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period, the earlier years of Edward III., we have but a few examples: one of these, however, though much worn and mutilated, is a splendid work of art, and in the matter of armour and arms a little arsenal of itself; this is the brass to Sir H. Hastings, at Elsyng, which is also equally valuable from its architectural and heraldic accessories. Here is one of the earliest known quartered coats of arms—the royal arms on the jupon of Edward III. himself, who appears in a compartment of the canopy. I may add that the sub-canopies of these compartments of the principal canopy afford admirable hints for designs for stained glass.

Examples increase as the reign of Edward III. advances, and they abound during those of his unfortunate grandson and of Henry IV. The camail was universal. To this martial appendage the gorget of steel succeeded under Henry V., and thus the armour became of unmixed plate.

Every plate that, in process of time, was added in hopes of strengthening the defensive equipment against the shock of the charge either in the lists or in the field, and every fresh device for giving increased freedom to the sword-arm of the knight without detracting from its security, are found to have been carefully rendered on the brasses of the 15th century. The decadence of armour is also fully illustrated in the later brasses, which themselves give evident proof of an art rapidly declining.

The full value of the representation of armour given in brasses cannot, perhaps, be adequately appreciated, without instituting a comparison between these engraven figures and the actual relics of armour preserved in the Tower and other amouries. A comparison between the designs of brasses and those of sculptured effigies, seals, illuminations, and stained glass, will also tend