The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1907-09-13
HATS ON BEFORE KINGS.
Penn, Austria, Napoleon and the De
Courceys

| Penn, Austria, Napcieon ana the Oe
Courceys.
Mark Twain has Indignantly denied
| the assertions that he kept his hat on
| while conversing with Queen Alexan-
dra and that he put his arm around
King Edwards neck and addressed
| him in terms not cOnsonant with the
English idea Of the dignity for such
occasions made and provided. or
course, the denial will not catch up
with the erroneous report, and those
who desire 10 believe the latter will
make much Of Twain's admission that
on Queen Alexandra for a second time
requesting him 10 put on his hat he
complied. The fake" for such the
story must have been, with the addi-
tion that Twain kept his hat on all the
time he was talking with the king, OBJ
tained such currency as TO inspire a
New York evening paper 10 ask:
Was William Penn the last American
citizen who kept his hat on while
conversing with the king Of Englandg
This of itself is a very interesting
question for the student of manners
and customs, who before entering up
on the studies will pause TO say that
William Penn never was an American
citizen but lived and died British
subject
We should hope that the American
investigator would find that few OF
his countrymen had been guilty Of
nd % ci
as TO keep on their hats when con-
vercing with the monarch or eXecu-
tive OF any nation. II a foreigner
were guilty OF equal discourtesy TO
President Roosevelt what sermons the
American press would address to
said foreigner and his country! Penn
had the justification that his refusal
TO remove his hat in the presence OF
royalty was dictated by his religion.
With him il was a case of conscience.
The hat is often the index of charac-
ter Napoleon wore his hat when
Metternich presented his credentials
as Austrian. ambassador, and kept ii
on throughout the interview. The
shrewd Austrian saw in the incident
the character of the Corsican, and in
wardly pronunced him a "parvenue"
uncertain OF his position. The EN-
peror Of Austria, said Metternich,
would not have worn his hat in receiv-
ing the representative Of the meanest
nation in the world. He would have
uncovered out of courtesy not merely
to the ambassador, but TO the latter's
country But, as Metternich added,
the Emperor of Austria was a gentle
man and would never in his own
house assert social superiority to his
guest.
Hat wearing in the kings presence
is a matter of prescription with at
least one family in Great Britain.
The DeCourceys, Barons Kingsale,
have the prescriptive right, granted
by King John. to keep their hats on
in the presence of the monarch. The
Lord Kingsale of George Ills time
asserted this right in peculiarly Of
fensive manner. The king remon-
strating. Lord Kingsale, so the story
goes, retorted: King John authorized
hats on when the king was present"
Did he authorize them TO keep their
hats on when ladies were present,
too?" asked the king, who must have
had one of his lucid moments, as he
pointed to the queen and her attend
ants. II seems difficult to believe
George H. was capable of saying any
thing so neatly pointed. Rather are
we prepared to accept as characteris-
tic of him his estimate of Shakes
peare: "A great deal Of sorry stuff in
only, Of course, one
must not say sO!'-Boston Transcript.