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 A Quaint Court. When in full uniform the officers wear a scarlet coat, embroidered with gold, and the quantity of gold proclaims the rank. A pur suivant's coat is merely embroidered; on the earl marshal's coat you can scarcely see the scarlet for the gold, the cords, and the tassels. All except the earl marshal wear a tabard, which is a loose skirt-like gar ment, blazoned with the royal arms back and front, and worn over the shoulders. Blue Mantle never wore a blue mantle, any more than Rouge Croix carries a ruddy cross. The trappings are only worn on very great occasions, such as a coronation, or a state funeral, when Garter king proclaims the style of the deceased. At the two last funerals, Garter king, who grows older, was represented by Norroy king. At Mr. Gladstone's funeral the public were denied, out of respect for the wishes of the family, a glimpse of the heraldic pomp. The officers were simply attired in black, with only a white wand to hint their exalted rank. The daily work of the officers, if less pic turesque, is not less interesting. They pass grants of arms, compile pedigrees, prepare patents of precedence, get evidence for the chapter in cases of succession to a peerage or a baronetcy, and pass royal licenses for the change of name or arms. "The service of the pursuivants and of the whole College of Heralds," says Chamberlayne in his "Magnae Britanniae Notitia" "is used in marshalling and ordering coro nations, marriages, christenings, funerals, in terviews, feasts of kings and princes, caval cades, shows, jousts, tournaments, and combats, before the constable and marshal. Also they take care of the coats of arms and of the genealogies of the nobility and gentry. Anciently the king-at-arms was solemnly crowned before the sovereign, and took an oath; during which the earl marshal poured a bowl of wine on his head, put on him a richly embroidered velvet coat of arms, a

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collar of SS, a jewel and gold chain, and a crown of gold." The art of heraldry has a purely military origin, and it may be traced to the tourna ments instituted by Henry the Fowler, who was emperor of the Holy Roman Empire during the tenth century. Their object was the maintenance of the military spirit during the comparatively brief intervals of peace in an age of strife, when military prowess was an essential condition of national existence, To apply the rules governing these contests, officers of various degrees were appointed under the title of heralds and kings-of-arms. In order to distinguish the competitors, who were clad in armor from head to foot, per sonal emblems were necessary, just as the jockeys of a later day wear their employers' colors. These emblems were depicted on the shield and were the earliest form of what are now known as coats of arms. The heralds among their other duties regulated the adop tion and display of these distinctive devices, so as to prevent the confusion which would have arisen from similarity or the wrongful use of the arms of others. It was not until heraldry had fallen into decay and its military origin had been for gotten, that the heralds and kings of arms were incorporated into colleges. This was first done in France, and Richard III, follow ing the French example, placed the whole heraldry of England under t|1cir specific control by the incorporation of the Heralds' College, under the presidency of the earl marshal. The duty of the corporation was to take note, not merely of the arms used at tournaments as emblems, but to regulate the use of coats of arms upon all occasions; for by this time their adoption had become general. The college was to allow no one to wear a coat-of-arms without authority, and was to systematize the rules of blazonry. Richard III gave the heralds as a place of residence and meeting Poulteney's Inn, described by an ancient chronicler as " a right fayre and statelie house " in Cold