, 1877-11-16
Modes Of Salutation,

'"e uu0"'e'inS OF the mead Is regarded as
marx of respect, among the OrientaIs
the very reverse is true. The Turks ro'
gard II as an act of positive irreyerenca
to remove the hat or cap in enter;noo
house of prayer. The Japanese take o@
their slippers, and in other parts of the
East, they remove one of their sandal
II they meet friend out of doors. and ono
OF their stockings if he calls upon tber,
al home. These customs must date back
to very remote antiquity, as we NAV
refer from the direction given to Moses.
Put OF thy shoes from off thy feet for rho
place wheTeon thou s,andest il boIv
ground" II Is rather beautiful wav
that they have in New Guinea of greet.
ing an acquaintance by the placing Of
green leaves, which are the symbol Of
life, on the top of their heads.
The sight presented in New Zealand
when two persons meet who have nor
seen each other for some time, must be
rather ludicrous to Il bystander, however
touching it may be to those immediately
concerned. As soon as they come to.
gether each Of the parties envelopes him.
self in his mat and covers his face all but
one eye. They then squat down ON the
ground opposite to each other, and begin
to weep with all their might, the fountain
Of tears on both sides seeming to be al.
most inexhaustible. After they have
wept as long as the occasion requires.
they approach and press their noses to.
getheI for some time, closing the per-
formance with series of short and yig-
orous grunts; after which they are ready
to enter upon general conversation. One.
mode Of salutation which prevails in Ger
tain Of the Pacific islands must call into ac]
ton some gymnastic skill, as it consists in
raising the left foot,passing it lightly over
the right leg, and then rubbing the foot on
the face. In certain quarters gentlemen
of fashion salute each other in the street
by striking the knobs of their canes to-
gether, which they carry with them for
this purpose, in stead of lifting their hats
as we do. The absence of any head Gov
ering may have driven them to this
no66y substitute.
There are certain forms of religious
salutation that have peculiar dignity
and impressiveness, like that which ex-
lists in the Eastern church, where, on
Easter morning, the greeting is on this
wise-"The Lord is risenln-with the re-
spoDse-"He is risen indeed!" Several
phrases are also used 10y the Arabs and
Turks which have the same characters.
tics, such as-"If God will, thou art
we'll" The Persian lutation-"May
thy shadow never be less"--would not be
so appropriate in countries where the
people incline to obesity. The Quaker
style of address-"How art thou2"-is a
little formal, but is certainly better than
the vulgar - "How d'yel" sometimes
heard in certain parts of the land.
As compared with the elaborate and
complicated style of the Africans, our
modes of bodily salutation are few and
meagre. A nod or bow, wave of the
arm, touching the brim of the hat, or
perhaps lifting it slightly from the head,
and our perpetual hand-shaking cover
about the whole ground Of formal ges-
ticulation in American society. On this
last mentioned form of greeting desire
to say few plain words. l presume
that in proportion to the population there
is a greater amount of hand shaking done
in this country than in any other region
of the globe. The extent to which this
thing is carried may be regarded
as serious objection to accepting any
high position in the State. A distin-
guished army officer who once received q
grand ovation in the city of New York,
when he had to stand for several hours
on a platform and extend his hand to
everybody, washed and unwashed, who
desired the honor Of grasping it, told me
that his sufferings were intense after this
absurd process had gone on for certain
length Of time, and that for several days
his hand was so swollen that he could
hardly use it. There are people whose
grip is like that Of an iron wise, and they
seem to take friendly delight in crush
ing ones fingers and grinding the bones.
A movement has recently been made in
France to regulate this style of saluta-
ton, and reduce itwithin proper bounds.
| wish that it might extend to this coun-
try. If one offers you his hand 1t is
awkward to refuse 1t, even though you
might reasonably object on sanitary
grounds. 1t is worth noting that the
words saLuIary and salutdtidh are both
from the same root, which means hsa!h.
la general it may be remarked that we
ought not to salute all persons alike. Our
best greeting should be reserved for those
who deserve it most. As long ago as the
time of the ancient Greeks, we are told
that "the most common salutation was
by the conjunction of their right hands,
the right hand being accounted a pledge
offidelity and friendship; whence Pythag,
oras advised that the right hand should
not be given to every man, meaning that
all persons were not fit to be made our
friends" Pythagoras was sensible old
philosopher. .-BiShop Clark, RI.
RRIauAM YnuNG'a death WAS being dis