244 BIOGRAPHY. 



is derived from the French heraut, a herald, or marshal, whose 

 business it is to establish armorial bearings, settle disputes for prece- 

 dence, and regulate public ceremonials. The objects of this study, 

 are, to explain the distinctive insignia of persons of rank ; to assist 

 in tracing genealogies ; and to stimulate those of noble birth to 

 deeds of patriotism, and virtue. Though of little use, therefore, in 

 our own country, still we think it proper here to give some general 

 ideas of a subject which has absorbed so much time, and excited so 

 much interest, in the eastern world. 



A coat of arms, armory, or achievement, is a badge of honor, 

 usually painted, or engraved, on carriages, weapons, seals, plate and 

 the like, to identify or dignify its possessor. Thus, in the days of 

 chivalry, when the warrior covered his face with his visor, the device 

 on his shield, and the crest on his helmet, served to distinguish him 

 from his companions. These devices were afterwards transmitted to 

 his descendants; varied only by family alliances, and governed by 

 rules so exact as to have dignified Heraldry with the name of a science, 

 alike distinct and complicated. Arms may belong to individuals, to 

 families, or to nations ; and they are sometimes distinguished by 

 different names, to denote the cause of their being borne ; as arms of 

 dominion, of pretension, of concession, of community, of patronage, 

 of family, of alliance, of succession, of assumption, and the like. 

 European money is often stamped with the arms of the sovereign 

 under whom it was coined. 



Something like these insignia, was used in very remote times, to 

 distinguish individuals or nations. Thus the Israelites chose the 

 Hebrew letter Tan ; the Scythians, a thunderbolt ; the Egyptians, 

 an ox ; the Phrygians, a hog ; the Thracians, Mars ; the Medians 

 and Romans, an eagle; the Persians, a bow and arrow ; and the 

 Goths, a bear. But Heraldry appears to have been first made a 

 regular study, by the Germans, in the days of the Crusades, and of 

 Chivalry : and its French name, Blason, comes from the German, 

 blasen, to blow the horn ; as was done when the herald announced 

 a new knight, and his coat of arms. To blazon a coat of arms, 

 is to explain or describe its emblems ; and to marshal the same, 

 is to compose a new coat of arms, or to unite two or more in one, 

 as in the union of families or nations. The French had cultivated 

 this study, before it was introduced into England, by the Norman 

 conquerors ; and hence most of its technical terms are in the French 

 language. 



The principal part of a coat of arms is the escutcheon, or shield, 

 with its tinctures, ordinaries, and charges. The shield has varied in 

 shape, with different ages and nations ; but is generally widest at the 

 top, and pointed at the bottom ; though among the Italians it is oval ; 

 and, for women, the escutcheon is lozenge or diamond shaped. There 

 are nine points on the escutcheon or shield, which have received 

 distinctive names. They are the dexter chief, middle chief, and 

 sinister chief, near the top; the honor point, f ess or heart point, 

 and nombril point, down the middle ; and the dexter base, middle 

 base, and sinister base, near the bottom. The dexter chief and 

 dexter base, are on the right side of the shield ; that is, on the left 



