any idle or ridiculous story told by the Romanists concerning their saints, and other persons, in order to support the credit of their religion.

The legend was originally a book used in the old Romish churches, containing the lessons to be read at divine service; hence the lives of the saints and martyrs came to be called legends, because chapters were read out of them at matins, and at the refectories of religious houses. Among these the golden legend, which is a collection of the lives of the saints, was received in the church with great applause, which it maintained for 200 years; though it is so full of ridiculous and romantic stories, that the Romanists themselves are now ashamed of it.

Legend is also used by authors to signify the words or letters engraven about the margins, &c., of coins. Thus the legend of a French crown is, SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENEDICTVM; that of a moidore, IN HOC SIGNO VINCES: on those of the last emperors of Constantinople, we find

IESVS CHRISTVS BASILEVS BASILEON, IHS XPS NIKA,

IESVS CHRISTVS VINCIT.

Legend is also applied to the inscription of medals, which serves to explain the figures or devices represented on them. In strictness, the legend differs from the inscription; this last properly signifying words placed on the reverse of a medal, in lieu of figures.

It seems as if the ancients had intended their medals should serve both as images and as emblems; the former for the common people, and the other for persons of taste and parts; the images to represent the faces of princes; emblems their virtues and great actions; so that the legend is to be looked on as the soul of the medal, and the figures as the body.

Every medal has properly two legends; that on the front, and that on the reverse. The first generally serves only to distinguish the person by his name, titles, offices, &c.; the latter is intended to express his noble and virtuous sentiments, his good deeds, and the advantages the public has reaped by him. This, however, does not hold universally; for sometimes we find the titles shared between both sides, and sometimes also the legend.

In the medals of cities and provinces, as the head is usually the genius of the place, or at least some deity adored there, the legend is the name of the city, province, or deity, or of both together; and the reverse is some symbol of the city, &c., frequently without a legend, sometimes with that of one of its magistrates.

Legends generally commemorate the virtues of princes, their honour and consecrations, signal events, public monuments, deities, vows, privileges, &c., which are either in Latin or Greek, or a mixture of both, and are intended to eternize their names, and the benefits done by them to the empire.