Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1886-09-07


zanslnh ear1ezy.
Asa rule, seant deIerence issbown
70 An1sricans Ia fhfs matter Of pre-
cesience. Nesther hospitality nor
courtesy IS sid - be n question. but
the Law. Now the law may Be very
wei for Englishmen, BY whom and
/ for whom Il was made, but i can
hardly apply 70 foreigners, who are
ncisher referred e N is provisions
nor oomprshended u Us den0miaa-
tons or degrees. The English. how
ever, habitnally apply their own rules
and their owa ideas on every subject
70 everybody else. They recognize
neither military, nor literary. nor
even political distinction among
themselves when there Is question Of
rank; = General goes behind bis aid
de-camp If the latter Is lord and The
General is nos; the greatest writer IN
the land. Browning or Froude. or
nnfil the other day, Tennyson, would
be preceded By any hl0ckhead Of 3
baron; and the prime minister, Il q
c0mmOner, gives way % peers Of DIS
own creation. So American gentle
men and ladies, too. Of whatever con
sideration a. home, are usually sent
70 the foot Of the table, because they
possess no English titles. European
dignitaries are recognized, for they
correspond 20 those In the English
/ peernge, but our unofficial country
men do not usually fare 30 well.
Both ex-P President Fillmore and ex-
President Pierce were in London soon
after the expiration of their terms Of
Office, and dined Ct different times
with different ministers Of foreign af-
fairs. Each was sent 70 the table
without . lady and behind the rest OF
the company. They were plain
gentlemen, il was said, ''aAd If the
Americans give their ex-Presidents
no rank, why should wesn To Gen.
eral Grant. il Is true, except in one
conspicuous instance. was given pre-
cedence Of everybody in England ex
eept the royal family, but his case
had neither parallel nor precedent.
There are, however, English houses
! where simply as strangers the plAcs
; Of honor is given 10 Americans. Thii
Is, of course, among people who
have seen much Of the world and
discovered that, even in eIvilizeC
nations, usages may exist difteren
) from those Of England, and that per
. sons of consequences can be found II
other countries who yet are not tn
, bearers of English titles. The great
er the house the greater the consider
alton an American Is likely 10 re
: ceive. If he dimes with duke, tn
} chances are that he viii 90 in with
! duchess; if the host is q recent Al
rival in the great world, he may hav
no lady, and win probably enter lasi
Il But the rule does not always hold
4 / was dining once with q woman Q
rank, who was also personal friend
The company included two marqul
8 SEES, one of whom was a cousin of tn
hostess, and q man of cosmopolitan
breeding. Before dinner this noble
man came up 70 me and said
II have been telling my cousil
that you ought to take her in, but sh
says, MOI she likes you very well
but you can't 20 before marquis
/; | insisted that, as a foreigner and 81
! official, you should precede; but shl
/ will not yield"
'sMr. Lecky, the historian, was pre-
sent, and ] was then new in Englisl
: society; so, with all the simplicity o
q republican, ! replied
"Mr. Lecky is the most distin
guished man in the room. Shouldn't
} be take Lady Maryg"
But the liberal marquis at once ex
, claimed
"Ohl Mr.. Lecky is an English
man. He must take his place. "
II So Lady Mary went in with va
! pid youth Of twenty-five, because b,
was marquis. and the most eminen
: person at dinner had no lady, ant
went last.