Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1892-11-17
xNloHTHooD GROWING CHEAP.

xNIoHTHooD GROWING CHEAP.
Titles Bestowed SO Lavishly IN England
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 rybody 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,
tine last batch of persons to receive
the royal accolade and the right of pre-.
fixing Sir to their names consisted
mainly of professional music ans of by
no means high class, among them the
muslc-master formerly at Elton college,
now of the Guildhall, the leader Of the
Queens private band, and an organist
nc Windsor!" 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 adj
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 to
the art with which they themselves are
connected; for assuredly, if knighthood
Is sufficient recognition of the emf
nence of Sir Arthur Sullivan and Sir
Charles Halle, it is infinitely more than
sufficient recognition of the eminence
OF MIR: Parratt, DR.. Barnby and Mr..
Cusins
1t is true that simple kn;ghthood, 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 veneer
alton. 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 prom;scuously enjoyed,
the honor. such IS 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
is still further deprecated No doubt
the disrepute of knighthood is no new
thing. Heralds are accustomed to date
its commencement from the reign of
James l., who created 300 knights in
SIX weeks, and that of his son, CharlesI.
who knighted among others Sir Jeffrey
HUI tson, the queens dwarf But it
reached climax under George w., who
discovered in the mere threat of admin
istering the royal accolade an effectual
protection against the presentation of
unwelcome addresses; and under Will
liam w., who knighted every body who
would allow him to do so, matters in
this respect were not much menled. In
the earlier years of the queens reign,
however, when the counseis of the
lamented prince consort were in the
ascendant, knighthOod was very SPAR
ingly conferred, and it's position as
social distinction was proportionatelv
raised. But it is not too much to say
that OF late it has been distributed with
so little ci"cumspection that it has be-
come almost valueless for the purpose
for which it is supposed and ought to
exist.
So far, indeed, as knighthood is to be
regarded as mark of eminence in lit
erature, science or art, the result ap-
pears pretty much the same as that
which Thackeray describes in one of his
Roundabout Papers" as likely to have
ensued if George III. had instituted the
order of merit, which he once mad in
serious contemplation. That order was
to have been dedicated to Minerva. and
DR.. johnson himself was to have been
the first president or grand cross or
grand owl of the society. The members
were to be adorned with a star of six
teen points and yellow ribbon, and all
the recognized luminaries of the lit
erary, scientific and artistic worlds
were to be enrolled among them. But
how, Thackeray asks, when they had
all OF them been admitted, could the
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 (pip r to the most
honorable the marquis of Farintosh),
Sir Alcide Flictac (premier danseur of
Her Majesty's theater), Sir Harley Quin
and Sir Joseph Grim adj from Covent
garden). They" he adds, shave all
yellow ribbon. They are all honorable,
clever and distinguished artists. Let us
elbow through the rooms, make bow
to the lady of the house, give a nod to
Sir George Thrum, who is leading the
orchestra, and go in and get some cham
payne and seltzer water from Sir Rich
ard, who is presiding at the buffet"
This was intended to be caricature
when Thackeray wrote it But it GER
tainly reads a great deal more like a
prophecy now.-London World.
TWO SETS OF MANNERS,
That Pint IN for ron,,o, Sl,ou,a 4.