New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-12-20
T1TIEs AT A DISCOUNT.
,,, EASE WITH WHICH THEY MAY BE
WORN EXCEPT IN ENGLAND AND
R1ssIA-THE ALMOHADA
IN SPAIN.

parou de Courcel's resignation vi '"0 fO' N
1-ench Ambassador TO the court Oh =" '""~
Nth the announcement Of his de'er"'" ''o' -
hardon Government service as wen aS p''''.
,,re II marks the disappearance "o'' P"''',
ufe Of one Of the most eminent anu Su''9'''u
.. European diplomats likewise serves ~ go,
.,,a,,ion TO the strange manner IN whi'h
a,s,,,ctions are acquired and used in the
n,s world. For the family name OF this AM
o,o- who q few years ago was chosen 10
ID 10 over the Tribunal Of Arbitration or
i;od IN settle the difficulties between Eng
"a and the United States in connection W''h
,,.h~,,r Sea. is not really Courcel but Chau-
sro, which is the French for kettle
,, crandfa,her was the confidential lawyer
~. tho great Taleyrand. and requested the
,o,,er to,give his son the post OF attache TO MS
,-,,hossv in London. The Prince. not liking
choudron or Kettle which he knew would con-
.ost strangely with the ar!siocratc pa'r"-
.r,ics Of the others who formed the members
., his staff. induced the young fellow 10 chanse
n,s name to that Of Courcel from s''"'
farm belonging to the lawyer situated OPP
,osite the Talleyrand estate or AIMS near Jul
,,sv. Accordingly. young Chaudron "'oss'i''e"
,or,h as De Courcel. and, inasmuch as III 'hos'
aovs the title OF Monsieur was al discount
:, the French diplomatic service. his coileaeues
= o,,,ons, the first TO urge him to style him.
~, .poron" The Young attache thus con-
or,ad into a nobleman. at the time or his mar
r,are 10 the daughter of Boulay de la Meurthe
iona Of The authors Of the French civil 'ooe)'
,,sorihed his name upon the legal documents
,ha. In France are Indispensable To Haul-
r,onal allowance Baron de Courcel 'dl'
cbaudron)" But the present Ambassador mat
:. - cav the grandson Of the old Taeyrand
f,,,, his I'M -
.,,ora,her. and no one who has had the pleasure
~ meeting this most courtly and capable Of all
french Ambassadors-an Ambassador who ex-
.,,.d tho undisguised admiration and regard Of
n.,rco Rismarck-would ever for one moment
-, ,oine that his perfect manners and his arsto-
~,,,c hearing were due TO anything but the
,asarca Of the bluest OF blue blood in his
veins
THE FAMILY OF TIssERAND DE BORT.
This strange manner Of assuming titles and
=. oonvertinr names that are plebeian into names
tina. are arstocratic is very common In the
Automatic service Of France, though perhaps
,sss so to-day than twenty and thirty years
MO II is practice that has repeatedly been
held I'd 10 ridicue. notably by such writers az
"Cvp" and other portrayers or social ioipIeS
ard weaknesses. Scores OF instances slnllIar w
Baron de Courcers could be cited. notably that
=. tho late Senator Tisserand de Bort who, after
having occupied the post of Minister OF 'oii-
r,.rc. o. Paris. managed TO secure the post Of
Ambassador 10 the Court OF vienna. w ME
still occupying a subordinate post in the Gov
.-,roan, administration he succeeded in WIN
ming the hand and incidentally the fortune or
an heiress named Mile. Bort. He Immediately
tackled his vjfe's name on 10 his own by means
n, q nobarv particle and elevated his wires
villa 70 the rank of full-fedged chateau CIV
ing il the name OF Chateau de Bort On his
annontment as Ambassador 10 the Court or
Austria he took with him his son as secretary
and the Young man coolly entitled himself tho
Viscount Tisserand de Bort. title which being
recognized by the French Embassy in the per-
son OF his father. had TO be accepted by the Of
fetal world at Vienna. 1t may safely be taken
for granted therefore. that by the same process
the seIf-styled Viscount's son will in due course
drop the name of Tisserand altogether, and that
his son in turn Will advance himself into tho
rank ~ MARQUIS. Possibly We may yet live 10
see the appearance upon the scene OF Duke
de Bort and of the Chateau de Bort.
One of the strangest things about France Is
tho extraordinary increase in the number of
titles since the fall Of the Empire AS long as
The form OF Government was monarchical the
authorities still made some little pretence OF
keeping a certain check upon the assumption
NJ honorifc distinctions and unless a man be-
lorqed 10 the Court had friends in power
he ran a slight risk Of mourning certain pains
md nenaties for adopting names or titles which
he had no right 20. either by inheritance or
creation This did not. however, prevent the
Tuileries from being thronged with pseudo
aristocrats General Count de Fleury himself.
tho Master of the Horse 10 Napoleon III. being
a son OF a weii-known Hebrew householder OF
the name OF Felix. But. although the Republic
confers no titles the number OF dukes, mar
oujses and counts goes on increasing. anybody
being practically AZ liberty TO assume title.
providing it is not for fraudulent and criminal
purposes.
ADAPTATIONS OF TITLES ENCOURAGED.
I, ls difficult. however, 70 blame the French
for their shortcomings in this respect, when II
Is borne in mind that even their very rulers
have encouraged usurpations OF this kind Thus
there Is an anecdote. duly authenticated, re-
lated Of King Louis Philippe TO the effect that
when he was petitiOned by a wealthy retail
dealer n, Paris to confer upon his son the title
OF Baron on the occasion Of his marriage he
REPLIED: Mon D!eu. my dear sir. I am very
sorry: should be delighted 10 oblige you. But
you know that cannot do so without the con-
sent Of my Cabinet and the Chambers or Peers
Alas. l am not the master. But" added His
Majesty with that queer little smile which used
to flicker on his face whenever he was about to
perpetrate one OF those sOphstrics Of which ne
was so fond between ourselves. IS there any
reason why the dear boy should not assume
one Of his own choice, without going 70 any
trouble about It. just like so many others?
Save in Russia and in England, titles are con /
ferred by the monarchs Of Europe with such |
profusion as TO render them as cheap as IN |
France In Germany every officer in the army
Or navy above a certain rank is ennobled, ana /
the same ruie rrcyaiis in Austria Financicrs /