All other Bishops, according to their ' 
tsoniority of consecration ; but if any 
Bishop be principal Secretary of State, 
he shall be placed above all other 
Bishops, not having any of the great 
offices before-mentioned. 
Barons according to their patents. 
But if any Baron be principal Se- 
cretary of State, he shall be placed 
above all Barons, unless they have 
any of the before-mentioned great 
offices. 
I 
By the 23d article of the Union, which 
was confirmed by statute of 5 Queen Anne, 
c. 8, all Peers of Scotland shall be Peers of 
Great Britain, and have rank next after the 
Peers of the like degree in England at the 
time of the Union, which commenced 
May 1,1707, and before all Peers of Great 
Britain, of the like degree, created after the 
Union. 
Speaker of the Hon. House of Commons. 
Viscounts eldest sons. 
Earls younger sons 
Barons eldest sons. 
Knights of the most noble order of the 
Garter. 
Privy Counsellors. 
Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
Chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. 
The Peers of Ireland take place in Eng- 
land, at all public ceremonies, (except co- 
ronations) next the youngest English peer 
of the same degree. — Vide 1, 25, p. 61, in 
Officio Arraorum Council Books, 4 Car. I. 
28 June, 1^29. 
Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench. 
Master of the Rolls. 
Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. 
Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. 
J udges and Barons of the degree of' 
the Coif of the said Courts, accord- 
ing to seniority. 
Bannerets made under the K ing’s own 
royal standard, displayed in army 
royal in open war, by the King 
himself in person, for the term of , X d 
their lives only, apd no longer. f 
Viscounts younger sons. 
Barons younger sons. 
Baronets of England, Scotland, and 
Ireland. 
Bannerets not made by the King 
himself in person. 
Knights of the most honourable Order of 
the Bath. 
Flag and field officers. 
The priority of signing any treaty, or 
public instrument, by public Ministers, is 
Estab. by H- 
VI. & E. IV. 
’■&C. Vincent’s 
Precedence, 
151,foliol24. 
Knights Bachelors. 
Masters in Chancery. 
Doctors, Deans, &c. 
Serjeants at Law. 
Eldest sons of the younger sons of Peers, 
Baronets eldest sons. 
Knights of the Garter eld- 
est sons. \ 1 Vide infra for 
Bannerets elde' t sons. ^the younger 
Knights of the Bath eldest 
sons 
Knights eldest sons. 
Baronets younger sons, Rot. PaL 
ibid. 
Esquires of the Sovereign’s I by stat. 20 Ed. 
body or Gentlemen of V IV. and 9 Hen. 
the Privy Chamber. 3 VI. 
Esquires of the Knights of the Bath. 
Esquires by creation, by stat. 20 Edw. IV. 
and 9 Hen. VI. 
Esquires by office. 
Younger sons of Knights of' 
the Garter. 
Younger sons of Bannerets 
of both kinds. 
Younger sons of Knights of 
the Bath. 
Younger sons of Knights Ba- 
chelors. 
Gentlemen entitled to bear arms. 
Clergymen, Barristers at law. Officers in 
the Navy and Army, who are all Gentle- 
men by profession. 
Citizens. 
Burgesses, &c. | 
Almost every person above the lowest 
rank of mechanics assuming the title of 
Esquire, it may be worth while to give our 
readers the opinion of Judge Blackstone on 
this subject. Esquires and gentlemen are 
confounded together by Sir Edward Coke, 
who observes, that every esquire is a gen- 
tleman, and a gentleman is defined to be 
one qui anna gerit, who bears coat armour, 
the grant of which adds gentility to a man’s 
family: in like manner as civil nobility 
among the Romans was founded in the jus 
imaginum, or having the image of one an- 
cestor at least, who had borne some curule 
office. It is indeed a matter somewhat un- 
settled, what constitutes .the distinction, or 
who is a real esquire ; for it is not an estate, 
however large, that confers this rank upon 
its owner. Camden, who was himself a 
herald, distinguishes them the most accu- 
rately, and he reckons up four sorts of 
them: 1. The eldest sons of Knights, and 
