aristocracy, and the most coveted.

Nevertheless there are two or three families in France in which the
principality, richly endowed in former times, takes precedence of the
duchy. The house of Cadignan, which possesses the title of Duc de
Maufrigneuse for its eldest sons, is one of these exceptional
families. Like the princes of the house of Rohan in earlier days, the
princes of Cadignan had the right to a throne in their own domain;
they could have pages and gentlemen in their service. This explanation
is necessary, as much to escape foolish critics who know nothing, as
to record the customs of a world which, we are told, is about to
disappear, and which, evidently, so many persons are assisting to push
away without knowing what it is.

The Cadignans bear: or, five lozenges sable appointed, placed
fess-wise, with the word "Memini" for motto, a crown with a cap of
maintenance, no supporters or mantle. In these days the great crowd of
strangers flocking to Paris, and the almost universal ignorance of the
science of heraldry, are beginning to bring the title of prince into
fashion. There are no real princes but those possessed of
principalities, to whom belongs the title of highness. The disdain
shown by the French nobility for the title of prince, and the reasons
which caused Louis XIV. to give supremacy to the title of duke, have
prevented Frenchmen from claiming the appellation of "highness" for
the few princes who exist in France, those of Napoleon excepted. This
is why the princes of Cadignan hold an inferior position, nominally,
to the princes of the continent.

The members of the society called the faubourg Saint-Germain protected
the princess by a respectful silence due to her name, which is one of