The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-02-02
QUESTIONS OF HONOR.
European Etiquette That Makes Men
Walk Very Straight, or Fight.

w dAA NbEy 9bEdlBhts OI + ABhts
Ex-Attache, in the New York Tribune.
You affect mans "honor" in Europe
if you fill his glass by slanting the bottle
backward instead of forward I have
known one of the numerous Counts Cou-
! denhove of Austria to be compelled to
fight most sanguinary duel for having
been guilty of such breach of etiquette.
In the same way, in the Orient, If, in
showing the blade of n sword to an &C
quaintance you happen to turn the edge
thereof toward him, he will consider his
| honor" impugned; and II, by any chance
he is japanese, he is capable Of going on
aud committing suicide by ripping him
self open, leaving a document stating that,
having been insulted by you, honor do
manded that he should commit hari-kari,
and calling upon his nearest relatives to
avenge him by killing you
In connection with questions pertaining
to honor, it is a peculiar fact that even In
republican countries where, theoretically
at any rate, all men are supposed to be
equal IL is a quality that is considered TO
be monopolized by those of gentle birth
and breeding. This would seem to imply
that people of humber origin are incapa-
BILE Of honor or of approaching its various
! phases; aud considerable color is lent TO
! this hypothesis by the fact that in war
time it is merely officers who are admit
| ted TO parole-the rank and file being held
incapable of either plighting their word
of honor of Of keeping any such pledge
when given. The query will thereupon
naturally arise as to what consti-
tutes gentleman, since gentlemen
alone are considered able to appre-
ciate the true sense OF the word
"honor." That again, however, Is subject
which calls for u far longer explanation
than can be given here, since in every
| country different notions prevail as to
what constitutes gentlemen and what
| does not Indeed, nearly every one seems
to have different ideas upon the subject,
and the diversity of opinion is extremely
great. Thackeray, for instance, declined
to recognize the title of King George Nv
| to the appellation, and found In George
| Washington and Admiral Collingwood the
| true models of gentlemen-au opinion
which will doubtless meet with the in
! dorsement of all high-minded people,
Charles Mitchell, the pugilist, on the
other hand, describes the late Squire Alb
ingdon Baird as 1.-THE finest gentleman in
the world" an opinion which is, to
say the least open to discussion.
There are many things which it appears
gentleman may do nowadays in Europe
without mourning the loss of his right TO
! that designation by society, or FORGETTING
what the latter regards as his "honor."
| linus, ms may ANOlu paying MS CISulGOFb,
provided they are trades-people or friends
! who, instead of being content with his
! plighted word, have accepted the addi-
| tional security OF promissory note. In
! deed the passing of any paper between
creditor and debtor is held to remove the
obligation from the list Of debts of honor
| and places it among the so-called trades
mems debts" the nonspayment Of which
! involves no loss of gentilhommerie" or
"honor." Debts of honor, that Is TO say,
! loans based merely on verbal obligations
! and bets, must be paid at all cost accord
! ing TO the ethics governing the code OF
honor even If the debtor has to obtain
the money by means of methods which
verge not only upon the dishonorable,
| but even on the criminal. IL is for
this reason that we sometimes hear Of
young men going to the length OF steal
| ing their mothers Jewels or OF forging
| the name of their nearest and dearest
relatives (as did the eldest son of an
English peer the other day. for the sake
Of paying their debts of honor, failing
which they can no longer hope TO retain
the social status OF gentleman. One
| has heard Of men committing suicide,
like Young Count Alloys Hardegg a few
weeks since at Vienna, and the last
Marquis of Hastings, years ago in Lon
| don, because they were unable to pay
their ''debts of honor" but one has
| never pearu OF gentleman taxing MS
own life because he could not pay his
tailor Connection with a divorce suit,
| far from detracting from the "status of q
| gentleman is, on the contrary,
rather feather in his can. excepting in
cases where the correspondent prefers to
speak the truth and acknowledge his
guilt rather than perjure himself in the
witness box like a gentleman" The
most mortal of all sins in the eyes of So
! cietv the one that entails above evarv-
thing else the forfeiture Of the title Of
gentleman and of all honor is unfair play
at cards and il is no secret that the ma
| jority of the great families in Europe
would infinitely prefer to have MUIR
| derer among their relatives than man
convicted of the ofense which resulted in
the social ostracism of Sir William Cor
don Cumming, of the Duke Of Roxe-
! burghe's sou-in-law, George Russell, and