372 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-XXV 



customs of his country, rather adds to his prestige than 

 diminishes it, as far as I have been able to discover. 

 Perhaps the well-known case of Lord Castlereagh at the 

 Congress of Vienna is in point. In the midst of the 

 throng of his colleagues, all of them most gorgeously ar 

 rayed in uniforms, stars, and decorations of every sort, 

 he appeared in the simplest evening attire; and the at 

 tention of Metternich being called to this fact, that much 

 experienced, infinitely bespangled statesman answered, 

 &quot;Ida foi! il est bien distingue.&quot; 



Of course we ought to give due weight to the example 

 set by Benjamin Franklin when presented to Louis XVI, 

 and the fact that his simple shoe-strings nearly threw 

 the court chamberlains into fainting-fits, and that his 

 plain dress had an enormous influence on public opinion ; 

 but, alas ! we have also to take account of the statement 

 by an eminent critic to the effect that Franklin, at his 

 previous presentation to Louis XV, had worn court dress, 

 and that he wore similar gorgeous attire at various other 

 public functions, with the inference that he was prevented 

 from doing so, when received by Louis XVI, only by the 

 fact that somehow his court dress was inaccessible. 1 



All these facts, conflicting, but more or less pertinent, 

 being duly considered, I would have the rule regarding 

 dress remain as it is, save in the rare cases when the 

 sovereign of a country, at some special function, requests 

 some modification of it. In such case the Secretary of 

 State might, one would suppose, be allowed to grant a 

 dispensation from the ordinary rule without any danger 

 to American liberty. 



For the more profound considerations which this vast 

 subject suggests, the judicious reader may well consult 

 Sartor Eesartus. 



1 See Sainte-Beuve, &quot; Causeries du Lundi,&quot; Vol. VH, Article of 

 November 29, 1852. 



