New-York daily tribune., 1858-02-18

pstent. TIE gentry Of this county, rom which, IN
perhsps the majority Of inst'nce,; oar Reefs nes
,.i,n,;.i nn.,,,sops 20 the titled cIasses OF other
isnds ard rorrespond indeed, 20 the Old bob'esse Of
nos. Euronesn sta.es. Ii this principle OF reckoning
a5onted and dstes taken from The gentily rather
,b.n ,bs Nobility of the before u.s. our peerlge
wonld di,psy antiquity enough 20 satisfy the mot
t..;Son. sncculator Lord lIowden sis modestly
among the Bsrons Of England WIN Pa,ehs iest than
for,v Years old but il the name OF CaTadoc really rep
ss,f Carsctscus il would be hard 10 ask for any re-
mot,r foundation Of honor IL is probable, ipdeed;
that in aes many families are oi princey rank, and
perhaps in Ireend too 10! should De forgotten t1a;
y The peerage OF the United Kingdom Scottish and
Jh peer. an in virtue OF titles often junior 10 tbose
by which they are commonly known. lhe Peerage
o Scotland contains houses Of very great antiquity.
Still after all these qualifications i ~ strange tina.
old titles should have become extinct andnew titles
have been created 10 so very great an extent Prooa
by the destructive battles Of The VAR OF the Roses
in the Fifteenth century furnish ,de best explanation
of The nhsnonepon. These wars are said 10 have in
terfered very little with the everyday life Of the peo
n INT they proved the ruin and eXtrpation OF many
a noble family. :" take IT, says one of Mr..
Disraeh's heroes 81 take it after the battle OF Tow
{" ION a Norman baron was about animal
a wolf" and the comparison is not much over
strained After the accession of Henry WILL, when
these bloody contests had at length been terminated
by the coronation Of monarch with al undisputed
tile q temporal peers all that could be found 10
anne ar in the first Parliament of the new King. A.
one half of this remnant may still be traced in the roll
of 1857 the presery alton IT, perhaps, considerable
as could be expected.
II would be difficult to disparage the value of birth
in n dignity Of which the transmission depends upon
birth alone, but probably not one Engshman Ina
thousand ever gives himself the trouble OF consider
ing whether the Lord Lieutenant Of his county dates
bis patent from William Rufus or from William Pitt
In s true and character our arsocracy Is the
most genuiLe that ever existed and pr"c-ely Tor te
reason that it il perpetualy recruited from all mat s
best in the country instead of being allowed to stag
nta in iuxii ignla N M
are not bought and sold, was the case IN other
countries. They may enter occasionally INTO pohtcai
bargains but the negotiator must have already al
tained ennence before he could have had the means
of bargaining Many generations have passed since
patent Of nobility was purchased IN England, ana
whtn Clarendon relates that Charles 1. conferred
title in exchange for money he shows by his
e1cuses and explanation. that such proceeding was
thought exceptionable even when the Sovereign was
in stTas, and the applicant gentleman OF lar estate
For long time our creations have been all OF unlm-
peachable Yroprety, and IN the last lev weeks, i-
deed, the events in the East have induced many TO
wish that such honOrs were some what less sparngly
bestowed Lord Macaulay, the youngest Baron, rep
resents perhaps the single instance IN which literary
excellence has opened path to the House OF Lords,
and in his the reputation of the historian was
supported by the "reminiscences OF political service ana
an active oihcial For the rest, the dignity OF
the ChancellOrshp provides a. il were, peerage In
perretuliy a. prize for the profession of the bar
The Army aud Navy have each their chances; the di-
pIomatic service is ndulged with it turn and success
or ,bauston in the great -trie of politics may be at
tended with similar rewards. There is no occasion,
however, at the present day for regarding peerage
as synonymous with retirement. In the natural
course Of things this the highest honor which can be
reached would usually be obtained only when con.
siderable portion OF llie had been consumed IN the
struggle but certainly need not be said OF any living
statesman IA il was once said oi Pulteney that he
" sank into insigLicance and an Eardom. he House
of Lorda offers abundant scope for political eXerton,
and the opportunities as our report show, are by no
means lost 1t may safely be assumed that al
period in the annals OF Parliament hasthe Upper House
been carefully or more servceably recruited than
during the last 80 years. The patents OF our peers may
in many cases be of modern dste-Of such, Indeed,
as would still keep the p0ssessOr excluded, according
to The fantastic doctrines of old German geneaogists
from scme of the prercgaves of established nobility,
but the order represents genuine merit and active
power and ts perpetual renovation gives perpetual
vitality famous writer said few years ago, that
il our orirtoracy real arstocracy sh"uid take
the lead in all thirga, and that noble Lords ought to
he Charmen of Railway Companies. The condition,
though singular one, has not renamed unsatlsIied
IL is not, however to be expected that class which
must OF necessity De born to competence should be
AZ generally enterprising as those which have their
fortunes To make; can peerage like our own be
presumed 10 furnish SO many individual specimens
superority as peeragc in which the members are ap
pointed only for fife. Every descendant in Il line y
Kings cannot be cOuqueror like the first The tounde
of the family does the great work, and certain mum
ber Of these characters the roll before Us sbOwswn
ALWAYS be found in the list of peers. Alter this, the
chances of excellence will depend upon the resources,
the opportunities and the eIcitemens which an ee-
yatcd position conveys, and our House Of Lords may
certainly be appealed to, body in proof that such
advantages are not commonly thrown away
A ~