Manners and Rules of Good Society Part 5

Apart from the foregoing style of afternoon tea is the newer fas.h.i.+on of what might be termed "a round-table tea," at which hostess and guests sit, but this style is more usual at country houses than in town houses at present, on account of the s.p.a.ce required, if for no other reason.

The tea is served in a smaller drawing-room, upon a large round or oval table, which is covered with a white table-cloth, upon which the tea-tray with all its contents is placed. Cakes, hot and cold, sandwiches, pastry, fruit, jam, bread-and-b.u.t.ter, biscuits, dry toast, etc., are given, and the visitors seated at the table help themselves to what they require. The hostess pours out the tea and hands the cups as when guests are not seated in this way. Dessert plates and dessert knives and forks should be placed on the table beside the small tea-plates, to be taken as required.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] See work ent.i.tled "The Art of Conversing."

CHAPTER V

PRECEDENCY

The order of precedency due to each individual according to rank is a matter of great importance at official banquets and at ceremonious dinner-parties, when its correct observance should be strictly adhered to.

=As regards Precedency amongst Royal Personages=, the Sovereign takes precedence of all others in the realm; the King takes precedence of Queen Mary. The Prince of Wales takes precedence of the Duke of Connaught. Queen Alexandra takes precedence of the Royal Princesses. The Royal Princesses take precedence of their husbands, Prince Christian and the Duke of Argyll.

=The Precedency accorded to Foreign Royal Personages= in this country very much depends upon their individual rank. Imperial Highnesses and Royal Highnesses take precedence of Serene Highnesses.

=The Precedency accorded to Eastern Princes= is generally synonymous with that accorded to Serene Highnesses; but in some instances the claims of individual precedency are so difficult to define, that in official cases it is sometimes necessary to make a special rule as to the amount of precedency to be allowed.

=As regards General Precedency=, archbishops, amba.s.sadors, The Lord High Chancellor, The Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Lord President of the Council, and Lord Privy Seal, take precedence of dukes; dukes take precedence of earls, and so on throughout the various degrees of n.o.bility.

=Foreign Ministers and Envoys= take precedence next after dukes, in the order of their seniority of service in England. In all cases where precedency is to be established between persons of equal rank it is necessary to refer to a Peerage for date of creation of t.i.tle, as this actually decides all precedency.

=For Precedency due to Baronets= and their wives a Baronetage should be consulted.

=For Precedency due to Knights= and their wives a Knightage should be consulted in reference to each order of knighthood.

=For the Precedency due to the Legal Profession= a Law List should be consulted when it is not defined by office or birth.

=For the Precedency due to the Clergy= a Clergy List should be consulted when superior preferment or birth does not define it.

=For the Precedency due to Officers= in the army and navy an Army List and a Navy List should be consulted to determine the precedency due to each in the separate Services.

=Officers should be sent in to Dinner= according to the dates of commission, but no branch of the Army takes precedence over the other as regards rank of officers; that is to say, a colonel of 1901, of say, a West India regiment, would precede a colonel of Guards, artillery or cavalry of 1902 promotion. Drawn up on a brigade parade, the cavalry take the right of the line; thus: Artillery, Royal Engineers, foot guards and regular regiments, regiments and West India regiments, in the order named in the Army List.

=As regards Precedency between Officers= of the combined Services a table of "Relative Rank and Precedency in the Army and Navy" should be consulted, as a captain in the navy after three years' service ranks with a colonel in the army, a lieutenant of the navy of eight years'

standing ranks with a major in the army, and a lieutenant under that standing in the navy, ranks with a captain in the army, etc.

Consulate officers also take precedence according to seniority of service in England and date of official arrival. The Foreign Office List of the current year should be consulted for date in each instance.

=As regards the Precedence due to Widows= bearing t.i.tles who have married again: The widow of a peer married to a commoner retains her t.i.tle by courtesy, and the precedency due to the t.i.tle is accorded to her.

=When the Widow of a Duke= marries a person of lower rank than that of her late husband, she still retains her precedency.

=The Daughter of a Peer= if married to a baronet or a commoner retains her precedency, but if married to a baron her precedency is merged in that of her husband.

=The Widow of a Baronet= married to a commoner retains her t.i.tle by right and not by courtesy.

=The Widow of a Knight= married to a commoner retains her t.i.tle by courtesy only, but the precedency due to the widow of a knight is accorded to her.

=When the Daughter of a Duke= marries a peer she takes the precedency due to the rank of her husband; if she marries a commoner, precedency is accorded to her due to the daughter of a duke.

=Age confers no Precedency= on either s.e.x. Equals in rank from the highest to the lowest take precedence according to the creation of their t.i.tle and not as regards the age of the person bearing the t.i.tle. As, for instance, a youthful duke would take precedence of an aged duke, if the t.i.tle of the youthful duke bore an earlier date than that of the aged duke. The same rule applies equally to baronets and knights.

When two earls are present at a dinner-party, the date of their respective patents of n.o.bility decides the order of precedency due to them.

A host or hostess should always consult a "Peerage" or a "Baronetage" if in doubt as to the precedence due to expected guests bearing t.i.tles; wealth or social position are not taken into account in this matter, it being strictly a question of date.

=The Precedence due to Ladies of Equal Rank= takes effect in the same manner. Thus, a young wife of a baronet takes precedence over the elderly wife of a baronet if the creation of her husband's t.i.tle bears an earlier date.

=When the Claims to Precedency of Persons of Equal Rank= clash, the claims of a gentleman should be waived in favour of those of a lady, should the persons be of opposite s.e.xes. Thus, if two couples of superior rank to the other guests were present at a dinner-party, the host should take down the lady of highest rank, and the hostess should be taken down by the gentleman of highest rank, in which case the lady second in rank should go in to dinner _before_ her husband, although the gentleman taking her down to dinner were of lower rank than her husband.

=Esquires, and the Wives of Esquires=, take precedence according to their social position. Members of Parliament have no precedence, though it is often accorded to them as a matter of courtesy, especially in the county which they represent; the wives of members of Parliament are likewise ent.i.tled to no precedence on the ground of their husbands being members of Parliament.

=The High Sheriff of a County= takes precedence over all other gentlemen in the county, of whatever rank, save the lord-lieutenant, according to the Royal warrant issued by His late Majesty King Edward, giving precedence to lord-lieutenants of counties before high sheriffs.

=The High Sheriff= out of his particular county has no precedence, neither has a lord-lieutenant; and the wives of either lords-lieutenants or high sheriffs take no precedence on account of their husbands'

official dignity.

=An a.s.size Judge= takes precedence over the high sheriff as the a.s.size judge represents the Sovereign of the Realm.