From a Saxon coin, preserved in Camden, it appears, that Anlaf, a pagan prince, bore the very common emblazonment of an eagle for his arms. The origin of the billet and the martel, the latter afterwards adopted by the noble family of that name, are to be seen in the coin that follows. The billet and the distaff conferred upon Hugh Despencer for cowardice are of Egyptian original. The hammer of the two families called Mallets and Martels is derivable either from that of the God Thor, or the sacred Tau of the Phoenician as well as Egyptian priesthood. The truth is that as the whole science is traceable to the Egyptians, so are a great proportion of the heraldic figures.

The tints employed are the sacred colours employed by the Egyptians, and common equally to the Jewish, Brahmin, and Chaldean priesthood. The patera, the cross, the mullet, the martlet, the crescent, the dragon, the griffins, winged horses and mermen, are all noted Egyptian emblems, of which the third somewhat resembles the talismanic pentaglyph, adopted by Antiochus.

The combined heraldic figure, composed of a star and crescent, is an Egyptian hieroglyphic. This, which is by all heralds considered as a sign of the first bearer having fought under the red cross, the crusaders doubtlessly borrowed from similar armorial bearings of the Saracens and Arabs. Indeed the Christian cross itself (i. e., a cross with the lower member prolonged), is frequently seen among the hieroglyphics.

The lance-rest represented as in heraldry, and the bridle, appear among the sculptures in the temple of Tentyra. Indeed there is scarcely an heraldic symbol whether imitative, i. e. drawn from animate or inanimate nature, or conventional for the purpose of expressing some abstract idea, which is not to be found among the sacred characters. Drops of water were expressed in the same shape as the gouttes of heraldry, and when coloured of the sacred red, (in heraldry termed gules,) doubtlessly implied the same thing; viz.; blood. Scaling ladders and crenated battlements are frequently to be seen in the Egyptian temples. A sceptre of the most modern kind, surmounted with a fleur-de-lys, is observed. The baronial coronet, with balls, is also to be seen; indeed the coronet of Memnon composed of erect serpents and balls, is a near example. So are the bishop's mitre and the crosier, both of which are occasionally carried by Osiris. The Padum is an admitted Egyptian symbol, derived through St. Anthony the Coptic ascetic to the Christan priesthood. The cross keys of St. Peter himself belonged to Horus and Mithra, and are of Egyptian invention; thence they descended to the Druids, a cognate branch of the same priesthood. The symbol of the first Christians, was indeed a fish, and hence they were called Pisciculi.

That most leading symbol of heraldry, a dragon, was that which figured most among the hieroglyphics. To this source may

be traced the famous Urgunda of the Mexicans, the great serpent depicted on the Chinese banner, and the sea-snake of the Scandinavians. It became a substitute after Trajan's Dacian war for the eagle of the Romans, and passed from them to several European nations. But among none was it so great a favourite as among our British progenitors. It was the banner of the Mercian, East Anglian, and West Saxon kings. It was borne by Cadwallo and the kings of Wales, from whom it descended to Henry VII., and by him it was introduced into the British arms. It was a favourite symbol of the Druids, who built their great temple of Abury in the form of a winged serpent, and like the orientals, represented good and evil by the contests of two dragons. It was afterwards introduced into the armorial bearings of London and Dublin. According to the heralds, it was borne by the Milesian kings of Ireland, and during the crusades, was considered as the symbol of the universal British nation.

The whole science of heraldry may, in short, be called a portion of the hieroglyphical language, and the only portion of which we have the key. It represents the names of persons, their birth, their family, their titles, their alliances, their great actions by certain signs imitative or conventional.

Under this point of view, it is capable of much greater improvement than it has hitherto undergone; and a shield might be practically made to represent (what the mnemonic art fails effectually to do,) in a small compass, a synopsis of biography, chronology, and history.

The Saxon royal arms have been brought down to Edgar Atheling, the last of that race. William the Conqueror introduced a change, which the heralds affirm to have been two lions passant, on a field gules, to which Richard the First added a third. Both these assumptions are not warranted by fact. Stephen who intervened between the Conqueror and Richard the First, certainly did not bear the two lions. His arms were Sagittarius and a garland; the first quaintly representing Aquitaine *, (equitans,) the other representing his name, (Stephanos, a garland.) But there is great reason to believe that the arms of William the Conqueror and his successors were leopards. Buonaparte called the lions of England "leopards ;" this indeed, is as likely to have occurred through caprice, as antiquarian knowledge. But the old poet Drayton also calls them leopards:

On the same part the imperial standard fixed,
With all the hatchments of the English crown,
Great Lancaster with no less power enriched,

Sets the same Leopards in his colours down.

DRAYTON.

* The same symbol was anciently employed to represent Persia or Parthia, for the same reason, the name being derived from Pars, a horse. Thence Perseus (the Horseman) who was the original Sagittarius of the Egyptian zodiac.

The English arms are also in Père Daniel's life of Louis XI. described as leopards; and thence perhaps the verse of Racine. Sous nos lys triomphans briser les Léopards.

It has been supposed that Henry I., following the example of Stephen, made a change in the English arms, and substituted the three lions for the two leopards. It is, however, more likely that the alteration took place in the time of the crusades, in order to avoid an obnoxious comparison to the Apocalyptic Leopard, to which Buonaparte perhaps maliciously referred.

E. C.

One foot seem'd upon waters placed,

And one on some celestial land,

And, as a firmament, embraced

Those countless realms, his outstretch'd hand.

Thrice did he speak, with awful voice:
"The mysteries of time are o'er,
Then shout, ye stars! ye worlds! rejoice
Where ransom'd saints unseen adore ;
The hour is come that sets you free,-
To heaven's high throne unfetter'd spring!
For time hath fill'd his destiny,

And harmless is the serpent's sting!"

And, as his words in silence slept,

Methought from thousand silvery strings

Of angel harps soft numbers crept
In undescribed murmurings.

Till faded fast that fairy strain

Which my enraptured ear drank in,
And night her still and starry reign.
In quiet slumb'rings did begin.

It was enchantment which had lent
Such wondrous magic to that sky,
And unsubstantial hues had blent
With visions of reality.

I gazed awhile: the form was gone,
As past that splendour from my view;

And darkness silently came on

Its reign of wonders to renew.

Yet one white cloud was folded o'er
The summit of a distant hill,

Whose form some faint resemblance bore
To that majestic figure still :

The last ray lingering round it beamed,
Whilst all was wrapt in deepest shade,

And as its coruscations streamed
Imagined shapes my mind had made.

But as I paced my homeward way
Amongst the mountains scatter'd round,
Each whisp'ring zephyr did display
Remembrance of that awful sound,.
Which in the vision met mine ear:
And surely was that vision sent
As warning that thoughts centred here
On loftier objects should be bent.