Year: 1874

If the gossips of the British capital can be
trusted, the visit of His Majesty the Emperor
of all the Russias to England, with the at
tendant parades, and shows, and estate ban
quets, and mastering of the army, has had
one important result, auspiciOus of peace and
international fellowship. 1t has settled the
vexed question whether the Princess Beatrice
or the Duchess of Edinburgh shall walk i'm
mediatcly behind the Princess of Wales. This
was no trihing difficulty; and doubtless in
court circles of London and st. Petersburg
the settlement of it is deemed well worth the
pOnderOus and expensive intervention by
which it has been brought about 1t
may seem strange that the struggle for
precedence which disturbed for while
the harmony of Queen Victoria's fam
ily circle should not have been fOreseen
in the elaborate marriage negotiations ichich
prescribed how the young couple shO'ssd live
and how they should say their prayers. The
standard authorities OH English ceremonial
enumerate, we are told, no fewer than ninety
seven different kinds of men, between each OF
whom there is perceptible graduation of rank
mot counting common people who have no
rank at all-and If there is any logic in eti-





number of kinds of women. Among these 1t
is certainly remarkable that the Duchess of
Edinburgh should not have found her place
at once. Still we know that there are COM
plications against which no ingenuity can
provide. When Louis XIV. paid visit OF
gratitude to the wounded Marquis dc VillarS
after the battle of Malplaquet, that distlD-
guished soldier was too badly hurt to get out
of bed, and as it was manfestly impossible for
the King to stand while the subject lay prone on
his back, another bed had to be brought, and
his Majesty got into it. The visit was a
great mark Of favor, and yet one can hardly
believe that the shattered and suffering De
villars found it soothing to his aching nerves.
So, too, the magnificent pageaptry of the
Cars reception may have been anything but
pleasant entertainment to the royal hostess and
when the Queen and her daughter Beatrice,
as soon as the state banquet was over, posted
off to Balmoral while the Car was still i'll
London, they may have ground their royal teeth
with womanIy chagrin as they reflected how
the blazing despot had stalked into their par
lor and arranged the family procession to his
own liking.


How much better it is to live in free and
easy republic than to chafe and grOan under
the artificial distinctions Of a blOated aristoc
racy. In the beautiful capital of the United
States the meanest citizen can get a paving
contract and become leader of fashion. 1t
is true that attempts are made from time to
time to establish certain rules of precedence
among the ladies of the court; but such def
ntions have no official recognition, and are
never observed at the Inauguration Ball. No
Fictitious Importance is bestowed upon good
manners or a good name. No unfair
preference is shown to education. Any
gentleman who has made million by
selling shOddy caps to the soldiers, or
dispensing blankets, whisky, and brass but
tons to the Indian wards of the nation, may
hope to be mentioned in the newspapers as
cone of our most eminent citizens" (Which is
equivalent in the American peerage to duke,
or at least marqus) and when we read in
history of the street fights which have some
times attended the struggles of rival embas-
sadOrs for prior presentation at court, we can
point with pride to the recent reception of
the blue blood Boston merchants at the White
House, where Gen. Butler elbOwed the embas-
sadors and buttonhOled the President, and
Senator Logan cooked his cigar in the face of
Mr.. John NJ. Forbes.