415 
HERA 
nours, and elegant manners, were made to reign at 
court. Accuftomed to live in retirement with the trufty 
tew who followed his fortunes, he had put on by habit 
the eafe of an equal, rather than the tty le of a fovereign; 
yet he never loft his dignity, even when furrounded with 
the licentious and profligate. This fafeinating conde- 
fcenfion was copied by the great ; and from hence arofe 
that pleafing freedom and urbanity which continues to 
animate our mixed companies. If ftate difpenfed with 
fome of her folemn appendages, the gained ten thoufarid 
graces and amiabilities. If we except the title of duchefs 
and duke, which this monarch gave to hismoft favoured 
ladies, and to the fons he had by them, he was extremely 
careful of the peerage. It was propofed, at the.refto- 
ration, to inftitute a new order of knighthood, to com¬ 
memorate the king’s prefervation in the oak at Bofcobel, 
after the battle of Worcefter, who were to be called 
“ Knights of the Royal Oak;” and no lefs than fix hun¬ 
dred and eighty?feven baronets, knights-bachelors, and 
gentlemen, were named to receive this honour, and a 
die for the device or medal was funk, as a diftinguiftiing 
badge ; but the fcheme was laid afide, becaufe the king 
imagined it might tend to keep alive thofe divifions and 
animofities, which it was tlie height of political pru¬ 
dence to extinguifti. His majefty therefore endeavoured 
to conciliate all parties by meaiis of the orders of knight, 
hood already exifting ; and he gave the laft finilh to 
the luftre of the peerage, by fettling the rules' of 
precedency. 
Vifcount Cranburne, having been the firft of that title, 
in the reign of James I. who was allowed to wear a co¬ 
ronet; James II. gave it to barons; but he was very 
Iparing of bellowing titles. He gave the ducal honour 
to his natural foil; and the title of countefs to two la¬ 
dies, one of whom was his miftrefs. The other honours 
which he conferred were, one marquifate, two earldoms, 
and five baronies. He conferred titles uponfeveral of his 
partizans after his abdication; but thele were never ad¬ 
mitted upon the records of the Heralds’ College, nor 
recognized by the laws of England. His vengeance was 
Angularly manifefted in 1689, by- proferibing no lefs,than 
two archbilhops, one duke, feventeen earls, feven coun- 
tefles, twenty-eight vifeounts, two vifeountefles, feven 
biftiops, eighteen barons, thirty.three baronets, fifty-one 
knights, eighty-three clergymen, and two thoufand one 
hundred and eighty-two efquires and gentlemen. His 
abdication, however, defeated his revenge. 
During the reign of William and Mary, there were 
few peers created, except the fix foreign favourites. The 
greateft Angularity was, that no lefs than nine noblemen 
were advanced to tire rank of dukes, though fome of 
them could not claim any alliance with the blood-royal; 
which had never been done before, except in the inftance 
of Villiers duke of Buckingham. The duke ofSchom- 
berg received'Tiis title from his furttame. King William 
does not appear to have underftood the Englilh fyftem 
of conferring titles. Several foreign potentates were ad¬ 
mitted by him into the order of the gai ter, as were fome 
of his own fubjeits ; tut he gave the baronetage to few, 
and was extremely iparing of titles in Scotland and Ire¬ 
land. 
Queen Anne, who boaftecl that her heart was “ entire¬ 
ly Englilh,” had the felicity to unite in clofer interefts 
the nobles of the Britilh kingdoms. This made a con- 
liderable alteration in the Scotch peerage, depriving the 
collective body of a legiflative power, transferring it to 
lixteen only, to be elected from and by the whole; but 
to compenfate that lols, it was ftipulated tiiat no more 
peers fltould be created in that kingdom : but therewas 
a power in the fovereign to give an Englilh title to any 
of the Scotch peers, to enable them to have an heredi¬ 
tary feat in the upper houfe. All the exifting Scotch 
titles, from dukes to barons, were adjudged to go to fe¬ 
male heirs general, by which means they could not well , 
become loft, except by attainture: they might, like our 
LDRY. 
