Members of the legislature and the judiciary, independent of their offices, have a right as strangers to receive the first visit. No title being admitted here, those of foreigners give no precedence. Difference of grade among the diplomatic members gives no precedence. At public ceremonies to which the Government invites the presence of foreign ministers and their families, a convenient seat or station will be provided for them, with any other strangers invited, and the families of the national ministers, each taking place as they arrive, and without any precedence. To maintain the principle of equality, or of _pele-mele_, and prevent the growth of precedence out of courtesy, the members of the executive will practice at their own houses and recommend an adherence to the ancient usages of the country--of gentlemen in mass giving precedence to the ladies in mass, in passing from one apartment where they are assembled into another. From time to time these severe republican rules have been discussed and ameliorated to suit the growing aristocratic taste of the great modern American Republic. In later years a set of rules has been adopted which is called the “Code.” It is said all branches of the Government were appealed to in order to be suited, and the rules of the code were the result; but whether President Monroe or some other dignitary of those days was the author, the writer has no means of ascertaining. THE CODE. _The President._--Business calls are received at all times and hours when the President is unengaged. The morning hours are preferred. Special days and evenings are assigned each season for calls of respect,--one morning and evening a week being assigned for this purpose. Receptions are held during the winter season, generally once a week, between 8 and 10 o’clock in the evening, at which time the guests are expected in full dress, and are presented by the usher. The President holds public receptions on the first of January and the Fourth of July, when the diplomatic corps present themselves in court costume, and the officers of the Army and Navy in full uniform. The executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Government are received between the hours of 11 and 12; after which the diplomatic corps, officers of the Army and Navy, and civilians _en masse_. The President accepts no invitations to dinner, and makes no calls or visits of ceremony; but is at liberty to visit without ceremony, at his pleasure. An invitation to dinner at the President’s must be accepted in writing, and a previous engagement cannot take precedence. The address of the Executive in conversation is Mr. President. _The Vice-President._--A visit from the Vice-President is due to the President on the meeting of Congress. He is entitled to the first visit from all others, which he may return by card or in person.