The Vanished Pomps of Yesterday by Frederick Spencer Hamilton PDF Free

The Vanished Pomps of Yesteryear is a “diplomatic memoir” by Lord Frederic Hamilton (Dufferin), a distinguished 19th century British ambassador to Russia, Japan, and Argentina, among other countries. The observations, thrilling and humorous anecdotes along with the splendor of the era make this a completely entertaining experience. E.g., a comment on Chinese etiquette: “True politeness in China demands that you should depreciate everything of your own and exalt everything belonging to your correspondent. Thus, should you be asking a friend to dinner, you would entreat him “to leave for one evening the silver and alabaster palace in which you habitually dwell, and to condescend to honour the tumble-down vermin-ridden hovel in which I drag out a wretched existence. Furthermore, could you forget for one evening the bird’s-nest soup, the delicious sea-slugs, and the plump puppy-dogs on which you habitually feast, and deign to poke your head into my swill-trough, and there devour such loathsome garbage as a starving dog would reject, I shall feel unspeakably honoured.” The answer will probably come in some such form as this: “With rapturous delight have I learnt that, thanks to your courtesy, I may escape from the pestilential shanty I inhabit, and pass one unworthy evening in a glorious palace of crystal and gold in your company. After starving for months on putrid offal, I shall at length banquet on unimagined delicacies, etc.” Should it be a large dinner-party, it must tax the host’s ingenuity to vary the self-depreciatory epithets sufficiently.” Lord Frederic Hamilton, “The Vanished Pomps of Yesterday. Formatted for Kindle readers, and faithful to the original 1921 edition, this is a “must” for your Kindle library. Have a “Look Inside”.