The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-07-06


That England beats no dukes
The title WAS distasteful " divers mobiles, who
held Il omnOus, on the ground that 30 many
who had borne it had lost their heads. King
James, however, revived the ducol order in 1913,
by advancing George Villiers to the rank OF the
Duke OF Buckingham.
The omen was fulfilled in this case. OF the |
three staff rds who had been Dukes OF Buck |
iuRham before him, Humphrey was slain, and |
Henry and Edward we're beheHded. And then |
this George Villcrs was assessnated, and his |
son died beggar ana childlcss. In the Shet- |
fields this dukedOm passed but from one father
TO one son. That sou died miner, and him and
his house Pope celebrated ia the Eptaph on the
last of the Shetiields -
"a race for courage famed, and art
Ends in the uilder merit Of the heart
And, chiefs or ssges long to Britain given,
Pays tire last tTibue "a saint 10 heAYen.'
Young ShcfIeld, Duke of Buckingham, a. fast
died in his bed. Other lines ended In other ways.
Although peers be titled gentlemen, who erjoy
such privileges as freedom from arrest IT civil
suits, and the right TO wear their hats, AZ they
choose TO be rude In Courts of Justice; and
although they have the exercise of various judi
cia functions, the grandeur Of the position has
oft times suffered much abatement, There was
formerly in titled life as much peril asgrandeur.
Take, for instance, the eighteen Errlsof Nosthum-
berand. The first three were siain; the fourth,
Cospatrick, from whom the Dundases are de-
scended, died in exile; tb fifth was beheaded;
the sixth, who was also Bishop Of Durham
(Walcher) was murdered the seventh fthe Nor
man Alberick). was deprived and pronounced
unfit fer the dignity" the eighth died
a prisoner for treason the ninth and tenth hardly
come into the account, for they were Henry and
Malcom, princes ,Cf Scotland, who were sort Of
honorary Eafls OF Northumberland; the eleventh
earl was the Old-Bishop Pudsey, OF Durham, VINO
bought the eardOm for Ell 900, but was subse-
quently deprived of il and thrown into prison.
Then fane the Percys. The first earl OF that
hOHsu but the twelfth In succession, after the
death of his son, Hotspur, at Shrewsbury, was
himself elan I'M battle; the thirteenth earl fell ut
st. Albans, the fourteenth at TOwson, the nj
| teenth at Barnet, the sixteenth WAS murdered,
| the seventeenth was the first to die natural
death, and the eighteenth left no children. He,
/ indeed, left brother; but Sir Thomas Percy WAS
attainted, and his honors became extinct.
The son of Sir Thomas was restored In blood
| and title after Dudley, Duke of fNorthnmberan6,
| WAS behoaded; but the restored earl was himself
beheaded in 1872. IL was his nephew, Earl
Henry, the husband of Dorothy, one of the sisters
| OF Essex, who suffered fifteen years imprison-
| ment in the Tower, and was mulcted in q fine of
| 900 900, not somuch because he failed to prove
| that be was not concerned in the Gunpowder
| Plot, but because the Percy who todS actively
| engaged in it was his kinsman aud servant. lie
| was the last Earl of his line who suffered per-
| sonal constraint; and in his grandson, Josceltne
Percy, the male line became extinct in 1870.
We could cfto the lines of other noble houGes
the honors of which have had as much glocm
as glory, more peril than comfort, about them.
We will rather complete the sketch of the Percy
family by stating that the earl Joseeine's sole
child and beiress, Elizabeth, married che
proud Duke of Somerset" in which title their
son, AlgerDou Seymour, succeeded them, with
that of Earl OF Northumberland added thereto.
