Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-11-25
KNIaHTHooo GROWING CHEAP.
Citles Bestowed So Lavishly fin England That They Are in Disrepute.

C1tleS Bestowed So L@v1sh1y xn EngAAnU
 That They Are in Disrepute.
 Knighthood confers no political privi- leges, and it is not hereditary, and, consequently, it seems to have become an admitted principle that anybody and everybody has prima facie claim to it. In the last twenty years many more than 1000 knights have been dubbed, and, as we noted last week, "the last batch of persons to receive the royal accolade and the right of pre- fixing Sir to their names consisted mainly of professional musicians of by no means high class, among them the music-master formerly at Eton college, now of the Guildhall, the leader of the queens private band, and an organist at Windsorv' Against these gentlemen personally we have nothing whatever to say. In every moral and social quality we have no doubt they are all that can be desired, and that, so far their ad- mission into the order to which they now belong was perfectly justified. But that bandmasters, organists and teachers of music are proper persons to be knighted can hardly be maintained on the as- sumption that knighthood is to con- tinue to be regarded as the appropriate reward of public services in whatever capacity they may be rendered. More especially is this obvious in relation tc the art with which they themselves arc connected; for assuredly, if knighthood is sufficient recognition of the emil hence Of Sir Arthur Sullivan and Sir Charles Halle, it is infinitely more than a sufficient recognition of the eminence of Mir. Parratt, Dr. Barnby and Mir. Cusins.
 It is true that simple knighthood, as distinguished from knight commander ship of the Bath, St. Michael and St George and the Star of India, to say nothing of the Garter, the Thistle and St. Patrick, is not, and can scarcely be expected to be, held in any great vener. ation. Custom has made it imperative on the sovereign to confer it on num- Der of persons whose social status is al. together different from that of those who are admitted to the royal orders But, however promiscuously enjoyed, the honor, such &s it is, is invariably shared by the judges of the land and the law officers of the crown; and even city sheriffs and provincial mayors have some reason to omplain when it's value is still further depreciated No doubt the disrepute of Snighthood is no new thing. Heralds are accustomed to date its commencement from the reign oi James l., who created 300 knights in six weeks, and that of his son, Charles I. who knighted among others Sir Jeffrey Hudson, the queens dwarf. But it reached a climax under George w, who liSanxrara1 i19t Ina ~f foIr istering the royal accolade an effectual protection against the presentation oi unwelcome addresses; and under Will liam IV., who knighted every body whu would allow him to do so, matters in this respect were not much mended. In the earlier years of the queens reign, however, when the counsels of the lamented prince consort were in the
 ascendant, knighthood was very spar ingly conferred, and it's position as social distinction was proportionately raised. But it is not too much to say \ that of late it has been distributed with so little circumspection that it has be- ! come almost valueless for the purpose for which it is supposed and ought te ! exist.
 So far, indeed, as knighthood is to be ! regarded as a mark of eminence in lit \ erature, science or art, the result ap ! pears pretty much the same as tha ! which Thackeray describes in one of hi. "Rounda bout Papers" as likely to have ] ensued if George III. had instituted tht k order of merit, which he once had il \ serious contemplation. That order wa. to have been dedicated to Minerva, anc \ Dr. Johnson himself was to have beer
 the first president or grand cross ol ! grand owl of the society. The member.
 were to be adorned with star of six
 teen points and yellow ribbon, and al the recognized luminaries of the lit
 erary, scientific and artistic worlds
 were to be enrolled among thenL Bu
 how, Thackeray asks, when they hae
 all of them been admitted, could tn,
 door be shut against inferior claim
 ants? How could you have ex
 cluded Sir Alexis Sover, Sir Ales
 sandro Tamburini, Sir Agostino Vel
 luti, Sir Anton 10 Paginnini (violinist)
 Sir Sandy McGoffog (piper to the mos
 honorable the marquis of Farintosh)
 Sir Alcide Flicflac (premier danseur o
 Her Majesty's theater), Sir Harley Quil
 and Sir Joseph Grinaldi (from Coven
 garden). They" he adds, "have al
 yellow ribbon. They are all honorable
 clever and distinguished artists. Let u
 elbow through the rooms, make boy
 to the lady of the house, give nod t.
 Sir George Thrum, who is leading thu
 orchestra, and go in and get some cham
 pagne and seltzer water from Sir Rich
 ard, who is presiding at the buffet
 This was intended to be a caricatur
 when Thacleray wrote it. But it cer tainly reads a great deal more like
 prophecy now.-London World.