The Washington times., 1901-09-15
ABOUT ROYAL TITLES.
HiEhpess, Altitude, Majesty, Serenf-
ties, and other Addresses.

The first royal parsonage connected with
Canada who had himself addressed as
Royal Highness was that of CASTOR d Or
leans, brother of Louis XIII, whose re-
bellion was the means of bringing to the
scaffold a yiceroy of Canada of the IA
nous house of Montmorency- CASTOR and
the King were brothers of Henrietta Ma
ria, wife of our Charles l, who shared
with the house of Stuart the blood of the
Bourbons. Highness without the royal
was used by the sovereigns of England
until the days Of Henry VIII. who was
first dubbed majesty by Francis |. royal
master of our Cartier. on the Field of
the Cloth of Gold. Grace a common al
tentative for highness. while it was a pre-
rogative Of Kings. has in later usage been
conferred on dukes and duchess, and, in
the hierarchy, on Archbishops.
Kings jid not always willingly concede
to others the titles that they arrogated
to themselves. The chancery of the En-
pire Qn the times when there was but
one Empire) withheld from mere Kings
the title of majesty long after European
monarchs had begun to assume it. 1t was
not until 1913 that the imperial offices
ceased calling the French Kings sereni-
ties, and in no other State did they rec
varied at different Courts. France al
lowed the quality of majesty to the King
of Denmark in I7O0. and in 1713 to the ex-
Elector Of Brandenbrrg. known in his
tory as King of Prussia for two centuries
Majesty is. nevertheless. an ancient little.
the Emperor Diocletian having assumed 1t
early in the fourth century.
The term altitude, the Latin original
for altesse. hoheit. and highness, came
in soon after Diocletian's assumption of
majesty, but 1t was not at first a lay
dignity, being for several centuries and
down to the close of the first Christian
millennium appropriated by Bishops. In
the fourteenth century 1t began to be
used by monarchs who were vassals of
the Empire. and from them descended. as
of royal houses.
There are certain delicate distinctions
between terms that to the unnitiated
might seem Identical and which have been
invented to accommodate the vanities of
the great OF these Is the law that hoheit
Is a title intermediate between altesse
royale and altesse serenissme. Hoheit
alone Is ducal but with koenigliche or
kaise-liche it is considerably higher
Royal highness IS common dn the Brit
ish Empire) to the sons and daughters and
some ether relatives Of the sovereign. But
the heir to the throne with us. as In some
other monarchies. has long had some dis
tinctive territorial titles Wales, Corn
wall, York, Lancaster, Richmond, Glou-
cester, Clarence. Cumberland. Edinburgh,
etc, have been borne at times by the heir
apparent or presumptiVe to the crown Of
England, as Orleans, oporto. Braganza,
Genoa, Sparta. Naples, Rome, Orange.
Flanders, Gothland and many others in
foreign lands. The dauphin is ultimately.
though Indirectly, territorial. Infante and
infanta, crown prince, cron princess.
prince imperial. czarewitch. are other va
rieties.
There was once an Earl of Cornwall.
who was also called King OF the Romans.
but although he bore that name. he never
attained to the imperial crown. 1t was
in imitation Of the usage of the old Ger
man or Holy Roman En- pire that Napo-
leon called his son Roi de Rome. His ca
reer also was cut short. There Is an ex-
Lieutenant Governor OF a Canadian pro-
vince who claims descent from that Hen
~, King of the Romans (sometimes called
emperor by his too enthusia site follow
ers) who was also an Earl of Cornwall
We shall soon have the privilege OF greet
ing Duke of Cornwall, who Is undis-
puted heir to the crown Of G greater EN-
pire. We are not ambitious to call him ]
King. though We glory In him as our
Kings son.-Montreai Gazette.