The Washington herald., 1911-02-14

Before he came to his dukedOm. the
Lord John Manners, of the Disraeiian
epoch, usually had provided for him a
snug berth in whatever Conservative
ministry was going. He was called from
the post-office, over which he nOmfnally
presided. to the stately walls of Belvoir.
the ancestral home Of the dukes of Rut-
land. He was an intimate friend Of Dis
raeli. who, in spite OF his ingrained
radicaIism, dearly loved a duke. Lord
John figured largely in 'Coningsby.' He
lives in the public mind to-day chiefly
bv reason of the following couplet:
Let wealth and conmcTce. laws and learning die
But leave stin old nobility.
II suggests the instructive task of turn
ing back old pages in Doomsday BOOK
to ascertain how British old nobility
came into being, and why they should
take precedence of wealth and commerce,
laws and learning. On the threshold of
the inquest we have the evidence of Lord
John Manners friend, who was not
dreaming then OF an earldOm OF BeaconS-
field and the intimate friendship of his
sovereign. Disraeli wrote in "Conlngs-
bv:'' eve owe the English peerage to
three sources-the spoliatlon OF the
church. the open sale of honors by the
elder Stuarts, and the borough monSer-
ing Of our own times"
As a matter Of course, when William
of Normandy crossed the channel and
CONQUERED England he divided its fair
fat lands among his retinue OF knights.
But few of the peeraSes which carry
with them the right of heredity to-day
date back to the conquest The most an
cient have their roots in the time of
Henry VIII and draw their revenues from
a spoliated church.
The Earl of Pembroke. for example, in
herits Wilton Abbey from William Her
bert, a frequenter of the court of Henry
VIII, who got it from the abbots. He
lived in the reign of Queen Mary, who
made him an earl. He was a financial
genius, who in less troubled times might
have become chancellor Of the exchequer.
Wilton Abbey was not the only portion
of the plunder of the church tossed to
him by a friendly master. Monastic
houses and manors in Clamorganshire,
Dorset. Willis, and Herefordshire gradu-
ally were added. Wilton Abbey, on the
site Of which the Earl of Pembroke's
homestead now stands, was added to the
thousands of acres whose rent roll to-day
sustains the earldom.
The barony of North is another of the
ornaments OF the House of Lords, which
had its birth in the time OF Henry Will
The founder of the family was the clerk
of the House of Commons. King Henry,
having more monastic land on his hands
than he knew what to do with, estab-
lished for it's management what was
called a court of augmentations. OF this
he appointed North treasurer, with op-
portunity for many pickings. When, in
course of time, the Defender of the
Faith was gathered to his fathers and
his wives Queen Mary came to the throne,
and with the help of fire and sword re-
established Catholicism. North forthwith
became a Catholic, making up for ear
lier heterodoxy by prosecuting the Prot
estants, sallying forth upon them from
the Tnonastic residence he still retained.
The Queen was so pleased with him that
she made him a peer.
The Lord North who looms most large
ly in English history was prime minis
ter to George III, and to his counsel
the United States largely owes its being.
The English point Of view is presented
IN a sentence from ]. R Green's history,
where 1t is written: The period of Lord
North's administration was the darkest
hour OF English history
A later Earl of North. who. not being
by birth in direct line of succession. was
provided for by a family living came
Eerys near the prison gates. He would