The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-06
MANNERS OF NATIONS
AN ENaLIsHMAN SAYS FRENCH.
 MEN ARE RUDE.
Italians the Most Polite People in Europe-Those of Great
 Britain Next.

 of self-depreciatory, but 1t is curious to note that on the subject of our manners we generally speak most humbly, though, as a matter of fact, they compare very favorably with those of other nations. have lived a great part of my life abroad and possess a sufficient fiuency in three foreign languages to have acquired some thing more than an ordinary outsiders knowledge of the French, the German and the Italian as they really are. The conclusion that I have arrived at is that in Italy the truest courtesy is to be found; but cannot by any means admit that the Englishman would change for the better If he were to initiate the customs preva- lent among Frenchmen or Germans. either in their own countries or abroad.
 In the first place. the politeness Of the French is one of the many great unex- ploded myths. It has been so often said that the French is the politest nation in the world that many people have ac- cepted the assertion as true without in- vestigation.
 Lewis Carroll told us in "The Hunting ot the Snark:" "lf say it three times, it is true." And therein the witty cleric showed a profound knowledge of human credulity. It is in virtue of the same principle that the French have managed to preserve a reputation which they may once have deserved, but which they cer- tainly don't deserve now. Let anyone who discredits this question a plain, elderly and uninfiuential Frenchwoman. The an- swer will be a revelation.
 I saw 1t stated recently that in France a man took off his hat on entering and on leaving a cafe restaurant or shop. Also that when two men who knew one another met in the street they doned tneir headgear. And 1t was more than hinted that we were very uncivilized in emitting these formalities.
 French Bad Manners.
 Now I have lived in Paris for the last three years and have had the good luck to mix with every class of society and can confidently assert that a Frenchman does not take off his hat on these occa- sions; and there is really no good reason why he should. The Englishman who un- cover at every opportunity and who ad- dresses walters as monsieur Ca friend of mine did until told him he should say "monsiegneur,' only emphasizes the fact that he Is not a Frenchman.
 The old test of the omnibus. tramWay or train-a lady getting in and there be- ing no vacant seat-is perhaps the best criterion.
 Take a bus or the Metro" and watch
 The woman Is young and pretty; every one looks up; each male eye takes the inventory as only a French eye knows how to do it.
 ''Tiens, une jolie petite femmeE
 And that woman can have the cnoice of all the seats occupied by men. IL IS worthy of remark that the man who yields his seat alights, as often as not, at the same time as the lady. But an- other woman gets in, shabby and unlove- lv. perhaps a child in her arms. There is the same look up, the inventory IS ouickIv taken. "Rien a faire!" The eye is cast down again on M. Harduin article. and 1t Is perhaps another woman gives up her seat.
 And here comes a parenthesis. The Frenchwoman. who has been cruelty ma I,ened by the writers of her country pos sesses all the tact and real gooohess or heart which are the basis of true polite ness. I take my hat off before the wo- men of France.
 German Brutishness. And now to turn to Germany. The situ- ation may be summed up in lew woros' German manners cannot De oiscusseo, oe- cause they do not exist. It is this aoso- futa lack of manners which enables a Herman to interrupt his walk and stand O f,,l minute before a woman, staring 6~edIv at her It also explains why a German will light cigar in rallway carriage labelled "non-smoking, altnougn there are ladies in 1t. without asking per mission. ,.
 An anecdote by way of illusraton' An English woman lately went into German postoffice to send off some teie- grams. She patiently waited her turn u ba attended to; but when it came Ger man nressed in in front of her ana the clerk amusedly remarked: Ut doesn matter. it's only an English woman. Unfortunately for the clerk the lady had a high spirit and fluent knowledge of German. To add to the clerks ols- comfture. it turned out that the lady ,,aa in attendance on a royal parsonage closely related to the Kaiser. ana one of the telegrams happened to be adoress' ed to the King of England.
 The subsequent apologies were as meanlv servile as the previous remark had been arrogantly insulting Onfor'u- nate,v the Germans and French do not assume any better manners when out or their own countries. The latter traVei hut little; the Germans, however, over rnn Switzerland and Italy. and would sno,l those two beautiful countries more antire,v than twenty times the number oY Enelish tourists were it possible to snoil them. But happily. nature reigns .o gloriously there that the pleasure or hir, who loves her cannot be spoiled by nCrAQl0nAI-