Author: Chetham Society

Publisher:

Published: 2016-07-06

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 9781333038052

Excerpt from Remains Historical Literary Connected With the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester, Vol. 31: Published by the Chetham Society Henry Earl of Derby had his Council, which embraced some of the nobility, the Bishop, and a large body of the superior Clergy of the Diocese, besides the principal gentle men of the two palatine counties. The powers vested in this Council were not dissimilar to those of the Privy Coun cil of the sovereign, and not only were statutes enforced and laws carried into effect, but regulations and ordinances of the most stringent and occasionally of the most arbitrary character were enacted, affecting the liberties as well as the property of individuals. Like the Queen, the Earl of Derby had his Comptroller and Steward of the Household, his Grooms of the Bedchamber, and Clerks of the Kitchen and the eldest sons of independent gentlemen of the first rank in the county deemed it an honourable distinction to wait in private upon his Lordship at his table, and in public to wear the badge of his livery. There was nothing servile in their employment, and therefore nothing ignominious in it, the nobility themselves contending for similar situations in the royal household. The three principal offices in the establishment were filled by individuals of knightly rank, connected with the family either by descent or by marriage, some of whose ancestors had hazarded their lives in the campaigns of Agincourt and engaged in the wars of the Roses, whilst their immediate predecessors had shared in the well-earned glories of F lod den and had returned unscathed from the wars of Scotland. These. Officers of the Earl had the privilege of applying to their own use, probably in their own domestic establish ments, a certain number of his Lordship's servants, wearing his livery, and whose wages and clothes were supplied by him. They had also horses kept for their convenience, and their high rank was duly recognised in the household. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.