The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-13
CIVILIAN COURT COSTUME
No Special Uniform Prescribed for
Diplomats Here.
Some Abandoned Preeedents Re-
established by Americans First
Representatives AbrOad-Buchannn
Mt st. Jnmes-PIainness Preferred.

| "ouid ne interesting 10 An'" t.
Puplc Seh'iilie"' ha7 Siia "'i'
| eI haE"lu' sumner, anu ','4NS
dlsreSarued ana the eooo o'u Jay VI
ADAMS ana van bureh are W pe 'oieu
NOT many years ago 'heFe ours. uP'.
the Court oil SPAN an American 1"iiiis'ei
who MADE MS forrnai appearance cif' !"
the gorgeous ralment OF certain ce
orateo state caNairy hoop VI
PIMA. Ihis nlpiofhat hdu MOI zee" IN
spicuous member OF the troop out "heh
.he tiiiie caiie ne iou"u 'he 'l'vP e.
. fui thinS TO hin1' since II saved MN ,ioiii
the necessity ne "ouiu o'hei WIS " a
peeh uhoer Oh appearing a' court III P'"i'i
~ 'iAih "iI'iiA O'i' JIM
Aio'neI Instance Is reeaheu VI on am
"itiO"s i.''ii' "i'' ~, ,.
poiii.eu iii'S'ei " SNioi,
court promptly hau iiiihseii iii"ue o.'
oihcer III 'ne @ta'e nil'i'!'' VI Noi'i'e
anu wore ms american ui'iio, III ioi 'ie
Ilrst tifhe "heh ne appeareu oeiole ="
european King Ihese cases are eAcep-
'iohai' however ana our ministers axe
usually content 10 appear at coui'' do
they appear at home in the regulatlon
dress suit II a veteran of the civil war
receives n dinlonnatic anpointment he NAV
l.. ta.,.;,.., Co.,
" N 80 -,
MS post unroll from tne cdiiphcI
sheets the musty military coat and the
old wrinxled military trousers, and bring
a., fo,,, ,ba carrot the hoy with the
~ - A' va, "a ,,,,,,ooL f-or, ito
tarhisheu epduIets' an" "iiii'
place on the wall the rusty oiu "oiu-
all of which he wore when he was an oifl-
Ger In the civil war-and in this anti
80 e,,+atio, he NAV make his
i D.. a.,
,,o 1o.s NOT lilo 10 he shabbv ON such an
august occasion. he has the choice of
abandoning the idea of wearing his mill
tary clothes or of ordering new ores,
which ne would not in all probability use
a dozen times.
co~.r,-e,.sc, co>cprccrox.t n1pEf-rtoNs
80, -. ,,,,.
ilal ne may "'"i - e, -.
] ne lSo' congress passed res. u'ioh .ot
bidding diplomatic officers of the United
States to wear any uniform or official
-. 49,. .,,,,,. ,,,L,ri,ad Ia, Com
- C, -, - -;
sFess' ~" Sollsie799 H',s "''''
ously authorized any uniform or onhclaI
costume whatsoever for diplomatic Offi-
care Tbeyafora as a writer on internal
-, -. - -, 80. .t I.,a,,ae,a
toIial IaM NO PoiiIta III; ~ ~ ,I
~ lhc LSsuiutIoh hi,sht tdsliS " e"iia 80 -
as pronioltils an AiheticaH 'iIii,s'eI run
Neoui's any Clo'ies -, a. ~. ~. III. nc.
reSHy meant was ihat the iIliIitar! UNI,
Ioi III WIich ,t, aee iI"u az gu
iilis ~ pe WI ~ a VI inc ~ - 80
the ohly on authorized, anu tHdt ne cou!u
"Sdl NJ otIiei' ne W
ca py SndIlGs GUNNER ~ the Seudte anu
peHeIdi bdlhs IN tiie nous, put IL Nds
oIiIs an tAPIessioii ~ Tug sei.ei al Ntl9tVI
H.,icL tile PeoPe mn iiaI Gnu p
sun nav, 20 cusIuih WLich pelohss 10
the era 9a courts Iatiler
IMAM 10 the freedom OF oHicial intercourse
EARLY PRFCFDENTs
Yet this dislike Tor diplomatic UNIFORM
or court dress had no official existence
during the first half century Of our ma
,ior,f axistepce -Renitrnin I5rankIin who
was the iather OF American oiplofEacy'
put some gilt buttons on his semi
Quaker dress, and it passed for a uniform
ana was thIch aaillred 10y ms p 2r,,,.
Courtiers AZ Neisaliies. W hen tH ne Ire 81,
oL ~ wsis - ~ pa 70 nnii1n -
' ,i Us ~ 81 ~ tbe mother rnintrv
tta me- Of D3rset waited mon him and
told nm ne nus "a - W M - III
new coat ~ " MN a. ~ ~. +iett
NiiiS, I9I tii.t ~ W. a ~ W -, 70
III IohuVh I'i - 80. 49, ~ ~ -. a.,
court TO nave new cio'i'es nl,oH sid. 1"s
ana very rlcn ohSs. IAul. . aI. .i. a. a.
the expense, nut ne tlu ''ot -Oii. ~. IN M
rule. But AT inns tliue' 'tIIu -oi > me
years afterward, the american ENJOYS
consulted their individual ''lscFetloh IN
the matter Of ceremonial costume. ana
conformed generally TO the customs OF
the courts near which they resided. In
1914 when Clay, Bayard, RusSeli. and
John Quincy Adams went TO Ghent 10
negotiate the treaty OF peace which ter
minated the war of lSl2, they found II dd-
Visable to adopt a uniform costume. 1t
consisted of blue coat. slightly EN-
broidered with gold, white brooches
white silk stockings. gold Knee buckles
ana shoe puch tnt ornar,ented with
a black cockade. Upon occasion OF
the greatest ceremony TINS uIii i.i " Dc
varied DY the auu'S VIZ iohn Onincv
t1 4', si" ,1bn mad worn this costume. be-
cane Secretary of State, he recommended
il to all our Ministers. In lSZ3 he sent
them a circular describing II ana accom-
panying il by Illustrative cuts TO ensure
accuracy.
When Andrew jackson entered lnt
Presidency his friends were III uoupt
whether this uniform was 10 Ne CoIl-
tinued. and Cornelius Peter van Ness,
of Kindcrhook, y; y. the Mlnlster 10
Spain, wrote to secretary Martin van
Ruren, and asked what clothes ne siiouIu
wear. He was told that the frtslueht
would not prescribe any uniform, put
that the following seemed 10 pe recon-
mended as well by ITS comparative cneap
ness as its adaptation 10 the slhphclty VI
our institutions: A nach Gpdt ssilsle
breasted with a SldiulhS toiltiir ia ihS