Knights are addressed as _Sir_, derived from the French Sire or Sieur, which was primarily applied to lords of a certain territory, as Le Sieur de Bollebec. This title was not limited to knighthood, for the great barons also used it. So also did ecclesiastics, even those holding very small benefices. I have found no instances of priests being called Sir, since the Reformation, except Shakspeare's Sir Hugh Evans, in the Merry Wives of Windsor, and there the dramatist evidently alludes to the practice of earlier times than his own. Two other applications of the expression may be noticed--_Sire_ is a very respectful mode of address to a king; but what shall we say of the Scots, who apply it in the plural to women, and even to an individual of that sex--_Eh Sirs?_ To distinguish this, the most antient order of knights, from those of the Garter, Bath, and others, they are called Knights-Bachelors. ("What," asks Nares, "are the wives and children of a _bachelor_?") The etymology of this word in all its senses, is extremely obscure; so much so that scarcely any two authorities are agreed upon it. Menage, according to Johnson, derives it from _bas chevalier_; an unfortunate hypothesis, certainly, for it would make the compound word mean 'knight low-knight.' Knighthood at the present day, so far from being restricted to the profession of war, is often given, says Clark,[242] "to gownsmen, physicians, burghers, and artists." Nares adds, "brewers, silversmiths, attorneys, apothecaries, upholsterers, hosiers, and tailors;" and continues, "I do by no means wish to see such persons placed out of the reach of honours, or deprived of the smiles and favours even of royalty. King Alfred undoubtedly showed his wisdom in honouring merchants." He regards knighthood _inappropriate_, however, to the avocations named; but surely he could not have reflected that the successive changes which have come over the face of society have altered the import of nearly every title amongst us. The title of duke (_dux, general_) is as inappropriate when bestowed upon a civilian as that of knight--nay, more so; for in knighthood the erroneous application dies with the person honoured, while the dukedom (generalship) is hereditary. The lowest titles borne in England are those of _Esquire_ and _Gentleman_--titles which Coke (as Blackstone observes) has confounded together. Nor is it easy to discriminate between them, as every esquire is a gentleman, although every gentleman may not be an esquire. In the reign of Henry VI this difference is observable, namely, that the heads of families were commonly accounted esquires, while younger sons were styled gentlemen.