, 1870-04-20
LONDON,

The English House OF Lord<-TEe
Toward Casc-I.cers in the Cab.
met.
tosEttf fot,st.ee Of TIE CAaanoo TRIBUNE.
LONDON, Marr!, O.
For many weeks the House of Lords has
been hearing claim to establish the legiti-
macy OF boy, and thus to give tislo not only
to large estates, but also 10 the peeraSa. The
evidence for and against tho claimant has been
tear'1i counsel on both eides have made their
speeches, and the Lords are now considering
what decision they must pronounce on the eri-
denee. Into the case itaelf, have no iuten-
ton Of entering in detail. It MAY be summed
up IN few senteuces- Mrs. Howard. \ lady Of
dnbioua antecedents, married = man Of no
doubtful character, who was the nearest heir
10 tho Eatldom OF Wicklow. This gentleman
spent most Of his days in n Dublin PRISON and
amused himself by getting drunk. His claar-
acter was 80 baa Is to admit Of no dcfcnce
What be did Was alwa. open to question, and
in marrying a wife he exposed himself to COM
ment rs much Is in the other actions Of his
dissoltue life. That ha did MARTY is undoubtei.
that he ever became father in legitimate
and legal manner ID less freq from auspic1on.
That his wife ever gave birth 10 mala child
has been strictly denied. However
much particular interest theso conclusions
might hare h1d few yeArs ago.
they were not matters Of general concern
The public hes other raattera 10 think Of than
those which concern the doings Of \ p1oaigasa
Ind fool But, when death had removed all
those who stood in the way Of Nra. Hovazd's
child attaining to Il lofty position among the
hereditary nristoc1acr, and when that child, if
born in lawful wedloek, would become tho leir
to a vast estate, the proceedings taken to ss-
cert the chnd's parensage and position have
excited tho public curiosity, and have fairly
taken their place n1uoag tie topics Of public
Importance, The tdAl before tho House Of
Lords has not boen devoid OF strange Incl
dents, and has possibly been marked BY hard
swearing. Some Of the Witnesses must hayc
prepared themselves. II has been swotu TINT
Mr- Howard took away an nfant from Liver
pool wcrkhouzc, which corrtsp aads with the
boy she now puts forward az her own. On thu
Other LAND the little boy las been produced
and has struck those WHO knew his father a.
bis very image Mrs, Howard, Lczpelf,
has acted III y way which il either
exceedingly foolish or else remarkably i.,,li-
e!ous. She has refused to be sworn, md has
thus lost an opportunity for giving eyideust
Winch might hare had much Weigh: with the
cou!t- it has been proved that eEe is on ex-
ceedngly good terms with a gentleman s,oar-
ms German name, and who has managed to
cseare being summoned al a wi.uess Atu-
getheI the matteF is yelled in r::etery. As far
as can ascertain, tho story taki by Mrs. Hofv-
though an improbable One. SLoi- either
woman who hss been deeply wroused, or else
one Who is the mistress Of deceit and sabscr-
fuge. That sl:e will gain her case ID doubtful;
but that tic decision Of tho IIousc Ut Lords
will throw Light tile difficulties and recoacilc
fJi.f4n ,LiIi ;t,n,.
anticipate.
THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE CrpEa EoCsE.
Having said q word about tho House Of
LORDS, let ME 60 on to point out some things
connected With it's organization which ar. not
Enslishaen well yessed ia CONSTITUTIONAL Lis
tory, who could furnish correct answers to
questions which might be put with ses.rd ta
that House. Unless err greatly, one Lord re-
serubles another. in tile opinion OF IN Ameri-
can. Probably the notion prevails IN A1ac1ica
that MI nacmbers OF the Tcerage aso members
Of the House Of Lords, aud Il .. the nosion Is
cue which may te very naturally formed aud
entertained Tho truth is, however, that our
Upper House OF Parliament is cc.nposisa
| assembly: II is madeup Of no less tnsn i've
| 1lNeteu, kinds Of Peers. the trdt cl2ss COM
| prise the hereditary Peers or those genslcrlan
| Who have done no more to merit their positions
| than to undergo the in, oluntl1y labor OF being
Eorn- That the eldeHt oon Of peer should 81,
i'll the Upper House Oh his father death il as
muth matter Of rou5so ~ that he SHOULD bo
suckled on his enteaug the world OF these
| Peers by accident OF birth, there arc less than
might be supposed. The ontire peerago nun
hc1s about $50 persons, and Of this number two
thirds have been ''crcsted" during the prcetnt
century. Those who trace their descent back
to the Conquefor, or to any other triumphant
freebooter Of the dark ages, aIo small in num-
ber, and their Claims aro not always quite clear
