TITLES OF DIGNITY. THE reader will perhaps have anticipated, that the subject spoken of in the Eighty-fourth Number of the Portfolio, would be continued by the present; and as the subject is one of the highest importance (for every one ought to be acquainted with it), I feel pleasure în having it in my power to communicate the following account :

The first title or name of dignity (says Camden), next to a peer, was, in ancient time, that of vidames, vice-domini, or valvasors, who are mentioned as viri magnæ dignitatis, of whom Lord Chief Justice Coke speaks highly. They are, however, now out of use, and antiquaries have not yet agreed upon even their original or ancient office.

Now, the first personal dignity after the nobility, is a Knight of the order of St. George, or of the Garter, first instituted by King Edward the Third, in the year 1344; and the next (but not till after certain official dignities, as Privy Counsellors, the Chancellors of the Exchequer and Duchy of Lancaster, the Chief Justice of the King's Bench, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, the Master of the Rolls, and the other English Judges) follows a Knight banneret, who indeed, by statutes 5 Richard II. st. 2. c. 4. and 14 Ric. II. c. 11. is ranked next after Barons, and his precedence before the younger sons of Viscounts was confirmed to him by order of King James I. in the 10th year of his reign. But in order to entitle himself to this rank, he must have been created by the King in person, in the field, under the royal banners in time of open war; else he ranks after baronets, who are the next order; which title is a dignitary of inheritance created by letters patent, and usually descendable to the male issue. It was first instituted by

James I. A.D. 1611, in order to raise a competent sum for the reduction of the province of Ulster in Ireland*; for which reason all the baronets have the arms of Ulster superadded to their family coat t. Then follow Knights of the Bath, an order instituted by Henry IV. and revived by George I. They are so called from the ceremony of bathing the night before their creation. The last of these inferior nobility are Knights Bachelors; the most ancient, tho' the lowest order of knighthood amongst us; for we have an instance of King Alfred's conferring this order on his son Athelstan. Knights are called in Latin equites aurati, aurati from the gilt spurs they wore, and equites on account of their always serving on horseback; for it is to be observed, that all nations call their knights by some appellation derived from an horse §. They are called also in cur law, milites, because they formed a part of the royal army in virtue of their feudal tenures-one condition of which was, that every one who held a knight's fee immediately under the Crown (which in Edward the Second's time, amounted to 207. per annum), was obliged to be knighted and attend the king in his wars, or fine for his non-compliance. The exertion of this prerogative as an expedient to raise

One hundred gentlemen each advanced 1000l. for which the title was conferred upon them.

The arms of Ulster are a hand gules, or a bloody hand in a field argent.

The most probable derivation of the word bachelor is from bas chevalier, an inferior knight, and thence Latinized into the barbarous word baccalaureus-Ducange Bac.

§ It appears that the English word knight has no reference to a horse, for knight, or chine, in Saxon, signified puer, serbia, or attendant.

money, in the reign of Charles the First, caused great offence, though warranted by law and the example of Queen Elizabeth *; but it was by stat. 16 Car. I. c. 16. abolished, and this kind of knighthood has since that time fallen into disregard. These, Sir Edw. Coke says, are all the names of dignity in this kingdom-esquires and gentlemen being only honours of worship. But before these last the heralds rank all colonels, serjeants-at-law, and doctors in the three learned profes

sions.

(To be Continued.)

Scrapiana.

W. H.H.

CAPT. MORRIS, JOHN KEMBLE,

AND JACK BANNISTER.

Captain Morris, whose Bacchanalian songs are well known, was in his advanced age compelled to exist on a small income. The Duke of Norfolk, whose table he had for many years gladdened, if not graced, was one evening lamenting very pathetically to John Kemble, over the fifth bottle, the precarious state of Charles Morris's income: John did not like at first to tell the Duke plainly what he, as a wealthy man, ought to do; but when the sixth bottle was produced, Kemble arose 'like a tower,' and broke out, as Jack Bannister tells the story, into a sort of blank-verse speech, into the numbers of which he always fell, when nearly intoxicated. As Bannister relates it, the speech was as

But Heaven, Lord Duke, hath placed you in a sphere,

Where the wish to be kind, and being so, Are the same thing. A small annuity From your o'erflowing hoards; a nook of land,

Clipped from the boundless round of your domains,

Would ne'er be felt, a monstrous cantle out ;'

But you would be repaid with usury; Your gold, my Lord, with prayers of grateful joy;

Your fields would be overflowed with thankful tears, Ripening the harvest of a grateful heart.'

It is almost needless to say what every body knows-that the Duke at once granted the prayer of the actor's petition.

ROMAN REMAINS.

A few years since, some workmen employed in digging for iron ore in the forest of Dean, broke into an excavation that most probably had been formed at a very remote period. As they were exploring the cavern, they saw with surprise what appeared to them a human figure in a dress answering the description of the ancient Romans. The admission of the air, however, in a very short time began to decompose the frail remnant of mortality; and on their attempting to remove it, the whole mass mouldered into an impalpable dust. Near the figure was an antique jug, firmly attached to

to the rock, and incrustated with stolactite; but this relic of antiquity was destroyed by the injudicious means resorted to for its extraction from the mass in which it was imbedded.

THE WIFE'S TREASURE.

A certain Israelite of Sidon hav ing been married above ten years without being blessed with offspring, determined to be divorced from his wife. With this view he brought her before Rabbi Simon, son of Jocho-e.

