The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-11-10
UNCLE SAM TO BE
 THE MAKER OF PEACE.
Many Problems in Diplomatic Etiquette Will Render
 His Task Difficult

ing value. Tn more modern days the
 kind of reception accorded a foreign envoy at the court of the Sultan de- pended largely upon the value of the gifts he brought with him; and. even
 at best, up to few years ago, he was obliged to be borne to the foot of
 the throne in the arms of chamber
 lains, and deposited there, to knock 1 ms forehead humbly upon the floor. The republic of Venice, in 1851,
 was first to issue an order forbidding
 It's legates to accept gifts, Since then
 the practice among civilized nations
 has come into general disrepute, and
 the presents bestowed by monarchs
 upon foreign envoys are restricted
 usually to ribbons and other decora-
 tions. The acceptance of even these
 is not permitted to our own represen-
 tatives abroad, except by special act
 Of congress covering each instance l Even the ambassadors of ordin-
 ary monarchs. four or five centuries 1 ago, developed the most astonishing | ideas of their. own importance.
 Claiming that the sovereigns they re-. presented were incarnate, at least Ifiguratively, in their own persons.
 they demanded to be treated accord ingly. They became inordinately
 jealous of their prerogatives, and in | one instance, if history is to be be- ! lieved. an envoy actually died of rage
 because of a fancied slight to his dig | nity. To plunge all Europe into was was an affair of small moment from their viewpoint, as compared with the | preservation of the elaborate etiquette
 which defended their privileges. So exactly did the rules of this etiquette become that princesses of the blood I were accustomed to receive the for eign envoys lying down on a couch, in order that they might not be ex-
 pected to rise and accompany them
 to the door when they departed.
 This absurd state of affairs, how ever, did not reach it's acme until petticoats intruded into the situation. In the seventeenth century, for the first time, the wives of ambassadors began to accompany them to foreign courts. This had sad consequences in more than one way. Up to that time the business of a diplomat had had many agreeable diversions. his spouse being home; but, now that his wife was with him, it became as gloomy as tuC PAiFdtC s1iAC Ol d COI11IC dClOT.
 The ambassadresses were quick to assert their rights and the privileges to which they were entitled. There were jealousies and frightful picker ings. At the congress of Westphalia they developed such an amount of fuss and feathers that the business of the congress could hardly proceed. Toward the end of the eighteenth cen tury, all relations between the gov ernments of Austria . and Sweden were practically suspended for six years on account of a kiss. The wife of the Austrian envoy refused to kiss the hand of the queen of Sweden un- less it was guaranteed in advance that she would receive a kiss on the cheek in return In response to this demand the queen declined to receive her, and the result was an international quar- rel.
 Nevertheless, there have been a number of instances in which women have served as ambassadors. There was, for example, the case of the beautiful Countess of Konigsmark, beloved of Augustus IT, King of Po- land, and one of the most celebrated heroines of history, who was sent by the king as an envoy to his enemy, the queen of Sweden, whom he was anxi- ous to placate.
 The instance of the celebrated Chevalier D'Eon is familiar. He was supposed to be woman, though 1 famous as both diplomat and soldier. The French government sent him to Russia as minister plenipotentiary, and afterwards to England in the same capacity. His career from be- ginning to end was most adventurous and romantic. In London his sex was made the question at issue in 9. suit at law, to settle a wager, and the courts decision was that he was a woman Nevertheless, when he died, in 1810, an autopsy disclosed the fact that he was a man.
 Diplomacy must always have re- gard for the handling of delicate sit nations, in order that they may not be productive of international em- was the case of Lucien Bonaparte. l when he was ambassador at Madrid. l
 He had made love to a lady of | the court, and she had responded with an ardor equal to his own. But l she had a husband, who,< being ap- prised of the situation, demanded sat- isfaction. He challenged Prince Lu- cien, and it looked as if the latter, | though bored by the prospect, would ] be obliged to fight.
 There was, however, a French painter of merit named De Thiers at 1 that time residing at the Spanish court. Said he to Lucien, 'I'll take this annoyance off your hands, Pray do so," replied the Prince-or | words to that effect '
 , The upshot of the matter was that, when the injured husband appeared on the field of honor he found him. self confronted not by his expected an- tagonist, but by a total stranger with long hair, in Q smoking jacket
 He emitted a torrent of adjectives. | "A man of my rank cannot fight such | a creature as this!" said he.
 Whereupon he left the field, and | made the round of the chocolate | shops of Madrid. circulating his griev- ance, and denouncing the ambassador 1 as coward, in the hope that there by he would compel his proper adver-