17 AUGUST 1889, Page 26

Practical Heraldry. By Charles Worthy. (G. Redway.)—Mr. Worthy thinks that

" Heraldry, somewhat neglected by our immediate ancestors, is now very popular, and is daily becoming more so." This is doubtless true of the science in its antiquarian and historical aspect. We cannot attach much value to the actual regulations as to the bearing of arms. People will probably go on assuming their mothers' arms, if they have none of their own, highly irregular as the practice is, or even the arms of families with which they have no connection. There is no penalty, except the tax on armorial bearings. No one ever seems to lack arms. Every Master of a City Company, when his turn comes to have his bearings emblazoned on the windows of his Hall, is ready furnished. But this laxity does not diminish the value of heraldry as a guide to the history of the past.