PEER AND THE PEERAGE 



PEKIN 



distributed land became barons, or direct ten- 

 ants-in-chief of the king, to whom they were 

 bound to render certain services in return for 

 their lands. Such men were king's men, and 

 could be summoned to the king's court to ad- 

 vise and take active part in the government 

 of the country. Included among those who 

 attended the king's court were bishops, abbots, 

 priors and barons, who were gradually divided 

 into greater and lesser barons, according to 

 their holdings, but all equally barons in that 

 they held their land direct from the king. 



The hereditary peerage was of gradual growth, 

 for the grants of land made by William I were 

 not always intended to be passed on from 

 father to son or next heir. However, it be- 

 came customary, on the death of a baron, to 

 install his son in his place and confirm his 

 position by calling him to the king's court, the 

 origin of the present Parliament. The king 

 held his crown by hereditary right; the peer- 

 age assumed the same right and soon estab- 

 lished the precedent. 



The more powerful of the barons assumed 

 the title of earl, a term which had implied 

 high dignity under the Saxons, and until the 

 reign of Edward III the peerage consisted only 

 of earls, barons and ecclesiastics, the latter rep- 

 resenting the interests of the Church. In 1337 

 the Black Prince was created Duke of Cornwall, 

 thus bringing a new title, duke, into the peer- 

 age. In 1385 Richard II added the title of 

 marquis, previously unknown. Still another 

 addition was made by Henry VI, who created 

 John Beaumont a peer with the title of viscount. 

 Ecclesiastical peers were gradually eliminated, 

 but at the present time bishops of the estab- 

 lished Church of England take seats in the 

 House of Lords as Spiritual Peers, their titles 

 not being hereditary. 



The peerage is now confined to dukes, mar- 

 quises, earls, viscounts and barons, each title 

 being hereditary and carrying with it certain 

 honors, dignities and legislative privileges, which 

 however can only be exercised in and directly 

 connected with the House of Lords, the upper 

 House of the Parliament. It is clearly laid 

 down by English laws and customs that the 

 children of peers, although receiving courtesy 

 titles, such as Lord, Viscount or The Honor- 

 able, are yet commoners, and as such are en- 

 titled to no privileges not enjoyed by the hum- 

 blest citizen. 



Peer, in America. In the United States the 

 word peer has no meaning except equal. When 

 a man is placed on trial for an offense against 



the law he is guaranteed a hearing ''before a 

 jury of his peers." In this case "his peers" 

 is taken to mean a representative jury conv 

 posed of his fellow citizens. In the case of a 

 peer of England the right of demanding trial 

 by a body of peers is reserved, and a trial of 

 a peer takes place before the assembled House 

 of Lords. F.ST.A. 



Related Subject*. A more detailed account 

 of the rights and privileges of the various British 

 peers will be found in the following articles : 

 Baron Marquis 



Duke Parliament 



Earl Viscount 



PEG 'ASUS, the mythical winged steed 

 which was fashioned by Neptune from the 

 blood that trickled into the sea from the head 

 of Medusa, as Perseus flew across bearing his 

 hideous burden. At his birth, the horse flew 

 to Mount Helicon, where he created the foun- 

 tain Hippocrene with a blow of his hoof. Often 

 he came to drink at the fountain of Pirene, 

 and here Bellerophon, bearing the golden bridle 

 given him by Minerva, found the animal graz- 

 ing. At the sight of the bridle, Pegasus yielded 

 himself captive and bore his master away to 

 his successful battle with the Chimaera. After 

 throwing the aged and conceited Bellerophon, 

 Pegasus flew away to the skies and was made 

 the constellation that bears his name. 



PEKIN, ILL., the county seat of Tazewell 

 County, located north and west of the center 

 of the state, ten miles southwest of Peoria 

 and 163 miles southwest of Chicago. It is on 

 the Illinois River, which affords steamboat 

 navigation, and on the Atchison, Toprka IY. 

 Santa Fe; the Chicago & Alton; the Illinois 

 Central; the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & 

 Saint Louis ; the Chicago, Peoria & Saint Louis, 

 and the Peoria & Pekin Union railroads. In 

 1910 the population was 9,897; it was 10,823 

 (Federal estimate) in 1916. 



Pekin has a Federal building, a county court- 

 house, completed in 1916 at a cost of $250,000 ; 

 a Carnegie Library and Pekin Mineral Park. 

 The city is in a fertile agricultural country, 

 and is an important grain market. It has manu- 

 factories of corn products, farm implements, 

 wagons, stoves, box board and boilers. In the 

 vicinity are deposits of coal. There is consid- 

 erable water commerce in grain, lumber and 

 coal. Pekin was settled in 1829 and was in- 

 corporated in 1850. In 1911 the commission 

 form of government was adopted. The street 

 railway is owned and operated by the munici- 

 pality. P.H.S. 



