| 30th | In walking the highest Place in most Countries Seems to be on the right hand therefore Place yourself on the left of him whom you desire to Honor: but if three walk together the middest Place is the most Honorable the wall is usually given to the most worthy if two walk together. |
The ettiquite of the 1700's continues to strike me as new and odd. So the person of most importance, it seems, would walk to the right when two were walking abreast. So if you wished to honor someone you would walk on their left. If three walk together, the center is the place of honor. The statement that if two walk together "the wall is given to the most worthy" refers to walking on a sidewalk with a road on the left and a building on the right, the wall of the building is the place where the most honorable person would be walking.
Once again, George Washington's Rules reflect the way things were in England, before the United States was a free nation, where different people had different stations and places of honor in society, and you needed to learn the appropriate behavior for all the different settings.
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