Historical notes on the Lennox or Darnley jewel, the property of the Queen

19
be seen in a beautiful, illuminated ancient manuscript
in the British Museum, the work of W. Segar, Garter
King at Arms to James I., and presented by him to
this monarch : Queen Elizabeth says this author, bore
for her device a Phoenix burning, with the words Sem-
per Eadem, being a type or figure of her Princely self,
for of her sex she was the only Phoenix.'
Nor is there much less certainty as to the Sun being
emblematic of the same Princess, for we find this device
put by old writers on " Imprese " to denote any great
or puissant monarch. Thus in the " Illustre Imprese "
of Ruscelli, p. 177. the Sun is used, he thinks, for
Charles V., and the emblem of a plant or stalk of grass
turning to the Sun, for the Marquis of San Lucito. " Col
sole " says Ruscelli, " egli per aventura volesse inten-
dere I'lmperator Carlo Quinto, suo Signore ; e per
I'erba, intender se stesso, H quale stando nell abondan-
tissimo fiume delle gratie di S. Maesta, avesse sempre
' MSS. Harleian 6085. Variation of tlie arms and badges of the
Kings of England.