[210.] Day. M. W. Day.
Pictorial. A collection of literary property is grouped in an open space where the rising sun shines strongly; the name is given upon a ribbon which floats above; from it depends a lamp; to the right, a book-case; to the left, a bust of Franklin, a large globe, books, ink-pot and quills; in front, an unrolled parchment which purports to be a list of books. The following motto:—
’Tis education forms the common mind,
Just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined.
Signed, W. Chapin del & Sc.
[211.] Deane. John Deane.
Armorial. Ribbon and Wreath. No motto. Name on motto-ribbon.
[212.] De Blois. Lew’s. De Blois.
Armorial. Jacobean. No motto. Signed, Nathaniel Hurd Sculp. The mantling is well conceived but rudely engraved; the shell-lined background is here, and the curtain upheld at the corners, on which the name is given. The whole appearance of the plate shows it to be quite early, and among the first attempts of Hurd.
[213.] De Blois. N.J. De Blois.
Armorial. Jacobean, with handsome mantling. Motto, Je me fie en Dieu. “These arms are assumed by some members of the family of this name living in Newport, R.I. The first of the name in America was born in Fort George, N.Y., some time before the Revolution; his descendants in New York and Newport carried on a great hardware business with their parents in England, but when the troubles occurred they became Tories and left the country. Some of the wax seals on their old letters bear the impression of a Moor’s head, which may have been correct. Others had either the conceit or ignorance to assume the armorial bearings of the famous and noble family of Châtillon of France, which historical race became extinct in 1762. As, during the 14th century some members of the Châtillons were Comtes de Blois, this title, extinct in 1364, over 500 years ago, is most unwarrantably used as if it were the family name, and the Châtillon arms adopted in a most extraordinary way, reversing the ordinary way of acquiring arms; so audacious and arrogant is the assumption and so sublime the impudence it entitles the fact to a high place in the Curiosities of Heraldry.” (These notes are found accompanying the copy of the plate in the collection of the late Mr. James Eddy Mauran.) This plate is apparently copied from the one by Hurd, and as that is much earlier, it may be that the assumption of the arms was due to him instead of to the later users, who simply copied what appeared to be the legitimate plate and arms of an ancestor.