The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-09-08
TnE EASY HOURS OF KN1eHTHooD

TIE EASY HOURS OF KNlGHTHOOD
In the good old days when the Duke
of Richmond was Lold Lieutenant of
Ireland, he took it into his head, being
in his cups, to knight one Thady Cufe, a
Dublin tavern-keeper. Next day His
Grace wished to undo what he had done
and calling Cufe offered compromise.
Your Grace" said the gallant knight,
"Pd be willing to do it, but Lady Cufe
would sooner part wild her life nor the
title p The Canadian knights are some.
what in Sir Thady's position-they find
that their cOuntrymen deride their titles
and they would quietly drop them if
they could, but respect for Her Majesty
and above all regard for domestic opin.
ion forbid it. 1t must grieve the heart
of Sir Bernard Burke to see with what
levity the Canadian journals speak of
those who, according to the old parch.
ment, "have been found true, tried and
trusty and worthy of this ancient mark
of royal grace, favor and affection" One
knight, having kept drug store in his
early days, is irreverently called "Sir
Bolus;" another is known as "Sir Chicago
No. g" from his occupation as a dusty
miller; third is dubbed "Sir MaCkerel,"
because he earned the honor at the
Halifax Fishery Commission; and a
fourth is styled "Sir Busted" inasmuCh
as he was the President of a bank which
went down in the last p mic. When the
loyal burgesses Of England presented ad.
dresses to George III, on his escape from
the hands of Margaret Nicholson, the
King distributed titles lavishly and
knight of the Order Of Peg Nicholson"
became an object of ridiCule, and it was
universally held that that brand of
knightbood was as cheap and tawdry as
those Nova Scotian baronetcies which in
the days of the Stuarts were sold to.
gether with land patent for what they
would fetch. In the Dominion, however,
knighthood not only exposes the wearer
to sCorn, but does not shield him from
public insult. Our DISPATCHES this morn.
ing tell of scene at Nanaimo, B. c., be.
tween Sir Charles Upper and Mr.. Buns.
ter, M. P. for that district. The British
Columbians are a singularly democratic
people. Most of them are Indians and
Chinese, while the white minority are
chic fly graduates Of the Californian min
ing camps and faro banks. Mr.. Bunster,
too, is a very patriotic Irishu an, and in
his place in the Dominion House of
Comm ons at Ottawa, often thunders
against the importation of exotics from
the Herald's College. Mr.. Bunster, al
though political follower OF Sir Charles,
who is Dominion Minister of Railways,
wants the Government to build a rail
road from the mainland of British CO.
lumbia across the Gulf of Georgia or
Queen Charlotte's Sound to VanCouver's
Island a project about as feasible as the
of q oad form Nantucket to
the weat coast Of Cork. This Sir Charles
refuses to do, and SO MI. Bunster first re-
Ceives him as a guest of the town and
then publicly falls upon and ren5s him
II was evidently mistake for the Do
miniou Government to send d knight as
its ambassador TO the British COlum.
bians, Sir James Douglas, an old Hud
s)n's Bay man and Governor of that
colony before its admission into the
Confederation, used to say
that he always doffed the Sir before he
went abroad among his motley subjects, |
and that the secret of his successful
statesmanship lay in his capacity for
holding drink and his more than
SCheuckian experiences at poker.