264. RENT-ROLL OF THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM. He sends bj his son Stafford an obligation, partly satisfied, — • " The residue of which I pray you to receive, and that I may have an acquittance thereof, and to give credence unto my said son in such thing as he should say unto your good brotherhood on my behalf."' The Duke dates his letter from the castle of Maxstoke, situated to the east of Coleshill, in Warwickshire. It was visited by Pennant in 1780, who speaks of the fine gateway, and the gates, covered with plates of iron by the Duke, with his arms impahng those of Nevil, and with the supporters, two antelopes, derived fi-om his mother, " the burning nave or knot — the cognizance of his own ancestors," Pennant speaks also of a great vault ribbed with stone, of the old chapel and kitchen, and the noble old hall, and a great dining-room, with a most curious carved door and chimney, as then in use. Some portions of this building, I understand, still exist. An ancestor of our noble president. Sir William Compton, was the favoured grantee of this estate when forfeited in the reign of Henry VIII. One circumstance in the Duke's life must not be passed over, as being characteristic of this chivalrous age, and showing the jealousy with which honours were defended. The nobleman, who may be regarded as the Duke's most powerful rival, was Henry Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, born 1424. From his father he inherited large estates, valued (12th Henry YI.) at 8606 marks; he w^as created Duke of Wai-wick in the same 3^ear (1444) that Buckingham gained that rank ; and on this accession of title, while he was, in the scale of precedence, to follow the Duke of Norfolk, he was placed before Buckingham. This proof of royal favour gave great umbrage to the latter (who happened to be the Duke of Warwick's godfather), and in order to prevent con- tention and strife the matter of precedence bet^^ixt these peers was thus settled by Parliament — " That one of the said dukes shall have the pre-eminence for one whole year, and then the other have pre-eminence for the next year, and so alternately, as long as they shall live, and on their deaths, whichever shall first have livery of his lands to have the perpetual precedence." I
- Paston Letters, by Ramsay (1840), vol. i. p. 9. j
