to the Members of the
Diet, precedence was due, on the contrary, to Baron
de Nagler, the Prussian Minister, and ad interim Psis-
sident. It was with these jarring notions that all the
guests assembled in the drawing rooms of the Russian
Legation, when all eves were directed to the two diplo-
Innis:its upon whose spirit, dexterity, or nimbleness the
decision of so grave a question depended. The mo-
ment the folding doors were thrown open, and the words
" Madame la Baroune est servic" were uttered, the En-
voy of Prussia, who was evidently on the watch, leapet.l
from his chair across the mom, and gallantly tendered his
arm to Madame d'Anstell, luckless France being still in
search of theilady of the house, when triumphant Prussia
had already securel her seat at taLle by her right side.
M, d'Anstell, who had beheld the issue of both am•
nogurres with indignation, entered the dining-room after
the other guests, and anxious both to arrange the corps
diploniatique and soothe Gallia, roared out to his vas.
sals, " Vous servire z d'abord la soupe a Monsieur lo
Ministre de France I" The order was executed, and no
vutage was handed to the Court of Berlin until that
of the Tuileries, making up for its previous sluggishness,
had had leisure to convey its spoon repeatedly from its
plate to its mouth. The soup retaliation would seem
to have given great satisfaction to the guests, since it is
affirmed that they next day despatched couriers to
their respective Courts, to inform them that the ques-
tion was settled, and that their Ministers would hence-
forth secure precedence in the tureen when not quick
enough to assert it elsewhere. . _

Pugnacious as France has proved herself of late, it
it is fortunate for the peace of the world that her Minis-
ter obtained the support of Russia at the Frankfort
dinner, the account of which we derive from the Revue
des Deus Mondes, for that he had the worst of it all
will agree who prefer fair lady to soup, whether a la
Julienne, Aurore, Reuse, or la Bonne Femme. It
was lucky also that he was not an ambassador, which
desciiptio❑ of Minister is, in diplomatic etiquette, thu
only one considered as representing his Sovereign, all
the other clascs, such as Envoys, Ministers, Resident
Ministers, end lastly, Charges d'Affaires, having a much
less majestic character. Tne soup satisfaction was pro-
bably accepted the more willingly, as to uphold his per-
sonal rights the French Minister would have had Id
appeal to the odious treaties of 1815, in complianew with
which diplomatists rank among themselves, in each,
class, according to the priority of arrival.

2402telnEt TbEeßar.i—ng
technio Athi
r e g'ils.tleirEi n gliNn sEt rlAul sVErnyamiengweansloyu;
yesterday
y-
put into operation at the Royal Poly
Institu-
tion. Too inventor is slr. A. Follett Osler, of Bir-
mingham ; and his machine is intended to register,
on paper, the records of storms and the fall 91 rain,
for meteorological purposes. The importance of self-
registering instruments for obtaining a sufficiently ex-
temive and accurate record of metcorolotical facts will
be obvious to all aho take an interest- in ascertaining their
causes and effects, and the resulti of the erection of the
anemometer at the Polytechnic Institution are, therefore,
looked for with correspondifig interest. A general notion of
this machine, and its pock of operation, will be obtained if
we state that a vat* construction,, of a particular
d much at,i9sec-the roof of the vatebuilding, and that to this
vane is atmsticd a rod, or tube, which comsnunica tes with
the machinery in the apartments beneath. The direction
of the wind is rcg'.etered by means
of a pinion being
attached to the lower extremity of this rod, which works
,
in a rack, sliding 1,,c k
) ward s and fOrwards as the wind
moves the vene. To this rack a pencil is fixed, which
marks the direction of the wind
on a paper intersected
with the cardinal points,
and so adjusted as to progress at
the rate of half an inch per
hour by means of an attached
clock. Tof
The force
the wind is at the same time ascer-
tained by a plate plpoed at r'ght angles to the vane, sup-
ported by two light bars on friction rollers, and cornmuni.-
Siting with a spiral spring in such a way that the plate
cannot be infected by the wind's pressure without instantly
acting on this spring and communicating the amount of its
action by a light copper wire passing down the centre of
the tube to another pencil below, which thus registers
its degree of force. Similarly ingenious arrangements
accurately determine the time at which any rain falls, as
well as the amount and mode of falling. The institution
of means for correctly guaging wind and rain is a good
step towards the development of admitted facts of which
the science of meteorology, perhaps, more than any other,
stands particularly in need. The directors of the Poly-
technic Institution arc, therefore, entitled to the thanks
of scientific men for having purchased,and
put into useful
operation, this most interesting instrument, whose name,
, taken from two Greek words, signifies a measurer of wind,
MARCH OF DRUNKEN 1•11..—011t of twelve
charges brought up at Bow-street on
Thursday
morning,
eleven were for being found drunk on the previous night;
eight were discharged with an admonition, and three were'
fined ss. One gentleman gave si. more to be put into
the poor-box, as he had some valuable property about
him when be was found by the policeman.