New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-23
QUITS" AND QUITS"
JAPANESE POLITENESS. AND PRINCE
ALFRED'S DISCOURTESY.


CYNICs-THE wRETCHED YOUNG
KING OF sERvIA.
Butts are to be found in almost every cline;
the butts" however seem to be indigenous 10
Great Britain. The former a necessity. at
any rate to modern society whereas the latter
are in every of the word superfluity
The butt is the target at which the wit aims
his shaft. the target Of the good things which are
recorded Of this or that celebrated talker. Some
brilliant wits have their particular butt.
and are never seen or heard at their best unless
he happens to be present. So completely is this
recognized that no one possessed of any savoir-
faire in London would ever have dreamed OF in
wiling the late Lord Houghton the late Abraham
Hayward Bernal Osborne either to din
ner or to house party without asking at the
same time his customary butt. matter what
the origin social status Of the latter. In fact
there Is large number Of appalngly vulgar
and ridiculous people who have wormed their
WAY into the most exclusive circles of society
solely in consequence Of their being considered
a. indispensable accompaniment to famous wits.
The but" on the other hand. is the tactless
individual who. whenever you show him one Of
your treasures instantly excaims: But have
something far better than that who decries
YOUR possessions both living and inanimate. who
caps every story you relate. and who probably
on the Day of Judgment will be found before the
throne Of glory pointing out TO the Recording
Angel how infinitely superior his conduct on
earth has been to your Butts only
10 be found in England No other race appar-
entity possesses the requisite amount of gall. of
tactlessness and Of brutal honesty to fill the bill
The Japanese for instance-and in fact nearly
all Orientals-will make point of decrying every
ings in any way. by leaving you under the i'm
preston that they depreciate the value OF your
belongings. Thus japanese offering you a
cigar will exclaim in the most depreca tory tones:
81 know this cigar is quite too vile TO suit your
taste but such as it is / respectfully offer il to
YOU
And when presenting you 10 his wife he will
pointing with his thumb over his shoulder at her.
remark in like manner:
This is my wife. She is awfully ugly grace
less and stupid. totally unworthy to find favor in
your exalted sight. Yet. such she is. !
spectfully introduce her to you"
Ii is much the same throughout the entire ORR
ent. and even on the Continent Of Europe If
people do not 20 to such extreme lengths as the
Asatios and Africans th>v will remain silent
rather than to praise their own at the expense
Of yours
In England however. the but is in his glory
and numbers even members of the royal family
among his tribe. The anpopuarity of Prince
Alfred now Duke Of Coburg-contrasting so
strongly with the public goodwill enjoyed by his
brothers and ssters-is entirely due to the fact
Of his being but" Time and again have
heard him at dinner parties given in his honor
and at which his host has put all sails to the
wind regardless of expense. with the object OF
afording him pleasure excla!m while slipping his
wine how very superior thereto were the brands
in his cellars at Clarence House. Then. If any
musical entertainment had been organized for
his deectation. and celebrated artists engaged at
great cost to perform before him. he would dis
concert his hostess and d!sgruntle his host by
explaining to them that the singing and paying
all very well in their way. but that If they
wanted something really good and first-class they
ought 10 have engaged other virtuosi.
Another very distinguished but was the late
Sir Henry Layard. of Nneveh exploration celeb
r.ty. With him it was not so much the decrying
OF his neighbors' belongings as the inveterate
habit Of contradictng and disparaging the re-
marks made by the persons with whom he hap
pened to be brought into contact. Not even
of diplomatic training-they ptchforked
him into the Embassy al Madrid Of all places in
the wOrld--could cure him OF this habit Of con-
tradicting fatty every utterance made in his
presence. and Of pointing out that either the
opinion expressed away of. that the news
not authentic. that the anecdote possessed
flavor Of marron-g lacein one word. that no
matter what you SAID he was convinced that I.
was not so: and when in rare cases FOR in
stance in his intercourse with royalty he did not
venture give free u;terance TO his but" he
looked IL in manner not TO be misunderstood.
Vat icfi nod ms VI we'd
much Of the ill-treatment to which he was sub
1ected by the British Government TO the fact
OF his being but" the late Sir Richard
Burton the famous traveller and IT was at
tributabe TO the fact Of Lord Randolph Church
MS being such a persistent but that Lord
Salisbury on memorable occasion referred
to him as "carbuncle." II was just after Lord
Randolphs astounding coup de tete in resigning
his seat in the Cabinet. Lord Salisbury was
asked whether he did not intend to patch up his
differences with his truculent young colleague
and to restore him to his place in the Admins
tration.
"Do you think" he exclaimed in reply to his
inierlocutor. that when a man has at length
succeeded in getting rid Of carbunce on the
back Of his neck he Is anxious to put II back
there" Sometimes the butts" are popular.
An excellent example of this condition Is Mr..
Henry Labouchere. whose but invariably pre-
cedes a merry quip and amusing anecdote. or
pungen; witticism. / am sorry 10 say. however.
that butts Of this kind are the exception rather
than the rule. For the most part they are people
possessed Of the most overweening conceit ana
sef-confdence, which they do not have the tact
to conceal. They lack that most Christian or
al virtues namely. charity to the neighbor ana
are lamentaby wanting in generosity and mag
nanimity OF character. Finally, they are not
only satirical In unkindly fashion. but also
loud In their professions Of cynicsm concerning
every virtue and every belief. Some OF these
cynics are old and others are young. TO my