170 CEREMONIAL INSTITUTIONS. 



nobles are called i father and mother by their subordi 

 nates.&quot; And Hue narrates how he saw Chinese labourers 

 prostrating themselves before a mandarin exclaiming 

 &quot; Peace and happiness to our father and mother.&quot; Then, as 

 a stage in the descent to more general use, may be noted its 

 extension to those who, apart from their rank, have ac 

 quired the superiority ascribed to age: a superiority some 

 times taking precedence of rank, as in Siam, and in certain 

 ways in Japan and China. Such extension occurred in an 

 cient Rome, where pater was at once a magisterial title 

 and a title given by the younger to the elder, whether re 

 lated or not. In Russia at the present time, the equivalent 

 word is used to the Czar, to a priest, and to any aged 

 man. Eventually it spreads to young as well as old. 

 Under the form sire, at first applied to feudal rulers, 

 major and minor, the title &quot; father &quot; originated our fa 

 miliar sir. 



A curious group of derivatives, common among uncivil 

 ized and semi-civilized peoples, must be named. The wish 

 to compliment by ascribing that dignity which fatherhood 

 implies, has in many places led to the practice of replacing 

 a man s proper name by a name which, while it recalls this 

 honourable paternity, distinguishes him by the name of his 

 child. The Malays have &quot; the same custom as the Dyaks of 

 taking the name of their first-born, as Pa Sipi, the father 

 of Sipi.&quot; The usage is common in Sumatra; and equally 

 prevails in Madagascar. It is so too among some Indian 

 Hill tribes: the Kasias &quot; address each other by the names 

 of their children, as Pabobon, father of Bobon! &quot; Africa 

 also furnishes instances. Bechuanas addressing Mr. Moffat, 

 used to say &quot; I speak to the Father of Mary.&quot; And in 

 the Pacific States of North America there are people so so 

 licitous to bear this primitive name of honour, that until 

 a young man has children, his dog stands to him in the 

 position of a son, and he is known as the father of his 

 dog. 



