Manners and Rules of Good Society Part 14

Officers of the Household Cavalry and Foot Guards on the active list should make application to the Lord Chamberlain at St. James's Palace for cards of admission and presentation. All retired Officers of the Household Cavalry and Brigade of Guards should apply to the War Office.

All officers of the Indian Civil Service and of the Indian Army, of whatever rank, whether on the active or retired lists, should communicate with and obtain their cards from the private secretary to the Secretary of State at the India Office, Whitehall.

All officers of the Colonial service and Colonial forces, of whatever rank, whether on the active or retired lists, should communicate with and obtain their cards from the Colonial Office, Whitehall.

Similarly, all gentlemen connected with the Foreign Office, the Home Office, officials connected with the Houses of Parliament, or any Government department, should communicate with and obtain their cards for attendance or presentation at levees from the department under which they serve.

Judges, law officers, King's Counsel, and all legal officials holding appointments under the Crown are requested to make their applications through the secretary to the Lord Chancellor.

Peers, bishops, Lords-Lieutenants of Counties, Members of Parliament, clergy of all denominations, and all gentlemen, other than the above-mentioned, should communicate with the Lord Chamberlain at St.

James's Palace, when they will each be furnished with a card of admission for use at the levee.

The names both for attendance and presentation must be received at the various offices above indicated not later than eight days prior to the date of each levee, but in the case of officers, who make application to the War Office, fourteen days before the date of each levee.

=When a Gentleman makes a Presentation= it is compulsory for him to attend the same levee as the person whom he presents, and the card of presentation is sent to him to be forwarded to the person to be presented.

=A Gentleman on being presented= should bow to the King, and His Majesty will bow to him in return. Gentlemen attending a levee should also bow to His Majesty.

=Gentlemen who have been presented= at a levee have the privilege of writing their names in His Majesty's visiting book at Buckingham Palace once during the season. The hours of calling for this purpose are generally from three to five o'clock in the afternoon.

=The Dress to be worn at Courts, State Functions and Levees.=--Full dress uniform is invariably worn by all gentlemen ent.i.tled to wear it.

All officers of Scottish kilted corps should wear the kilt irrespective of their being mounted officers or not. Gentlemen who do not wear uniform may wear either velvet Court dress, new style; velvet Court dress, old style; cloth Court dress.

The new style velvet Court dress is of black silk velvet. The body of the coat lined with white silk and the skirt with black silk. Steel b.u.t.tons. Waistcoat of white satin or black silk velvet. Breeches of black silk velvet, black silk hose, patent leather shoes, steel buckled; white bow necktie, white gloves, sword, black beaver or silk c.o.c.ked hat.

The velvet Court dress, old style, is very similar to the foregoing, with the addition of a black silk wig-bag at the back of the neck, and lace frills and ruffles. The cloth Court dress consists of a coat of dark mulberry, claret, or green cloth with black silk linings, gold embroidery on collar, cuffs, and pocket flaps, gilt b.u.t.tons with Imperial Crown; waistcoat of white corded silk or white Marcella; breeches of cloth, colour of coat; black silk hose, patent leather shoes, sword, white bow necktie, white gloves, black beaver or silk c.o.c.ked hat.

Levee dress is identical with the foregoing except that trousers--with a row of narrow gold lace down the side seams--are worn, and not breeches. Military patent leather boots.

=Archbishops and Bishops= at Levees and Courts wear Convocation robes, viz. scarlet cloth chimere, without hood; purple ca.s.sock and sash, lawn rochet with sleeves, white cambric bands, black silk scarf, black breeches, silver knee buckles, black silk stockings, shoes with silver buckles; purple or black velvet square soft cap to be carried. At Evening State Functions and Full Dress Dinners they wear a purple cloth Court coat over a short ca.s.sock or ap.r.o.n, sash of purple silk, black breeches, black silk stockings, shoes with silver buckles; black corded silk three-cornered hat to be carried.

=Deans and Archdeacons= at Evening State Functions wear the same dress as bishops except that the coat and short ca.s.sock are black. Doctors of Divinity at Levees and Courts wear the scarlet cloth robe of their University, without hood.

=Clergy if not Doctors of Divinity= at Levees and Courts wear full canonicals, that is, a black silk Geneva gown, double-breasted; black silk long ca.s.sock and sash, scarf and white lawn bands, black breeches, silver knee buckles, black silk stockings, shoes with silver buckles, black corded silk three-cornered hat. At Full Dress Dinners and Evening State Parties when canonicals are not worn, they wear a black cloth Court coat, ca.s.sock, waistcoat of black corded silk, black breeches, black silk stockings, shoes, silver buckles; black corded silk three-cornered hat to be carried. White gloves are worn at all Court functions. The academical habit should not be worn at Court except when addresses are presented from the Universities.

When the Court is in mourning, gentlemen attending a levee are expected to wear a band of black c.r.a.pe on the left arm above the elbow.

CHAPTER XII

b.a.l.l.s AND STATE b.a.l.l.s

=b.a.l.l.s= are given in town and country by society at large, and these invitation b.a.l.l.s include Hunt b.a.l.l.s, Military and Naval b.a.l.l.s, Yeomanry and Territorial b.a.l.l.s, Bachelors' b.a.l.l.s, etc.

