SALON. This term, as to the origin of which much difference of opinion exists, is probably derived from the Latin word dare (allied to vir, a man, a hero), which originally signified a stupid, brutal man, afterwards came to signify a man simply, and latterly, by one of those strange transmutations which are not uncommon in language, a man pre eminently, or a person of distinction. Teutonic, Celtic, and even Iiebre• derivations have also been assigned to the word; but the fact of its having been introduced into this country by the _Normans, seems in favor of a Romanic origin. It is now the title which we apply to the lowest degree of hereditary nobility. The degree of B. forms a species of landing-place, corresponding amongst noblemen, in a certain sense, to that of gentle man, at a lower stage of the social pyramid. It was in this sense that the word was used in former times to include the whole nobility of England, because all noblemen were barons, whatever might be the higher ranks in the peerage which they occupied. The word peer has recently come to be used with the same signification, perhaps because it is no longer necessarily the case that every nobleman shonid be a B., there being instances in which earldoms and other honors have been given without a barony being attached to them, and in which the barony has been separated from the higher degree by following i a different order of descent. The general theory of the constitu tion, however, still s, that it is as barons that all the peers sit in the upper house; and it is on this ground that the archbishops and bishops are said to sit in virtue of their baronies. The distinction into greater and lesser barons seems from an early period to have obtained in most of the countries of Europe. The greater barons, who were the king's chief tenants, held their lands directly, or is eapite, as it was called, of the crown; whilst the lesser held of the greater by the tenure of military service. The greater barons, who corresponded to the freiherrea (free lords) of Germany, had a perpetual summons to attend the great councils of the nation; whereas the latter were summoned only in case of their lands embracing a certain extent, which in England was thirteen knights' fees and a quarter. See KNIGHT'S FEE. When the representation of the mid dle class in England came to be confided to the knights of the shire and burgessess of towns, the minor barons ceased to receive the royal summons, and by degrees the title B. came to be applied to the greater barons, or lords of parliament, as they were called, exclusively. For an account of the barons of England immediately after the conquest, and of the lands which they held, see Doomsamr-Boon. The habit of conferring the rank of B. by letters-patent, by which it was converted into a mere title of honor, apart from the possession of landed property or of territorial jurisdiction, was first introduced by king Richard II., who, in 1388, created John Beauchamp, of IIolt castle, B. of Kid derminster. In Germany, the old barons of the empire were for the most part raised to the dignity of grafs (counts) and princes; whilst the lesser, in place, of passing into the ranks of the untitled gentry. as in England, constituted a grade of the lower nobility, to which no duties were assigned, and scarcely any political privileges belonged.
When a B. is summoned to the house of lords by writ, a letter, in .the sovereign's name, directs Min to repair to the parliament, to be holden at a specified time and place, to advise with his sovereign, the prelates, and nobles, about the weighty affairs of the nation. On the arrival of the new peer, he is presented by two barons to the lord chancellor, his patent or writ being carried by a king-at-arms, This having been read by the chancellor, he congratulates hini on becoming a member of the house of peers, and invests him with his robe. The oaths are then administered by the clerk of parlia
ment, and the new B. is conducted to a seat on the barons' bench. In addition to barons by writ and barons by patent, barons by prescription are usi ally mentioned, but incorrectly according to Blackstone, who remarks that "those who claim by prescrip tion must suppose either a writ or patent made to their ancestors, though by length of time it is lost." (Kerr's ed., vol. i. p. 406.) There are some distinctions between a creation by writ and by patent which ought to be mentioned. " The creation by writ," says Blackstone, "is the more ancient way, but a man is not ennobled thereby, unless he actually takes his seat in the house of lords; and some are of opinion that there must be at least two writs of summons, and a sitting in two distinct parliaments, to evidence an hereditary barony." In consequence of the inconvenience thus attending it, the creation by writ may now be considered as obsolete, although the eldest son of a peer is still fre quently called up to parliament by means of it, there being in that case no danger of the children losing their nobility even should their father never take his seat. But though creation by patent is thus in general the surest way of insuring the hereditary character of the peerage, it labors under one disadvantage as compared with a creation by writ— viz., that whereas in the latter case the dignity once insured by possession passes to the heirs of the holder without ally words to that purpose, in the former there must be words to direct the inheritance, else the dignity endures only to the grantee for life. Where the patent, again, in place of being silent as to the succession, expressly sets forth that the dignity is for life merely, it was held, in time Wensleydale case, that it does not make the grantee a lord of parliament at all.
The coronation and parliamentary robes of a B. differ very slightly from those of an earl. The right of wearing a coronet was conferred on barons for the first time by king Charles II.: their head-dress till then having consisted of a cap of crimson velvet, lined with ermine, and having a plain gold band. A baron's coronet is. adorned with six pearls, §et at equal distances on the chaplet. Coronets are worn only on great occasions of state ceremonial. In ordinary garb, there is nothing to distinguish a B. from a com moner. A B. has .the title of – right honorable lord."ete.. and is addressed as "my lord," or "your lordship." His wife has also the title of "right honorable," and is addressed as " madam." or "your ladyship." A.B., in signing, sinks his Christian and family surname, and subscribes his titular designation. children enjoy the prefix of honorable, as the "honorable "—mentioning Christian and surname. In literature and conversation, a deceased B. is referred to by his Christian name, according to his in the 'list of peers of the same title, as "'Henry, eighth baron."—The barons of exchequer (q.v.) and of the einque ports (q.v.) arc exnniples still existing of the ancient barons by office.
In the united kingdom. there are persons who possess the title of B. imparted by some foreign power; Its, for example, "baron Rothschild." No such honor can be legally enjoyed without the consent of the sovereign; but at best the title is only honor ary, and coinmunictstes no special privileges. A'good article on the br.ronage will be found in the Cyclopadja of Political Knowledge, published by Bohn, Lc;. don, 1853. See PEER.