[Illustration: No. 447.--Counter Seal of Earl Thomas de Beauchamp, A.D. 1344] The noble Seal, No. 446 (_see_ Frontispiece), engraved from a most perfect impression recently discovered appended to a document in the guardianship of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, represents its illustrious owner, THOMAS DE BEAUCHAMP, K.G., third Earl of WARWICK, in armour, with his shield and jupon charged with the armorial insignia of Beauchamp (_gu., a fesse between six crosses crosslets or_), and with the same insignia repeated upon the bardings of the charger upon which the Earl is mounted. The engraving of the Seal itself appears on the Frontispiece to this Volume: and the Counter-Seal, one of the most beautiful and most perfect examples in existence of the early seal-engraver’s art, is here represented in No. 447. The Shield displayed on this Counter-Seal is charged only with the Arms of the NEWBURGHS (_chequée or and az., a chevron erm._), from whom the Earldom of Warwick passed by inheritance to the House of Beauchamp. The inscription is commenced on the Seal, No. 446, and continued on the Counter-Seal, No. 447, and is as follows:-- S : THOE : COMITIS : WARRWYCHIE : ANNO : REGNI : REGIS : E : T’CII : POST : CŌQVESTV̄ : ANGLIE : SEPTIO : DECIO : ET : REGNI : SVI : FRANCIE : QVARTO-- “The Seal of Thomas, Earl of Warwick, in the seventeenth year of the reign of King Edward III. (of that name) after the Conquest of England, and the fourth of his reign over France.” Thus, the date of the execution of this fine Seal is the year 1344. The Earl himself died in 1369. A second Beauchamp Seal is also represented in the Frontispiece. This is the Seal of RICHARD DE BEAUCHAMP, K.G., fifth Earl of WARWICK, who died in the year 1439. The Heraldry in this example is particularly interesting. The Shield, charged with _Newburgh_ and _Beauchamp_ quarterly, is couchée from the helm of the Earl which is ensigned with his coronet and crest; and on either side is _a bear with a ragged staff_, the famous Badges of the BEAUCHAMPS: No. 448 (_see_ Frontispiece). The Inscription is-- SIGILL : RIC : DE : BELLO : CAMPO : COMIT : WARWICH-- “The Seal of Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick” (see pages 223 and 224). III. In GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE Heraldry is always a consistent, beautiful, and most effective accessory. Indeed, so thoroughly is the spirit of Heraldry in harmony with the great Architecture which grew up in the Middle Ages, that Heraldry must be considered rather as an element of its nature than as an allied Art. Gothic Architecture is essentially heraldic; and hence, as well as from its elastic nature and its equally consistent and happy applicability to every use and requirement, it is peculiarly appropriate as our own national style.