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Honorable Ordinaries. - Sub-Ordinaries: Cross

Some of those most commonly seen are very beautiful, such as the Maltese Cross, borne by the Knight Templars, or the Knights of St. John. The Cross Moline, too, is of a lovely form, and it was borne by the Earls of Sefton on their shield.

This they did because of the similarity between its name and their own, - Molyneux.

The Cross Patonce resembles the Maltese Cross very closely, and it is seen at its best on the arms of Edward the Confessor.

Edward the Confessor.

In olden days this cross was very often put on the reverse side of English pennies, being placed there so as to show how the penny should be cut to make the half-penny and fourthing, or farthing, so commonly used in England. And here is one of Polly's little coats-of-arms that is worth looking at. We can see a hand on it, that grasps tightly a strange- HONORABLE ORDINARIES - SUB-ORDINARIES. looking cross. When Polly obtained it, she never knew that a story was wrapped all around and about it. But so it is, and I will tell it to you. It belongs to the McDonalds, Earls of Antrim, and they Cross Fitchée.

McDonald. tell us that during the days of the holy St. Patrick, that Saint expressed a great desire to visit Ireland, hoping when there to win the pagan Irish heart for his Master. To help him, a devout McDonald offered to carry him thither in his boat; and, the saint gladly availing himself of the offer, it was but a short time before his pious enthusiasm and patient love were enabling him to stir the natives into penitence for their sins, and abandonment of false gods. The Cross Fitchée, as this form of cross is called, is a staff pointed at one end, with the cross on the other. It acted as an aid to the pilgrims when walking, and during the hours of prayer it could be stuck in the ground and act the part of a crucifix to the devout Catholics. On this account the McDonalds and McDonnells assumed it, and I hope the good saint will do his duty by them.

Then there is the Cross Potent, and that appears on the unusual shield that Pope Gregory permitted the Crusader King of Jerusa- Cross Potent.

Kings of Jerusalem. lem to assume. Here are five gold crosses potent, that is, with the arms shaped like a crutch, upon a silver shield. Ordinarily, no metal was laid upon metal, as it prevented the shield from being readily distinguished at a distance. Where color and a metal were used, as, for instance, a a silver star on a blue ground, it could be seen much farther and with much more distinctness than if the silver star had been set upon a golden shield. But the Pope declared that in this case, owing to some verse in the book of Psalms, the rule (must not be adhered to.

Some Scotchman who published a book during the reign of James I. of England, descriptive of his travels in the East, said that all the pilgrims with whom he chanced to journey on his way towards the Holy City bore these peculiar insignia marked upon their arms. The five crosses, so all good Catholics assure us, ought to recall to our minds the five wounds of our Saviour. There is also the Calvary Cross, standing upon three steps, each one of which represents one of the graces; and the Patriarchal Cross, borne by the great Catholic patriarchs, and which, because of its double cross, is very odd-looking. This double cross is to denote that Christ died for both Jews and Gentiles.

The Cross Fleury is so named because a fleur-de-lys is attached to each end of the cross. As for the Cross of St. George, which you see upon England's Union Jack, that is the T Tau Cross.