English Heraldry. By Charles Boutell. (Cassell, Patter, and Galpin.) —We
do not know how many persons of the present day will endorse Mr. Boutell's proposition that some knowledge of heraldry ought, in consequence of its singular and comprehensive utility, to be estimated as a necessary element of a liberal education. But if that view is accepted, this work will be certain to take rank as a text-book on the subject. Mr. Houten manages to interest even those who are indifferent to heraldry, he explains many of its attractions and all of its difficulties to those who are ignorant of it. While he inveighs against some modern frivolities which convert arms into representations of battles, landscapes, fortified towns, and silver pennies with the Lord's Prayer written on them with a crow-quill: he is not more tolerant of those medianal delusions by which a true coat of arms was made out of Joseph's coat of many colours. Such moderation combined with such good taste gives us confidence in Mr. Boutell's judgment, while the extent of his heraldic knowledge shows that in other respects we need not fear to commit our- selves to his guidance.
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