The recorded miracle of the transmission of the lis from heaven to Clovis the first Christian King of France, may be traced to Louis VII.'s reception of a consecrated flower from Pope Alexander III. This King, who is sometimes called Ludovicus Floras, bore on his signet a fleur-de-lis, but probably assumed it in allusion to his name, then usually spelt Loys; one of the earliest instances of the punning device, and whence France was poetically termed L'Empire des Lis.

The Franklin is finely drawn by Chaucer as hospitable and not unaccomplished: the name implies a freeholder of considerable property; and Waterhouse, an heraldic author, says, "There are many now grown into families called Franklin, who are men in the county of Middlesex and other parts.” *

Argent, on a bend azure three dolphins of the field; crest, a dolphin embowed proper, pierced through the sides with two fishing spears in saltier or, were the armorial ensigns of William Franklin, Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1613, and of Sir Richard Franklin of More Park in the same county, created Baronet by King Charles II. in 1660.

Dolphins are also borne in the arms of the family of Franklin of Maverns in Bedfordshire, one of whom was Sheriff of the county in 1600. In the church of Bolnhurst, among other memorials of this family, is a monument to Sir John Franklin, one of the Masters in Chancery, who died in 1707. They afterwards resided at Great Barford, and one of the branches of the family at Pavenham, both in the same county.

Argent, on a bend between two lions' heads erased gules, a dolphin naiant between as many birds close or: crest, a dolphin's

* Commentary on Fortescue, 1663.

head erect argent, between two branches vert, are the armorial bearings of another family of Franklin of Rainham in Norfolk.

The ancestral family of the celebrated American philosopher, Benjamin Franklin, were, it is well known, industrious smiths at Ecton in Northamptonshire, which village his father Josias left for America in the year 1682.

Azure, a dolphin naiant or; on a chief of the second, three saltiers gules: crest, an anchor erect sable, entwined by a dolphin argent, are the armorial ensigns of the Frankland family, originally of Hertfordshire, but which was afterwards seated at Thirsk in Yorkshire. William Frankland, Esq. of Thirkleby, was the father of Sir Henry Frankland, whose son William was created Baronet by King Charles II. in 1660.

Sir Thomas Frankland, Postmaster-General in the reign of Queen Anne, is thus mentioned in Mackay's "Characters of the Courtiers" "He is chief of a very good family in Yorkshire, with a very good estate; his being my Lord Fauconberg's nephew, and marrying a grand-daughter of Oliver Cromwell, first recommended him to King William, who at the Revolution made him Commissioner of the Excise, and in some years after Governor of the Post-office. By abundance of application he understands that office better than any man in England; and,

notwithstanding we had no intercourse with France last war, he improved that revenue to ten thousand pounds a year more than it was in the most flourishing years." The lineal descendant of this family, Sir Robert Frankland Russell, Baronet, of Thirkleby in Yorkshire, acquired Chequers in Buckinghamshire, as representative of the Russells of Chippenham in Cambridgeshire, who were allied to the Protectoral house of Cromwell by frequent intermarriages. At Chequers the dolphin of the Franklands is introduced in the armorial enrichments of modern additions from designs by Mr. E. B. Lamb, architect.

Azure, a bend or, between two dolphins embowed argent, are the arms of a family of French of Essex; but the noble family of Ffrench, who have resided at Castle French in the county of Galway in Ireland for many generations, bear the dolphin only

as a crest.

The arms, azure, three fleurs-de-lis or, with a dolphin embowed as a crest, were borne by Peter P. Metge, Esq. of Athlumney in the county of Meath, who was related to John Metge, Esq. formerly M.P. for Dundalk, and Deputy Auditor-General in the Irish Treasury.

Simplicity is one of the principal characteristics of heraldry, and a dolphin is frequently borne in reference to the name. The English family claim Venetian origin, and in a list of the nobility of Venice the arms of Dolfin are found: per pale, azure and argent, a dolphin naiant or.

The Venetian nobility, among the most authentic in Europe, were once so jealous of their Libro d'Oro, the celebrated book of genealogy, that a proposal to open it during the Candian war, and admit twenty new members, was indignantly spurned by Michielli, one of the Elettorali, a descendant of one of the twelve original families, who exclaimed "Vender i figli, ma non mai

vender la nobilità," that he would sell his children, but never his nobility.

Some families of Brescia, Treviso, and other places, were however subsequently inscribed in the Libro d'Oro, whose only claim to the honour was the zeal with which they prostrated their country at the feet of the republic. It is this historical truth which gives force to the poet's rebuke—

Thy oligarchy's Book of Gold

Shut against humble virtue's name,
But opened wide for slaves who sold
Their native land to thee and shame.

Moore.

In the same list of the nobility of Venice⁕ are the arms of another family of Dolfin, azure, three dolphins naiant or; the same arms were also borne by the English family of Dolphin.

Vert, three dolphins naiant in pale or, are the family arms of Dolphinley; and, sable, a dolphin hauriant or, those of Dolfinton. A dolphin naiant proper, is borne as a crest by the family of Browne of Dolphinton in Lanarkshire, in allusion to the name of their estate.

As a crest, a dolphin embowed was borne by the Earl of Godolphin, K. G. a nobleman of distinguished abilities, Lord High Treasurer to Queen Anne. His immediate progenitors were distinguished in the cabinet and the field, and for their loyalty during the civil war: he himself sat in the first parliament after the Restoration as M.P. for Helston in Cornwall, whence he rose rapidly into political consequence. The manor of Godolphin, or Godolian, near Helston, was held by a family

* ARMA GENTILICIA, sive Insignia vera Nobiliu omnium magnificentissime Civitatis Venetiarum viventium, Anno Domini 1561; a curious manuscript in the library of Woburn Abbey.

of the same name even before the Conquest, and which originally bore for arms, argent, three dolphins embowed sable. John Godolphin was Sheriff of Cornwall in 1504; and at Pengersick Castle, a seat of the Militon family, erected in the reign of Henry VIII, is a chamber painted with proverbs, one of which is a comparison of an affectionate sovereign to a dolphin, indicating the kindness received from the house of Godolphin, whence the Lord of Pengersick married his lady.*

On the death of Francis Lord Godolphin, the last male heir of this noble race, in 1758, the estates descended to the Duke of Leeds, grandson of the first Earl of Godolphin. The ancient family device, a dolphin embowed sable, finned or, is now borne as a crest by Francis Godolphin Osborne, created Lord Godolphin in 1832, the son of Francis Duke of Leeds, by Baroness Conyers, and brother to the present Duke.

A dolphin, as a marine emblem, is borne as a charge in the arms of some families, typical of certain jurisdiction over part of the sea or harbours held under the sovereign. A dolphin naiant azure, is the crest of the Marquess of Ailsa, a title derived from an island on the coast of Ayrshire. The noble family of Kennedy possessed large estates in Carrick as early as the reign. of Edward III, and the title of Earl of Cassilis in 1509. At the tournament held at Eglintoun Castle in 1839, the Earl of Cassilis bore his family cognisance on his helmet and housings, and when armed for the tilt was distinguished as the Knight of the Dolphin.

⁕ Lysons's Cornwall, from Leland's Itinerary, vol. iii.