The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-10-05
trpr u a risy a,ch. through r. A. Brock.i .,{'
Correction.
rrs ce,.r.ARMoR FeIBI.E IN ENGLAND AsDc o-
IL >','.sI1.f YoSIAI, AMERICA. 49,. ~

tfor u q pisy a'ch. through Il. A. Broek.l 'Is
Correction.
rus &C, .r-4nMoR reIBIE IN ENGLAND AND CO.
IoNIAL AMERICA. Il
=, one OF my letters in reply to CIV. w.
r,w referred to Grazebrook, IN. autnor
whose book on the Smiths OF England
read in library in England several years
AGO. and the Impression left upon my nina
Was that he had very little confidence ~
John Smiths claims or in his having coat>
of-arms recorded. ,..... ,~,a
,;stnr;csl library, could not refer to Gfsze-
brook, and oW. W, r." who has access
20 Grazebrook. says I am mistaken. Cheer
fu)ly accept the correction as u aoes not
affact the general character OF SOM omith.
,rh. nossrssfon OF q coat-of-arms never
,,.,s reenecsabi,ity, Sir Thomas Smith, In
his hook upon the English Government,
written in the days Of Queen Elizabeth,
onsintlg tells us how acoat-of~atms could
he obtained. His words are these:
IA King OF Heralds shall gNe him for
money, arms newly made the tale WHEREOF
shall pretend to have been tounS by the said
Herald In peIasfng and viewing OF oid re.
cisters. or l he win do it more truly and OF
herter faith he viii write; thattor the merits
Cf That man and certain quaihies which he
doth see IN aim, ana Cor sunary noble acts
which he hath performed, be, by the autAo-
rity which he hSth as Hing OF Herald s
Arms. piyxth to him and bis heirs these and
these arms, which being '6one think he
xnsy be called square, Tor Re beareth ever
after these arms. Sxch men ARE called some
times. in scorn, ge1saemenG the first head"
Captsin John Saith was, however, a gen
tleman Of three Turks heads, i
PeStcn. ViraInian, who wrote before
the Revolution, gives us ssaso an insight as
to the manufacture OF coats-oi-aruls IN
America. He wTRes- "at really seems TO
me, as much as Z have heard in Virginia
unou the subject al old families, that OF All
vanity it is the most ,extEavagant.
:. = To such an extent is this upstart
feeling carried In Jamaica that the favorats
study is heraldry and genealogy. Many who
have risen to wealth by eultivating coffee
and df<tllling rts1a havc,immediately turned
their backs upon those 'iDseresting and use
ful articles, and employed themselves in
manufacturing pedigree. The ablest MEM
bers of the College Of Healdry in London
have been unable to send these forth, ex-
cept with wanting links, bars sinister, and
great gaps. rents, and tiasures, which re-
minds sene of bSok with pages here and
there torn from it. STILL they pride
themselves on this open-work style OF
geueaaoss, have these faney documents re-
corded, Eith their arms wholly invented,
and at the end Of City years assume what
they suppose to be the air OF patricans.
While genuine aristoerats hold them in con-
tempt, the middle classes treat with bitter
ridicuie their spurious representatives"
This msening / received from London
letter from IN old correspondent, the most
distinguished scholar of American history
now residing in England. in which he says
friend in Richmond has sent him my let
tiers and those OF "W. W. FL" He not
only assents to my estimate OF Captain John
Smith, but addx: 81 fear shoaid go far
Their, for really think the inscription sug-
gested by your antagonist for his monu-
ment about what It should be-"
He alludes to the following sentence OF
"W. W. H" -:
GAS Mr. Neill has proposed to Virginia
and Maryland the good work OF monu-
ment to Spc tth, it will be highly appropriate
that be give the inscription. We know
already what it will be:
"To the Memory OF the Notorious, Self-lm-
portant, and Untruthful
CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH; -.
A Gascon and Beggar.
He made the first map Of Chesapeake Bay.
Born at Willoughby 1879,
Died at London 1881"
With no desire to renew the controversy,
which has already exhausted the patience
OF yonr readers, conclude this correction
of what appears to have been my mistake.
EDWARD D. NELL.
Minneapolis, Minn., September %, 1877.
The arms as claimed by Smith are, l was
informed recently, still Of record in the
Herald's College OF London. r. A. B.