Note 9 — LETTER XXV.

The Italians use this article very familiarly in speaking of persons. They say the Pasta, and even the Borghese and the Chigi, in speaking of the Princesses of those names. But this is not often done by people of breeding. The custom of speaking of female artists, such as Mademoiselle Mars, without using the prefix of Madame, or Signora, is deemed mauvais ton, I believe: certainly, it is not common among the better classes, though quite common among the cockney genteel, especially among those who have travelled just enough to be preeminently affected.