New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-12-27
"PRECEDENCE."
THE DEMON OF EUROPE.
, tho words Of the English language there

malice. pride and every form OF uncharitapiehesS
| 90 e" nr.cedcncc IL is the cause Of never-ending
| dispu,e. of the parting Of old friends as wei do
near relatives and of the most intense bitterness
Precedence in a word is the bugbcar OF the enure
social system of the universe, and has Deeh Oh
| from the very earliest times down to the preseh'
! dav Great wars have been fought, continents
devastated. the prosperity OF nations destroyed
and millions of human lives lost, all lor tc saAe
| OF mere precedence IL may, therefore, pe Gun
sidered TO have formed very serious obstacle 70
tho nrogress Of enlightenment aud civilization 1t
| likewise constitutes an element Of weakness III
many Of the grandest characters in past and present.
| ages: and. indeed there is scarcely a man or
| woman-in the eastern hemisphere, at any rste-
| who il exempt from the worries and vexatons Ill
| its train.
Having spent portion Of my life amldso peo
| pie who look upon precedence as the principal
| object in life, and its laws and regulations 90
| part of their religious creed and belei, ha''
had the opportunity Of acquiring some experience
| on the subject-an experience frsught Win muon
WEAKNESS of spirit and vexsnon Of heart IL mas
| led me TO the conviction that there Is the leas'
amount of friction on the score Of precedence III
| the countries wherein the laws relating tnefe'o
| are the most elaborate, stringent and compio'e'
Thus there is far less bad feeling and conIlco Gu
| gendered thereby in Austria, Russia, SPAN anu
| the various sovereign States OF the GERMAN Ini-
pire than in England. In the former each man
| and woman has precedence in the social or oni-
cial scale defined by law with the most scrupious
exactitude, and being thus fully posted on the
| subject there is no pretext or occasion LUZ any
| conflict or dispute about the matter
In Great Britain, however, questions OF pre-
cedence are continually arising and form an ever
lasting bone of contention not only at court'aho
| in society, but also among all classes Oh @io
| population Rank confusion prevails, winch Ii
now about to become intensified by the dinerences
| that cannot fail to crop up in connecuoh wi'n
| the impending marriage Of Prince Edward OF
Wales This state of affairs is attributable 70 the
| fact that the principal statute regulating pre-
| cedence in Great Britain was enacted by farha-
| ment in the early part of the sixteenth century
under the reign of King Henry VIII. since theh
| little OF nothing has been done either ny the
| Crown or by Parliament to adapt the rules OF
precedence to the changed condition OF the
present times; and they remain to all lntents
and purposes identically the same as they were
| three centuries ago, under the Tudors and The
Stuarts The result is that the scale Oh pre-
cedence now in force antiquated and incomplete
| as il is, presents a number Of the most glarihg
and ridiculous anacbronisms. 1t altogether Ignores
| the Prime Minister and the most Important OF
| the Cabinet Ministers as such who, II com-
moners rank merely as Privy Councillors and
| hollow both the Younger sons of Eark and the
| oldest sons of Barons In order to realize
what this means, 1t is only necessary
| to explain that if Mr.. Gladstone were To-
day Prime Minister he would rank noth
officially and socially after young Tom Brassey'
| the eldest son of the estimabe but altogether
| parvenu Lord Brassey; and inasmuch as no pro-
In, th.a tuhl af
for either distinguished generals or admirals, one
can frequently witness at English dinner parues
the sight of a young, newly joined subaltern who
happens to be the son Of peer enjoying precedence
over some battle-scarred and famous Field Marshal
The reform of the scale Of social and ofiiclal
rank and precedence which has long been recog-
nized as urgent is likely, as have stated above,
tn be considerably FASTENED by the questions
arising in connection with the forthcoming royal
marriage For considerable doubt prevails under
| the now existing laws to whether precedence
in the royal family should be determined by the
degree of oonsanguinity with the Sovereign or by
order of proximity of succession to the throne.
IL the latter rule is to prevail the Duke OF
Clarence and his bride, girl of non-royal birth,
will enjoy precedence and rank over the Queens
second son, the Duke of Edinburgh, and over
the latter's wife, who Is the only daughter OF
the late Gar. Inc DucRSso, WHO, oWiuS W uie
delicate state of her mothers Health. enjoyed.
| up to the time of her marriage, the rank pre-
cedence and social power of the first lady of the
| Russian Empire has already found it exceedingly
difficult to force herself to yield :" the pas" to the
Princess of Wales in Great Britain and If she
IL now called upon 70 walk behind the Duchess
of Clarence at state official and social functions
England will see but little of her in future. More
over if the rule which gives 10 the young Duchess
| of Clarence g the pas" over her naughty and I'M
| popular Russian aunt, the Duchess of Edinburgh
! ae enforced, the latter will, the same grounds
he outranked by the Duke of Flies little daughter,
| Lady Alexandra Duf-who, although commoner
in the eyes Of the English law, stands nearer to
the succession to the throne than the Duke OF
| Edinburgh IL, on the other hand, the pre-
cedence of Prince Eddie and of his bride is to be
decided, not by proximity to the succession, but
by the degree of relationship to the sovereign they
would have to make way for the Duke and
| Duchess of Edinbursh-until Queen Victora's
death. when the Edinburghs would be called upon
TO take back seat These ore considerations
which may serve to- explain the very marked
] absence of enthusiasm on the part Of Queen Vic
| torias sailor and his wife in connection with
| the Fife and the Clarence marriages.
The present reign in England has been prolific
| in auarrels and disputes Of this kind on the sub
ject of precedence. They began at the time of
the marriage Of the Queen, when her two uncles
the late Duke of Sussex and the late Duke of
Cambridge, refused to yield the pas to Her
Maesty's husband, the Prince Consort They
argurd that es sons of King George III their
rank, both in England and on the Continent was
superior to that of Prince of non-royal birth,
even though he happened to be the husband of
the Sovereign. On the same ground the Prince
| Consort when attending in Germany some state
function or other with the Queen, was forced to
take his place in the rear of an archduke Of the
| House of IIapsburg, who was merely distant
| Arn