THE HERALDS are six, viz. Somerset, York, Chester, Richmond, Windsor, and Lancaster, who rank amongst each other, according to their seniority in office. They are esquires by creation, and wear a silver collar of SS.

THE PURSUIVANTS are Bluemantle, Rouge Dragon, Rougecroix, and Portcullis. They attend with the heralds in the public office by a monthly rotation, and in common with all the other officers have apartments in the college.

THE HERALDS OF SCOTLAND are by some authorities believed to be of greater antiquity than those of England, and it is considered that Norroy, the most ancient of the English kings of arms, owed his origin to the wars of the borders. But in their numbers and constitution they differ considerably. In Scotland there is but one principal herald or King of Arms, whose name and badge is derived from the national escutcheon; of the costume officially worn by this functionary Scott has said,

"So bright the King's armorial coat,

That scarce the dazzled eye could note,
In living colours, blazoned brave,
The Lion, which his title gave."

Although there is no direct evidence of the fact, yet it is generally allowed that formerly the Lord Lyon, King of Arms, was dependent on the Marischal of Scotland, just as the English heralds are subordinate to the Earl Marshal of England. That dependence

has now, however, no existence, for the Lord Lyon is the head of the office of arms in Scotland, and holds his place direct from the Crown, by commission under the great seal. The power of regulating the assumption of armorial bearings was formerly vested in the heralds, jointly, but it is now exercised by the King of Arms alone. The duties of his office he discharges by deputies, who have the titles of Lyon deputes, and are wholly nominated by himself. This delegation of his powers is usually traced to the year 1663, when he first obtained the title of Lord Lyon, King of Arms. The office of heralds in feudal times being held of the utmost importance, the mode of their creation was proportionably imposing. It was the practice on some high festival for the monarch to perform a mimic coronation in conferring this office; but since the disuse of those ceremonies which accompanied the creation of peers, the practice has totally ceased, and the kings of arms are created under the power of a royal warrant. The ceremonies attendant on these creations added considerable dignity to the office, and in the eyes of our ruder ancestors gave a degree of sacredness to one

“Whom royal James himself had crown'd,
And on his temples placed the round

Of Scotland's ancient diadem ;

And wet his brow with hallow'd wine,
And on his finger given to shine

The emblematic gem."

So sacred, indeed, was the herald's office considered, that in 1515 Lord Drummond was declared guilty of treason, and his lands forfeited, for having

struck the Lord Lyon, King of Arms; nor was he restored, but at the express solicitation of the injured official.

The number of the heralds in Scotland are six, viz. Islay, Rothesay, Snowdown, Marchmont, Albany, and Ross. The pursuivants are also six in number, viz. Kintyre, Unicorn, Dingwall, Carrick, Bute, and Ormond. At the end of the fifteenth century it appears that there were but five of each class, including the Lyon herald as one of the first, but for the last three centuries their names and numbers have been as at present;

"Heralds and pursuivants, by name

Bute, Islay, Marchmont, Rothesay, came
In painted tabards, proudly showing
Gules, Argent, Or, and Azure glowing,
Attendant on a King of Arms,

Whose hand the armorial truncheon held
That feudal strife had often quell'd,
When wildest its alarms."

The heralds and pursuivants receive their commis. sions for life from the Lord Lyon, and the only duty which now falls to them is, attendance at royal proclamations, coronations, and similar public ceremonies.

THE OFFICE OF ARMS IN IRELAND differs from the English Heralds' College, in the same peculiarity which marks the Scottish office of arms, namely, in having but one King of Arms, who is not subject to any marshal, but is the head of the establishment. The Ulster King of Arms has the same connexion with the Order of St. Patrick, which respectively

characterizes the Lord Lyon and the Order of the Thistle, the Garter king and the Order of the Garter. There are two heralds in Ireland, one styled "Cork herald of arms," the other "Dublin herald;" there are also two pursuivants denominated, "the Athlone pursuivant of arms," and "the pursuivant of arms and registrar." The functions of the Ulster King of Arms are, to grant and devise armorial bearings, to marshal public ceremonies, to publish royal proclamations, &c.

AMBASSADOR.

Then embassies thou show'st

From nations far and nigh; what honour that,

But tedious waste of time to sit and hear

So many hollow compliments and lies,
Outlandish flatteries ?"

MILTON, Paradise Regained, b. iv.

THE intercourse which independent states maintain with each other, can in very few instances be efficiently carried on by correspondence, and therefore, for centuries past representatives of foreign courts have been received at almost every seat of government throughout the civilized portions of the world.

The circumstances which limit intercourse of this kind between nations, appear to be, that, as the right to send or receive Ambassadors is a royal prerogative, the reception of any foreign representative is a recognition of the sovereign powers of the personage by whom he is sent; and the ceremony has therefore naturally attracted much attention at the conclusion

of all wars, or the determinations of any claims to the privileges of an independent state.

Embassies are either for ordinary and general purposes, or they are special and extraordinary ; the one not destroying or superseding the functions of the other.

A distinction has not only been taken between agents of a sovereign (who are sent abroad for private or personal purposes,) and his representatives, (who are employed in the transaction of public affairs,) but the latter have been divided into certain classes or ranks, which vary in their powers, privileges, and importance.

AMBASSADORS, LEGATES, OR NUNCIOS, constitute the highest order of foreign representatives resident at any court. Of these three, the first only is known in England; for although there is a British consul at Rome, yet as this country has not maintained diplomatic relations with the pope since the Reformation, legates or nuncios have not been received. Ambassadors, therefore, are the only ministers of the first class who require our attention.

ENVOYS OR MINISTERS constitute the second class of diplomatists, and they in common with the first class are accredited direct from one sovereign to another.

RESIDENT MINISTERS form the third class; their position (intermediate between the envoys and the class next to be mentioned,) was determined at the conference at Aix la Chapelle in 1818.