md dcfenHble. Not moro than three families
CAD sAdsfactori]y tEAce their descent period
50 remote as tho thirteenth century. Four
families can prove that their ancestors wero
cunobled in the fourteenth century, and seven
have an undisputed pesigree from tho af-
tecnth century downward Tho most numcr-
GUS class hss been elevated to the Peerage in
modern times. and for reasons which atcper-
fectly COMPREHENSIVE. Eoulinally the Sover-
eign creates peers: but really tho Primo MIN
ister exercises this power, Thua when the
leaders Of the respective parties hold Office,
they send their own friends to the House of
Lords, unless some man Las distinguished
himself a. pabhc servant, Las proved himself
70 be great General or Admiral, and then
their service to the public rather shan their
service to the party is recompensed
suprotc that Mr. Gladstone fou1.sl himself I'm
able 10 Withstand the opposition IN tho House
Of Lords, and that the conservative majority
which prevails there were to test all measures
y ttriet party vote, and thus put stop to
Liberal legislation. Then the Prime Minister
| wonld reeort TO the process of swamping this
| majority by creating new Peers OF d Liberal
! stamp. It i the fact that this power IL lodged
| in the hands Of the Prime Minister Of the dav,
| which renders tho Peen slow TO press any
| matter to e1t1emities, md to use their power
/! in euch wav a. 10 er1tar-aAs public business.
! There are not wanting persons Of strong rad1-
| cal tendencies who regret tlis ciecumspec:ion
maniieatea ly the House q Losds. They
| would Ike to lee matters pn.hcI to e1trelul-
ties, so that collision might take plAce be-
| tween the two Houses OF Parliament, And that
the country might be stirred up 70 delnArA the
suppression of the hereditary legislature In
prospect Of tEia occurring some day, those who
reforms would prefer to see the cess.-
ton Of tho hereditary Arrangements when
! new Peers are created They say that
House Of Peers sitting for life would not in
democratic system Of government. A il is,
several PeeIr can lcave no heits to their dtlea-
| Tho Bishops, for example, are simply life
PeeEs: their children acquire no honor On &C.
count Of their dignitiee. nor do their wsTes en-
joy the luxury OF title. Thus a contrast of
= somewhAt ludicsous kind Is Afforded when
husband and wife A1e named together. 1ns
I gentleman is, EAT, His Lordship the Arrhbish-
op Of York, while the lady ID plain Mrs
Thompson. The 1ish peers constitute tiIe
Hrdrages OF their own body. Onl! t*ent!-
eight hare seats in Parliament, and these are
sent thitker By tha votes Of the rest. The
Irish Peers arc eligible for election 70 the
! to 10 elected members Of tho other House.
! The late Lord Paluerstou was onl! an Llah
| Peer, and be sat in the Lower House By choice
| He might hAyo migrated 10 the HouSe OF
Lords had be desired it: bai r. he Taa 20
| for the shadow In the Upper House be
| would have been but An ornament; in tho
! Hou.e Of Commons be Vas a influence. The
| Scotch Peers form the fifth and last claea-
Sixteen Of their number are returned to tho
Upper House By the votes Of their fel1oHs-
! They are elected, however, for one Parliament
| on}y--in other words, for seven yeart at the
outside Moreover, there ,1re none among the
| ei1tcen 1ho ean possess aEoice in the Legeisla-
| su1s Of the nation. They arc n,era ciphc1s in
| the State. Thus yuu will Eco that our s5stem
is very complicated one, and your Eeade1s
VII probably be on thar guard against con-
sideting every British Lord who vista Chieago
- N important persenase in Great Britain;
A matter Of eoursa, the Peers Of tbs United
Kingdom are the noost respected. because they
really occupy positions Of responsibility ana
Importance. They can all help in making tho
laws which IN Irisa OK Scotch Pasr Las no op-
ton but to obey
| FERs n The NS15n1.
In Mr, Gladstone's Ministry The proportion
ct Peers is not la1gc. Nearly al the import
Int Offices Of State ala filed bT members Of
| the House OF Commons. In tha time OF Lord
Palnerstou i was otherwise He seemed 70
take delight in giving TO Peers IS many posts
as possible, and complaints used to ba made
about his practice of giving Prefsrence to
probably, was, that be dreaded rivals near bis
throne, and rseier1ea to he untramraellsd With
colleagues who might attract the notice Of thl
members Of the Lower House to Tie exclusion
OF lis own influence. OF the Peers in Mr.
Gladstoue's Ministry, the Duke Of argyll Ia
J perhaps, the one who Is best known, AMI i
most popular in America He hss raadc man,