Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/173

Ch. 2. lords temporal conit of all the peers of the realm (the bihops not being in trictnes held to be uch, but merely lords of parliament ) by whatever title of nobility ditinguihed; dukes, marquies, earls, vicounts, or barons; of which dignities we hall peak more hereafter. Some of thee it by decent, as do all antient peers; ome by creation, as do all new-made ones; others, ince the union with Scotland, by election, which is the cae of the ixteen peers, who repreent the body of the Scots nobility. Their number is indefinite, and may be encreaed at will by the power of the crown: and once, in the reign of queen Anne, there was an intance of creating no les than twelve together; in contemplation of which, in the reign of king George the firt, a bill paed the houe of lords, and was countenanced by the then minitry, for limiting the number of the peerage. This was thought by ome to promie a great acquiition to the contitution, by retraining the prerogative from gaining the acendant in that augut aembly, by pouring in at pleaure an unlimited number of new created lords. But the bill was ill-relihed and micarried in the houe of commons, whoe leading members were then deirous to keep the avenues to the other houe as open and eay as poible.

ditinction of rank and honours is neceary in every well governed tate: in order to reward uch as are eminent for their ervices to the public, in a manner the mot deirable to individuals, and yet without burthen to the community; exciting thereby an ambitious yet laudable order, and generous emulation in others. And emulation, or virtuous ambition, is a pring of action which, however dangerous or invidious in a mere republic or under a depotic way, will certainly be attended with good effects under a free monarchy; where, without detroying it’s exitence, it’s excees may be continually retrained by that uperior power, from which all honour is derived. Such a pirit, when nationally diffued, gives life and vigour to the community; it ets all the wheels of government in motion, which under a wie