, 1878-01-12
ENGLISH STYLES & FASHIONS.
The Etiquette orKuoehs and Pronunciation.

''By the way, You are aware, l suppose,
that England, next to Germany, is ths
moss formal country in Europef'
"More so than Spain!'
eyes. At least more so than Spain is
at present Etiquette pervadeseverything;
and it is by the.observance or otherwise,
in its smallest details, that the English
men form their opinion of strangers. As
for Instance, m writing to another, there
are various recognized ways Of signing
yourself To "A superior, or high official
you must say: i am very respectfully
your obedient servant In writing on
business you are. yours truly To an
acquaintance You are, Faithfully yours,
while to 4 friend, you are, Sincerely
yours Again, an Englishman always
! knows the rank of any one who rings or
knocks at his street door by the manner
of his doing it 4 postman gives loud
rap, followed by light enc, which means
that there is letter in the door-box. Ii
lie wishes to speak to any one, he adds u
single pull at the bell 4 tradesmans
assistant gives single rap; the trades
! man himself gives single rap and pull
at the bell 4 servant does not rap, but
pulls the left hand or servants bell A
lady gives three or four light raps, AID
pulls tn. right hand bell. 4 gentleman
does the same, except that his raps arc
louder. When Il carriage containing some
person of rank calls, the tlunky gives a
series of laundering raps that may be
heard mile And So or.
assured the doctor thar although | had
a general idea Of It's front door etiquette,
| had no notion that it WAS reduced to So
fine point.
eyes, It is. And, moreover, an Eng
Eshman viii form al unfavorable estimate
of You If you do not understand these
details. There's the same rigidity iii
other directions. You must address an
Archbishop or Duke rs your Grace.
You must know exactly how to address Il
letter, whether to His Grace, or The
Right Honorable, or The Honorable,
or Mr.. So-and-So, or 'So-and-So, Esq.
Every person of a certain rank requires
certain address, and every person of every
other rank requires different address, as
well as a different manner of subscribing
yourself 1T the close of the letter. fou
will, for instance, address 4 tradesnlan as
Mr. Jones, if you have occasion to write
to him while literary and other gentle
men, without rank, You VIII address with
the addition of ESQ.
In speaking OF Ireland, the doctor once
or twice made use of the word ''keitic-
Later, lii referring to the title of we'll
known book, he called it 'Ekke Homo"
''That's the English way of doing it"
said the Doctor, in reply to. my applica-
ton for information "They have a great
many peculiarities Trait Is pronounced
tray; issae, by Mr.. Gladstone, and many
others, is $500. Derby Is Do''bg, eteFk IS
cIarhk, Bcskey is 'BaiIey,' and so on.
have 4 rather good joke on an English
man who is a prominent politician, and
puriist in language. In conversation IN
which he WAS denouncing the vicious
pronunciation of Americans, ! asked HIM
what is the standard dictionary III use III
England. He answered that it Is the
.Imocrial.' | said, that of course 1t diff
fers entirely from any American diction-
ary. He said that it most certainly does
because the American pronunciation IS
vicious and intolerable. | asked him to
fetch copy Of the Imperial. He fetched
one down from the library; and then
asked him to be good enough to read
the title page He did so, and elected
the. to him, most novel and startling IN
formation that the Imperial dictionary
is the work Of one Noah Webster. In
other words, it is Websters Dictionary
worked over into tso volumes, and cut
dowa somewhat from the unabridged edi-
ton. ."-Hioago Tiaaes.