Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1880-02-05
lrh Nnm.

Hef1aPS - 10 g&1peGk afe mouefD
more completely aE variance with his
t0Fie times lban In The use Of siales.---
The Greek had q ceFtain mame. and that
was bis name in TIE m0uih oi every
one who called him. There was no ims
lefsenanc Title toindieafe respect or
drferener. lfDemosihenes bad clerk.
che elesk would &c Eslae3shs orator
|tlesnast l.eues n called
Ie Roman little saa
lle What We slea|d ealI Surname
was stlll the man A8nlH his intimate
friends were at liberty 10 adopt the
pr@nomen. but in neither case was aliile
used. The simple name designated ils
owner, snd. in the case Of Rome. the
choice between the two names showed
the extent OF the iniimary Of the par
hes. But when We leave classIc soil
we come al once upon the question Of
title and its universal use.
The growth was 40 doubt gradual
and proceeded IN the 6rst instance by
inversion. The population was more
extensive than the nomenclature. We
were not good al calling names. at least
We we're not good at inventing them.
And thus there were many duplicates.
Soon q bright idea struck the early
English mind. When q man had .
trade they added bis trade to his name
and thus indicated him clear OF all pos
sible blunder. II was John the smith,
and Peter the hermit; Robert the bish-
op. and Thomas the earl. Then, in q
little time, the more recondIte of these
indications became important and were
attached to ideas Of dignity and posi-
ton. as
The explanation Of the afix is simply
this. that we consider il rude to call a
man by bus name, and so we put in the
prefix IRON q kind Of inane politeness.
There Is. of course, the well-known ex-
ception- Very great men are saved the
questionable honor of title. We do
not say Mr. Shakespeare or Dir. Chau-
Ger, and even the author Of ''Childe
Harold" merges hereditary rank in 1T
erary fame. and is known among his
admirers simply as Byron. Here, too.
it occurs to one 10 notice the democratic
influence Of literature and art. 1t seems
that poets and painters are either too
good or too bad Tor .ille.
But bishop and earl. and such like.
were not strictly titles-that is to say
they were not titles az Mr., Mrs. or Miss
are titles. tor they indicated aa Office.
The Bishop was a. Bishop and the Earl
was an Earl. !; was not mere afix;
it indicated position which had DEF
mite meaning. recognized duties, ac-
knowledged rank and ascertained emol-
ument. Thus, IN fact. titles, strictly
speaking, are only enjoyed by the an.
titled. A general is general, and has
military duties as well as military rank:
a doctor Of divinity IS what his name
suggests. and is called by that name for
that very reason. But a gentleman is
called Mister" for no reason whateV-
er except that II is thought rude toleave
the name out, and alady ~ called .'Miss"
merely because her father is called
"Mister.r ,
The objection to simple nomencla-
ture IS rooted. The title, such as it is,
has no indicating quality. In the cases
OF the peeFage It may, indeed. be dil-
ferent. Earl Granville can mean but
one nobleman. and there Is but one
Bishop Of Peterborough. Besides this,
as We have shown. these names are not
mere titles. They indicate, an Office
and duty as well as rank and a po-
sitiOn. This exists still in the case oI
bishop. and once existed in the case Of
earl. But Mr.. John Jones conveys no
more definite idea than John Jones
without the Mr..
1t il amusing 10 see on . modern play
bill how the author appears in print
without any addition, while the merest
super" who has been promoted 10 q
part figures in print as Mr.. The ano-
maly is carried even lurtber, for when
the author takes part in his own play
he appears in one division Of the bill as
Henry j. Byron, and, IN a few lines
lower down, as Mr. H. j. Byron. Ar
tlsts share with men oiletters lhe disGsnc-
ton or indignity Of losing the almost
universal pre6x. Ia newspaper re-
views Of picture exhibitions we read
constantly Of Walter Severn or Arthur
Hughes, as II The attempt to reproduce
nature on canvas diseniitled a man to
be called otherwise than by his Chris
tIan and surname.
This use Of title is common 10 all
modern countries. However derived,
Il is not merely usual but UNIVERSAL
The Germans, indeed. 60 little furth-
er than other nafions. and with . char
love OF pomp delight 70 pre-
tx The title Of even the smallest Office
to the name Of the fortunate hoIderof It.
Hermann, the postman, would be Mr..
Letter Carrier Hermann, and his wife
would be Mrs. Letter Carrier Her
mann.
The French. at the time Of The rev.
olution, had brilliant idea. They de-
termined to. abolish all titles. Even
. Monsieur was TO be expuneed from
at the risk cfits owner be-
ing regarded dangerous and > royalisi.
Bot it is easier to Storm city than to
break habit. The Preach abolished
liiles--at least. 50 they fondly believed
but how did they DO it, In eject
they only substituted one Cor another.
Where : msn used 70 be called "Alon-
sieufr be was now called 'scitizen,
and TIE universally Of titles Was proved
by their aniioFmity.
Dean Swifl. indeed. once suggested a
STATE % things under which : man
might lose both his title and his name.
lie supposed The case Of the heir to =