British Commonwealth of Nations: Schism Among Shadows

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*This cumbersome title represents a neat straddle. Mr. Asquith would have been honored out of all proportion to his services to the Crown had he received the earldom of Oxford, originally conferred by the Empress Matilda on Aubrey de Vere in 1142 and accordingly weighted with hoary honors beyond expression. By adding "and Asquith," the powers-that-be adroitly earmarked as of recent bestowal a title held in its day by what Macaulay described as "the most illustrious line of nobles that England has seen."