There are also in the National Museum several pieces of the china known as the Martha Washington set. The smaller of the plates shown on page 9 is one of this set. Of this china Lossing writes: “The set of china presented at the same time by the French officers to Mrs. Washington was of similar material, but more delicate in color than the General’s. The ornamentation was also far more delicate, excepting the delineation of the figure and Cincinnati Order on the former. Around the outside of each tureen and the inside of each plate and saucer is painted in delicate colors a chain of thirteen large and thirteen small elliptical links. Within each large link is the name of one of the original thirteen States. On the sides of the cups and tureens, and in the bottom of each plate and saucer, is the interlaced monogram of Martha Washington—M. W.—enclosed in a beautiful green wreath composed of the leaves of the laurel and olive. Beneath this is a ribbon upon which is inscribed, in delicately-traced letters, ‘_Decus et tutam enabillo._’ From the wreath are rays of gold which give a brilliant appearance to the pieces. There is also a delicately colored stripe around the edges of the cups and saucers and plates.” This description conveys an excellent idea of the set to a careless observer, but is not wholly correct. The “delicately colored stripe” is a blue and gold snake with his tail in his mouth—a significant emblem. There are fifteen long and fifteen short links instead of thirteen, Kentucky and Vermont having at that time been added to the thirteen original States. And the motto upon the pink ribbon scroll to me appears to be, “_Decus et tutamen ab illo._” Mr. Lossing also says: “At that time the china like that presented by the French officers was only made at the Sèvres manufactory, the art of decorating porcelain or china ware with enamel colors and gold being then not generally known.” This, of course, is an incorrect statement, since it was at the time of the greatest splendor in the English factories. The decoration of china with gold was forbidden for some time in France except in the Sèvres factory, but this Martha Washington set is not Sèvres. It is apparently Chinese. Mr. Lossing wrote me a long letter on this subject. In it he says that the French officers would not have sent as a gift to Washington china from any factory save Sèvres; but it seems now to be very doubtful whether this set was the gift of the French officers. In the National Museum at the Smithsonian Institution are pieces labelled, “Presented to Martha Washington by LaFayette.” There is no authority for the ascription to Lafayette of the gift of this china. The only reason given at the National Museum for thus labelling it is a good one—that the ticket was on the china when it was in the Patent Office in 1871, and so it will still be kept on it until some good evidence is brought that such a label is incorrect. The pieces exhibited at the Loan Collection