I ^OYALJ^ LA MORTT ARMS OF FORSYTH OF FAILZERTON ARMS OF FORSYTH OF TAILZETRTON County Ayr, Scotland. County Stirling, Scotland The black two-headed been added the crest eagle of the Caiiovin- and motto of the Fail- gian Dynasty, with cor- zerton branch as repre- onet between the heads, senting the eldest line, was the ensign of the derived through m a r - Seigneur de Forsath, riage of the heiress of Viscount de Fronsac, Margaret Forsyth and son of the Emperor ('apt. Jehan Denys Charlemagne and broth- with Capt. James For- er of Louis, King of saith of Fai 1 ze r t o n , Aquitania in 825. A. D. whose only daughter 'i"he modern shield of married Walter Forsyth. Forsyth is emblazoned )\ost of (ilasgow on the eagle in this illus- liege, in 167S. tration, to whirl ARMS OF FORSYTH OF THE FIRS ^RMS OF FORSYTH OF THE COUNTIES Mortinner, Berkshire, England of Cromarty anc) Elgin, Scotland. MEMORIAL OF THE FAMILY OF FORSYTH' DE FRONSAC FREDERIC GREGORY FORSYTH DE FRONSAC .LOYAL 'A~L A'M R TE BOSTON Press of S. J. Parkhill & Company 1903 X/' We are indebted to the courtesy of the Dana Estes Co. for four electros; to the Donahoe Magazine for two, and to the Plant Steamship Co. for one. ARISTOCRACY " Page 260, Vol. II, of Professor Laycock's ''Mind and Brain " ' reads : The highest evolution of what I have termed Primordia Instincts ' is seen in the communistic instincts of two classes of animals which are at the head of their respective archetypal branches: z'/s:., the social insects — the most highly developed of the invertebrate ; and the social man — the most highly developed of the vertebrate. In truth, the family instincts are the solid foundation of society. Hence it is, in proportion as they are active in a nation, in the same proportion is its social organization vigorous and complete." Aristocracies are formed by Nature, by the general advancement of the fittest. This is accomplished genealogi- cally, and genealogy is the science on which aristocracy rests. From the study of genealog}- arises the science of heredity, of the science of psychic transmissions. Nobilities, on the other hand, are not formed by Nature, but are recognitions, by man and his government, of aristocratic products. Nobility and aristocracy are not always the same, yet they are related. An aristocracy does not exist in vigor without producing a nobility, and a nobility, even though at first formed of unaristocratic products, if continued in a proper manner, makes itself respectable and conservative. Of aristocracy, though containing" different elements, there is but one description. It is an organic body, in a community, bred to eminence and renown b}- many generations of honor- able career and exalted position. Of nobility there are three formations : I, by the sword ; II, by the pen ; III, by landed estates ; in other words, by tal- ent recognized in individuals, regardless of family connection, 710844 IV FORSYTH DE FROXSAC I, in war; II, in state-craft and science; and III. in loni^ territorial succession. Aristocracy gives tlie firm ground-work of character, nobility, the transitory mark of distinction. The ancient king was not always from the most eminent family, and when the king- grants titles to his servants aristocracy is destroyed. The aristocracy has always, on this account, held itself superior to any order of nobility that is not founded on aristocratic products. The aristocratic power in families, in a state mak(^s itself manifest by creating a little kingdom for each of the fjimilies. This little kingdom, erected on a few acres of land, and known as the family estate, is cherished, by the members of that family, as a territory peculiar to itself. A family estate is different, in this respect, from the estate of any particular rich man, or corporation. The aristocratic family has changed the acres it occupies, by the fairy wand of its sentiment, by the power of its individuality, into a territorial realm that bears evidence to its renown. A state that encourages fami- lies of this sort to hold territorial positions strengthens itself in the hearts of its best people, and provides a barrier against the restlessness of anarch)' that an unsympathetic democracy always engenders. F. G. Forsyth de Fkonsac. —: CHIVALRY Who says the knight shall come amain, With gilded mail and trappings vain, His pride in pomp alone to glow, For wealth, his energy o'erflow ? They estimate his worth too small, - Who think that virtues near him pall : It is by them alone he lives : They are the gems of Chivalry. II They form the charge he honors most They give to him his proudest boast : Their honor, gentleness