baronies by fummons, merge into higher titles. Pre; < - 
dence was in confequence adjufted between the gifting 
Englifti and Scotch peers; the forn^er, taking t hee of 
the older creation, and of the fame rank. The Scotch 
precede thofe of England created fin e 'he union; .all 
liibfequent creations were to be fty 1 ecl “ peers of Great 
Britain The queen, like William, raifed many of the 
peers to higher honours; and fome Scotch and lri(h no¬ 
bility were admitted to Englifh titles. Her majefty took 
an unprecedented ftep in calling up ten commoners to 
the houfe of lords in one day, to fecure a majority. The 
Englifti peerage was increafed in this reign by an addi¬ 
tion of feven dukes, tw o marquifes, ten earls, one vif¬ 
count, and twenty-one barons. She created but few 
peers in Scotland, and ftill lefs in Ireland. .. She founded 
or revived the order of the Thiftle or Saint Andrew, in 
Scotland, for the natives of that kingdom’. She created 
fome baronets in England, but fcarcely any in the other 
kingdom. 
When George I. afeended the throne, he appeared fo 
little acquainted with the etiquette of his nobility, or 
the prerogatives of his .crown, that he confented to a 
propofition for limiting the Englifti peerage to its then 
exifting number, except an addition only of fix, to be 
chofen by the fovereign, and exempting thofe of his own 
houfe, whom he ftiould choofe to dignify with titles ; 
but upon failure of heirs male to any peer, another 
might be created to fill the extinft dignity. Jnftead of 
electing fixteen out of the Scotch nobility, twenty-five 
of that order Ihould be made hereditary legiflators ; the 
titles not to extend to females, but that the peerage 
Ihould be given to another ennobled Scotch family. 
The defeft of this plan, when it came to be fifted, was 
ftrikingly obvious; and it was therefore abandoned. 
His majefty was content with making fome additions to 
Englilh titles given to Irifti peers; he all'o re-eftablilhed 
the order of the Bath with increafed fplendour. 
But under the aiifpices of his present Majesty, 
the accumulated honours of a great nation have Ihed 
their light over the remoteft parts of the two liemi- 
fpheres;—have evinced that the exertions of his brave 
and loyal people are fuperior to the combined machina¬ 
tions of the whole world ;—are capable of reftraining the 
infatiable luft of the public enemy after power and con- 
queft, by curbihg his inordinate ambition, and Hunting 
him up, as it were, in a prifon. 
At no time, fmee the reign of Eclward III. has the 
royal family of England been fo numerous. The peer¬ 
age has been as it were almoft totally changed by his 
prefent majefty, who.will for ages be recognized as the 
illuftrious founder of the great body of the nobility. 
This has arifen from the blefling derived to us by the 
length of his majefty’s reign, dining which many titles 
have become extinct; and partly from the vaft increafe 
of wealth, which has been poured into thefe, kingdoms, 
from every quarter of the globe. This has made it ne- 
cefiary to call up fuch a number of the richeft commoners,. 
as is fufficient to maintain a fuitable balance in the fe- 
cond order of the legiflature ; or its weight in the Con- 
ftitution mull have been long ago loft. The dukedoms, 
exclufive of the royal ones, are much leflened ; and pro¬ 
bably they will be fuffered to decreafe, without ever 
having'any new creations. The title of marquis , which 
has been judicioufly renewed, will probably be the 
higheft rank a fubjedt, not of the blood royal, can in 
future receive. Numerous as creations have been, we 
fhall find that many of them are only peers raifed to fti- 
perior titles, and others which will merge into fuch, or 
will elfe become extinct upon the death of the perfon 
ennobled. 
The order of the Bath is very properly conferred as a 
fuitable dignity and reward for military and naval achieve¬ 
ments. The Thiftle has been extremely well fupported 
by the meritorious brave of Scotland; and the order of 
St, Patrick is calculated to confer honour as well as dig- 
^ nity 
