324 HERALDIC SCIENCE. 



institution, it is to be esteemed far below virtue," inasmuch as " it is a virtue, 

 if it be one, of an artificial and visible kind, dependent upon time and fortune ; 

 diverse in form, according to the country. . . ." The ancient custom of 

 solemnly interring the arms of an extinct family in the grave of its last 

 representative had been abandoned for centuries. Even if noble families 

 became extinct, they were resuscitated with their armorial bearings, and 

 formed new branches by substitution of name, by alliance, or by usurpa- 

 tion. This was the cause of the different verifications and reforms of the 

 nobility which took place in the fifteenth century, and which added a large 

 sum in the way of fines and royalties to the King's treasury. 



Heraldic science has, however, survived the noble institutions which first 

 brought it into existence, and though it has lost a part of its primitive 

 importance, it still remains almost intact as a picturesque monument of the 

 past, and as a tradition of mediaeval history. 



