“Of smale corall aboute hire arm she bare A pair of bedes, gauded all with grene; And theron heng a broche of gold ful shene, On whiche was first ywritten a crouned A, And after, _Amor vincit omnia_.”[10] So the “Cristofre,” which the Yeoman wore, l. 115, “A Cristofre on his brest of silver shene,” was doubtless a true Emblem, to be put on, and taken off, as occasion served,—and was probably a cross with the image of Christ upon it: and if pictured forth according to the description in _The Legend of Good Women_, l. 1196–8, an emblematical device was exhibited, where “With saddle redde, embrouded with delite Of gold the barres, up enbossed high, Sate Dido, all in gold and perrie wrigh.” This form, the natural form of the Emblem, we may illustrate from a Greek coin, figured in Eschenburg’s _Manual of Classical Literature_, by Fisk, ed. 1844, pl. xl. p. 351. The Flying Horse and other ornaments of this coin on the helmet of Minerva are Emblems,—and so are the owl, the olive wreath, and the amphora, or two-handled vase. Were these independent castings or mouldings, to be put on or taken off, they would be veritable emblems in the strict literal sense of the word. [Illustration] Spenser’s ideas of devices and ornaments correspond to this meaning. Mercilla, the allegorical representation of the sovereign Elizabeth, is described as “that gratious Queene: Who sate on high, that she might all men see And might of all men royally be seene, Upon a throne of gold full bright and sheene, Adorned all with gemmes of endless price, As either might for wealth have gotten beene, Or could be fram’d by workman’s rare device And all embost with lyons and with flour de lice.” _Faerie Queene_, v. 9. 27. In _Cymbeline_, Shakespeare represents Iachimo, act i. sc. 6, l. 188, 9, describing “a present for the emperor;” “Tis plate, of rare device; and jewels Of rich and exquisite form; their values great.” So Spenser, _Faerie Queene_, iv. 4. 15, sets forth, “a precious rebeke in an arke of gold,” as “A gorgeous Girdle, curiously embost With pearle and precious stone, worth many a marke; Yet did the workmanship farre passe the cost.” In the literal use of the word emblem Shakespeare is very exact. Parolles, _All’s Well_, act ii. sc. 1, l. 40, charges the young lords of the French court, as “Noble heroes, my sword and yours are kin;” and adds, “Good sparks and lustrous, a word, good metals: you shall find in the regiment of the Spinii one Captain Spurio, with his cicatrice, an emblem of war, here on his sinister cheek; it was this very sword entrenched it.”