=Public b.a.l.l.s= are those b.a.l.l.s for which tickets of admission can be purchased, although for many of these b.a.l.l.s it is necessary to obtain vouchers from the committees or patronesses, when held in town or at watering-places.

Public b.a.l.l.s include County b.a.l.l.s, Charity b.a.l.l.s, and Subscription b.a.l.l.s, etc.

=In Town, Ball-giving= is in a way a science, and an amus.e.m.e.nt upon which large sums of money are frequently expended.

=A Crowded Ball= is not always p.r.o.nounced a good ball by the guests, often the contrary, but then, again, what is termed a thin ball is open to the accusation of not going off well, and falling rather flat; of not being kept up with spirit, and of being considered a stupid ball, and so on.

To hit upon a happy medium with regard to the number of guests is an achievement in ball-giving which is only arrived at by a careful study of the map of the county, and a judicious selection of night. This selection is of paramount importance to the success of a ball, as when a smarter ball is given at a smarter house on the particular evening chosen by the giver of a less brilliant ball, the grander ball extinguishes the lesser ball, through the most fas.h.i.+onable people merely looking in at the one, and remaining the rest of the evening at the other. This putting out as it were of the lesser light, occurs very frequently during the London season to ball-givers moving in the same sets. The guests who have been expected to add l.u.s.tre to the lesser b.a.l.l.s appear but for a few minutes, and usually arrive rather early, uncomplimentarily early, at perhaps a little before eleven, and remain hardly half an hour in the rooms, making their way to another ball of the same calibre, and remaining there perhaps another twenty minutes, before arriving at the goal, viz. _the_ ball of the evening. Both ladies and gentlemen follow this practice, thus, at a little after twelve, an average ball-giver finds her rooms deserted by all but those who have nowhere else to go. Although the flitting of the guests thus early is a disappointment to the hostess, and although it does not prevent the fleeting ball-givers from making suitable returns by placing the family on their ball lists, it yet greatly mars the enjoyment of the ball, and prevents its being looked back upon with anything approaching to pleasure or satisfaction, the departure of the most eligible partners being not the least of the vexations of the night.

These _contretemps_ are sometimes unavoidable; but, when practicable, it is always best to postpone a ball rather than to allow it to clash with a ball of greater pretensions.

An impromptu dance is often a great success, while an impromptu ball is almost as certain to prove a great failure.

=The Difference between a Dance and a Ball= consists in the number of the invitations issued, in the strength of the band, and the extent of the supper arrangements.

At a dance the number of the guests varies from eighty to two hundred; at a ball they vary from two hundred to five hundred.

At a dance a piano band is frequently engaged, while at a ball a full band is requisite. At a ball the floral decorations are a great feature, at a small dance they are often dispensed with. Ladies new to society as it were, or whose circle of acquaintance is of a limited character, and who do not number in that circle many ball-givers, and who yet desire to form a ball acquaintance, frequently place their ball in the hands of some intimate friend of higher standing than themselves, giving her _carte blanche_ to form a ball list. When this plan is followed, invitations are still sent out by the ball-giver; in every case the name and compliments of the lady who forms the list are sent with the card.

This plan, although of advantage to the hostess, is often productive of much unpleasantness to her unfas.h.i.+onable friends, who are naturally very much affronted at being excluded from the ball list, which they usually are, as a lady who undertakes to form a ball list for a friend is not a little arbitrary as to the conditions under which she a.s.sumes its management. She naturally wishes the ball to be confined to her own set, to the exclusion of what she terms all outsiders.

Ladies are always more or less reluctant to yield up their ball to the exclusion of their old friends, however anxious they may be to make new ones. But when a ball is thus given it is thoroughly understood that conditions, however stringent, must be complied with.

=A Hostess should receive her Guests= at the head of the staircase at a ball given in town, and at the door of the ball-room at a country house ball. She should shake hands with each guest in the order of their arrival.

The ladies of a party should advance towards the hostess, followed by the gentlemen of their party.

A lady and gentleman should not ascend the staircase arm-in-arm, or make their entrance into the ball-room arm-in-arm. The gentlemen invariably enter the ball-room after the ladies of their party, and never before them, or arm-in-arm with them. A ball is usually opened either by the hostess herself, or by one of her daughters.

=Opening a Fancy Dress Ball= simply signifies dancing in the first quadrille. Opening a dance means dancing the first valse.

When a member of the Royal Family, or a foreign prince, is expected, dancing should not commence until the arrival of the royal guest; and when the royal guest is a lady, the host should open the ball with her, having his wife or daughter as _vis-a-vis_. When the royal guest is a prince, the hostess or her daughter should open the ball with him.

When a prince wishes to dance with any lady present, with whom he is unacquainted, his equerry informs her of the prince's intention, and conducts her to the prince, saying as he does so, "Mrs. A----, your Royal Highness" or "Miss B----, your Royal Highness." The prince bows and offers her his arm; the lady should curtsy and take it. She should not address him until addressed by him, it not being considered etiquette to do so. The same course is followed by a princess; strangers to the princess should not ask her to dance, but the host has the privilege of doing so. When more than one royal personage is present, the one of the highest rank leads the way, with either hostess or host.

(See Chapter V.)

=Royal Guests= should be received by the host and hostess at the entrance of the mansion, and by them conducted to the ball-room. At ball-suppers the same precedence is strictly in force, the royal guests leading the way with host or hostess (see p. 49).