“In Belmont is a lady richly left; And she is fair, and, fairer than that word, Of wondrous virtues: sometimes from her eyes I did receive fair speechless messages: Her name is Portia; nothing undervalued To Cato’s daughter, Brutus’ Portia: Nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth; For the four winds blow in from every coast Renowned suitors: and her sunny locks Hang on her temples like a golden fleece: Which makes her seat of Belmont Colchos strand, And many Jasons come in quest of her.” To this may be added a line or two by Gratiano, l. 241, p. 332,— “How doth that royal merchant, good Antonio? I know he will be glad of our success; We are the Jasons, we have won the fleece.” The heraldry of Imaginative Devices in its very nature offers a wide field where the fancy may disport itself. Here things the most incongruous may meet, and the very contrariety only justify their being placed side by side. Let us begin with the device, as given in the “TETRASTICHI MORALI,” p. 56, edition Lyons, 1561, by Giovio and Symeoni, used between 1498 and 1515; it is the device _DI LVIGI XII. RE DI FRANCIA._ [Illustration: _Giovio and Symeoni, 1561._] to the motto, “Hand to hand and afar off”— Cominus & eminus. _Di lontano & da preſſo il Re Luigi, Feri’l nimico, & lo riduſſe à tale, Che dall’ Indico al lito Occidentale Di ſua virtù ſi veggiono i veſtigi._ A Porcupine is the badge, and the stanza declares,— “From far and from near the King Louis, Smites the enemy and so reduces him, That from the Indian to the Western shore, Of his valour the traces are seen.” Camerarius with the same motto and the like device testifies that this was the badge of Louis XI., king of France, to whose praise he also devotes a stanza,— “_Cominus ut pugnat jaculis, atq. eminus histrix, Rex bonus esto armis consiliisque potens._” [Sidenote: _i.e._] “As close at hand and far off the porcupine fights with its spines, Let a good king be powerful in arms and in counsels.” It was this Louis who laid claim to Milan, and carried Ludovic Sforza prisoner to France. He defeated the Genoese after their revolt, and by great personal bravery gained the victory of Agnadel over the Venetians in 1509. At the same time he made war on Spain, England, Rome, and Switzerland, and was in very deed the porcupine darting quills on every side. The well known application in _Hamlet_ (act. i. sc. 5, l. 13, vol. viii. p. 35) of the chief characteristic of this vexing creature is part of the declaration which the Ghost makes to the Prince of Denmark,—