GREETING BY GESTURE. 637 



larly, the special naval salute by lowering sails and manning 

 yards places the vessel in a position of inaction. In the same 

 manner the removal of his helmet left the ancient warrior de- 

 fenseless in the most vulnerable, often the only protected, part 

 of his person. This action, therefore, would present a better 

 argument for the surrender than for the beggary theory, and it 

 is strengthened by the fact that women, who did not wear hel- 

 mets, have not generally been required to remove their head-gear 

 in public. It is also to be noticed, in reference to the intercon- 

 nection of ceremonials, that the motion of removing the hat is 

 normally downward, thus including the concept of assuming an 

 inferior height before discussed. The crest, which often showed 

 the warrior's cognizance, as the flag shows that of nations, was 

 lowered, as the flag is, in formal respect. A pretended or sym- 

 bolized uncovering and lowering appears when the English and 

 French proletaires and peasants pull a lock of their hair in servile 

 obeisance to their superiors. 



The special privilege in old Spain of wearing the hat in the 

 presence of the sovereign may be compared with the limitation 

 of sitting in the French court, before mentioned. Spanish gran- 

 dees were distinguished by the cherished prerogative of wearing 

 their hats before their king when his hat was on, though not 

 when he was uncovered. Mr. H. Ling Roth, in his excellent 

 paper On Salutations, falls into a small error on this subject. It 

 was not, in the time of the Tudors, " the custom in England, when 

 a gentleman lost his bonnet, for all those who were with him to 

 doff theirs," nor was it simply the omission of that act as one of 

 ordinary politeness which indicated the coming fall of Thomas 

 Cromwell. That the courtiers should retain their hats while he was 

 uncovered, was much more distinctly than mere rudeness the as- 

 sertion that they did not consider him to be their ruler. All am- 

 bassadors have the privilege, though now seldom used, of putting 

 on their hats when they read their reception speeches, the sover- 

 eign principal being then more specially represented than on any 

 other occasion. When the Cossacks met for counsel, not being 

 then an army but a brotherhood, they kept on their hats, but 

 their ataman, when addressing them and explaining his cause, 

 removed his head-covering. When he asserted command as the 

 head of the army he donned his hat, and the same members of 

 the council, before covered, removed theirs. 



In most parts of the civilized world the hat, in ordinary greet- 

 ing, is now seldom wholly removed from the head, and the latter 

 is but slightly inclined. The action is much abbreviated, and 

 doffing is simulated by a touch of the brim, or by a great variety 

 of jerks or waves of the hand and arm to which the head-cover- 

 ing is the point d'appui. These motions are full of interest to 



