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Ch.VIII.]] Fountain of Honours^ ^c. MS Union, become extinct, the King may create one Irish Peer; ^nd when the Peers of Ireland are reduced to 100 by extinc- tion or otherwise, exclusive of those who shall hold any Peerage of Great Britain, subsisting at the time of the Union, or created of the United Kingdom since the Union, the King may then create one Peer of Ireland for every Peerage that becomes extinct; or as often as any one of them is created a Peer of the United Kingdom ; so that the King may always keep up the number of 100 Irish Peers, over and above those who have an hereditary seat in the House of Lords." The prerogative as to the number of English Peers does not appear to be thus limited. His Majesty may, by his prerogative, grant rank and precedence to a foreign Prince who intermarries into the royal family, before the greatest officers of state and Peers of the realm, as was done on the marriage of the late Princess Charlotte of Wales {a). We have already considered that the King has an interest in his subjects and a right to command their services, and con- sequently they cannot with impunity refuse to accept from his Majesty even a mere dignity or honour. So nobility when once acquired cannot be lost or transferred by any other power but that of Parliament, except by death or attainder (6). Hence it appears to be now settled, that a Peer cannot be degraded on account of poverty, or for other reasons, even by the King(c): and though formerly held otherwise, it is now settled that a dignity or title of honour can neither be effectually aliened by the person in possession of it, though the King's consent is obtained (^), or be surrendered to his Majesty (e): but in both (a) Tuesday's Gazette, Whitehall, Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, and May 8, 1816. — " His royal highness all other great officers, and before the the Prince Regent has been pleased in Dukes (other than and except the Duke* the name and on the behalf of His Ma- of the blood royal), and all other Peers jesty, to declare and ordain that his of the realm." Serene Highness Leopold George Fre- {b) 7 Rep. 33. 1 Bla. Com. 404. derick, Duke of Saxe, Margrave of Me- (c) Ibid. 12 Mod. 56. 12 Co. Rep. issen. Landgrave of Thuringuen, Prince 107; see 1 Ld. Raym. 16. of Cobourg of Saalfield, Consort of her {(I) Lords' Joum. vol. 4, page 150. Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte 3 Cruis. Dig. 230. s. 114. to s. 118. Augusta, shall take, hold, and enjoy, (*) Lords' Joum* 4 vol. 150 j 13 vol. during the term of his natural life, in 253. Show. Gas. in Pari. 1 ; Lord Pur- ali assemblies or meetings whatsoever, beck's Case, Coll. 10. 3 Cruise Dig. the precedence and rank following; that 232, u to say, before the Lord Archbishop of I ' these