(_For the Mirror_.)
To the Barons of England, of a truth, it may be said, man is indebted
for constitutional liberty; for if we look but to Greece and Rome,
those boasted lands of freedom, where, as the arts and sciences
increased, liberty decayed, we shall perceive myriads of slaves,
governed, as in savage nations, by a few political chiefs, whom brute
force and superior address had raised above their fellow-citizens.
It was in modern times, through the instrumentality of the steel-clad
nobles of Britain, that liberty was to dawn on the human race: and of
these, Henry VII. could only summon 28 to his first parliament; and
only 36 were summoned to the first parliament of Henry VIII. In 1830,
the House of Peers consisted of 380 persons.
It is a fact but little regarded, that the first noble family in
England was that of Lord Courtenay, who descended from the Earls of
Devonshire, who often intermarried with the blood-royal of France and
Britain, as may be found at the commencement of Sully's Memoirs. The
Duke of Beaufort is descended from Geoffrey Plantagenet, Earl of
Anjou, son of Foulk, King of Jerusalem, and grandson to the Empress
Maud, daughter of Henry I. Consequently, this family has flourished,
as dukes, marquesses, and earls, without descending to a lower degree,
for full 700 years. The Duke of Montague traces his descent, by the
female line, from Charlemagne. The Earl of Shrewsbury's family is
derived from the famous Talbot, the terror of France: hence they have
been peers for 500 years.
In 1827, the number of the Irish nobility was 212--viz. 1 duke, 14
marquesses, 76 earls, 48 viscounts, 70 barons, and 4 peeresses. There
were 135 married, 27 widowers, and 45 bachelors. Of the 162 married
and widowers, 38 were without children, and the remaining 134 had
living 278 sons and 256 daughters. Four Irish peers were Knights of
the Garter, 10 of the Bath, and 18 of St. Patrick. Among these 212
Irish nobility, 66 were also British peers. The ancestors of the Irish
peers became ennobled as follows:--5 as princes of the blood-royal, 8
as courtiers, 8 as younger branches of nobility, 11 as statesmen, 7
for naval service, 23 for military service, 6 for diplomatic service,
11 for legal service, 11 by marriage, and 121 by influence of wealth.
The descent of 13 peers can be traced to the 11th century, that of 10
to the 12th, 12 to the 13th, 13 to the 14th, 10 to the 15th, 37 to the
16th, 31 to the 17th, and 2 to the 18th; and 37 whose genealogies
cannot be traced with accuracy. The ancestors of 48 Irish peers were
foreigners. The number of Catholic peers are, 8 for Ireland--viz. 2
earls, 4 viscounts, and 2 barons; in Scotland, only 2 earls; and in
England 8--viz. 1 duke, 1 earl, and 6 barons.