Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-03-01
TITLES OF NOBILITY.

demned as bad form. on the ground that
visiting cards are meant for use among
friends and acquaintance who are sup
posed TO he cognizant of all the claims
70 dlstlnction of the owner of the ma ste
board. To mention them on the cards l.
an act of self-assertion bordering on dis
courtesy. since it implies that the pro
prletor of the cards considers that the
recipient thereof needs to he reminded
of his social emnence.
NO objection, of course. can be found
10 mentioning on visiting cards titles
which may be regarded as CONSTITUTING !,
part of the name. Thus. although the
vie OF the present minister of war in
England is merely Lady Lansdowne to
her friends and to society. she figures as
the Warehouses of Lansdowne on hcr
cards: and the future Duchess of Rut-
iand, although spoken to as Lady Gran
hy; IS styled on her cards the Mar
chioncss of CRANKY. A dowager pecress
generally preiixcs her Christian name to
her utles so as 10 be distinguished from
the consort of the actual holder of the
peeraGe. For instance. the mother OF
Lord Dudley. q married man. styles her
self on her visiting cards ''Georgiana
Countess of Dudley
81 sir 10 their Christian names while
their wives, unless they happen to be
daughters Of an earl. marquis or duke
have the title Lady" preixed to the
wife of Sir Edgar Vincent. who is a
knight. has her cards inscribed LADY
fact that she is the daughter of the Earl
of Faveraham. Had her father not pos
sessed 4 peeraGe She would have had to
remain content with the title Of Lady
Vincent.
The lowest rank Of the pecrage is tho
order OF Baron. They are however,
never addressed as Baron. but al
which is use -. their cards. \ peer Of
the order of Raruns wn,, is addressed as
Baron" would feel deeply offended,
. 4
ttular point of view upon the level Of
those Barons of the petty German states
where dgnitics of this kind are scattered
about broadcast in an indiscriminate
Strictly speaking, British peers are en-
titled to be formally addressed by letter
as The Right Honorable" marquiscs
a Most in the b ame a. rns
are addressed to His Grace" All these
forms of Right Honorable" Most Hon
more formal and ceremonious correspon-
dence and in cases where the parsonage
addressed occupies high official posi-
ton; In ordinary social intercourse one
Westmeath.' Thus it is perfectly right
the Right Honora bic in addressing even
non official letter 10 Lord Pauncefote.
who is not only privy councillor to the
Queen, but likewise her ambassador at
bad form to have used the same ceremo-
NOUS mode of address in sending, say. a
letter of invitation to the young Lord
Westmeath when he was attached TO the
British embassy at Washington
The general tendency in England is to
dispense as much as possible with the
use of titles in social intercourse. the la
dies of the reigning family. from the
Queen herself down to her little three
year-old great -grandchid. daughter OF
the Duke and Duchess of York. being ad
me y-bi
cry royal prince is styled sir. the titles
Your Majesty" and Your Royal High
ness" being rarely used save on extreme
ly cermonious occasions.
The same reluctance TO make use Of
titles in social intercourse is to be found
among the old aristocracy all over Con-
tnental Europe. At Madrid. for instance,
and in patrician society at Rome. Flor
ence and other Italian cities. where the
mobiles have sometimes a string of twenty
, titles apiece, ranging from duke down 20
| prefix Don to their Christian names.
| their wives and daughters in the same
/ way using the word "Dond' in lieu of
any title. Indeed. titles are little used
| on visiting cards by the old patrician
| families except when abroad. where their
| names might be unknown-those name;
| which to Italian and Spanish ears con-
vey far greater degree of iustre and
OF social prestige than any nobiliary II
! tie.
| These same patricians who are so in
| different with regard to their own titles
make a point of being excessively pune
| tilious in giving them in full to people
| whose titular honors are of recent crca-
| ton. Nothing is more instructive than
at Rome or Madrid at some reception to
| observe how the members Of the old pa
trican families, after addressing one an
| other as Don I.ivio. Don Carlo.
| "Dona Vittoria'' or bona Lima" with
an emphasis that partakes of irony give
! in sonorous tone of voice their tulI
titles to persons whose nobility Is of the
mushroom order.-New York Tribune.