Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Advantages Resulting From The Study Of Heraldry.
Talents and learning of the highest order , even when united to persevering application , are not always sufficient to preserve the name of their professor from oblivion beyond the precincts of the College of Arms , and the limited circle of those who are interested in archaeological and genealogical pursuits . Hence the instances are rare in
which the public have appreciated investigations , which , in more popular literature , would' not have failed to secure immortality to their author . An objection may no doubt be offered , that researches only deserve estimation in proportion as they are useful , and that the knowledge of Heraldry and genealogy , to which many , absurdly believe
the pursuits of the Heraldic student are confined , only tend to flatter ridiculous pride , or to cherish absurd distinctions . Nothing is more common than such a statement , and , were it true , perhaps nothing would be more just . It must , however , not only be observed that the vanity which is thus indulged is of so harmless a description that its gratification is not injurious to society , but that in a country where an established aristocracy forms a part of the constitution , the distinctions of birth must exist ; and so long
as an heraldic house of peers forms one branch of the legislature , it is idle to despise or neglect a science upon which it depends . There are , however , other and higher causes which entitle Heraldic pursuits to our respect . As adjuncts to history they are almost indispensable , and there is scarcel y
an important fact in the annals of this country , but either had its origin , or became ultimately involved in a point of genealogy . The succession of the crown , the many poli- » tical events which proceded frommarriagesbetween powerful families , and the numerous circumstances which entirel y rested on a point of consanguinityare proofs of this remark
, . Heraldry , too , though not essential , is nevertheless a valuable assistant to the study of English history and antiquities ; nor were these sciences over-rated when they were styled " The handmaid of history . " For the purposes of biography they are equall y essential , and it would be difficultif not impossibleto become well acquainted with
, , the life of a man who lived before the seventeeth century , without a reference to the records preserved in the College of Arms . As regards an immediate application of Heraldry to the study of English history , we may here remark that the national arms have varied at successive times from the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Advantages Resulting From The Study Of Heraldry.
Talents and learning of the highest order , even when united to persevering application , are not always sufficient to preserve the name of their professor from oblivion beyond the precincts of the College of Arms , and the limited circle of those who are interested in archaeological and genealogical pursuits . Hence the instances are rare in
which the public have appreciated investigations , which , in more popular literature , would' not have failed to secure immortality to their author . An objection may no doubt be offered , that researches only deserve estimation in proportion as they are useful , and that the knowledge of Heraldry and genealogy , to which many , absurdly believe
the pursuits of the Heraldic student are confined , only tend to flatter ridiculous pride , or to cherish absurd distinctions . Nothing is more common than such a statement , and , were it true , perhaps nothing would be more just . It must , however , not only be observed that the vanity which is thus indulged is of so harmless a description that its gratification is not injurious to society , but that in a country where an established aristocracy forms a part of the constitution , the distinctions of birth must exist ; and so long
as an heraldic house of peers forms one branch of the legislature , it is idle to despise or neglect a science upon which it depends . There are , however , other and higher causes which entitle Heraldic pursuits to our respect . As adjuncts to history they are almost indispensable , and there is scarcel y
an important fact in the annals of this country , but either had its origin , or became ultimately involved in a point of genealogy . The succession of the crown , the many poli- » tical events which proceded frommarriagesbetween powerful families , and the numerous circumstances which entirel y rested on a point of consanguinityare proofs of this remark
, . Heraldry , too , though not essential , is nevertheless a valuable assistant to the study of English history and antiquities ; nor were these sciences over-rated when they were styled " The handmaid of history . " For the purposes of biography they are equall y essential , and it would be difficultif not impossibleto become well acquainted with
, , the life of a man who lived before the seventeeth century , without a reference to the records preserved in the College of Arms . As regards an immediate application of Heraldry to the study of English history , we may here remark that the national arms have varied at successive times from the