Liverpool, and lived in the house erected there by Sir John, called the tower, the site whereof was given to him by her father, and contains about 650 square yards, together with several other burgage houses and lands in that town, sometime after her marriage; which, at the time of it, was not agreeable to her father, who was in all respects qualified to recommend her by a fortune equal to any addresses made her, of which she had many superior in worldly fortune to Sir John. But fortune herself largely shared her favours to him with a liberal hand, in the gifts of riches, honour, and dignities, which had their proper ́influence with her father Sir Thomas; who, by all the accounts I have seen of this affair, intended a plentiful provision for her, but not the gross of his large possessions, 'as will more fully appear in the following narrative.

Sir Thomas Latham lived in the reign of King Edward III. and he and his lady being highly advanced in years, without any other issue than the abovesaid Lady Stanley, and he being desirous of male issue, but despairing thereof by his own lady, had a love intrigue with a young gentlewoman of his acquaintance, whom he kept concealed in a house of retirement near him, until she bore him a son, on the news whereof he was greatly rejoiced; but on due consideration, there still remained some articles of consequence to be adjusted, for the future peace and quiet of Sir Thomas's mind, and the full completion of all his joys and wishes on this occasion. The first whereof was, how and in what manner to publish the birth of his young son, and he not so much as suspected to be the real father of him. Next, how to amuse and secure his lady from the pangs of a jealous mind, and induce her motherly care of the young infant, in such manner, that he might be nursed and brought up in his own house, free from all suspicion or uneasiness betwixt them. And lastly, that he might with the greater freedom and pleasure oversee and extend his paternal beneficence to him, as acts of charity, and

thereby screen himself from the ill-natured reflections of an inquisitive and censorious world. Wherefore the better to effect these nice and tender points, he had recourse to a pious cheat, by imparting the whole secret to an old trusty servant he could confide in, whom he consulted on the most likely and proper means to compass his wishes and desires.

After several schemes and proposals on both sides, they at last hit upon the following expedient, which they judged the most probable to answer all Sir Thomas's expectations. They considered that, as an eagle frequently formed her nest in a large thick wood, in the most desolate part of his park, where seldom any thing was seen but guests qualified for such a dismal habitation; therefore if the child was taken and laid there, as if brought by the eagle, it might on a pretended accidental discovery complete the whole project.

-Sir Thomas approving hereof, gave directions to the mother to have the infant well fed, and richly drest, early the next morning, at an hour the servant was to call for it; which being done, instructions were given to him to lay it at the foot of the tree the eagle usually frequented, and so secretly to cover himself from all observation that he might see and guard it from all outward injury, by either bird or beast of prey, which he performed with all imaginable privacy.

4

And here permit me, before I proceed further on this head, to give the reader, by a short digression, the old story of a child said to be found in an eagle's nest at Latham, as transmitted to us from generation to generation; which runs in the following terms.

That Sir Thomas Latham and his lady, taking their usual walk in his park, drew near to a desert and wild situation, where it was commonly reported an eagle usually built her nest; and upon their near approach thereof heard the cries of a young child, which they ordered the servants

attending to look for; who, on search, reported it was in the eagle's nest, which they directed to be taken down, and to their great surprise and wonder was found to be a male infant, dressed in rich swaddling clothes. And they, having no male issue, looked upon this child as a present sent from heaven, and that it could be no less than the will of God that they should take this desolate infant under their care and protection, which they accordingly did, and had it carefully nursed, and baptized by the name of Latham; and, as the story goes on, he became possessor of that large estate, and at his death left an only daughter named Isabel, whom Sir John Stanley married; and in memory of this event took the eagle and child for his crest, as since used by his noble successors the earls of Derby. Thus far the old tradition, which, on due examination, will appear to be mere fable and fiction, and highly improbable, when compared with the relation I shall give of this uncommon transaction from real fact.

