LLL ૧ ffrom a Booke which y Lord Buckhurst delivered to Edward Clarke of Lyncoln's Jun to peruse Anno Elizabeth's 26°/ ffrom Sur Thos Haros book of Swan Mark's on the Rover Ouse time of Queen Eliz Swan Mark of Lord Halfs ole THE SWAN-MARKS OF THE WALPOLE FAMILY. by 22 Edward IV., cap. vi., that "Where as well our said Sovereign Lord the King, as other Lords, Knights, Esquires, and other Noble men, &c., have been heretofore greatly stored of Marks and Games of Swans in divers parts of this Realm of England, until of late divers keepers of Swans have bought and made to them Marks and Games in the Fens, &c. . . . by which unlawful means the substance of the Swans be in the hands and possession of Yeomen and husbandmen, and other persons of little reputation. "Wherefore it is ordained, &c. . . . that no Person shall have or possess any such Mark or Game of his own, except he have Lands or Tenements of the Estate of Freehold to the yearly value of Five Marks above all yearly charges." The marking of a swan was upon its beak, and the accompanying illustration shows the various marks which were used by the Walpole family upon their birds. Identically the same swan-marks are depicted as the marks of the Walpole family in two books on vellum acquired by the British Museum, 1877. Vol. I., p. 77: 4-5-6-7-8. Vol. II.: 4-5-6-13-14. IS THERE A FRENCH NOBILITY? TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF M. A. DE ROYER BY L. D. J. II. F our dear and well-beloved Marianne, third of the name, ordained in her turn, to-day or to-morrow, a little washing of names and of titles, we should assist at a tremendous downfall, which at the same time would be in the highest degree comic. What surprises should we not find among our own friends, even! The Marquis de G..., considered by the boulevard press as one of the most authentic representatives of the old nobility, would be extremely embarrassed were he called upon to produce a single document justifying his title, which is as imaginary as his surname. As for the Baron de V..., well known in the literary world, he would become merely M. C.... For the Comte de la Hon..., founder of a society bearing the name of one of the Crown jewels, he would be obliged, to his shame, to acknowledge that he is vulgarly called Pot..., and that his ancestors, who ascend only to his grandsire, were chair-menders and makers of corks. And what tragic happenings there would be in our beau-monde ! Paris is peopled with accidental aristocrats. One may be sure that in their nobility there is nothing of the chivalric, and that their names ring as falsely as the blazons which they have created for themselves. If you have the curiosity to inquire concerning their arms, imaginary and non-enregistrable, they could neither explain their origin nor a fortiori their raisons d'être. We have in France nearly 45,000 noble families. This is more than excessive. Admitting that, on an average, each of these families possesses at least three male members, France would boast the rare privilege of having more than 135,000 noblemen. What a formidable army! But from these 45,000 families it is necessary to deduct 25,000 which are transparently false. Of the other 20,000, more or less doubtful-and rather more than less-there are not more than 450 who can pretend to blood nobility. More curious still, it is our republican and democratic régime which devotes itself to an unbridled manufacture of nobles, by according and sanctioning additions to names and making concessions of titles. This is what is called working for democratization and the equality of all citizens. Every year the Chancery sanctions, on an average, some forty of such concessions, the demands being classed in chronological order, according to the date of the insertion of their announcement in the Journal Officiel—a date which ignores the three months' delay required under the law of the eleventh Germinal of the year XI., and the decree of June 8, 1859, in order that requests may be subject to investigation and proper consideration. At the head of each of these concessions one reads: "Decree of the President of the French Republic, countersigned by the Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice, etc." Behold why the number of "nobles" is continually on the increase. Toleration appears to countenance those who, having seen their demands rejected, take absolutely no notice of the check. Among these we may notice: Marquet, Houssaye (dit "de la "), the Vasselots, calling themselves Comtes de Vasselot, and mentioned every day in the "fashionable news," Theurier, etc. . . For the rest, let