The Rabbi, who was unfavourable to divorces, endeavoured at first to dissuade him from it. Seeing him, however, disinclined to accept his advice, he addressed him and his wife thus:

My children, when you were first joined in the holy bands of wedlock, were ye not rejoiced? Did ye not make a feast, and entertain your friends? Now, since ye are resolved to be divorced, let your separation be like your union. Go home, make a feast, entertain your friends, and on the morrow come to me and I will comply with your wishes.'

So reasonable a request, and coming from such authority, could not, with any degree of propriety, be rejected. They accordingly went home, prepared a sumptuous entertainment, to which they invited their several friends. During the hours of merriment, the husband being elated with wine, thus addressed his wife :

'Be it so, rejoined the woman. The cup went round, the people were merry, and having drunk rather freely, most of the company fell asleep, and amongst them the master of the feast. The lady no sooner perceived it than she ordered him to be carried to her father's house, and to be put into a bed prepared for the purpose. The fumes of the wine having gradually evaporated, the man awoke. Finding himself in a strange place, he wondered, and exclaimed,

Where am I? How came I here? What means all this?'

His wife, who had waited to see the issue of her stratagem, stepped from behind a curtain, and begging him not to be alarmed, told him that he was now in her father's house.

In thy father's house!' exclaimed the still astonished husband; 'How should I come in thy father's house?"

Be patient, my dear husband,' replied the prudent woman,‘ be patient, and I will tell thee all. Recollect, didst thou not tell me last night, I might take out of thy house whatever I valued most? Now, believe me, my beloved, amongst all thy treasures there is not one I value so much as I do thee; nay, there is not a treasure in this world I esteem so much as I do thee.'

The husband, overcome by so much kindness, embraced her, was reconciled to her, and they lived henceforth every happily together..

THERE'S NO WHERE LIKE HOME.

I congratulate myself that I was born in Ettrick,' said James Hogg. I canna help thinking that if I had been born in Lunnon, in some pent

the light o'Heeven seldom shines, the breeze o'simmer never blaws, or where the sound o' the moss-blutter is never heard, though born into

FRENCH ANECDOTE.

During almost the whole of the last century, the family of the Parisian exécutioner, so celebrated amongst the people under the name of Charlot, inhabited a solitary house, situated about the centre of the Petite rue St. Nicholas, between the faubourgs St. Dennis and St. Martin.

At the commencement of the reign of Louis XV. M. de Lally,. since so celebrated by his unhappy destiny, and the eclat which filial piety had given to the re-establishment of his fame, returned towards midnight, with some youths of his own age and rank, from the Guin. guettes of Rapee, renowned at this period for their excellent matelates. As they approached near the house of Charlot, they heard violins and sounds of merriment, whence they concluded that dancing was going forward within. Heated with the good cheer they had been enjoying, they took a fancy to par

take of the amusements which these sounds informed them they were

near.

They knocked; a servant opened the door; they asked leave to enter. The girl, not daring to take upon herself to admit them, called her master, to whom these young gentry repeated their request.

It is impossible to receive you, gentlemen, answered Charlot; my house is not public; I amuse myself with my family; and our sports are about to cease, for I perceive that it is now very late.

These wild youths, however, insisted, and hoping to secure their admission if they made themselves known, they said that they belonged to the court, that they came from a party at the Rapee, and intended to finish their eveuing, by joining the amusements of an honest and respectable family.

Charlot, after making useless efforts to dissuade them from their project, found there were no other means of ending the matter but by saying-The higher your rank, gentlemen, the less possible it is for me to receive you; you would approve of my refusal if you knew who I am.

And who are you, then? said one of the party.

3.

Gentlemen, do you insist upon it? know then that I am the hangman of Paris. Ha! this is strange! cried M. de Lally, is it you who hang, break arms, legs, &c.?

Charlot interrupted him and said These are in fact my duties; but. I have assistants for obscure criminals. However, when a man of your rank, sir, has the misfortune to fall under the rigour of the laws, I consider it a duty, a honor to perform myself the decrees of justice.

Twenty-five years after, M. de Lally died under the hands of this

same man.

Our readers will all remember that Lord Normanby (the eldest son of the Earl of Mulgrave), made a very strong and favourable impression on the House of Commons, by his first speech in Parliament; an impression which was not weakened by the surprise felt by every member at the liberality of his Lordship's views, so completely contrasted with opinions of his father. Some one remarked to Sydney Smith, that Lord Mulgrave must be not a little astonished to find that he had a son so clever and so liberal. Yes, said the clerical wit; he must feel somewhat like an old hen, when she sees the ducklings she has hatched, take of their own accord to the

the

ANECDOTES OF THE BATTLE OF NAVARINO.

THE ADMIRAL.-During the action, Sir Edward Codrington set a bright example of coolness and bravery. He stood the whole time on, the poop, constantly shouting to encourage the brave fellows about him, and waving in the air a white hat, which he wore. His escape is considered quite miraculous, as his situation was the most exposed ́one he could have chosen.

CAPTAIN BATHURST.-This brave officer was wounded early in the action by a splinter, which knocked off his hat, and slightly tore his face, Shortly afterwards, a shot took off the skirts of his coat. The fatal wound was from a grape shot, which, entered his side, passed through his body, and lodged in the opposite side of the ship. He lived eleven hours afterwards. About midnight shortly before his death, he was visited by the Admiral, who said,—

Well, Watty, if you die, you, die gloriously, I know I shall die, and that soon,' replied he; but, Codrington, I hope you will remember my officers.' The Admiral having promised to attend to his wish, the dying veteran seemed highly gratified. He made some other requests-all of which, except one, will, doubtless, be complied with. The request to which we allude was, that he should be buried at Malta; but the Admiral has thought proper to preserve the body for an honourable burial in England,