New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-05-31
BARON BOZ,

my dear friend,n once said Charles Lamp,
full of mystifcation, to learned but simple
minded gentleman, I" it is whispered that you
are to be made a peer.o 80 dear, no;
"hOpe not; it would not suit me at all" was
the reply. "Well, l suppose" suffered Lamb,
&" that you cannot help yourself they Will
make you q peer whether You wish or not"
And off went poor George Dyer devising ways
and means to keep himself from being made a
peer We trust that Mr.. Charles Dickens is
not in q similar dilemma; but it is whispered
that he is to be created one of the new Life
Peerage Men of letters in England have been
made belted knights or barOnets; but although
tituar distinctions of higher order have been
bestowed upon writers and scholars, 1t has been
for political services, as in the well-known cases
of Bacon, Brougham, Bulwer, and Macaulay
Upon the whole, we think that writer
whose claim is on the public affection,
and whose throne is in the public
heart-and oe whom is this more eminentlY
true than of Mr.. Dickens ?-can i'll afford to
discard the CHEEKY and familiar name which
has been uttered by so many lips with adm-
ration or affection. When we would express
the one, we use plain "Mr;" but when we
We presume that nobody has said or written
"Mr. Burns" since that great man died; yet
it is noticeable that we almost always say
"Mr. Carlyle" as if Thomas were person by
no means TO be trihed with. Goldsmith hap
pened to be a sort Of Doctor of Medicine, and
Johnson was made an Ii. D., and so both are
known as Doctors to this day; although we
relieve ourselves, sometimes, by saying poor
" Goldy,n and sometimes by writing Sam.
" Johnson What blessing it is that the
fashion of making literary lords has come In
so late Otherwise we might have had Baron
Botcourt or Sir Oliver Goldsmith. That would
not have suited us at all. We have
ALWAYS thought the "Sirn before Richard
Steelcs name an impertinent superfinty.
1t is impossible to forget that in making MIR.
Dickens n nobleman all the honor and glory
would be on the side of the Government. The
fame of that gentleman is established. He has
already an estate in every generous mind, and
NOT even in the days of chivalry could the
most powerful lord boast such band of re-
tainers His are achievements as great as any
which ever won spurs or cOronetj his nave
been bloodless triumphs over cruel wrongs ana
panoplied Injustice his battles have been
wagcd against outrage and oppression with the
pcn, and why should he be called to hOnors
| which are oftenest associated i'll mems minds
with the hatchery of the sword, or with re-
voting subseryiency to the Crown The
! credit of the installation is carried to the side
| of Government. 1t does not make the genius
of Mr.. Dickens one whit greater, but 1t shows
! its own wonderful appreciation of genius IN
general. II trades in popularity upon his
| brains. II claims a share which does not III
| the least belong TO it of his hardly earned
| laurels 1t calls upon the world to admire its
magnanmty in bestowing such unexampled
! honors upon n writer of romances, who has
| neither conquered armies nor captured fleets,
nor even made monstrOus fortune upon the
| stock Exchange.
It cannot be forgotten, either, that the honor
offered is n cheap one. Admission to Life
| Pecrage while q great hereditary nobility con-
tinues to exist in England, will bring but little
social consideration, and the real princes will
| look down upon the mock princes, rs Baronets
have always looked down upon knights. y
| nobleman whose patent dates from the Con-
! quest will regard woodworking Peer much
"a the Duke Of Norfolk might look upon a
! Scotch Judge; and will my Lord him MS
! the Grandees of Spain used to my Lord
| the new Dukes and Marquises, while they adj
dressed each other with careless familiarity.
| Succession is the root and essence of nobility.
A pecrge without pedigree, or tho prospect
of creating one, is substantial solecsm.
! While it brings no special social consideration,
| il involves an increased expenditure in keep
| ing mp a barren dignity. 1t does not found a
| family. Ii does not make q man an ancestor.
| He is lower in the pages of Burke or of De-
brett for all his peerages, than the poorest
! Baronet
Finally, we must be allowed as American Re-
publicans to put in our protest Mr.. Dickens
Charles s-Dickens-belongs to us. He
has been moro generally read and more pOpu-
| larry admired here than even in England. If
we may be allowed g speak with certain
rough sincerity, It shall be to affirm that upon
this side of the water We don't like Lords at
! ALL If the Queen would but ask Mr.. Dickens
| to dinner, or but write him half-famliar note
to say how much enjoyment his last book had
given her, we should be pleased if we thought
that the attention gratfed him. But we give
notice that we shall call him plain Dickens to
the end, whatever may be the augmentations
| of his escutcheon.
TGCRES AT FAULT