Need the reader be informed that this beast of the 'rufull noyse,' which falleth from 'highe places on his _owne_ feete,' is the common house CAT? An anonymous quarto, which reached a fourth edition, made its appearance in 1573, bearing the modest title of 'A very proper Treatise, &c.' and it shows the attention paid to heraldrical 'tricking and painting' in the time of queen Elizabeth, when an art which is now limited to herald-painters was deemed a fitting accomplishment for 'gentlemenne.' Among a host of small works on subjects connected with heraldry which appeared about this time, one may be mentioned as a great curiosity. This is a funeral sermon on the death of Walter, earl of Essex, to which are prefixed copies of verses on his lordship's pedigree in Latin, _Hebrew_, Welsh, and French! The author of this tract was 'Richard Davis, Bishoppe of Saint Davys.' [Sidenote: 1586] SIR JOHN FERNE, Knight, descended from a good family in Leicestershire, and connected, on his mother's side, with the noble house of Sheffield, is believed to have studied at Oxford, though he never graduated. Great part of his life was spent as a member of the Inner Temple. King James gave him the office of secretary and keeper of the signet for the northern parts, then established at York. He died about 1610. Henry Ferne, his eighth son, was the loyalist bishop of Chester, and a writer of some note. His 'Blazon of Gentrie,' published in 1586, is divided into two parts, 'The Glorie of Generositie,' and 'Lacie's Nobilitie;' the former treating of blazon, and the latter of the genealogy of the family of Lacy, with a view to disprove the claim of affinity to it set up by Albertus a Lasco, Count-Palatine of Syradia, which is very successfully refuted. Of this learned work, which our author tells us is "compiled for the instruction of all gentlemen, bearers of arms, whom and none else it concerneth," Peacham speaks as "indeed very rare, and sought after as a jewell." Dallaway describes it as "a continued dialogue, alternately supported by six interlocutors, who discuss the original principles of nobility and the due gradations of the other ranks in society, adjust military distinctions, describe orders of knighthood, and adduce proofs of certain symbols and devices, concluding with high commendations of heraldic investigation. To Ferne the rank of a classic in heraldry will not be denied. His studies were directed to the investigation of the laws of chivalry, and he has transfused into his work the spirit of the voluminous codes now forgotten, which he delighted to consult. It may be considered therefore as the most complete epitome of them now extant. But we must allow that he writes more for the amusement of the learned than for the instruction of novices, and that he deals much more in criticism than rudiments."