It was in modern times, through the instrumentality of the steel-clad nobles of Britain, that liberty was to dawn on the human race:  and of these, Henry VII. could only summon 28 to his first parliament; and only 36 were summoned to the first parliament of Henry VIII.  In 1830, the House of Peers consisted of 380 persons.

It is a fact but little regarded, that the first noble family in England was that of Lord Courtenay, who descended from the Earls of Devonshire, who often intermarried with the blood-royal of France and Britain, as may be found at the commencement of Sully’s Memoirs.  The Duke of Beaufort is descended from Geoffrey Plantagenet, Earl of Anjou, son of Foulk, King of Jerusalem, and grandson to the Empress Maud, daughter of Henry I. Consequently, this family has flourished, as dukes, marquesses, and earls, without descending to a lower degree, for full 700 years.  The Duke of Montague traces his descent, by the female line, from Charlemagne.  The Earl of Shrewsbury’s family is derived from the famous Talbot, the terror of France:  hence they have been peers for 500 years.

In 1827, the number of the Irish nobility was 212—­viz. 1 duke, 14 marquesses, 76 earls, 48 viscounts, 70 barons, and 4 peeresses.  There were 135 married, 27 widowers, and 45 bachelors.  Of the 162 married and widowers, 38 were without children, and the remaining 134 had living 278 sons and 256 daughters.  Four Irish peers were Knights of the Garter, 10 of the Bath, and 18 of St. Patrick.  Among these 212 Irish nobility, 66 were also British peers.  The ancestors of the Irish peers became ennobled as follows:—­5 as princes of the blood-royal, 8 as courtiers, 8 as younger branches of nobility, 11 as statesmen, 7 for naval service, 23 for military service, 6 for diplomatic service, 11 for legal service, 11 by marriage, and 121 by influence of wealth.

The descent of 13 peers can be traced to the 11th century, that of 10 to the 12th, 12 to the 13th, 13 to the 14th, 10 to the 15th, 37 to the 16th, 31 to the 17th, and 2 to the 18th; and 37 whose genealogies cannot be traced with accuracy.  The ancestors of 48 Irish peers were foreigners.  The number of Catholic peers are, 8 for Ireland—­viz. 2 earls, 4 viscounts, and 2 barons; in Scotland, only 2 earls; and in England 8—­viz. 1 duke, 1 earl, and 6 barons.

W.G.C.

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LADY OF WALSINGHAM.

(For the Mirror.)

“What led (says Britton) to the great celebrity which the town of Old Walsingham, Norfolk, obtained for centuries, was the widow lady of Ricoldie Faverches founding, about the year 1061, a small chapel, in honour of the Virgin Mary, similar to the Sancta Casa at Nazareth.