The Red Cloud chief., 1884-06-06
s'Lady."

Our old English Hlaford, as express
ing a rank or relation rather than
strictly an office. has, unlike the King
and the Earl, a feminine. Without
raising any minute pathological ques-
tons, Hl9fdidge is practically the femi-
mime of HlafOrd. And II abides sc still;
the softened form of lady is still, in
grammar ut least if not i'm ussgc, the
feminine of Lord and Of Lord only. But
the practical use of the name has been
very shifting. In early times the Lady
had rather a tendency to soar higher
than the Lord; in later times she has
rather had a tendency to sink beneath
him. When ~quecn-ship. SO to speak.
was abolished among the West Saxons,
the Kings wife became the lady. The
title was therefore lower than that of
Queen. but ii was so high that. with the
single exception of Ethelilnd Lady of
the Mercians, it was never given to any
but the wives of Kings. The wife of
the reigning King is 1.-The Lady" She
whom we should now call a Queen
Dowager was then known by Tie home
lier STYLE of 1.-The Old Lady" SoAss
has been already noticed, lady Wa
down into the eighteenth century {
true English style for the younge.
daughters and the nieces of a King. In
the peerage Lord and Lady exactly an
swer to one a mother. If in one case
they do not seem to do 81. il the dangh-
.ers of an Earl arc called Lady while
their Younger brothers are not called
Lord, it is because all daughters rank
with their elder brother and not with
their younger. Lady, like Lori, is used
vaguely for all ranks of the peerage
under Duke. andia 3 special way for its
lower rank. 1t is when We get below
the pecragc that the laxer use of tho
word begins. As Dominus parted of
into English Lord and French Sir, so
Domino parted OFF into English Lady
and French Dame. Lord and Lady, Sir
and Dame, should in strictness 20
together. And 50 in formal style
they do: the wife of Sir John is
properly Dame Mary. 1t is doubtless
by a bit of mans homage to woman
that she is in common speech raised to
the style of Lady, while her husband is
never raised to the style Of Lord. And
those who report court ceremonies. who
surely ought to know their " fool
ish business" tumble together under
the common head of Ladies'. the wives
of Knights, the wives of Barons, and
the daughters of Dukes. Marquesses,
and EariS. Dame Mary has no place in
such exalted company, and the other
two classes of Ladies may teach ms a
lesson in the difference between nero
precedence and substantial privilege.
Lady Mary A., the Duke or Earl's
daughter, goes before Lady b., the
BarOn's wife. But let them be charged
with treason or felony, and the BarOn's
wife can claim to be tried by the House
of Lords, while the Earrs daughter
must be tried by a jury like any
other woman. Lady. then, even as q
title. has come down, in common use ut
least, q step lower than Lord.
And, when not used strictly as a title, it
has sunk lower again. 1t has. perhaps.
not sunk quite so low as some words
which in strictpess translate it, certainly
not so low 8 Italian donna, perhaps
not quite so low rs French dame. Still,
to most minds Lady il the feminine. moi
of Lord, but of Gentleman. The gen.
tleman's rightful companion, the genne-
woman, seems to have vanished alto
gether. And some people seem. even
on very formal occasions. to forget that
the Lady is the rightful companion only
of the Lord. When men were debating
as to the proposal to confer the title of
Empress on our present sovereign y
public meeting was held in a great
English city for the discussion Of
the question. Some proposed ''Sover-
eign Lady of India" as . more beconi-
ing title. To this one speaker objected.
He was a barrister by eallissS,-ad
in ecclee:>-ssS.; matters a jealous
He might therefore be ex-
pected to know both his law-books and
his prayer-book. Yet he opposed the
style o~f.'Sovereisn Lady" on the ground
that, when there was a King he would
have to re called Sovereign Gentle
His hearers. wiser than himself,
Sovereign Lord But the
of law remained u~nconvinced;
Sovereign Gentleman vas the N
masculine of Sovereign Lady," and
Sovereign Gentleman of India was a
title that would never do. A. Free
man. IN Longman's Magazine.
I,ufvorSifr Rouonco