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OB URN ABBEY. 



THE SEAT OF HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF BEDFORD. 



VV ITHIN a short time after the Norman conquest, the greater part of Saxon England was conferred 

 by the Conqueror on his followers and their descendants. Previous to that event, it had been divided 

 into districts called Shires, and governed by persons deputed by the Crown, denominated Ealdormen, or 

 Shiremen. On the acquisition of these shires by the Normans, they, from political motives, endeavoured 

 to root out the remembrance of the familiar title by investing with the jurisdiction of the fief that of 

 Count, which they considered equal to, if not surpassing in honour, the Saxon Ealdorman, or Earl. But, 

 singularly enough, the alien word soon gave place to the original derivation ; and it is chiefly in the 

 term "county" that we now recognise its application or existence in England, while the peerage of the 

 country prove the hereditary privileges and influence of the Saxon rank. 



If we were to examine the history of every county, city, or town of England, we should scarcely find one 

 but what has, at some time or other, been represented by a title of nobility. In many cases it has 

 become extinct, and seldom, at the present time, is it enjoyed by the direct descendants of those on 

 whom it was first conferred. 



Bedford, for instance, presents a curious example of this kind— Ingram de Courcy, Constable of France, 

 was created Earl of Bedford by Edward III, in 1363. John Plantagenet, third son of Henry IV, was 

 created Duke of Bedford, and was afterwards Regent of France. George Plantagenet, youngest son of 

 Edward IV, who died in his infancy, had the title of Duke of Bedford. George Neville was created 

 Duke of Bedford in 1470, and degraded in 1478. Jasper Tudor (uncle to Henry VII) was created 

 Duke of Bedford in 1483 ; the title then became extinct. The Lady Mary, daughter of Henry VIII 

 (afterwards Queen of England), was created Countess of Bedford, by her father, in 1537. In 1549, the 

 Earldom was revived in the person of John, Lord Russell, whose descendant was in 1694 advanced to 

 the Dukedom ; in this family it still remains. In many cases the chief residence of these nobles was in 

 the principal city, or town from whence their titles were derived, and in which they enjoyed and exacted 

 the privileges of their order. During the internal commotions, which in past ages so often shook the 

 kingdom to its centre, these feudal strongholds, from various causes, often changed owners, and in many 

 instances became, from the effects of war or neglect, in too ruinous a condition to be habitable. Of the 

 old Castle at Bedford little now remains but its site " to point a moral or adorn a tale." 



At the Reformation, the beautiful and imposing edifices, and the magnificent estates of Ecclesiastical 

 dignitaries were seized by the Crown, and the greater portion granted to those who stood high in royal 

 favour, or had distinguished themselves in the service of their country, and who, in turn, sold or otherwise 

 disposed of them as they thought fit. And so quickly did this dissolution extend, and so earnestly 



did its spirit work, that in a very short time the very walls, — within which for so many centuries had 

 reigned the solemn assurance of monastic rule, in all its important ceremonies and ascetic forms, its 



