unius comitatus, erecting the tract into a county, for the constitution of an earldom.

But for many centuries earldoms have always been conferred by letters patent or charters, and from the multiplication of titles, counties have long since been exhausted in furnishing names for dignities of different dgerees, so that estates, villages, and families have, of late years, afforded the majority of designations on the creation of earls.

"

The style by which an earl is addressed, is, "The Right Honourable the Earl of On some occasions heralds give him the title of Puissant Prince," but by the Crown he is officially addressed as our right trusty and right well beloved cousin ;” a mode of appellation, according to Blackstone, as ancient as the reign of Henry IV., who, being actually related or allied to every earl then in the kingdom, (either through his wife, his mother, or his sisters), artfully and constantly acknowledged that connexion in all his letters and other public acts. The reader will, however, observe, that viscounts are also designated by the king as cousins, though not styled "right" well beloved; and they were constituted a rank in the peerage by Henry the Fourth's grandson, Henry VI.

In England there are twice as many barons as earls, but the two together form fully three-fourths of the whole peerage. In Scotland the proportion is reversed, for there are twice as many earls as barons, and the two combined form more than threefourths of the peerage. In Ireland, on the other hand, the number is as nearly as possible alike, viz.

73 barons and 74 earls, but when combined, they also constitute three-fourths of the whole peerage. An earl can retain and qualify five chaplains.

VISCOUNT.

"For here lies one who ne'er preferr'd

A viscount to a marquis yet."

MOORE, Epitaph on a Tuft-hunter.

THE next title in rank to that of a baron is the viscount; and as the former is the most ancient, so the latter is the most modern in its institution, among the gradations of the peerage. It was introduced into England in 1440, by Henry VI., and is always conferred by letters patent, the limitations expressed in which regulate the course of descent.

Its name is derived from vice-comes, a word which had been long used to denote the sheriff of a county. The French were the first to adopt it as a titular designation, and with them it was always a feudal dignity, annexed to the possession of lands. Their modification of the Latin term (viz. viscount), was transferred to the English peerage when the title was introduced among the hereditary dignities of this country.

Viscounties in England have not been extensively conferred; but as a portion of the Irish peerage, their comparative frequency is considerable. Thus, up to 1841, the number created in England amounted to 130, of which only 20 were then in existence, the remaining 110 being extinct, forfeited, or in abeyance; in the Scottish peerage, 41 had been created, of which only six remained; while in Ireland 161 had been conferred, of which 43 were then in exist

ence. Thus, out of a gross Irish peerage of 222, forty-three titles were viscounties, or about one-fifth of the whole; while in England the proportion was not more than one-twentieth, viz. 20, out of a total of 404, and in Scotland, the proportion was about one-fourteenth, viz. six out of a gross peerage of 83 members.

The style of a viscount, is "The Right Honourable Lord Viscount -," and he is officially addressed

"What is a lord? Doth that plain simple word
Contain some magic spell? as soon as heard
Like an alarum bell on night's dull ear

Doth it strike louder, and more strong appear
Than other words?"

CHURCHILL.

BARONS, although enjoying a title of the highest antiquity in its origin, at present hold the lowest rank in the peerage. Anciently, the great council of the nation was composed of men who, under the feudal system, held lands from the Crown, which were denominated baronies, and they were themselves described as barons by tenure." (See TENURE.) Subsequently, and before the extinction of the barons by tenure, writs of summons, and still later, letters patent, became the method of creation. For details on these matters, the reader is referred to the several articles" TENURE,"-" WRIT OF SUMMONS,"

"LETTERS PAtent,"- "BARONIES JURE UXORIS," &c.

The right of the sovereign to add to the peerage at pleasure, has led gradually to the introduction of nobles, sometimes with, and sometimes without, the title of baron,-without, in fact, any lordship or seigniory properly so called, though they are always addressed as lords, and always presumed to be seigniors of some place; a few peers of Ireland, created since the union, have taken their titles from places in England, but the name of an English county is never introduced into the patent. Lord Rendlesham is of Rendlesham, without any county. Lord Macdonald is of Slate, in the county of Antrim, whereas Slate is in the Hebrides; Lord Newborough is "of Ireland," and numerous other anomalies might be mentioned.

Even at the present day some of the peers are not barons, as they, or their ancestors, were ennobled immediately by a higher title; but the greater number of dukes, marquises, earls, and viscounts, possess baronies in addition to their higher dignity. It has been a common practice, in adding members of the Scottish or Irish peerage to the legislative portion of the nobility, to give them baronies of the united kingdom, by which means they sit and vote in the house of Lords, but elsewhere enjoy the higher rank and precedence which their national title confers.

Barons are styled "Right Honourable," and addressed officially by the Crown as " right trusty and well beloved." A baron may retain and qualify three chaplains, and his baroness two.

The first instance in which barons appear to have been styled" peers," is in the award of exile against Hugh le Despencer, and his son, in the year 1321; this instrument concludes, "therefore, we, peers of the land, earls and barons, in the presence of the king, do award," &c.

The hereditary rank in the peerage called baron, should not be confounded with "Barons of the Exchequer," for information respecting which the reader is referred to the article on that subject.

DURATION OF LIFE AMONG MEMBERS OF THE PEERAGE.

"The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,

And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Await alike th' inevitable hour:

The paths of glory lead but to the grave."

GRAY.

THE duration of life in different classes of society will of course be found to vary according to circumstances and pursuits. The several titled orders in this country, being for the most part persons of good fortune, adopt habits of life not materially different from the great body of the gentry; but, as respects the tens of thousands comprehended in the latter class, no sufficient statistical data have yet been collected, or at least none upon which implicit reliance can be placed. With reference however to the most distinguished portion of the higher classes this desideratum has been satisfactorily supplied, and the results cannot fail to be regarded with much interest and curiosity.

From the observations and calculations made by