HERALDRY. 
kingdom ; all which privileges were con- 
firmed by King Edward VI: in the third of 
his reign ; and for their regular proceedings 
have a public signet, wherewith they seal 
and authorise all business concerted in the 
office. 
Of this collegiate society are (besides the 
Earl Marshal, who is their head) three kings 
of arms, six heralds, and four pursuivants ; 
of all which, we will speak in their order. 
Of the Earl Marshal. This great office, 
which is hereditary in the nol.de family of 
Howard, Dukes of Norfolk, (descended by 
the mother’s side from Thomas de Mow- 
bray, Earl of Nottingham, the first Earl 
Marshal of England) which office is now 
held by his Grace Charles Duke of Nor- 
folk ; and by the statute of 31 Henry 
VIII. has his place next after the Lord 
Great Chamberlain, and Constable, and 
before the Lord High Admiral, and Lord 
Steward of the King’xjtouse. 
This officer, who is governor of the col- 
lege of heralds, has sometimes been the 
King’s lieutenant general in martial affairs, 
and is an Earl by his office, which no other 
officer in England is. 
The Earl Marshal’s court was held in the 
college of heralds, wherein he took cogni- 
zance of all matters of war and arms, being 
commonly guided by the civil law. 
He determines all questions and differ- 
ences' that may arise between the heralds 
and other persons, concerning pedigrees, 
honour, arms, crest, supporters, and ensigns 
armorial ; and he, or his deputy, being judge 
and head ot the college, has power of mak- 
ing rules, ordinances, and decrees, for regu- 
lating thereof. 
As in the college of heralds, the arms of 
all the families and names in England are 
(or ought to be) recorded, together with 
the time when their arms were granted, 
and upon what occasion; and as in the 
said office every man’s fame and dignity is 
preserved, so his Lordship hath power by 
special commission, under the great seal of 
England, of prohibiting the provincial kings 
(which are Clarencieux and Norroy) to give 
and grant any new arms without his Lord- 
ship’s consent; and when any such are 
usurped, and unjustly borne, he has power 
to examine and disclaim the same, and to 
punish the parties that shall falsely assume 
the arms of another. 
He bears a staff of gold tipped with 
bldck, having the king’s arms enamelled on 
one end, and his own at the other, and 
takes his place witli the Lord Great Cham- 
berlain, or the Constable, next before the 
sword. 
At a coronation the Earl Marshal has the 
ordering of the Abbey of Westminster, and 
sees the regalities and robes of King Edward 
the Confessor to be in a readiness, where 
the solemnity is held. 
He appoints the building of the throne 
whereon the King or Queen is to be crown- 
ed, and gives orders to the gentlemen-ushei s, 
for the covering and furnishing thereof with 
hangings, chairs, carpets, cushions, &c. 
At such time the Earl Marshal is one of 
those that does all the nearest offices to the 
King’s person, as to help to lead him, and 
to support his Majesty in his chair, putting 
his hand, with others of the nobility, to set 
the crown on his head, doing his homage 
first, and then presenting the nobility in 
their several degrees, being all vested in 
their robes of estate, wearing their coronets 
when they do their homage. 
At the creation of any great estate, as 
Duke, Marquis, or Earl, the Earl Marshal 
has the furniture of the said estate, or a 
composition for it, as also by ancient custom 
he has had the like of archbishops, bishops, 
and abbots, at their consecrations. 
At the funeral obsequies of kings, queens, 
and princes, the Earl Marshal is a chief 
commissioner appointed with the Lord 
Treasurer, the Lord Great Chamberlain, 
and others of the Lords of the King’s 
Council, to give orders to the wardrobe, for 
the distribution of black for mourners, for 
the furnishing the hearse with velvets, palls 
of cloth of gold, escutcheons, banners, and 
hatchments, giving charge to the officers of 
arms to give their attendance, and to see 
all things royally and princely performed. 
Assisted by the kings and heralds, he 
marshals and orders the proclamation and 
coronation of our kings, their marriages, 
christenings, funerals, cavalcades, royal in- 
terview's, leasts, &c. ; and also when war or 
peace is proclaimed; so that he keeps a 
court of chivalry in the common hall of the 
college of heralds, where they sit as his 
council and assistants, in their rich coats of 
his Majesty’s arms, being all the King’s 
servants in ordinary: and besides these, 
there are six proctors, who are to plead all 
causes relating to coats' of arms, that are 
tried before the Earl Marshal, or his deputy, 
in the college of heralds. •< 
The manner of admitting officers into the 
College of Arms is as follows : 
At their first entry, they are commended 
to the Sovereign by a bill signed bv the 
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