and grace Shine, like the sunlight, from his face. With frail timidity removed, By them his worth to Valor proved. Theirs is the name for which he strives To gain the fame of Chivalry. Ill Such is the need of every state : Without it all its days are late. So faintly shines their light of dawn, That night and day seem almost one, And deeds of darkness hold their sway, When Honor has not strength to stay And Honor in some form must brood. Or else there's never Chivalry. : FORSYTH DE FRONSAC IV That form Humanity must own, And person is the seed that's sown. From seedling must the flower expand - Grass seed but grasses can command, And roses ne'er descend to grass, Though frequent soiled and torn, alas ! And ruined in the course of life, And so declines their Chivalry. But children of the rare rose born, If Chivalry their lives adorn, Have in them all that generous mood, Whose ceaseless virtue keeps them good. No moth, corrupting, mars their state Misfortune cannot make them hate A noble cause — though beaten ill: It is the cause of Chivalry. VI Let knighthood only be for those — Whose fame is like the rare, white rose— To lead them to an honored state ; Those men, whose lives are true and great : Whose deeds, though crowned not, like Success, Reach hearts by motives pure and bless Them with a love of right that's strong And 'stablished as their Chivalry. F. G. Forsyth de Fronsac. CHARLEMAGNE PRESIDING AT THE SCHOOL OF THE P. HISTORY AND GENEALOGY FAMILY OF FORSYTH DE FRONSAC PART 1 — HISTORY ORIGIN OF THE FAMILY AND RACE THE name Forsath, afterwards Forsjt/i, is first mentioned in Froissart's Clironicles of the Middle Ages in the chapter devoted to the invasion of Aquitania in 1344 by the EngUsh army of tlie Earl of Derb), who commanded in the name of the French family of Plantagenet on the Eng- lish throne in their attempt, as descendants from the ancient kings of France, to possess themselves of the throne of France also. All the manuscripts of Froissart in the P^nglish Collection spell the name Forsath, and Forsathe. The trans- lation of two manuscript copies in the French Collection spell the name Forsach and Torsach.* As Froissart, the historian, was in the service of the Plantagenets when he wrote his Chronicles and as the best and most numerous of his MSS. remained in England and are the originals, they are the ones most worthy to be consulted. La Grande Ejicyclopcdie dc France describes Fronsac as an ancient district of France in Aquitania, bordering on the Ri\er Dordogne ; its history reaches back to the Roman period. This history says that a castle — which is discovered in Froissart to have been named Forsath — was built by the * Doubtless the commentator forgot the mark which makes a c/ an e^ in his MS. 2 FORSYTH DE FRONSAC Emperor Charlemagne in 768 on the Tertre (or hill) of Fron- sac. It was built by the Emperor as a restraining influence on the people of the West whom he and his Franks had con- quered. Lavisse, in the Histoire Generale, Vol. I, pp. 310, describes this castle on the Tertre de Fronsac as the most powerful of Western France and as the headquarters of the military dis- trict of the West. Over this district the Emperor put his son Louis as King of Aquitania, who became afterwards Emperor on the death of his father, Charlemagne, while the first lord or Seigneur de Forsath, Vicomte de P'ronsac and military governor of the district, was of the same imperial family (Carlovingian) and son of the Emperor Charlemagne. The pedigree of Charlemagne from the King of Austrasia is as follows : — I. Ansigisc, King of Austrasia, in 650 A. D. married Sainte Beggipe, daughter of Pepin de Landen. His son : II. Pepin d' Heristal, Duke of France, married Plectrude, daughter of Prince Hugobert, in 706. His son : HI. Charles Martel, Duke of France, 725, mariied Sonis- hilda, niece of Odilon, Duke of Bavaria. His son : l\'. Pepin le Pre/, King of France, 752, married Bertrade, daughter of Caribert, Comte de Laon. His son : V. CJiarlemagne, luiiperor of the Romans and King of the Franks. THE RACE The Franks were an army of knights and nobles of differ- ent European races confederated together. Although the greater number of them were of Cermanic origin, \et senti- ment rather than kinship was the basis of llieir organization. The name Frank meant '\free" — not in the modern sense of free, i. e., not enslaved, but in the ancient sense i)( free, i. e., not inferior to a seigneur, not bound by fealt)- to a superior; in other words, they recognized no lords as their superiors FORSYTH DE FRONSAC 3 because they were lords, a confederated nobility, themselves.