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26 June, 2013
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The Glory Of English Prose
6. Lord Chief Justice Crewe
by Coleridge, Stephen
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My Dear Antony,
I do not think that men of letters often search through the old
law reports for specimens of fine prose, but I believe that here
and there, in that generally barren field, a nugget of pure gold
may be discovered by an industrious student.
Much noble prose delivered from the bench down the centuries has
been lost for ever, for the judges of England have often been
gentlemen of taste, scholarship, and eloquence. I have found one
very splendid passage that has somehow survived the wrecks of
nearly four hundred years.
Lord Chief Justice Crewe, who became Chief Justice of England in
1624, delivered in the case of the Earl of Oxford the following
noble tribute to the great house of De Vere:—
"I heard a great peer of this realm, and learned, say, when he
lived, there was no king in Christendom had such a subject as
Oxford. He came in with the Conqueror, Earl of Guienne; shortly
after the Conquest made Great Chamberlain, above 400 years ago, by
Henry I., the Conqueror's son; confirmed by Henry II. This great
honour—this high and noble dignity—hath continued ever
since, in the remarkable surname De Vere, by so many ages,
descents, and generations, as no other kingdom can produce such a
peer in one and the selfsame name and title. I find in all this
time but two attainders of this noble family, and those in stormy
and tempestuous time, when the government was unsettled, and the
kingdom in competition. I have laboured to make a covenant with
myself, that affection may not press upon judgment, for I suppose
that there is no man that hath any apprehension of gentry or
nobleness, but his affection stands to the continuance of so noble
a name and fame, and would take hold of a twig or twine-thread to
uphold it. And yet Time hath his revolutions: there must be an end
to all temporal things, finis rerum,—and end of names
and dignities, and whatsoever is terrene; and why not of De
Vere? For where is De Bohun?—where is Mowbray?—where is
Mortimer? Nay, what is more and most of all, where is Plantagenet?
They are entombed in the urns and sepulchres of mortality. And yet,
let the name and dignity of De Vere stand so long as it pleases
God."
And alas! we can now ask, Where is De Vere? This great Earldom
of Oxford was created in 1142, and has disappeared long ago in the
limbo of peerages said to be in abeyance.
In these days, Antony, when peerages are bought by men
successful in trade and sold by men successful in intrigue, such
elevations in rank have ceased to be regarded as the necessary
concomitants of "great honour" and "high and noble dignity"; so
that it has long been more reputable in the House of Lords to be a
descendant than an ancestor. But among the older great families
there still remains a pride that has descended unsullied through
many generations, which serves as a fine deterrent from evil deeds,
and a constant incentive to honour—and in England the history
of great names can never be totally ignored, even though the
country may be ruled by persons who do not know who were their own
grandfathers.
Nothing is more ridiculous and cheap than to sneer at honourable
descent from famous ancestors; it divertingly illustrates the fable
of the sour grapes.
Your loving old
G.P.
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