New-York tribune., 1882-12-31
rgy MR.. FREEu1N WRITHED.

UHY MR. FREEMAN WRITHED.
T.,,, HE article in Loncp,Gn's Magazine. q,
The Bfitsh visitor IN America ~ u i''u' III III
ot Leinp called sir" in private HE 1t All events
ot b.lug called great deal OtteneI tlal nv cNo
is in his own island. The word perhaps erateI - -
little ON his ears But he has only 20 i'iIh ~ III
Boswell to that America mas III t,TT t,,T hn
matter simply kept an usage when EnE,%aiu % M Lag
dropped Al d this ls mater N W. TrcnrLman
81 ali events has his Monsieur " Madame, anu
Nacemolselle" ever his lips, IN WaN "nlcn tilo
Enplishman finds 1t little hard To ioIioW, In l'ns
it no., ,srn Ia have growing tendency 10 Eet
rid of the vocative case altoeelhtr' huu "a - -,
many cases when man is hOt qulte suio W. Le 10
tne rrht formula 70 use, when, lor llstahCr I 10 70
inclined 20 iamiiIarity but Is not quite sure "lehoI
familiarity will be welcome II Is wonderlu no" luIs
ne may go Oh without ever ishg tie 10 not
without going to this extreme, IL ~ cerlainIy w..
thourht elegant IN England 10 lnduee very ~
IN Its use No one wishes MS hahr y, roo u W bn
hronuh, in with every breath But IN America pc.
.des the usr OF SIR in way Whlch mas uleu ou
i'm EnOl,nd no one can tail To remark tue suPPoSeu
necessity OF giving everybody some kinu Oi tlte'
", - n,nst n wa, I've remembered that the strong
ast siCn ,,f the inherent love OF turs Is 10 pe
found not in the OF tt'es Ike DUKE Blshoi
cararoI hnt in the use OF plain " Mr, MIS-.
and Miss" The higher titles are not mere Titles :;
they state fact about the man TO HON they are ap
plrd they tel you that ne Is DNnV & @1eg tei VI yon
nothIng they are mere means to AVOID the supposed
improperly OF calling people. as ol Ola at Atnens
and now in Iceland simply by thelr hahes III
IL
land to get people with whom you are really hII-
mate to drop the Mr." and use SIMPLY me sur
name. And noticed that II en- WHO Wele VIZ ,moi ,'aro
ouUnly intimate with one another, men VINO "rIe
old friends and colleagues, spoke oi ahd 10 ono
another with handles 10 their name IN n way III
which Ineu in the same case Won'd not 40 mere ph
the other hand. III the newspapers men are con-
stautly spoken of bv their mere Christian anu sur
names in d way 10 which we are not uSru III pIIh';
But IN my Owu experience II VAS a leiieI W1en
cscaned with sImnle Mr. generally had TO
wri,he under the horrible title of fIoleSSor OF
" DoctOf.' Why anybody Shouid 1lIslHhe me ,i ioi
professor, why ANYBODY s. QUA lhIust the ule "i
Doctor on the bearer OF purely unprDIesslondl
aud honorary degree was beyond my understand,
ing | asked not uncOmmOnly WhetntT tleN tiIhGu
of :. Dr Gladstone" ! could not find that body
did nor dld ! una that other Ehglsn hearers OF
honorary degrees were 80 spoken OF; the name
seemed somehow to be thrust on me ~ sitclal way
I'm oue famous university town was abic 10 tllIh
the tables nv friends ana 10 ASH thciH why tIi,l
should either call me " "fiOl"s'o or WISH 10 oo
called Professor" themselves, when there was IN
their own city Professor Parker showing Oh
dancing dogs In some parts stranger Is com
mcnlv addressed as d" Colonel or Judge was
never addressed as " Colonel save once at BaIu-
more aud that in the dark so 1T was hardly De
c,,nse of any suecialiy military air about
" Judge | never was called; though as happen
TO have something to do wItr judging, while have
nothing to do with teaching, 1t would nave been
one degree less out of place tban Professor But
though these strange Titles are Iltue irving 10
stranget the application OF them IS thoroughly wei
meant according to the custom ol the couhtFy. IL
seems as If ~ Am aTlC3 could 10 without some
KIND of handle We used to" Governor A. but
Mayor b.. sounds 10 uS odd. But more than once
wnen had been introduce ed 70 "Govcrnor A. ana
had pat II yScif INTO proper mood OF respect
toward the Chef Mag StrIlc OF the Ntate, FOUND
that al that meant vas that the gentleman TO
whom was speaking hau heen Governor III times
past. In language tat Is al all precise is cOhhicu
more correct to SAY IN such cases EX-OOVernCr -
as # one should say EX-liIgh-Shcnh Il. but the
" EA-' is certainly often dropped. And the title
gwen to tie husband often extends 10 the wife !
have seen " Mrs Professor on u lady card, ana
the ne spapeIs son tgreS tell one bow MIS-. EX-
.slttfa ltlrf dan trI tor
Mrs. Senator b.' Again 1t IS not always easy 10
remember all among The large class of people who
are called Honorable ; anI found That Is
uLrer as an address was chiefly appiCd 10 HW-
ycrs. Among lhe-e hN the way, the formula A.
tornry am Couu-ellOr.a at Law prescrviug two
names which in England have perished, is quite
y, -. -. litti. -,,rut,.rl at the ,..,n-
Ishiug of Esquire George Washington. of
Mount Vernon. Esq., was dcScrptloH with which
wa quite familiar. and had often seen the title
" ESQUIRE" III American books and Stories. But
there IL trace OF its earlier use IN the phrase com
monty Usod IN some states Of being brought before
the squire meaning before IL amag"trate of any
kind.
Now this lavish use Of titles is universal; SO it is
{ nc supposed that people ike il Yet ia most
distInguishel rnIvrl5it, Was told by more thap
one professor that he liked better to be addressed
simply rs gentleman. OF better stu a. "a man,
without any Official title. But the really important
point is that IN TINS matter also, American usage IS
older than English USAGE, and is CERTAINLY more |
consistent We have the ntlctice OF other Euro |
peaH nations az INST Us. Thick on The e.ouud as |
handles are in America, they are still Ticker IN |
Germany and they ere much more freely c>tcudol !
TO mems wives. Then in America AID ~ Germany |
the thing Is Thoroughly carried out; in Ingand It
is hard 10 hnG out the TunciP!o on which the |
handle il sometimes used and sometimes not. AZ %
the wives our rule seems to be that while any kHd
of rank which is strictly personal whether hcIedi-
tary or not any rank from duke 10 knight or even !
esquire il shared by the wife, stri fly official rank
is not. The dignity Of the bishop. the Judge the !
sheriff is not shared by his wife. Yet there Is ono
II, table exception the Mavore~s In London and |
York the Lady " .Yore,S has her UndOubtrd place,
and IN London at least the dignity X transferable;
the Indy NavOTcss NAV chance TO he. not the wife |
but the daugnteT CT SISTER Of tue Lord Mayor Now |
" Mrs. Professor sounds very uGly 20 MS; but IA
Germany Fran pGoiessorin' is universal, and IT !
Is hard 10 how size differs principle trOn the |
Lady May0Iess Then again 1t sounds odd to Brit |
ish ears to hear yUuug lady spoken 10 or of by |
anyone above he rank of q servant or other inic- |
rior, as Miss Mary But this again was once uni
versal, # not with the modern Miss sc GER |
taiuly with the older Mistress" TIE last form at |
least s erncefNi. and So sounds in some ctDer |