CEREMONY IN GENERAL. 31 



twixt chivalry and religion esteemed to be, that the sev 

 eral gradations of the former were seriously considered 

 as parallel to those of the Church,&quot; I go on to point ont that 

 these officers pertaining to the institution of chivalry, 

 formed a body which, where it was highly organized, as in 

 France, had five ranks chevaucheur^poursuivantd armes^ 

 heraut cParmes, roi d armes, and roi cTarmes de France. 

 Into these ranks successively, its members were initiated by 

 a species of baptism wine being substituted for water. 

 They held periodic chapters in the church of St. Antoiiie. 

 When bearing mandates and messages, they were similarly 

 dressed with their masters, royal or noble, and were simi 

 larly honoured by those to whom they were sent: having 

 thus a deputed dignity akin to the deputed sacredness of 

 priests. By the chief king-at-arms and five others, local 

 visitations were made for discipline, as ecclesiastical visita 

 tions were made. Heralds verified the titles of those who 

 aspired to the distinctions of chivalry, as priests decided on 

 the fitness of applicants for the sanctions of the Church; 

 and when going their circuits, they w r ere to correct &quot; things 

 ill and dishonest,&quot; and to advise princes duties allied to 

 those of priests. Besides announcing the wills of earthly 

 rulers as priests announced the wills of heavenly rulers, 

 they were glorifiers of the first as priests were of the 

 last: part of their duty to those they served being &quot; to pub 

 lish their praises in foreign lands.&quot; At the burials of 

 kings and princes, where observances for honouring the liv 

 ing and observances for honouring the dead, came in con 

 tact, the kinship of a herald s function to the function of 

 a priest was again shown; for besides putting in the tomb 

 the insignia of rank of the deceased potentate, and in 

 that manner sacrificing to him, the herald had to write, 

 or get written, a eulogy had to initiate that worship of 

 the dead out of which grow higher forms of worship. Simi 

 lar, if less elaborate, was the system in England. Heralds 

 wore crowns, had royal dresses, and used the plural 



