Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-11-21
Precedence ia England

The Queen, OF course, comes first, and
then the Prince OF Wales, then the royal
family at large, then the two Archbishop'
Of the Canterbury and IOrk-and
between them the Lord Chancellor. After
some Of the officers Of State and the Queen's
household come next IN order TO no.
blity. OF these dukes rank irst, mar
quises second, earls third, yscounts
fourth, and barons fifth, each class
ranking among themselves accord
ing to the date OF their different creations.
Ii should be remarked, however, that
dukes eldest sons come before earls, and
marduises' eldest sons With dukes younger
sons come before vIscounts. Earls' aud mar
Quises' younger sons come before barOns.
Then come the bishops, officers OF house
hold and state OF certain degrees, secreta-
res OF state, nights OF the garter. the
Lord Chief Justice and the other judges,
viscounts' and barOn's sons, and then blrO-
nets OF England. SO you see the barO-
nets are Il good way down the line,
and hardly the sort OF chaps TO make sucha
row over as have heard in America. Baro-
nets OF Scotland follow next, then Ireland
and the United Kingdom, knights OF the
different orders OF knighthood, with
"knights bachelors " or knights pure and
simple and of no distinguished order, last
of all. All knights are called by the title Of
"sir." II will therefore be seen that 1t Is
rather q mistake to think very much Of
that title, even though it confcrs the name
OF "lady" on the girl who marries its
most common possesSor. After these come
q lot Of smaller iry," ending up with gen
tlemen.
There is no rule OF right established to
govern the precedence Of women. But
women, rs a general custom, il not rule,
take the same rank as their husbands or
brothers after marriage. Before marriage
they have precedence by their father. II
hc he an earl, for example, they take rank
NJ chrls' daughters. There are some curious
effects and consequences, in the matter OF
precedence, when Il peers daughter mar
lies. BY marriage a wife participates IN
her husbands dignities. But IL woman
nobly born marricS a commOner she keeps
her own maiden title. Thus. the d1nsh-
ter OF marquis is called "Lldy Jane
or LADY susan Robinson Should
she marry Mr.. smith she will not become
Mrs. Smith," but lady Jane" or" Lady
susan Smith" A "miSter," by marrying
"lady," does not become "lOrd," none
Of the wlfe's dignlties coming by marriage
marry a barOnct called sir JOhn Green
she VIII not become " Lady Green" as the
daughter Of au untitled cOmmoner would,
but "Ladv Louisa Green" or Lady
Fanny Green" for as the daughter OF an
earl, or indeed OF any peer, she IS OF higher
rank than baronet, and 10 have her
dICp her original title would be 10
DEGRADE ber TO the level OF her hus-
band. SO, also, when the widow OF peer,
or peeress in her own right, marries
cOmmOner she retains her old title. Thus
YOU often see In the first case. MIR. Temp
kins and the Marchoncss Of Tweedledee,"
and they are man aud wife. Baroness
Burdctt-COutts and Mr.. Ashmead- Bartlett
Burdett. COut,s are a sample OF the other
condition of things. Queer, isn't III II
Is only when a husband is tie equal OF his
wife, or she his inferior, that she
| takes his name and title and loses every
Vesiige OF her own. Were IL otherwise q
woman would in some cases De deprived OF
| several steps in the scale OF social precc-
| dcnce, and Women OF title are very tenacious
| OF their rights in this respect At dinner
| parties. even with the settled rules 70 guide,
| il is not inirequenty a difficult matter TO
! arrange the order OF the guests entrance 10
the dialng-ro0m and their seats at the table.
II sometimes happens that TWO or three
earls or bar0ns may be present. IN that
case reference has TO be had 10 the "peer-
| age" and the dates OF their creation ascer-
! tanned. An earl whose ancestor was
created an earl in lGi2 would 20 in be.
fore an earl whose family earldom was made
! IN 1908, even though the first might be but
boy OF eighteen and the other eighty. So
/ with dukes, marquiSe., YiscOunts-yes, and
| peers children into the bargain. II there
should be the daughters or younger sons OF
TWO dukes at a dinner.party, those whose
fathers dukedom was first created would
90 in d;st, though there be but a days diff.
ference in the dates Of the two patents No
one in anything like what would be called
society IN England would dream OF
| ignoring these rules. To do so would
not only give great offence TO those
whose rights were overlooked, but
be sufficient mark Of ill-breeding on the
part OF the enterlalnment-giyer to cail for
severe resentment. Nor would anything
be gained by relaxing the regulations.
Every one in society knows them. reeog.
nizes them, and Is willing TO abide by them.
Their strict observance can give no offence
TO any che. There can be no fay0rIlIsm
shown In giving a place OF honor to any
guest, and therefore no jealously can be
engendered, or ahrOnt given. PeO-
pile who are entitled to preference
mus, get II, and that Is all there is about
II. Everybody is satisfied. Everybody Is
happy. Mrs. John Observation-Disclosures isn't
sitting at the table with eyes flashing with
an anger that get the better Of the glitter Of
her twenty'carot solitaires because Mrs.
struck-it-Rich went in before her, aud is