Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-01-26
BEREsPoRDs IN IRELAND.
Their Greed CT once and the Last Ones
Death.
FroM "A ~ Y0rk Tlmes.

Their Greed CT once and the Last Ones
Death.
From the Ne1O York Times
LONDON. Dec. 2).-The death of the
Episcopal Primate Of Ireland closes the
ecclesiastical history of the most famous
family in Ireland. Except perhaps in
Rome ITSELF, where ancient hereditary
Offices like those OF the Chigis have -four
ished for centuries, it may be doubted il
any other family in Europe--which means
in this case the wor1d-ever rivaled the
BeresiOrdsln monOpOliMng tOitself church
dignities and profits. English history is
bad enough in the respect of abuses in
aristOcratic patronage, but it has no
parallel for the Beresiords. They have in
a measure got through now. There
are but few place holders Of the
tribe on the Irish civil service lists now.
The head of the house. the Marquis of
Waterford, has lost heavily through the
depreciation Of rents, and nobody be-
grudges him his post Of Master OF the
Buckhounds, with its small ST, 800 year,
especially as he is not likely to keep it
long. Still less is there a disposition TO
grumble at a good ship having been given
his brother, the plucky and popular Lord
I Charles. But the death OF their aged
relative, the Most Rev. and Right Hon.
Marcus Gervais BerestOrd, recalls the
remarkable part the FAMILY has played
In the Irish church and invites retrospect
ton.
Forty years ago it was said that one
| quarter OF all the profitable places in Ire
/ land, civil or clerical, were held by Beres-
! tords. They swarmed wherever there
was bait, either in the church, the army
1 the customs, or the civil list They were
stronger than the government itself.
| Lord FitZWilliam. the best NicerOy Ireland
I 1..,l t-s. f..ssv hDs 10
chlnery by Diminishing some OF the Beres-
fOrds. and in pay for it be was forced TO
leave ireland himself. If they had even
been an old Irish family, like the Fitzger-
aids or the FitZmaurices, dating back from
the days of the Pale, this monopoly would
not have been so bad. But the first OF the
Berestords went to Ireland i'll the time Of
James /. as a manager of the London
guilds property there. He managed so
well-fOr himself-that his son became
BarOnet. But they still did not count
until the time of the first George, when
the then BarOnet married great helress
the last scion OF the de la Peers. some
OF his wiie's ancestral dlgnltles were re-
vived for him, notably the title of Earl of
Tyrone. He had nine children, and in
two generations these had multiplied like
nothing so much as the rabbits in New
Zealand. This fecundity has broken down
and ruined many arstOcratc families,
particularly in Ireland, but it only
strengthened the Beresiords. They had the
discipline of a regular army, the intel
ligence OF trained politicians, the
vOracity OF bred place hunters. They
grabbed systematically, right and lett, all
there was going. In 1894 there was a
Parliamentary return printed, showing
what the Beresiords, then living and hold
ing places in the Irish Church, had re-
celved since 1900. There was a Lord
John, who had been Bishop OF i've differ
ent Sees, and was finally Primate. There
was another BisOp of FILLMORE; there were
six others, ReCtOrs OF from two to four
livings-and during the "a years these
eight had received from the church
S4.532270. Bear in mind that this does
not exhaust the list; it simply presents
glimpse at IL at a given time. NOaccOunt
is taken in it OF the first Lord Decies, a
brother of the first Marquis OF Water
ford. who took about $1,000, 900 out OF the
see Of DrOmore before the century began,
or of the host Of relatives quartered on
the church during that same period, or Of
all that have fattened on it since 1884.
Chief among these is the Primate just
deceased-whO was in 1884 only a young
but well salaried rector under his father,
the Bishop Of FILLMORE. He practically
succeeded his parent TO this See, aud
then, when Lord John died, he was ad-
vanced to the primacy--a fine family
arrangement. During his official career,
from his taking holy orders to his death,
he must have taken in not less than
$l,s2j, 900, which is not bad for a poor
country like Ireland. But there were
some cOmpensatlOns. Like all the
BeresfOrds, he was handsome
man, princely in manner and
gracious in disposition. He gave away
a good deal; he spent still more on the
ceremonial and appointments OF his
cathedral. There was none OF the mean
and sOrGid traits which dishgure so many
ecclesiastical benehciaries about him.
There was even less of scholarly or evan
gelical pretense. He wrote no books; he
bothered with no sermons; he did as little
work as be decently could. But he was
every inch a Bishop and Primate, in his
own lOrdly, debOnair, seml-medlRYal con-
ceptiOn of the Office, and he was perhaps
the most popular Protestant prelate in
either England or Ireland.
! have spoken OF him as the last of the
clerical Berestords. Since the Irish
church has been disestablished it has not
been worth their while. No cadets of the
house are going in, ana death has removed
the last Of its older priests. The new I'r-
mate viii be some one to whom $4,000 a
year will be an object, for Armagh is cut
down TO about that now, though twenty
years ago it was worth Gl5,0O0. Perhaps
Lord Plunket, the new Archbishop of
Dublin, will absorb the thing. He is by
marriage Guinness, and that family in
terest can doubtless command the promo
ton for him II he wants 1t. But il is a
place Of small distinction now. and with
home rule on the horizon ii will DO OF still
less value to the holder. A