The Washington herald., 1911-02-15

While chrOniClinC the Origin-root and
branch-of the British old nobility It
would not do to omit the duke OF Port
land one of the most richly endowed OF
the English peeraEes. The present holder
of the title is Sir William John Arthur
Charles James Cavcndish Bentinck,
knight of the Garter, &c; Marquis of
Titchfeld. Earl of Portland, NiscOunt
Woodstock OF Woodstock, Baron Ciren-
cester OF Cirencester. and Baron Bo!-
sUver of Bolsover CastFe. Its fortunes
D not date further back than the time
of William III. In his train came "A
BentinCk, native Of the Duchy of Outsider
in the Netherlands. who verified the nd
tional characteristics thus annotated by
Charming:
In matters Of commrrrc the fault Of the Dutch
Is giving too little and asking too much.
Bentinck giving nothing but the serv-
ICE of a courtier, asked for everything.
William of Orange. unexpectedly coming
TO the heritage of a rich country like
England. gave him much. A catalogue
of royal manors transferred from the
possession of the Crown to that Dutch
man would fill a page. When William III
departed this life the House of Commons,
which had vainly attempted to restrain
Bentinck's greed. twice attempted to re-
Scind the grants. AS was pointed out
by the mover of the resolution, the alien
alton of these lands, set apart for the
maintenance of the Crown, meant the
augmentation of public taxation. The ef-
fort proved futile. and the Duke of Port
land of to-day still possesses a domain of
$4,000 acres, with Welbeck Abbey for
his country seat, set in a park eight miles
in circumference, watered by a lake
full mile long.
A short time ago the dukedom was
much to the fore, an attempt being made
to dispossess the present holder of the
estate. a romantic story told, with cir
cumstance. how the late duke had main
tanned a dual life. In one phase he was
the proprietor OF a bazaar built on his
property in Baker street, LoEdon. In this
capacity he had obscurely married and
it was on behalf of the first fruits OF
this union that action was Intellectually
taken in the English courts.
A larger landowner than the Duke of
Portland is his grace of Devonshire,
whose titles include those of Marquis
of Harrington, Earl of Devonshire, Earl
of Burlington, Baron Cavendish of Hard
wicke, and Baron Cavendish of Keighley.
In England and Ireland he owns some
$4,000 acres. yielding a rental of E172, 900.
He has in his gift forty-two church liv-
ings, and possesses seven houses, includ-
ing the historic Chatsworth and Bolton
abbeys. The fortunes of the house date
back to the time of Henry VIII. That
epoch found William Cavendish a small
landowner in Suffolk. Appointed one of
the commissioners 70 dealing with the
monastic surrender, he, after all being
only human. took the pick for himself
The dukes of Devonshire. representatives
of whig principles during the last 100
years, have held a prominent position in
politics. The late duke, better known
by his long-held title OF Lord Harting-
ton, left the memory of an upright
statesman, whose first thought was for
the welfare Of his country.
The house of Russell Duke of Bedford,
Marquis of Tavistock. Earl of Bedford,
Baron Russell. Baron Russell of Thorn
haugh, and Baron Howland Of Streath-
am). equally with that of Cavendish. has
an honored place in parliamentary and
political history. But its founder was
not free from the taint of the plunder
OF public property, which, with few ex-
ceptions, pertains to the fun range OF