This Algernon Seymour, like Joseehne Percy,
| had but one child, Elizabeth, sole helress now
| of the Somerset and Northumberland proper
| ty. This Elizabeth once expressed her sur-
| prise at a lady having refused an offer of mar
rage made 70 her by the handsome bar met
| Sir Hugh Smithson, whose father is descriEed
| by some writers 40 n London apothecary, Dui
| whose family, landed gentry in the north, IRON
| the time Of the Conquest, WAS as noble as that
| of the PCrcys aud only inferior 10 1t in the f2c
that the hereditary title of the one was higher In
the scale of precedence than the other. Sir Hugh
| married the Percy lheiress and was subsequently
created Duke Of Northumberland in l7d6. lu
the wel-nigh hundred years that have slnc'
elapsed, there have been four dukes-Sr Hugh
his son, and two gandsons. In the latter, as II
the earlier DAYS, these NorthumbriRn mobiles
have had 70 risk their lives in battle the presen
, | duke wss in Lord Exmouth's expedition TO Al
/ | giers. and his father distinguished himself IL
| America. ,
The latter, too, came into collision with tn,
| Government of his day, as his remote predeces
{ sors had often donei but IN his case with les
! calamitous issue. George III had promised hin
| the GoyernUrship Of Ty nemOuth; but tho kiHj
} | broke his royal word. When he was, su0se
| queDtly, asked to go out 70 America as Comnls
sioner with promise of the Garter ON his return
: | he peremptorily refused and when asked for tn
) grounds OF his refusal, he as promptly answered
{ | his experience Of what court promises were!
{ Il has been remarked that the cadets Of nobl
} | families, however low they may have fallen, los
{ nothing of their nobility, and may be the true re
| representatives. Of line whose elder branches ar
extinct If this rule be exactly as we have stated
D | Percy, the Irish runk-maker, who claimed 10 D
G | the heir of Josceline Percy, TO the deIiment o
? the great heiress Elizabeth, may have had n
. grounds for his claim as next heir, and yet ma
( | have been cadet OF the family. lu the Las
1 century, the old noble Scottish line OF ormlsto
had a cadet Of the house. and probably a repre-
= sentative OF the lords Of the land near hOntrost
5 in the person OF Ornuston, the Edinburgh hahg
u man.
To return TO England let us observe, that
: | an essentially hereditary peerage peerages Il
|" lite are undoubtedly an anomaly, Tue graz
. | which made Sir James Parke, Blron WensleI
dale for the term of his natural life, WAS so que
= toned in the Upper House, that the Crow
u yielded 10 the pressure, and the title was r.
= granted to him and his heirs In the earlier ca
r Of Chief Justice Clifford, life peerage was pr
p .posed but declined and the learned lord ult
e uately Ohancd his bironial coronet with q
usual stipulaiions lie is distinguished as Oeir
y the only English peer who was az the slme tln
o Master OF the Rolls. In KING James ], ; tim
n h, weyer, there was a Scottish peer, Lord Bruc
IL who held the same office.
j. In must bc remembered, nevertheless, that pr
II cedents for authorizing creations OF NE paeraS
5, | exist Henry vi created Richard Beauchau
3 (Earl of WARWICK Earl of AlOemare for III
y At his death his son Henry succeeded him
/ tie earship of Warwick, and he was SUBS
- | uuputlV the sole Duke OF W uIWlNh ANllu plbN
It dence next 70 Norfolk and before Buckingham
% ON the roll Of the peerage; but the title OF All
Is rrorIe expired ut Richard Beauchamp's death
y I43g. nor was il heard Of again till 1860 VII
d George Monck was created Baron Monck
Potleridge (his birthplace), and BeauchaL
p Earl of Torrington and Duke Of Albamarle'
u The only other instance we can recall TO mi
u of a peerace granted for life was in 1877, wh
3 Guiscard d'Angle, of POitou, was created E
u of Huntingdon tOtd ria Sua durdnte; and alain
II l4l6. when Thomas Beaufort, Earl OF DORIS
= was created Duke of Exeter for ne On
= olber hand the creation of peeresses for life
been exceedingly common. We need but OF
u cite the Baroness Belasyze, the Countess
u buckingham, the Countess Of Chesterfield, a
lie Duchess OF Cleveland the Duchess OF D'
: lev the Countess of Guildford, the Duchess
y Portsmouth, the Countess Rivers, the Baron
q Sandvs the Countess Shepey, and The Count
a Stafford. as the most familiar samples. fernl
: tbe most curious title ever conferred on "a ia
s was that of Baronetess in her own right, wh
was conferred In 1925, on Mistress lwho then
"a ! came Lady, Bolles. This dame lies burleu
I'd Ledsham.
sn AlisslIiances by way Of marriage have not D
sh soauelly visited In England rs on tle eontlnu
,u. hNSA In the celebrated case OF MlhlLieul
ny ny eans aaaid, IL will be remembered that lne ~
~; hlfIotAs oi The fact OF her marriage allows Z
an II hhe lnde spoiled the blood Of the Bickersla
oni ~, sno n.ly mns0 improved their constlIuuo
III si,,tlsr snssh ssssh eoncession made IN OeI u9 8