Ehe 6pettator
MAY 14, 1831
NEARLY half, we believe, of the existing Peerages were conferred during the last fifty years. How many of these were bestowed b); the free pleasure of a King'? Very few: and it may be doubted whether, since the Revolu- tion, a single individual has been raised to the Peerage who had not found favour with the holders of borough power, or had not borough power of his own. We have heard of the late King, that he wished to confer a peerage on Sir THOMAS LAWRENCE, and that, having ventured a suggestion to that effect, he Was told "the thing was impossible." If Su' THOMAS LAWRENCE had expended his great earnings in the purchase of sufficient borough power. instead of in patronage of the line arts, "the thing" would have been a matter of course.
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