nda excelled all the ladies
of her day in beauty and courtesy, and wore, as her device, moths,
embroidered in gold, on a sky-blue robe--a warning to the amorous not
to approach too closely the light of her beauty, lest, like moths
attracted by a lamp, they should be burned. There being no motto, one
of her admirers, the Lord of Lesui, a brave knight, famous for his
horsemanship, asked her for an explanation of such a singular and
imperfect device. She replied: 'It is to use the like courtesy to
gentlemen who call to see me, as you do to those who ride in your
company; you being accustomed to put on the tail of your horse a small
rattle, to make him more fierce in kicking, so as to warn any who may
approach you of the danger of his heels, thereby causing them to keep
aloof.' Notwithstanding this repulse, the knight persevered, though
unsuccessfully, in his suit, until he fell mortally wounded at the
battle of Pavia. Then the lady Fioramonda relenting, had him sought
for on the sanguinary field, and carried to her own house, where, to
his great contentment, he died in her arms. Such imperfect devices,
however, were considered unworthy of the name, unfit for men of
gravity, and suited but to make sport with ladies. Of this description
was that of Augustine Porco, a gentleman of Verona, who, being in love
with a lady named Bianca, wore in his scarlet cap a small, real, white
wax-candle, and perseveringly followed the lady to every place of
public resort she visited. To the inquiries of his friends respecting
this extraordinary device, he merely replied, that it signified
_Candela bianca_ (A white candle), and, consequently, doubts were
entertained of the eccentric gallant's sanity. At last, though love is
proverbially blind, the lady--probably she had a prompter--discovered
that the true meaning was _Can de la Bianca_ (The dog of Bianca), and
with her hand rewarded the ingenuity and perseverance of Signor Porco.

Through devices we obtain glimpses at the morals, as well as the
manners, of a foreign people and a bygone age. The amorous devices of
many ecclesiastical dignitaries afford a capital reason for the rule,
that the motto should not be comprehensible 'by the vulgar.' That of
Cardinal Medici, who loved the lady Julian Gonzago, was a comet
surrounded by stars, the motto, _Micat inter omnes_ (It shines among
them all), from the lines of Horace:

Micat inter omnes Julium sidus
Velut inter ignes luna minores.