Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1889-09-12

" valued was the right ef Q reer Of
the realm TO demand a trial BY a jury
Of his peers if charged with treason or
felony. Such trials, however. are Of
very rare Occurrences and the privilege
amounts to very little II is largely
responsible for the ancient saying
about there being one law for the rich
and another for the poor, especially as
in times gone by n peer had to be
wealthy. and was even dispossessed of
his title II his fortune fell below what
was considered the nobleman's mini
mum
Among the other privileges of the
individual is freedom from arrest in.
civil actions and the exemption of the
person from attachment. To-day this
does not amount to much, rs arrest In
civil suits is a very rare occurrence
But it was different in the old i'm
prisonment-for-debt days. when the
pri vilege was often extremely on-
yenient. Il is quite commonly sup
posed that u peer can no be arrested
by the police for a criminal O~ffense,
bat this is an error. and of late years
several nOblemen have been run in
for misdemeanors. Exemption from
jury service is often a mere
valuable privilege, and a peer
has also the right to sit in any
court Of Justice with his hat on. a right.
il is needless to add, that few noble
men are caddish or idiOtic enough to
take advantage OF. The Barous of
kingsdale possess. iE addition. the
right in ~perpetuity Of sitting in the
presence Of royalty with their heads
covered. In an American novel there
is M amusing reference to a nobleman
who was granted the right to sit in the
presence Of the King. and it is to be
presumed the author had the Kings
dale privilege in his mind when he
penned his little satire.
There are few other privileges pos
sessed by peers. They may, under
certain circumstances. decline to be
sworn. pledging their honor instead of
their oath, and it is still. according to
the statute books. u most serious
ofTense to criticize or malign a peer.
But the old scaRdalHR HdgRdtuns, de-
scribed by Blackstone. is partially a
dead letter. and it is now good form
for a peer to treat his traducers with
silent contempt American visitors
often express establishment at the bar
reuness of the honor OF peerage, and
possibly some readers may imagine
that a nobleman is in receipt of some
kind of remuneration Such is not
the case There are many ~sinecure
Offices connected with politics which
are always, or nearly always. given to
peers, but the salary often fails to
come. up to the expenses. Even TIE
granting of a peerage does not involve
a royal or national grant. Some peers
owe their titles to the immortality of
certain female ancestors. and still
draw pensions in part payment
for their great = great = grandmoth-
er's shame; others. the Marl-
boroughs for example. draw PEN
stous as a result of Il nations graft
tude to 4 successful General. But.
speaking generally, a peerage is a
source Of expense and not of revenue.
No man will accept peerage unless he
Is comparatively wealthy. Hence. a
peer Is often a peer because he or his
ancestors were blessed with plenty of
this worlds goods, but it is to confuse
cause and effect to imagine that n peer.
age involves wealth 1t is often lust
the other way.-St Louis GIobe-Dem-
ocrat.