1827.] [ 129 ] 



ETIQUETTE. 



" Us eor;t li a fairs dee famous ot rntreos on sorties, et font plus de fricasses dc fesses, iju'il n'y 

 faudroit U'&offes si faire un paucrie de 



WHEN the Emperor Charles made his entry into Douai in great state, 

 under festoons of flowers and triumphant arches, the magistrates, to do 

 honour to the occasion, put a clean shirt upon the body of a malefactor, 

 that was hanging in chains at the city gate. This may seem an absur- 

 dity, but it contains the very essence of etiquette. All ceremony means 

 the same thing; being nothing more than the hiding out of the filthy 

 nakedness of society, by a decent clothing of forms and conventions. 

 Between equals, a frank and open carriage, and a little plain dealing, are 

 all that is necessary to the business of life ; and a man of sense would 

 no more dream of introducing ceremony into such intercourse, than a 

 pedestrian, walking against time, would think of adopting the capers and 

 conges of a French dancing-master. But when there is any thing to 

 conceal, any thing to misrepresent, and the human mind is in too direct 

 a march towards the discovery of truth, etiquettes and ceremonials form 

 a convenient and an effectual outwork, for keeping inquiry at a distance, 

 and preventing too scrutinizing a glance at the realities they envelope. 

 Etiquettes, therefore, abound in society, in direct proportion to its cor- 

 ruption ; and from the king on his throne, to the conjurer in his circle, 

 the complexity of the pageant increases with each new difficulty in carry- 

 ing on the farce, and making the worse appear the better cause. Perhaps 

 the free- masons alone, of all mankind, form an exception to this rule : 

 arid have involved themselves in a maze of ceremonies, to which fraudu- 

 lent self-interest affords no golden clue. In all probability, the first 

 conception of ceremonials was developed in the service of religion ; and 

 resulted from the attempt to ensure uniformity and combination in 

 solemn acts of national worship: but their practice could not fail to suggest 

 the advantage to be derived from interposing them between the people, 

 and the log or stone which was set up for their adoration. From the 

 altar to the throne is but a step; and the arrogation of divine rites to the 

 purposes of royalty, is accordingly observable in the despotism of the 

 rudest monarchies. What pride began, fear continued. The pretenders 

 to an higher nature than that of ordinary humanity. the brothers of the 

 sun, and husbands of the moon, could ill afford a familiar contact with 

 those even the nearest to them in dignity ; and the ov TOIX-VTU Xao-avoQofvs 

 o-woiSsv* must have promplly occurred, as a source of danger and alarm to 

 the would-be god. To guard against sudden surprises, there is nothing 

 like calculating before-hand, every step and gesture which shall be em- 

 ployed by those who approach us ; and when neither boldness nor 

 curiosity are permitted to break through the magic circle of etiquette, 

 greatness is less thrown upon itself for the maintenance of its own dignity ; 

 and may the more safely dispense with these personal qualities, which 

 are at once difficult to acquire, and troublesome to exercise. On the 

 other hand, such arrangements are not without their advantages to the 

 slaves who submit to them : for, where every step is prescribed, all 

 personal responsibility ceases. If the nine knocks of the forehead were 

 not " de rigeur," in the Chinese ceremonial of " kotou," we should have 



* A thousand pardons for this " dub of Greek." It is, we can assure the country 

 gentlemen, perfectly harmless ; meaning simply, that " no man is a hero to his valet de 

 cbiimbre." 



M. M. New Series. VOL. III. No. 14. S 