Whoever knows any thing of the nature of hawks in general, (of which the eagle is principal,) must know with what fury and violence they strike their prey, killing all they stoop to at one stroke, or before they leave it; and, knowing this, must allow it morally impossible that a bird of prey, of that strength and rapacious nature that an eagle is known to be, should carry a live child to her aerie unhurt, which she never attends but when hatching or rearing her young, and then tears all to pieces she intends for herself or them as food, which they while young are unable to do for themselves. Besides, would it not be stretching our imagination to a great length, to suppose that a young child, dressed as this is described to be, should be left exposed in the open fields as a prey to all voracious creatures, destitute of guard or care? which is not reasonable to think, unless in time of plague, famine, or war, when something like this might possibly occur; but none of these articles being alleged in the case before us, nor any

infant known to be missing, we may justly conclude the old story mere tradition, without any just foundation.

Wherefore let us return to the babe we left sleeping under the tree, where we may suppose his father Sir Thomas took care he should not lie long on the cold ground, by paying him an early visit, when he found him fully awake, and calling for assistance, which he hastened to give him, by a speedy return home, and bringing out his lady and family to view the surprising discovery he had by accident made that morning. They were all filled with wonder and amazement, and unanimously agreed, that the infant's preservation in so dismal and dangerous a situation could be no less than a miracle; and upon finding it to be a male child, which was wanting in the family, the good old lady was enamoured with it, and concluded it to be the will of heaven that they should adopt him for their son and heir, which was readily agreed to by his father.

This being a time of the day when superstition and bigotry prevailed more than truth and reason, Sir Thomas had little more to do than to gild over this pious fraud in the most plausible manner, and to raise and encourage his lady's imagination and credulity to the highest degree, as an effectual means to accomplish his design; which he further promoted, by addressing himself to the good old lady in the following terms: That they having no male issue, and he possessed of an extensive patrimony, was unwilling it should pass into the hands of strangers to his name and blood, (though by the marriage of his daughter, if she should live so long,) that he looked upon this child so wonderfully preserved, as the gift of God to him, and that it could be no less than the will of heaven that he should take this desolate infant into his care and protection. The good-natured lady agreed to her husband's proposal, had the infant carried home, nursed, and brought up with the same care and tenderness as if she had been his natural mother. Sir Thomas, seconding and improving

the occasion, had him baptized by the name of Oskatel de Latham; a secret then unknown to any but himself and, the mother, whose name was Mary Oskatel. And thus far Sir Thomas had, to his great pleasure and satisfaction, completed his project.

But to give the greater sanction to this supposed miracle, and to remove all suspicion of fraud, Sir Thomas assumed for his crest an eagle upon wing, turning her head back, and looking in a sprightly manner, as for something she had lost, or was taken from her. An impression of this crest was sent me on this occasion, [see fig. 18, plate 2.] with a full history of the said Oskatel and his posterity, by a descendant of the very foundling we have been describing, viz. Captain Samuel Finney, of Fulshaw, in the county of Chester, Esq. But of these articles more at large hereafter.

In the interim give me leave to make some remarks of crests in general, and of this here spoken of, and that used by the earls of Derby in particular, and thereby show how apt the allusion is to the origin of the family I am to speak of, and how agreeably consistent with the history of the crest used by the noble family above-mentioned, concerning the origin and occasion whereof so many speculations, disputes, and various opinions have been advanced by the curious in their histories of arms and crests.

Crests to our gentry's arms, as I have observed from all antiquity, have been assumed by them at pleasure, and agreeable allusions appropriated thereto. And ancient medals, signals, statues, inscriptions, and paintings, are the surest guides to a right knowledge of antiquity, as these serve to close up the many chasms that are frequently met with, both in the literal and traditional accounts of the ancients. So truly, without these helps, our ideas and conceptions must be lame, confused, and imperfect. This, in my opinion, has occasioned the many conjectural accounts that the world has received as facts, for want of