6 JANUARY 1883, Page 11

Do all the Dukes get the Garter, as a matter

of course P We -observe that the vacant Garter has been conferred on the Duke of Grafton, of whom we only know that he saw service in the -Crimea, and is Equerry to the Queen. If the Garter were always given for distinguished services, as it often has been, it would mean more than it actually does. If it had been given to the Marquis of Bath, for instance, who, though a Conservative in politics, has held a steadily Liberal course in relation to the political affairs of the East, affairs which he has -evidently carefully studied, it would have tended to raise the value of a Garter ; whereas to give it to a mere Dake,—we suppose, for -being so good as to be a Duke,—tends decidedly to depreciate its value.