Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 10.djvu/42

 NOTES AND QUERIES. m s. x. JULY n, 1914.

' THE ETHICS OF THE DUST ' (11 S. ix. 289, 336). 4. When Buskin referred to Richter's " lovely illustrations of the Lord's Prayer," he probably had in mind the German artist (Adrian) Ludwig Bichter, 1803-84, and not the painter of English birth, but German parentage, Henry James Bichter, 17721857, suggested by your correspondent MR. HOWARD S. PEARSON. Ludwig Bichter was probably the most popular German illustrator of his day. Among other works he illustrated Schiller's ' Lied von der Glocke,' Goethe's ' Hermann und Dorothea,' Hebel's ' Alemannische Gedichte,' the collec- tions of fairy-tales by Musaus and Bechstein, and ' The Vicar of Wakefield,' which, by the way, has always been a favourite English novel with the Germans. His illustrations of the Lord's Prayer which are indeed " lovely " appeared for the first time in 1856 ; the series consists of nine woodcuts. Ludwig's work is typically German, and as homely as some of the fairy-tales which he has so charmingly illustrated. The sim- plicity of his style reminds one of Diirer. I may add that his ' Lebenserinnerungen eines deutschen Malers,' which appeared posthumously, is the most amiable auto- biography that it has been my pleasure to read. In the city of Dresden a monument has been erected in honour of its beloved son. C. H. IBERSHOFF.

Madison, Wisconsin.

" MASTER " AND " GENTLEMAN " DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY IN ENGLAND (US. ix. 510). On further investigation, I think, your correspondent will find that "Master" was a title of office, and " Gentleman " a title of social rank. The case he cites of the overseer of fortifications evidently refers to a Quarter Master. A similar title of office was that of Master at Arms. In the Navy there were such titles of office as Quarter Master, Sailing Master, &c. In civil life an employer of labour of any sort was a "Master." At the old English Universities the title belonged especially to those who graduated as Masters of Arts, &c. The head of the college was "The Master" par excellence. So it was with the schools. There was one "Master"; the other teachers were known by another name. In all these cases the title was one of office, and it belonged to those who held the office whatever their social origin might have been.

The title of " Gentleman " was different. It referred primarily tp birth] and social

position. There were certain occupations which gave the title to those who followed them. The Army, the Navy, and the Law were three such occupations. It used to be said that a lawyer was a gentleman by Act of Parliament. It meant that the Legislature looked upon a lawyer as having the status of a gentleman, and designated him as such in its proceedings, quite irre- spective of his birth.

The great difference seems to be that a man can be born a gentleman, but he cannot be born a Master. As there is no caste system in England, a man by his ability or intellectual aptitude has always been able to climb into the higher grades ; and this process was going on in the seven- teenth century just as it is going on now.

F. P.

DUKE OF SUSSEX : MORGANATIC MAR- RIAGES (11 S. ix. 470, 518). The tradition in the Dunmore family is that the Duke of Sussex was bribed by the payment of his debts to repudiate Lady Augusta Murray. The very dissimilar treatment of Lady Cecilia Buggin (nicknamed " Duchess of Nevertheless ") was attributed to Whig influence at Court.

Some authorities hold that Col. D'Este had a rightful claim to the throne of Hanover, the Boyal Marriage Act affecting only the succession to the English crown.

G. W. E. B.

The Boyal Marriage Act was one of expediency to safeguard the Boyal family, and so many of the sons of George III. tried to evade it that the King found himself forced into a very strict observance of the Act, for he saw the danger of complications with subjects when his son or sons came to the throne. It was also expediency, tem- pered by affection, which led Queen Victoria to disregard the Act in the case of her uncle, the Duke of Sussex. She knew that he would never come to the throne, that no children would result from the union, and that he had from her babyhood shown more thought for her than had all the other uncles together. Though Sussex joined his royal brothers in their jealousy of Prince Albert, he was always the first to give way to Her Majesty's desires. When the trouble about the Prince's precedence occurred in the House, he was quick to seize the opportunity by sending a message to the Queen that he desired an important favour, and Her Majesty at once guessed that this was in connexion with Lady Cecilia Underwoods