The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1889-11-16
PRECEDENCE IN ENGLAND.
The Title Of tho Family Before Money
Manners or Merit.

q
Americans, is the order of prect
dence in England. tits a matter {
amusement to us that there is an al
solute, established, unalterable rul
and regulation about this, whic
not to have at ones finger ends
to acknowledge ignorance and lac
of worldly upbringing. The rule
are as inviolable in the private lif
of society as in public ceremonials
1t seems as though mistakes woul
be the everyday occurrence, but
instead, they are the rarest thin,
under the sun. The women in tn
social world and the officials VIII,
manage great affairs seem to imbib
this code with the air they breath'
and rattle it off like the alphabet.
Yet how natural it would seem t,
US to send in an elder sister, Bar
oness Somebody, before younge
one, Lady This, wife of Mr.. That
Age, riches, lands, scientific, pro
fessional, intellectual or oficia
standing weigh not feather weight
Dear old Mrs. Blank, with her white
hair and tottering tread, ends the
procession, while her grandchild
the Lady Arabella, aged Is years
daughter of a peer, is the honorec
guest.
If a grand dinner is given for ;
celebrated authoress or the wife o1
a great man, the host may not leac
her to place of honor by his side
to his right, but his arm must be
given to the Marchioness of c., anc
on his left must sit the Countess o.
W., because, perforce, they, of al
guests present, take the highest
rank. To make the slightest devia
ton would not only give offense
but present painful exhibition OF
bad breeding or objectionable &c.
centricity.
Another amusing feature is that
while by marriage a woman par
takes of the dignities of her husband
none others pass by marriage to him
Thus, when Mr.. and Lady Louise
Blank are announced, it is at once
remembered that, while she must
need be near the head of the pro-
cession, he may very well be left to
fetch up the end. Undoubtedly
there are so many cases where this
high and mightiness holds a pretty
high hand in his own domain that
his chief vassal, the wife of his
bosom, secretly rejoices to see him
take a position below her in the
world.
Money has nothing to do with
the case of precedence; the poorest
noble of them ranks above the rich
est commoner. Not even will du-
cats entice a man to the lowest po-
sition of all on the scale; no prop
erty is sufficiently large to entitle
its owner per Sc to take the rank of
esquire, while in this free country
we bestow the word or title at ram
dom without word or reason, and
don't think much of it anyhow. In
it is royal accolade, sig
nifying a gentleman by birth, one
whose father was a gentleman.
Conduct has nothing to do with
the case. Perhaps the most gentle
manly person | ever met was a
London tailor; yet he himself was
the first to declare that he had no
right-no legal right-to the good
old name of gentleman, for his
father and grandfather before him
we're tailors. This was a veritable
proof of the so-called English belief
hat it takes seven generations to
make a gentleman; yet the Queen,
f she chooses, can make a peer to-
morrow from the humblest hborer.
1t is favorite episode in roman
,es for the raconteur of English
society to ring his changes upon the
iilemmma it occasions when some
lostess declares her ignorance of
n what order she is expected to
send in her guests. Yet, what ig-
lorance on the part of the writer
himself this shows, for every Eng
isbwoman of any breeding has got
his social scale by heart long be-
ore she has learned the multiplica-
ion table. Their Specification of
veil bred does not end with man.
lers, conversation and conduct
N intimate acquaintance with the
ules and usages, unalterable, of
ociety is also necessary.
Etiquette is no small study over
here, and no one ignorant of that
,art of the social code called "the
rider of procedure" is "good FORM"
What a wholly English expression
hese two words form! Essentially
nd purely of English origin, even
hough it's use has come to be di-
ided with Americans, but its def
ition is only half as long here as
here. Herald.