Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 132.djvu/324

 slabs lay a great thickness of debris, probably accumulated at a time when the city was inhabited, and yet that Mycenæ was destroyed by the Dorians of Argos, about B.C. 468, at a period so early in Greek history that no authenticated coins of the city are known. It seems to have been from the depth at which the interment lay that they escaped the researches of former excavators, including Lord Elgin, upon the site. The reputed tomb of Theseus, which was rifled by Cimon the Athenian the year after the destruction of Mycenæ, must have lain nearer the surface, but the bronze spear and sword which were found in it, and which were brought with the bones in triumph from Scyros to Athens, point to its having belonged to much the same period. The spear of Achilles in the temple of Minerva at Phaselis, and the sword of Memnon in the temple of Æsculapius at Miomedia, were also of bronze, of which metal, as Pausanias observes, all the weapons of the heroic age were made. Had Augustus but known of the buried treasures of Mycenæ when he was collecting the arena herotun for his museum at Caprea, the researches of Dr. Schliemann might have been in vain.

As it is, he is to be congratulated not only on the extent and importance of his discoveries, but also on his investigation having brought to light those horned Juno idols which he anticipated finding. His theory of some of the owl-like figures from Hissarlik bearing reference to the name of γλαυκώπις Άθήνη has met with more ridicule than it deserved, and if the discovery of those horned figures of βοώπις πότνια Ήρη should be substantiated. Dr. Schliemann will be fairly entitled to claim the victory over his adversaries. Under any circumstances both he and his no less enterprising helpmeet deserve the most cordial thanks of all scholars and antiquaries.

 

 From The Pall Mall Gazette.

promotion may suggest some reflections on the composition of the order in the peerage to which he will henceforth belong. Though an earldom is the most ancient of English titles of nobility, the senior existing earldom of England not merged in a higher title dates only from the reign of Henry VI.; and Lord Shrewsbury has a precedence of forty-three years over Lord Derby, the second earl on the roll of peers, whose ancestor was raised to the rank which his descendant now enjoys by Henry VII. The third earldom, Huntingdon, was created by Henry VIII.; the fourth, Pembroke, by the government of Edward VI.; the fifth, Devon, by Queen Mary; the next three — Suffolk, Denbigh, and Westmoreland — by James I.; the next four — Lindsey, Stamford, Winchilsea, and Chesterfield — by Charles I.; the next seven — Sandwich, Essex, Carlisle, Doncaster (the title by which the Duke of Buccleuch sits in the House), Shaftesbury, Berkeley, and Abingdon — by Charles II.; the next four — Scarborough, Albemarle, Coventry, and Jersey — by William III.; while the last surviving earldom in the peerage of England, not merged in a higher title, is that of Poulett, which dates from the reign of Queen Anne. The remaining earls in the House of Lords are, of course, either "of Great Britain" or "of the United Kingdom," or representative peers for Scotland or Ireland. Several dukes and marquises, however, hold earldoms of early creation. Thus, the Duke of Norfolk is Earl of Arundel, and premier earl, the Duke of Beaufort is Earl of Worcester (1514), and the Duke of Rutland is descended from Thomas Manners, thirteenth Lord De Ros, created Earl of Rutland in 1525. This peer, by the way, made a pun in dog Latin about his creation, observing to Sir Thomas More, lord chancellor, "Honores mutant Mores" "Nay, by your leave, my lord," replied More, "the pun is better in English — 'Honors change manners.'"

The English earldoms now in existence, and dating back from the fifteenth century, appear to be but three in number, while those dating from the sixteenth century may be counted on one's fingers. Indeed, though the aristocracy of birth in this country is both ancient and illustrious, the titles borne by its members are nearly all of modern origin. The oldest barony, that of De Ros, dates from 1264, the 49th of Henry III., though the Irish barony of Kinsale was created by Henry II. in 1181. But hardly a score of baronies can boast an older origin than the reign of James I., the first of our princes who seems to have bestowed honors with a prodigal, not to say a reckless hand. Yet long before his time "the commonalty murmured that there were never so many gentlemen or so little gentleness." Meanwhile, it is satisfactory to know that, in spite of pretty numerous creations in late years, the peerage at the present day probably bears a 