Apropos of the case just related, the importance of heraldry may opportunely be referred to. The marvellous value of this science in tracing pedigrees is well known, and can scarcely be overestimated. Ockwells with, and Ockwells deprived of, its splendid heraldic glass as it existed only a few years ago is an admirable object-lesson. *

In Shakespeare's 'Richard II.,'Bolingbroke's speech to his two prisoners, Bushy and Green, shows fairly the anxiety for the preservation of family devices as a feature in domestic decoration:

'While you have...

From mine own windows torn my household coat, Razed out my impress, leaving me no sign, Save men's opinions and my living blood, To show the world I am a gentleman.

This...

Condemns you to the death.' †

* Ockwells'Manor House, near Bray, Berkshire, during the eighties had fallen into such a neglected and degraded condition that its destruction was imminent. The history of the building seemed lost, or nearly so, but fortunately the property fell into the hands of a keen lover of antiquities, and the magnificent series of stained-glass windows, replete with heraldic designs, were with some difficulty recovered and restored to their proper positions in the banqueting-hall. These devices have been instrumental in indicating the families formerly connected with the estate.

† 'Richard II.,'Act III., Scene 1.

Hedingham Castle, in Essex, was built in the eleventh century by Aubrey de Vere, Earl of Oxford, whose descendants resided there till the end of the sixteenth century. A very few years ago a local dealer discovered in the vicinity a large oak cupboard, which he promptly acquired for trading purposes. This cupboard, when cleaned, was purchased by Mr. J. Majendie, M.P., the present owner of the castle, who has placed it in the great hall with some other antiquities. It is a heavy Gothic piece of furniture dating from the time of Henry VII., or early in the reign of Henry VIII., surmounted with a curious embattled moulding about its top, and linen panels alternating with tracery enclosed in Gothic spandrels, but its chief interest lies in the fact that, centred in the roundels of tracery carved on its doors, may be seen thrice repeated the mullet, the ancient device of the De Veres. This old Gothic cupboard, after strange vicissitudes, has evidently come back to its original home. *

Some exceedingly interesting iron - bound coffers remain in the chapel of the Pyx at Westminster, the ancient Treasury of England's Kings. These strongboxes are said to have been the receptacles for both the Saxon regalia and the treasure of Edward I., and to have been plundered in that disgraceful case of monkish burglary known as the 'Great Robbery,' which occurred in April, 1303. There is reason to doubt such a high antiquity for these coffers, but they may have been used to contain the regalia of a later date.

* It was at Castle Hedingham that Henry VII. administered his historic rebuke to his Great Chamberlain, the thirteenth Earl of Oxford: 'My lord, I have heard much of your hospitality, but I see that it is greater than the speech. .. I thank you for my good cheer; but I may not endure to have my laws broken in my sight. My attorney must speak to you.'The cupboard in question may possibly have been in the banqueting-hall at the time of this incident.

As regards the ancient receptacle of the regalia of Scotland, an interesting anecdote appears in Lockhart's 'Life of Sir Walter Scott.'The great novelist's letters, containing their most graphic and picturesque accounts of the bringing to light of the relics of the royal house of Scotland, are so vivid in their reality that we can almost see the scene as if we were actual spectators of it:

'There has an odd mystery hung about the fate of these royal symbols of national independence. The spirit of the Scotch at the Union clung fondly to these emblems; and to soothe their jealousy it was specially provided by an article of the Union that the regalia should never be removed, under any pretext, from the kingdom of Scotland. Accordingly, they were deposited with much ceremony, as an authentic instrument bears, in a strong chest, secured by many locks, and the chest itself placed in a strong-room, which, again, was carefully bolted up and secured, leaving to national pride the satisfaction of pointing to the barred window with the consciousness that there lay the regalia of Scotland. But this gratification was strangely qualified by a surmise, which somehow became generally averred, stating that the regalia had been sent to London; and you may remember that we saw at the Jewel Office a crown, said to be the ancient crown of Scotland. If this transfer (by the way, highly illegal) was ever made, it must have been under some secret warrant, for no authority can be traced for such a proceeding in the records of the Secretary of State's office.