And now
in a silvery voice he replied to his visitor:
"What you tell me, Sir Vavasour, is what I foresaw, but which,
as my influence could not affect it, I dismissed from my
thoughts. You came to me for a specific object. I
accomplished it. I undertook to ascertain the rights and
revive the claims of the baronets of England. That was what
you required me: I fulfilled your wish. Those rights are
ascertained; those claims are revived. A great majority of
the Order have given in their adhesion to the organized
movement. The nation is acquainted with your demands,
accustomed to them, and the monarch once favourably received
them. I can do no more; I do not pretend to make baronets,
still less can I confer on those already made the right to
wear stars and coronets, the dark green dress of Equites
aurati, or white hats with white plumes of feathers. These
distinctions, even if their previous usage were established,
must flow from the gracious permission of the Crown, and no
one could expect in an age hostile to personal distinctions,
that any ministry would recommend the sovereign to a step
which with vulgar minds would be odious, and by malignant ones
might be rendered ridiculous.
Pages:
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417