Page:Dod's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage etc. of Great Britain and Ireland.djvu/656

BRIEF VIEW OF TITULAR DISTINCTIONS AND TERMS RELATING TO RANKS 604 equal titular designation upon any subject ; &c., are acknowledged by the second ; services but Edward III claimed to be " King of France," rendered by foreign jDrinces or officers are rewarded and he was the first to create an English Duke, by the third. This Order of nobility disappeared wholly in 1572 by the extinction of the heirs of all upon Loeds of Session. — In England the judges whom it had been conferred, or by the attainder are usually knighted, and in Ireland they are of the remaining possessors of the title ; the first frequently sworn in privy counsellors, but in peer subsequently raised to this rank was Ludovic Scotland a judge of the Court of Session is styled Stuart, Duke of Richmond, 17th May, 1623. " Lord," with the prefix " Honourable." The There are at present only two Dukedoms in title of Lord is prefixed either to the name — of Ireland, those of Leinster and Abercorii, besides his estate or to his patronymic : of the former the Royal Dukedom of Connaught. practice Lord Ardwall affords an instance — of the latter Lord Guthrie is an example. In the Earl. — The title of Earl may be traced to case of the heads of the court, however, the Lord the Saxon earldorman, or the Danish jarl ; but its Justice GJeneral and the Lord Justice Clerk, the constitution as a dignity is, of course, subsequent title is not officially used, excejat during the in date to the Norman Conquest, when the ceremony of first taking seat upon the bench, designation Comes, Count, or Earl, took a By Royal Warrant of Feb. 3, 1905, Lords of prominent place in the peerage. TiU the reign Session are permitted to retain their title on of Henry III this dignity, together with that i retirement, and their wives are also granted of Baron, wholly constituted the nobility of the ' the title of " Lady," to be retained during widow- realm ; and previous to that jseriod earldoius , hood, seem in several instances to have been enjoyed, like baronies, as a consequence of the tenure of ! Lords Spiritual. — The Bishops collectively certain lands. Originally the title was derived ; in their legislative capacities are called Lords from the name of a covmty, the government of ! Spiritual, as the other members of the House of which was attached to the honour ; but in modern Peers are called Lords Temporal, times the dignity and the duty have long been divided, and towns, villages, and country seats j Marquess. — This title was unknown in England occasionally furnish the name of an Earl. till Richard II created a Marquess of Dublin. It is said to derive its origin from the word Imperial Service Order. — Instituted by Marchio, Lord Marcher, whose duty it was to King Edward on his Coronation, 1902, for members guard the Welsh and Scottish frontiers, which of the Civil Service of the Emi^ire, to be conferred were called Marches. Till of late years it occurred after Long and Meritorious Service. very sparingly in the lists of Peers and even at present it furnishes the smallest number of any KxiGHT Bachelor. — This rank is far more rank in the nobility, ancient than any of the fraternities existing j under the name of Orders. By the mere im- i Order of the Crown of India was instituted position of the Sovereign's sword on the shoulder, to commemorate the assumption by Queen accoinpanied with the words, " Arise, Sir ," . Victoria of the title of Empress of India. To its privileges are conferred ; and even the members ! consist of the Sovereign, Princesses of the Royal of the Orders of Knighthood must all now receive i and Imperial House, the wives or other female this accolade before they can assume the desig- i relatives of Indian princes, and of other Indian nation of " Sir." When residence abroad , ladies the Sovereign may think fit ; and also prevents the personal reception of this honour, ; of the wives or other female relatives of any of it has of late become the practice to issue letters I the persons who have held, now hold, or may patent granting the " style, title, and dignity of a j hereafter hold the offices of Viceroy of India knight " to the favoured individual. The prefix and Govei-nor-General of India, Governor of of ■" Sir " is exclusively English as appertaining ; Madras or Bombay, or of Principal Secretary to Knighthood, and is not necessarily borne by of State or India, any Foreign knight. In Ireland the Lord- • Lieutenant can confer the honour of Knighthood. , Most Noble Order of the Gartek. — The The origin of the designation Knight Bachelor year 1348 is that usually assigned as the date of is jDlausibly derived by some authors from the i the institution of this fraternity. Popular words bas chevalier, indicating the superiority ' tradition attributes its foundation to the accident of the class of Knights Banneret who were of a lady's garter being picked up by Edward created under the Royal standard displayed in i III at a court festival, when he checked the ojjen war. mirth of bystanders by the exclamation Honi soil qui mal y pense, and permanently converted Knights of the Most Honourable Order of • a trivial accident into a source of honoirr and the Bath. — The practice of creating Knights , distinction by founding a fraternity of Knights with -v-arious ceremonies, of which batliing was ] with that motto and the decoration of an em- one, is undoubtedly a ciistom of considerable I broidered garter. It consists of the Sovereign, antiquity ; but the institution which now bears '. the Prince of Wales, twenty-five Knights Com- the name cannot be traced as a State Order, : panions, and such lineal descendants of George regulated by statutes and ordinances, beyond ' II as may be elected extra Knights, the year 1725. The close of the war led to a remodelling of its constitution in 1815, and the Order of the Guelphs of Hanover. — This, long continuance of peace produced an analogous though no longer a British fraternity, enjoyed result in 1847. The new statutes published in that distinction for nearly a quarter of a century, the latter year introduced the means of extensively , and Englishmen have more largely participated rewarding civil services, and, by abolishing a | in its honoui's than the natives of Hanover, mass of absurd or conflicting ordinances, reduced i It was founded by George IV in 1815, and the whole to a consistent and rational institution, consists of three classes — Knights Grand Cross, It contains three classes, viz. Knights Grand , Knights Commander, and Knights ; the latter. Cross, Knights Commander, and Companions, however, in this couirtry, have no other attribute The latter are not entitled to the prefix of " Sir," of Knighthood than the name, and correspond but the two former always receive the accolade, j exactly to the Cavalieri or Companions of other These three classes are each subdivided into three Orders ; but in Hanover they enjoy several minor divisions, viz. Military, Civil, and Honorary. ' privileges. Services in the Navy or Army are rewarded by ] the first of these minor divisions ; services in : The Order of the Hospital of St. John or diplomacy, on the bench, in high official stations, Jerusalem, incorporated by Royal Charter,