THE NOBILITY AND GENTRY. "NOBILITIE," says Milles, "which many of the greater sort of wits with great proof of uncorrupted verity and much flowing eloquence, have gone about to derive out of divers fountains, is of three sorts; and is divided into Nobilitie Calestial, which consisteth in Religion; Nobilitie Philosophicall, which is got by moral vertues; and Nobilitie Politicall, whereof this present treatise is." This nobility, "whereof," as Milles says, "this present treatise is," is again divided, by writers on the subject, into a greater and lesser nobility. To the former class belong Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons; and to the latter, Knights, Baronets, Esquires, and Gentlemen. All which degrees of nobility and honour are derived from the Sovereign, who, as has been already observed, is the fountain of all honour. And from the power of the Sovereign to institute new titles at pleasure, it has arisen that all degrees of nobility are not of equal antiquity. DUKE. The title of Duke, the highest which exists in the Peerage of England, was adopted by the French,† and other nations, long "Catalogue of Honour," p. 1. + In France, before the Revolution, the title of Duke was very superior to the other dignities, and the peerage was composed of Dukes only; but the rest of the nobility were properly jealous of this pre-eminence, before it was used in England, where, down to the time of Edward VI, it was conferred only on Princes of the Royal Blood. : As an English title, it was first created in the eleventh year of the reign of King Edward III, when that monarch conferred the dignity of Duke of Cornwall upon his eldest son, Edward the Black Prince, who was before only Earl of Chester but the term Dux, or Duke, was, according to Selden, used in the description of Earls many years before it became a distinct dignity. The charter of creation of the Duke of Cornwall is cited by Cruise,* to show that the dignity of Duke was originally annexed to the possession of lands. The next instance of a similar creation, was that of Henry Earl of Lancaster, who, on the 6th of March 1351, was created Duke of Lancaster for life, according to Selden, (who states that he was so created in Parliament, but no notice of such an event is to be found in the Rolls of Parliament,) and the words of the charters of creation are considered to have rendered both these dignities Dukedoms by Tenure, and as such they are said still to exist that of Cornwall being vested in the eldest son of the King, who becomes such the moment he is born; and that of Lancaster being in the hands of the Crown. But in the third Report of the House of Lords on the Peerage, p. 126, Henry, Duke of Lancaster, is stated to have been created to that dignity, to him and the heirs male of his body; and it is there contended, that the grant of the dignity of Duke of Cornwall was personal; that the property was granted to him to enable and opposed with spirit every encroachment of the peers. In a procession of the Order of the Holy Ghost, several Ducs et Pairs endeavoured to prevent M. de Gamache from walking at the side of the last Duke. The master of the ceremonies hastened to inform the King of the dispute, who decided that the Dukes were wrong if they pretended that a gentleman should not walk aside of them. So, after the procession, the Dukes said they had never formed such a pretension, and that it was a misunderstanding."-Sir James Lawrence, "Nobility of the British Gentry." *Cruise, "Treatise on Dignities," p. 19. him to maintain the dignity of Duke according to his rank; that the King's patent of creation, and not the grant of the property, made him Duke of Cornwall, as a mere title or name of honour; and that the property did not make him Earl of Cornwall or give him any title of dignity. After the period in question dukedoms were occasionally granted as a personal dignity, with remainder, in most instances, to the heirs male of the body of the grantee, though, like other dignities, instances might be cited where the limitation has been of a more special nature, and one or two occur where the remainder has been to the heirs general of the person so created. And it has been contended by Sir Harris Nicolas, that the position of Selden, in which he has been followed by Mr. Cruise, that the Dukedoms of Cornwall and Lancaster are Dukedoms by Tenure, is not correct, the former being a personal honour, though with a peculiar limitation to the eldest son of the King for the time being; and the latter being clearly a personal honour when conferred on Henry Earl of Lancaster it 1351, and which, on his death without issue male, became extinct; but it was again conferred, though with more extensive powers, in 1362, on John of Gaunt, who married the daughter, and eventually sole heir of the last Duke. During the reign of Elizabeth very few Dukes existed in England, and in 1572, this title became extinct, on the execution of the Duke of Norfolk for high treason. The title was revived, however, in the following reign, when James I. bestowed the title of Duke of Buckingham upon his favourite, George Villiers. At the present day Dukes are created by patent; anciently the form of creation was by cincture of a sword, the putting on of a mantle of state, and other ceremonies of a like nature, as may be seen from the following extract from MILLES' " Catalogue of Honor," p. 46, which shows what was anciently 66 * Sir Harris Nicolas, "Observations on Dignities," prefixed to his very valuable and original " Synopsis of the Peerage of England." |