New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-08-20
.,ognition. social and other. He insists on his

,ecoenition. social and other He insists on his
right as Prince of the Church 70 rank imme-
dately after the Princes of the blood royal OF
England. He must walk before the Archbishop
of Canterbury himself, who, by the law OF Eng
land comes next after the nephews OF Uhe
Sovereign, and next before the Lord High Chan-
cellor. to whom succeeds the Archbishop of York
The phrase by law" may excite surprise, but II
il laid down in treatises on this high topic that
precedence is part and parcel OF the law OF
England" subsisting under the authority of Acts
Of Parliament, solemn decisions In courts of
Justice or public instruments proceeding from the
Crown 1t is not regulated, says The authority
from whom quote, by mere conventional arrange
ments; it is no fuctuating practice oil fasmonaoIe
life. no result of voluntary compacts In society
no usurpation of one class over others
Nor. | suppose, of the Glasses over the Masses;
though it would be total mistake to imagine
that there is no fixed rule of precedence among
the masses 1t used to be said In Boston that
nowhere were social distinctions SO well settled
or the dividing line so broadly drawn, as in
that quarter of the city Of which Belknap-st.
was then chief thoroughfare. The Bostonlan
will know what that means. The population on
that slope of Beacon Hill was colored. In Eng
land Jne same is true Of the servants hall. III
Won ask the mistress of great establishment, she
dinner is in these lower regions, of the most rigid
kind If it be a country house where guests are
stsying the rank of the servant is determined by
the rank of the master. The valet of tile Duke
goes before the valet of the Marquis. What is
not less remarkable is that he goes by the name
of his master bears his title, and enjoys In MS
own way and for his own purposes the privileges
of rank If you look for the spirit OF Democracy
in England YOU will seek it in vain among those
of the masses who minister directly to the wants
of the classes.
With the fact of legal authority in mind. you
will appreciate more clearly the significance of
the questions raised by, or in behalf of, this
Roman Catholic Cardinal Archbishop of West
minister l give him his full title; OF Itself 1t
reads to Englishmen like an affront; to Americans
also, perhaps. What has Roman prelate TO do
in these days with Westminster? The name be-
longs to Professionalism and to Protestant history
The precise question addressed TO Mr.. Gladstone
in that letter to which referred above was this
whether he, with the concurrence of Lord Sails
bury. recommended the Queen to place Cardinal
Manning's name after that of the Prince of Wales,
and before that of the present Premier. The
latter part of the question shows confusion OF
mind in the excellent and Reverend Dr. Preston
The Prime Minister, as such, has no precedence
or assigned position in the social scale. The
denial by Lord Salisbury and the denial by Nh
Gladstone related to something more than ques-
ton of form. 1t is question Of substance; of
legal and prescriptive claim, based on various
solid foundations That of Cardinal Manning is
not legal; the foundation of 1t has no other
solidity than the pretension of the Pope TO
nominate persons who shall rank as princes in this
country :; in other words, none at all Whether
it. be wise to concede as matter of courtesy a
claim advanced as matter of right, founded on
usurpaton, is a question which may. after all,
deserve some serious consi Iteration. G. W. S.