I do not think that men of letters often search through the old law
reports for specimens of fine prose, but I believe that here and there,
in that generally barren field, a nugget of pure gold may be discovered
by an industrious student.
Much noble prose delivered from the bench down the centuries has
been lost for ever, for the judges of England have often been
gentlemen of taste, scholarship, and eloquence. I have found one very
splendid passage that has somehow survived the wrecks of nearly four
hundred years.
Lord Chief Justice Crewe, who became Chief Justice of England in 1624,
delivered in the case of the Earl of Oxford the following noble tribute to
the great house of De Vere:--
"I heard a great peer of this realm, and learned, say, when he
lived, there was no king in Christendom had such a subject as
Oxford. He came in with the Conqueror, Earl of Guienne; shortly
after the Conquest made Great Chamberlain, above 400 years ago, by
Henry I., the Conqueror's son; confirmed by Henry II. This great
honour--this high and noble dignity--hath continued ever since, in
the remarkable surname De Vere, by so many ages, descents, and
generations, as no other kingdom can produce such a peer in one
and the selfsame name and title. I find in all this time but two
attainders of this noble family, and those in stormy and
tempestuous time, when the government was unsettled, and the
kingdom in competition. I have laboured to make a covenant with
myself, that affection may not press upon judgment, for I suppose
that there is no man that hath any apprehension of gentry or
nobleness, but his affection stands to the continuance of so noble
a name and fame, and would take hold of a twig or twine-thread to
uphold it. And yet Time hath his revolutions: there must be an end
to all temporal things, _finis rerum_,--and end of names and
dignities, and whatsoever is _terrene_; and why not of De Vere?
For where is De Bohun?--where is Mowbray?--where is Mortimer? Nay,
what is more and most of all, where is Plantagenet? They are
entombed in the urns and sepulchres of mortality. And yet, let
the name and dignity of De Vere stand so long as it pleases God."
And alas! we can now ask, Where is De Vere? This great Earldom of
Oxford was created in 1142, and has disappeared long ago in the limbo
of peerages said to be in abeyance.
In these days, Antony, when peerages are bought by men successful in
trade and sold by men successful in intrigue, such elevations in rank
have ceased to be regarded as the necessary concomitants of "great
honour" and "high and noble dignity"; so that it has long been more
reputable in the House of Lords to be a descendant than an ancestor.
But among the older great families there still remains a pride that has
descended unsullied through many generations, which serves as a fine
deterrent from evil deeds, and a constant incentive to honour--and in
England the history of great names can never be totally ignored, even
though the country may be ruled by persons who do not know who
were their own grandfathers.
Nothing is more ridiculous and cheap than to sneer at honourable
descent from famous ancestors; it divertingly illustrates the fable of the
sour grapes.
Your loving old
G.P.
7