Page:Debrett's Illustrated Peerage and Titles of Courtesy.djvu/62

 XXIV TITLES, ORDERS, AND DEGREES OF PRECEDENCE AND DIGNITY. personage in the House of Peers, where he discharges functions analogous (mutatis mutandis) with those exercised by the Speaker of the House of Commons. THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK. As already intimated, the See of York is more ancient than that of Canterbury. Whilst the holder of the latter is " Primate of all England," the Archbishop of York is simply "Primate of England" a distinc- tion, let us observe, with a difference. He has the privilege of crowning the Consort, and he is her perpetual chaplain. Within his own province he possesses powers nearly equivalent to those exercised by the Archbishop of Canterbury within his. The Archbishop of York precedes all secular peers except the Lord Chancellor. THE NOBILITY OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. Heraldic authorities divide the nobility of this kingdom into two orders the greater and the less, the former consisting of all th'e degrees from a baron upwards and inclusive ; the latter of the baronets, knights, esquires, and gentlemen. Prac- tically, however, the only recognised noblemen amongst us are the peers spiritual and temporal, and those who by courtesy bear titles in virtue of their immediate connexion with noble houses. In illustration of the meaning of courtesy-titles, reference may be made to the terms in which a Royal Commission is issued. The present Earl Russell is one of the younger sous of a late Duke of Bedford, and before his elevation to the peerage was designated by courtesy Lord John Russell, whereas in strict observance he would have been simply "John Russell, Esq.," but for the prefix of " right honourable," derived from his political offices. In Parliament and society he was invariably spoken of as " Lord John Russell," and addressed as "My Lord," but in Royal proclamations and other documents strictly observant of formula, his designation was " The Right Honourable John Russell, commonly called Lord John Russell." Practically, the degrees of the nobility in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland are_/ire viz., Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons, to which may be added a sixth viz., Archbisho2>s and JBishope, most of whom, as spiritual .lords, are entitled to a seat in the House of Peers, and possess for their lives &ii the faculties and privileges of the peerage. But the wives of archbishops and bishops derive neither title nor precedency from the dignities of their husbands. The wife of an archbishop is simply Mrs., and takes place merely as the wife of a simple gentleman. DUKE. This title is the highest of our designations of nobility. We have no " princes " outside the blood-royal. Indeed, so pre- eminent in honour and dignity is the ducal title, thai our royal princes, on attaining their majority, or suc- ceeding to their paternal rights, become dukes, as if the latter were the superior distinction. Thus, Prince George of Cambridge, on the death of his father, became UKX. ihik-e of Cambridge. Much learned ingenuity has been expended in the en-