New-York tribune., 1893-12-10
MODERN ANTIQUES.
UNAUTHORIZED CRESTS IN ENGLAND.
rvcrJsHMEN WHO scoFF AT AMERICAN coAlS'
oFARMs HAVE THEMSELVES ADOPTED
ARMon1AI HEARINGS WHICH DO
,.or rrroNG TO THEM.

ARMonIAL BEARINGS WHICH po
NOT BELONG TO THEM.
G. much ridicule has been lavshed in Eng
land upon the alleged unauthorized Assumption
90 crests and coats-of-arms by Americans that
~ rot but afford satisfaction to the latter
,,soover that the scoffers and the critics are
,,or,sa,ves guilty of the very offence with which
,hoy charge the people on this side OF the
Atlantic According TO the monumental peer
age inst published by &c. +. c. dnitials that
conceal the identity of the greatest authority
ON heraldic and genealogical lore In the ohi'eu
x,nedom). the majority of the armoriai bear
,nys now used by the subjects of Queen VIC
,oria are incorrect and usurped without proper
authority This is even the case with the DUKE
>, Norfolk. who is the Premier Peer OF the
pealm Besides this. he is the Earl Marshal ana
90 such the president of the College of Her
.,ds which is the state department intrusted
uith the Crown supervision. control and grant of
.ruorial bearings His shield figures over the
rr,ncipal entrance to the college, and on IT are
.rbIozoneG heraldic devices to which he has
mn earthly right. Were he therefore to comply
with the strict requirements Of his high office
and fulfil its duties he would at once in his
ouality as Earl Marshal summon himself in
his capacity as Duke of Norfolk before the
Court Of Arms, and sentence himself to pay
heavy fine to the Crown for using armorial
bearings to which he is not entitled-a vision
rresistibly suggestive of some of the scenes in
the comic operas Of Gilbert and Sullivan.
This being the case with the Duke OF Nor
folk, the President Of the court of chivalry Of
the British Empire and the principal official
of the Crown intrusted with the duties of super
vising the use of heraldic devices. ii cannot
create much surprise to find that the example
which he sets is followed by a very large num-
ber not only Of his fellow peers. but also by the
county families and gentry of the United King
DOM According to an essay by another famous
genealogist. J. c. Cough. in recent number
of "The Scottish Review there are tens. and
even hundreds of thousands of persons In Great
Britain who guilty of the unauthorized
assumption of the arms of gentle families, while
in France Italy. Switzerland, Belgium and Hol-
land indeed everywhere on the Continent save
perhaps In some of the small German sovereign
ties a similar condition of affairs prevails.
Theoretically. 1t is still an offence in the eyes
of the law to usurp heraldic devices. but owing
to the extreme laXity with which the statutes
on the subject have been administered they
have become little better than dead letter.
The offence Of which the Duke of Norfolk Is
guilty is of adding 'lions regardant langued and
armed with azure TO his blazon This augmen-
taton was granted during the reign of King
Henry VIII to the then Duke of Norfolk. for his
victory at Flodden the Scots. But unfortu-
nately the present Duke of Norfolk Is not the heir
of the victor of Flodden Field. the lineal heirs
who are alone entitled to the augmentation"
being the Lords Mowbray and Petre. Another
Duke who likewise adorns his coat-of-arrns
with altogether unauthorized devices is His
Grace Of Marlborough. who has no right either
to the title Of Prince of Mndelhefm or TO the
princely coronet that surmounts his shield
The Prncedom of the Holy Roman Empire con-
ferred upon the great Duke of Marlborough
descended to the senior branch of his de-
scendants the chief of which was the late Lord
Conyers the present Duke of Marlborough being
merely the chief Of the junior branch.
The Iaxity Of the College of Heralds in carry
ing out the supervision Of the armorial bear
ings in use, and the punishment Of those who
are found to be usurpng them either in part
or entirely so, Is due principally TO the fact
that the Kings-at-Arms, the Herads. the Puir-
suiyants and the various officials connected
with the college are permitted to charge
heavy fees for what is described as the in
vestigation" and probation Of pedigrees
What is meant by Investigation" and ''proba-
ton is as follows: AS soon as man. having
succeeded in amassing a certain amount or
money. becomes imbued with social ambitions
bearings as an outward and visible manifesto
ton Of the fact that he belongs to society,"
that is. to the gentry distinct from the
petty tradesman the farmer and the working
class Thoroughly aware that his right to do
so NAV be questioned by his former friends,
envious Of his rise in the world. he applies To
one Of the officials of the College Of Arms to
prepare and prove his pedigree-that Is, to
prove the relationship of his remote ancestors,
either real or fictitious. with the noble family
whose arms he has assumed. The magnificence
of a pedigree Of this kind and the precise ic-
gree Of its illustrious character is only meas
ured by the size Of the fee paid by the appli-
cant. who thereupon receives parchments
adorned with all kinds of official seals. certi-
flying that he indeed belongs to the family
whose arms he has usurped and that he Is
entitled to bear their heraldic devices. Some Of
the pedigrees thus manufactured. or let me
rather say proved" for that is the official
term of the most ridiculous nature. and
although, owing 20 their official origin. they
have been embodied in the "Peerage' Of Sir Ber-
nard Burke-a volume which the average Eng
lshman has hitherto regarded as second In in
fability and in Importance only to his Bible
yet the peerage of &c. +. c." which is indorsed
in the most categoric manner by THE Quarterly
Review" lays bare in the most direct and un
vanished manner the groundlessnes5 OF their
pretensions. In fact. "Burke's Peerage' is shown
TO fully deserve the description OF a gorgeous
repertory Of genealogical mythology, which was
once applied TO 1t by famous genealogist and
Is shown TO be full Of the most absurd fables.
not invented by its courtly Irish editor. now
dead. but merely repeated, their origin being.
as stated above. due to the fact that for the
last three or four hundred years 1t has
been the principal occupation Of the officials Of
the College Of Heralds to discover and invent
ancestors for anybody who chanced to be in
need Of them and could pay for them. In the
reign of Queen Elizabeth we hear OF a Garter
King-at-Arms being fined and imprisoned