The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-20 00:00:00

AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC COSTUME.

The correspondence of the diplomatic corps re-
garding the order for the dress in which American
Ministers were to attend Foreign Courts has been
submitted to the Senate. The Springfield Repub-
lican, which thus summarizes the letters, asks if the
pretence of maintaining Republican simplicity by
prescribing the dress of our Ministers, and making
the Secretary of State tailor-in-chief to the Diplo-
matic Corps, is much less than a silly Republican
farce ? " Mr. Sanford, our Minister at Brussels,
replies with twenty-five pages of foolscap—bnt
then this has long been a grievance with Mr. San-
ford, ever since his difficulties with Mr. Mason on
the subject of shoe-buckles and knee-breeches at
the Court of Versailles. Mr. Sanford is delighted
with the Act of 1867 ; and with the natural self-
complacency of a man who has made a study of a
subject, he expresses his gratification that Congress
has given expression to the views so long held by
hifnself. Minister Hovey at Lima does not find his
soul quite satisfied with Republican simplicity'
of costume, and still feels a hankering for the
brass buttons of four years ago. He inquires pathe-
tically of Mr. Seward, if, please, he may not wear his
army uniform. And Mr. Seward, with that irrepres-
sible benignity of disposition, says yes, just as much
as he likes. Mr. Hale, at Madrid, who hasn't quite
got over the M'Cracken scare, and feels under obli-
gation not only to comply with the law, but to ad-
mire it, replies with enthusiasm that he never feels
so good as when he has on a swallow-tailed coat,
and would scorn to assume the heartless pomp and
hollow pageantry of despotic courts. Mr. Yeaman,
from Copenhagen, writes more doubtfully. He has
been obliged to decline attendance at State ceremo-
nials, because he could not do so without wearing a
Court dress. After the warm glow of patriotic
enthusiasm which is awakened by the letter from
sunny Spain, this blast from the icy North strikes
a positive chill into the bones of the reader. Mr.
Adams is the only one of the accomplished diplo-
mats who answers the trivial questions of the Sec-
retary with the least approach to dignity. He
thinks the whole matter is one of trifling import-
ance, except in so far as it may affect the usefulness
of the diplomatic body abroad. He slyly intimates
that he should generally contrive to avoid the awk-
wardness of the situation by being conveniently ab-
sent, whenever the public service would not suffer.
Whereupon Mr. Seward, not to be outdone in sly-
ness, rejoins that he understands Mr. Adams to
agree with him perfectly in his views of the case."

The American transport ship Guard has arrived
at Civita Vecchia to embark a quantity of statues and
works of art purchased by Admiral Farragut for various
museums in the United States.

The Journal de St. Petersbourg publishes a tele-
gram from Kaptchak, June 1, stating that two represen-
tatives of the National Council of the Free State were to
leave on the 19th ult., with the secret mission to request
Russia, the United States, Holland, and Spain to intervene
should the English Government refuse satisfaction to the
demands of the Free State relative to its protestation.
The great German Eangerfest at Chicago, which
has been a financial failure, closed with a grand picnic on
Sunday, June 21, and the next will be held at Cincinnati
in 1870. New York city is soon to have a grand German
schutzcnfest, for which substantial buildings, to cost fifty
thousand dollars, aro being erected at Jones's Wood.

A single plate of glass just imported into Ame-
rica from France is 20 feet long by it; feet 8 inches wide.
It is not for a window, but to represent under a strong,
light a frozen lake in one of the scenes of a popular spec-
tacular play.
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