l globe, with the motto, _Estote prudentes_ (Be ye
cunning.) Both of those devices were very significant of the period
and of their wearers.

The romantic amusements of Queen Elizabeth raised the device to the
highest pinnacle of importance it ever possessed in this country,
Hentzner, a German traveller, who visited the palace of Whitehall in
1598, says, that he saw in her majesty's bedroom 'a variety of devices
on paper, cut in the shape of shields, with mottoes, used by the
nobility at tilts and tournaments, hung up there for a memorial.' As
to Elizabeth herself, Camden states, that the enumeration of the
various devices worn by her would fill a large volume. The generality,
however, of the devices of that reign were fulsome flatteries,
allusive to the Maiden Queen; such as--the moon, with the words, _Quid
sine te coelum?_ (What would Heaven be without thee?) or, Venus seated
on a cloud, with, _Salva, me Domina!_ (Save me, O lady!) The best of
the time was worn by the impetuous and ill-starred Essex, to signify
his grief on one of the occasions when he had lost the queen's favour.
It represented merely a sable field, surrounded by the words. _Par
nulla figura dolori_ (Grief cannot be painted.) The 'English Bayard,'
Sir Philip Sidney, does not appear to great advantage in his devices.
One, we presume intended to shew the steadfastness of his purpose,
represented the tideless Caspian Sea, the motto, _Sine refluxa_
(Without ebb.) Another of 'that famous soldier, scholar, and poet,'
throws a curious light on the manners of the age. Camden tells us that
Sir Philip, 'who was a long time heir-apparent to the Earl of
Leicester (his uncle), after the earl had a son born to him, used at
the next tilt-day following the motto, _Speravi_ (I had hoped), with a
dash across the word, thereby signifying that his hope was dashed.'
Would any gentleman now thus publicly express his disappointment at
such an event?

The pedantry of the first James was almost as favourable to devices as
the pageantry of Elizabeth; but the days of chivalry, the glories of
the _triumph_ and the tilt-yard, were fast passing away, while the new
arts of wood and copper-plate engraving were rising into eminence; and
consequently devices, instead of being worn singly on the shields and
trappings of knights and maskers, were soon found collected, and
seasoned with poetry on the pages of printed books. These books of
emblems, as they were termed, are by no means