2761. ETIQUETTE, Disputed points.—
I am sorry that your first impressions [of the
United States] have been disturbed by matters of
etiquette. * * * These disputes are the most
insusceptible of determination, because they have
no foundation in reason. Arbitrary and senseless
in their nature, they are arbitrarily decided
by every nation for itself. These decisions are
meant to prevent disputes, but they produce ten
where they prevent one. It would have been
better, therefore, in a new country to have excluded
etiquette altogether; or if it must be
admitted in some form or other, to have it
depend on some circumstance founded in nature,
such as the age or stature of the parties.—
To Comte de Moustier. Washington ed. ii, 388.
Ford ed., v, 10.
(P.
1788)