us say that the Chancery complaisantly concedes everything which is demanded of it. M. Dulac, retired banker, wished to call himself du Lac de Beaujon. His request was granted in these terms: "M. Dulac is authorized to substitute for his present name that of du Lac de Beaujon. Two years later the new du Lac became Comte! . . . Let us take yet other examples from among the most recent : M. Vimal (Paul-Antoine-Marie), formerly Councillor of the Appeal Court of Riom, living in that town, and M. Vimal (Charles-JeanBaptiste-Antoine), his son, a barrister at Riom, acting as much in his own name as in that of his son, Vimal (Jacques-Marie), a minor, aged five years, petitioned to add to their name that of their mother and grandmother, de Fléchac (October 26, 1890). M. Barbier (Marie-Léopold-René), barrister, born at Alençon April 17, 1859, and residing there, petitioned to add to his name that of Faulcon de la Parisière (January 10, 1891). M. Pourget (Paul-Marie - René- Gaston), Sub-prefect of Toul, born at Rambouillet December 9, 1855, great-grandson of General Dumottier de la Fayette, and grand-nephew of M. EdmondFrançois Dumottier de la Fayette, who died a Senator for HauteLoire, obtained permission to add to his name that of Dumottier de la Fayette (May 2, 1895). M. Chabaud, living in Paris, asked permission to bear the name of de Chabaud de la Guillauche; etc., etc. For some time the nobility epidemic has raged in France with redoubled violence, and the offices of the Chancery have become truly admirable for their celerity in expediting business of this nature. Under the reign of M. Félix Faure, the Chancery of Titles has become the most prompt and most perfect of administrations, and that which is least troubled with the Chinese-like formalities of other Government departments. In this ennobling business they are energetically aided by the Sovereign Pontiff, who on his side annually grants and concedes some sixty titles of Count and Prince! Although these too numerous privileged beings know well enough that their titles are as valueless as the decorations sold by Wilson, they adorn themselves with them all the same. Let us add that these honorary distinctions only cost certain thousand franc notes to those who desire them, and that the money realized in this way goes to swell the Peter's-pence fund. The Holy See does not take into account the occupation of the applicants, and so M. Leon, a sausage-seller, awoke the other morning Comte de Saint Leon, a name having no connection with his former trade. The name of nobility is to-day so much corrupted, as M. Taheireau has said, that it practically appertains to all the rich and the welldressed. L Let us cite in passing some titles of Comte: M. Achille Begé, hereditary Count by Pontifical brief, formerly Councillor of State. M. Louis Cayrois de Saternault, hereditary Baron by Pontifical brief of July 7, 1892. M. Henri Durien, hereditary Count by brief of June 10, 18..., formerly Receiver-General of Finances. M. Lavenay (Victor-Hippolyte-Mathieu de), Comte by brief of 189..., President of a section of the Council of State. M. Mathieu (Jean-Michel-Eugène), Comte by brief of 189..., formerly Auditor to the Council of State. This epidemic goes on increasing; no remedy moderates this fever for nobility, which attacks also Republicans occupying Government posts. We have had Republican Ministers who took it into their heads one fine day to adopt the canting arms azure, 3 cartwheels or, 2 and 1; without forgetting M. Félix Faure, our dear President of the Republic, who has been overcome by the infatuation for a blazon, and has had some fanciful armorial devices painted on the panels of his carriages! This supreme head of a great country like France aspires to become the "last," the most recent of our "nobles." What a sign of decadence! all the more sad that it strikes as far as the first democrat of the country, the man who owes the most to democracy and its principles of equality. Frenzy for grandeur, whither wilt thou conduct us? (To be continued.) A TREATISE ON THE LAW CONCERNING NAMES AND CHANGES OF NAMES (continued). CHANGE of name requires the Royal Sanction. The first instance of a change of name by command of the Crown occurred in the year 1106. Nigel de Albini, who (according to the register of Furness Abbey) was bow-bearer to Rufus and Henry I., at the Battle of Tinchebray dismounted Robert, Duke of Normandy, and brought him prisoner to the King. Henry gave the lands of the attainted Robert de Moubray, Earl of Northumberland, "in Normandy and England, to Nigel, as a reward for his great services and |