o confirm
the inference drawn, it may be well to notice in passing, that the
oldest of them have, as might be expected, been depreciated to the
greatest extent. Thus, _Master_--a word proved by its derivation and by
the similarity of the connate words in other languages (Fr., _maitre_
for _master_; Russ., _master_: Dan., _meester_; Ger., _meister_) to have
been one of the earliest in use for expressing lordship--has now become
applicable to children only, and under the modification of "Mister," to
persons next above the labourer. Again, knighthood, the oldest kind of
dignity, is also the lowest; and Knight Bachelor, which is the lowest
order of knighthood, is more ancient than any other of the orders.
Similarly, too, with the peerage, Baron is alike the earliest and least
elevated of its divisions. This continual degradation of all names of
honour has, from time to time, made it requisite to introduce new ones
having that distinguishing effect which the originals had lost by
generality of use; just as our habit of misapplying superlatives has, by
gradually destroying their force, entailed the need for fresh ones. And
if, within the last thousand years, this process has produced effects
thus marked, we may readily conceive how, during previous thousands, the
titles of gods and demi-gods came to be used to all persons exercising
power; as they have since come to be used to persons of respectability.

If from names of honour we turn to phrases of honour, we find similar
facts. The Oriental styles of address, applied to ordinary people--"I am
your slave," "All I have is yours," "I am your sacrifice"--attribute to
the individual spoken to the same greatness that _Monsieur_ and _My
Lord_ do: they ascribe to him the character of an all-powerful ruler, so
immeasurably superior to the speaker as to be his owner. So, likewise,
with the Polish expressions of respect--"I throw myself under your
feet," "I kiss your feet." In our now meaningless subscription to a
formal letter--"Your most obedient servant,"--the same thing is visible.
Nay, even in the familiar signature "Yours faithfully," the "yours," if
interpreted as originally meant, is the expression of a slave to his
master.

All these dead forms were once living embodiments of fact--were
primarily the genuine indications of that submission to authority which
they verbally assert; were afterwards naturally used by the weak and
cowardly to propitiate those above them; gradually