Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 1.djvu/518

468 COMPLETE PEERAGE France, Henri II, en 1548, en faveur de Jacques Hamilton, Comte d'Arran. " Such " confirmation, " however, appears only to apply to a creation of 20 April 1864, for with respect to the creation of 1548/9, the opinion of W. B. D. Turnbull, in his " Factum touching the restitution of the Duchy of Chatelherault " (Edinburgh, 1843), is doubtless correct, viz.y " that his Grace of Hamilton being neither heir male nor heir female [h. of line] has as much right to it as he has to the throne of China. " The decree of the Emperor was so far favourable to the Abercorn line (the heirs male), in that it acknowledged the creation of an hereditary French Dukedom which his predecessors had ignored ; and, this being acknowledged, it would appear to follow that its descent would be (as set out in the decree of Louis XIV) to the h. male of the body of the grantee. Inasmuch, however, as the decree assigned the said title to the Duke of Hamilton [S.], the Marquess of Abercorn appealed against it in 1864-5. The " Conseil d'Etat aux Contentieux, " nevertheless, decided against him, and found him " liable in expenses, " which decision was " approved of " II Aug. 1866 by the Emperor. It is stated (see The Times, 22 Sep. 1866), that the appeal was not " rejected by the ' Council ' on a question of right, but solely on the incompetence of the [said] ' Council ' to reconsider or reverse the decree of the Emperor, who, in 1864, re-created that title in favour of his relative, without any consideration being given to the claims of the Marquis of Abercorn to the original title. " See the able article on " The Dukedom of Chatellerault, " by R. R. Stodart, already referred to, from which most of the above remarks are taken ; see also Regueste et Pieces pour Milord Comte d' Aran, touchant la restitution de Duche de Chastellerault et des autres chases comprises dans le don fait par le Roy Henry IT, &'c., 1685, 4to., pp. 26 ; also see Memoire Justificatif de droit qui appartient h M. Le Due d'Hamilton de porter le titre de Due de Chdtellerault, Paris, 8vo., pp. 64, where the argument of " A. Teulet, Archiviste aux Archives d'Empire, " against the right of the h. of line in 1 799, but in favour of the right of such h. in 1652 (which two points are necessary for his case), is rather amusing ; see also (a much more able work) Consultation pour James Hamilton, Marquis d' Abercorn, ^c, contre le Due d' Hamilton, Paris, privately printed, 1865, 8vo., pp. 95, signed " E. Reverchon, Avocat a la Cour Imperiale, fife. "