Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1876-07-10
PET NAMES.
Lord DuRerin ON an American So
eiRI HuisaDce.

at the Female Normal School took
place at the hall of the Urseline
Convent at Quebec on Tuesday last.
Lord and Lady Duferin were pres
ent, and were presented with an ad-
dress by the pupils. In his reply, |
His Excellency said: eve who
are anxious about the future of our
country, must have great Satisfac-
ton in considering that there
should exist in the various Prov
inces of Canada such an admirable |
machinery as is provided by these
Normal Schools for the diffusion Of
an atmosphere of cheerfulness, ele-
gance, purity and intellectual activ-
ity in the homes of the nation; this
is especially true as applied to the
women teachers of our schools, for
it is on them that we must depend
for the maintenance of a proper
standard of good manners, Of re-
fnement, and of the high moral
tone of which these qualities are
the outcome, and | trust you will
always remember that the execution
of this po 'tion Of your functions is
not less imperative upon you than
are the other branches Of the pro-
fession. And in relation to this
particular part Of your duties there
is one popularity / have observed in
this country, though not indigenous
but imported, which l think you
might use your influence adVan-
tageously to correct. Iobserve that
it is an almost uniyer7al practice
upon this continent, even on pub
lie occasions, in prize lists, roll calls,
and in the intercourse of general
society, for young ladies to be allud-
ed to by their casual acquaintance,
nay, even in the newspapers,
by what in the old country we
would call their "pet" names, that
is to say, those caressing, soft ap-
pellations of endearment with which
their fathers and brothers and those
who are nearest to them strive to
give expression to the yearning
affection felt for them in the home
circle. Now, it seems tome to be
a monstrous sacrilege, and quite
incompatible with the dignity and
self-respect due to the daughters of
our land, and with the chivalrous
reverence with which they should
be approached even in thought, that
the tender, love-invented nomen-
clature of the freside should be
banded about at random in the
mouths of every empty-headed
Tom, Dick and Harry on the street
whose idle tongue may chance to
babble of them. For instance, in
the United States, before her mar
riage, / observed that Miss Grant,
the daughter of the occupant of one
Of the most august positions in the
world, was generally referred to in
the newspapers as "Nellie," as
though the paragraphist who wrote
the item had even been her play
fellow from infancy and even Lady
Dufferin, l see, has become Kate, F"
in the elegant phraseology of a
United States magazine, though
how Kate could have been elected
from her Excellency's real Christian
: name | don't know. Of course
| this is a small matter to which ]
have alluded, but it is not without
significance when regarded as q
/, national characteristic. After all
l the women of this continent are
! ladies as refined, high-minded and
1 noble-hearted as are to be found in
+ any country in the world, and Tho
sooner we get rid of this vulgar
}. solecism the better, and the frs
place where the correction should
y be made is in our school lists, whicl
IS are official documents, where youn!
g ladies ought to be entered in thei
L full Christian names, and not il
d their nicknames, as / have Otter
s. seen done"