The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-05 00:00:00

nin et inn '12,41°.

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, March 4.
The Queen drove in the grounds this morning,
accompanied by Princess Louise.

His Excellency the Spanish Minister and Coun-
tess de Vistahermosa entertained at dinner, last evening,
Lady Egerton of Tatton and the Hon. Miss Egerton, the
Right Hon. Sir Hamilton and Hon. Lady Seymour, the
Right Hon. Sir Andrew Buchanan, G.C.B. (her Majesty's
Ambassador to the Court of Russia), and Lady Buchanan,
his Excellency the Portuguese Minister Count de Lavra-
dio, his Excellency the Greek Minister M. Brailas Armein,
his Excellency Count de Rilvas (the newly appointed
Portuguese Minister to St. Petersburg) and Countess de
Rilvas, Mr. Middleton, and Mr. Solivores, Attache to the
Legation.

IILSTO.RICAL 7ITLES-THE EARLDOM OF

DERBY.

-s--

(From the Limrpool Mercury.)
We have already mentioned the existence of a
rumour that the Queen, with her usual considera-
tion for past services, has offered to raise the present
Earl of Derby to the rank of a duke. We have no
means of knowing whether this is true or not, but
it very probably is. We trust, however, that the
ancient title of " Earl of Derby," which has been
familiar to the people of England, and especially
to the people of Lancashire, for so many hundred
years, will not be superseded by any other title,
however honourable or dignified. Indeed, we may
almost venture to hope that a nobleman of so
fine a taste as the present earl, and whose
memory is so rich in historical associations, will not
allow this ancient title to pass away from the minds
and the lips of his fellow-countrymen by taking any
other title whatever.

The number of ancient titles now remaining in
existence in this country is by no means large. In
the whole peerage there are not more than fifteen
to twenty English titles which go back further
than the commencement or even the middle of the
sixteenth century. Some titles of a more ancient
date than this have been swallowed up by more
modern promotions. Thus, for instance, the an-
cient barony of the great historical family of the
Nevilles has been swallowed up and lost in the mo-
dern title of Earl of Abergavenny. The still more
distinguished title of Earl of Northumberland, which
dates almost from the Norman conquest, has also
been swallowed up, though not altogether lost, in
the modern dukedom of Northumberland. In the
latter case there was a reason for the change, as the
family which now bears that title is descended from
the Percys, Earls of Northumberland, not by the
male, but by the female line. They could only have
been Earls of Northumberland by a new creation,
and as a new creation was necessary they very
naturally chose a dukedom instead of an earldom.
But where a great historical title descends through
heirs male through a long course of ages, the original
title possesses a much greater dignity than can pos-
sibly be given to any new creation, even of a higher
rank.

The great English historical families above the
rank of baron are very few in number, and even
the ancient baronies are almost all titles revived by
the Crown in favour of heirs general, after the male
heirs had become extinct. But there are a few of
the original titles still in existence which have been
held by heirs male in uninterrupted succession to the
present time. The first of these is that of the Howards ,
Dukes of Norfolk, which dates from the 15th cen-
tury. Thisancientanddistinguished title, after pass-
ing through almost innumerable political storms, in
which one Duke of Norfolk was killed in battle, an-
other brought to the block, and a third brought
very close to it, has come down to our own times,
with a fair prospect of continuing through future
generations. In the same way the title of the
Talbots, Earls of Shrewsbury, after being repeat-
edly, to all appearance, on the point of extinction,
has outlived all those perils, and is still held by a
lineal male descendant of the famous John Talbot,
the hero of the wars of France and Burgundy.
The title of the ancient family of Hastings has
also come down to modern times, although the
estates have gone to a younger branch of the family
—namely, to that of the Marquises of Hastings,
whilst not more than the title of Earl's of Hunting-
don belon gs to the elder branch. The Seymours
(Dukes of Somerset), who have recently absurdly
changed their name to St. Maur, also belong to this
class of the nobility, and like the Howards claim
to have intermarried with the Royal family of
England. In the Seymours there have been
what we may call two male branches, as accord-
ing to the original settlement the younger branch
succeeded to the title; but in the course of ages that
branch became extinct, and the elder one took its
place, and still holds the title and estates. The
Herbert family, Earls of Pembroke and Mont-
gomery, also holds rank amongst the older families
of the nobility, and will continue to be represented
by the male descendants of Lord Herbert of Lea.
The Courtenays, Earls of Devon, who are said by
some authors to be the oldest family in Europe, have
also been reinstated by a decision of the House of
Lords, after having been supposed to be extinct in
the male line. The Stanleys, Earls of Derby, are
almost the only other family which belongs to the
same class of the nobility ; and the title which has
been so long borne by them is probably better known
in English history than that of any other of our
ancient historical families.

The title of Earl of Derby was created long be-
fore the titles of duke and marquis were known in
this country. There were no dukes in England
until the reign of Edward 111., when that great
warrior conferred that title on his sons and on his
cousin, the first Duke of Lancaster ; and the title of
marquis is somewhat less ancient in this country
than that of duke. In very early times even the
sons of the King had no higher title than that of
earl, which had come down from our Danish and
Saxon ancestors. The title of Earl of Derby was
created in the 12th century, and has been borne in
succession by three families, viz., by De Ferrers, by
the Lancaster branch of the House of Planta-
genet, and by the House of Stanley. The title is
in the highest sense historical. The first Earl of
Derby, of the De Ferrers family, obtained Ms earl-
dom for his distinguished services at the Battle of
the Standard, fought near Northallerton, in York-
shire, and in which a most formidable Scottish army
which had overrun the north of England was de-
feated. The last member of the De Ferrers family
who held this title forfeited his estates and his
title by taking the side of the people in the
barons' wars, in the reign of Edward 111., along
with Simon de blontford and other distinguished
members of the peerage. The title then passed into
the house of Lancaster, and was borne as a separate
title by the son of one of the earls of Lancaster.
It was also borne for a time by Henry of Bolking-
broke, of the same family. It then remained un-
known, along with other dignities of the house of
Lancaster, until the last grand struggle between the
houses of York and Lancaster. This took place on
Bosworth field, in the year 1485, when the title
was granted as the reward of victory by Henry VII.
to Thomas, Lord Stanley, who had really won the
crown for him. From that time to the present the
title of Earl of Derby has remained uninterruptedly
in the hands of the Stanley family, who have
thus possessed it for very nearly 400 years.
With one exception—namely, that of the earldom
of Shrewsbury, which is held by a family closely
connected with the Stanleys—the earldom of Derby
is the oldest of 110 English earldoms which floss'
entitle peers of the United Kingdom of that rank to
seats in the House of Lords.

But it is not merely antiquity, it is chiefly his-
torical eminence, which confers dignity on these
titles ; and if we take into view the great part
played in the history of England by the Earls o'
Derby in ancient and modern times, there is no tit
now in existence that possesses a greater historical
interest, or which the people of England would bo
less willing to see smothered and lost in a modern
creation, even if it was to the very highest rank ill
the peerage, •