Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1894-03-08
ENGLISH POLITENESS.
1t Varies Greatly from the American
Brand.

Richard Harding Davis ia Harpers
Magazine: II the ScOtchnan, Who Ger
tainly seems reserved enough III our
eyes, is cnllled by the Eugnsnmans
MANNER il is evident now mucn more
the American must Suuer before he
learns that there Is something better
10 come, and that the Eugushmau $
manner is his own misfortune ana not
his Intentional fault. me English say
10 tnis, when you know them Wei
enough to complain, that we are TOO
sensitive ana that we are TOO quick
to take otfenSe. 1t never occurs 10
them that it may be that they are
TOO brusque. II you say 50, on mount
ing coach, Il AIN AFRAID / am one
100 many, / fear l am crowding you
ALL you can count upon their all an
swering, with perfect cheertulneSs,
Yes, you are, but we didn't know you
were coming, and there is no help for
it, and il never occurs 10 them that
that is not perhaps the best way OF
putting il. After Il bit you lind out
that they do not mean 10 be rude,
or you learn to be rude yourself, and
then you get on tamouSly. / have had
Americans come into my rooms in Lon
don with tears of Indignation in their
eyes, and tell of the way they had been,
as they supposed, snubbed and insulted
and neglected. Why" they would
ask, did they invite me to their house
il they meant TO treat me like thatf
| didn't ask them 10. l didn't force
myself on them. l only wanted
word now and then, just TO make me
teA / was human being. II they
had only asked me, When are you
going away? it would have been some
thing; but 10 leave me standing around
in corners, and TO go through whole
dinners without as much as u word,
without introducing me 10 any one or
recognizing my eXistence-Why did
they ask me il they only meant TO in
suit me when they got me there? Is
that English hospitality" And the
next day | would meet the people with
whom be had been staying, and they
would say, I'VE have had such a nice
compatriot of yours with us such a
well-informed young man; hope he
viii stop with us for the shooting. -,
AS far as they knew they had done
all that ciyility required, all they
would have given their neighbors, or
have expected from their own people.
But they did not know that we are
not used TO being walked over rough
shod that we affect interest even if
we do not feed it, and that we tell
social fbs if it is going 10 make some
one else feel more comfortable 1t is
as If the American had boxed with
gloves all his lie, and then met man
who struck with his bare fists and il
naturally hurts. AID the most pathetic
part of the whole thing is that they
do not know how much better than
their own the breeding Of the American
really is. 1t is like the line in the
International Episode where the Amer
lean woman points out TO her friend
that their English visitors not only
dress badly, but so badly that they
will not appreciate how well dressed
the Americans are. ] have seen
whole roomful of Englishmen sit still
when a woman came into her own
drawingroom, and then look compass
siOnately at the Americans present be
cause they stood up They probably
thought we were following out the
rules of some book Of etiquette, and
could not know that we were simply
more comfortable standing when a
woman was standing than we would
not do to say in reply to this that
these Englishmen Of whom / speak
were not of the better sort, and that
I should not judge by the middle class.
[ am not writing Of the middle classes.
1T was the best butter, rs the March
hare saws