arts; from the character of the Christian state; from the sanction of religion in the discipline of the Church. The sentiments of the ancients respecting symbolical instruction. How general the usage adopted by the first Christians; hence the employment of fiction in our romantic literature; hence the symbolical character of our Chivalry. Examples XVII. On the philosophy which belongs to Chivalry. How it is opposed to the spirit of ridicule; the character of this spirit. Remarks upon Don Quixote. Aristophanes the Cervantes of Greece; these two writers compared. That the philosophy which belongs to Chivalry must be opposed to the whole system of Epicurus; to the opinion that the senses are the only source of ideas; to the doctrine of expediency and of refined selfishness; to that of pleasure being the best object of life; to that which removes the importance of motives; to the system of the Manichæans; to that of the modern political sophists; to all schemes which contradict positive law; to the cabalistic philosophy of those who make unintelligibility the criterion of truth; to the views of those who return to the doubts and argumentations of the heathen philosophers; to the mind of those who do not believe in an especial providence. That it must be religious, mindful of death, and opposed to the arguments of sceptics and infidels. That heroic men may possess this philosophy without being conscious of it. That the philosophy opposed to that of Chivalry is destructive of the qualities of youth XVIII. That Chivalry is not dependent upon political nobility. The character of this nobility; how it was regarded by the ancients; by the first Christians; how it has appeared in later That Chivalry may exist among the peasants of a Catholic Examples. That it was Chivalry which afforded the ages. land. grandest distinction XIX. On the origin and laws of nobility XX. On the advantages arising from nobility, according to the sentiments of the ancient and of the Christian Chivalry, and the character of the Christian nobility XXI. On government, as connected with the spirit and institutions of Chivalry. The necessity and power of government; the disposition of Chivalry to obey it. That the form may vary. On the principles of a Christian government in the middle ages; the kingdom of Jerusalem; the election of Godfrey. On the relation of the temporal and spiritual powers. On the freedom of PAGE 142 158 . 199 . 219 230 men under the ancient kings of Christendom. That Chivalry may be no longer admitted to co-operate with the civil government; that it may exist under every state but that of despotism and anarchy XXII. That the ideal form of perfect Chivalry is to be sought for in the mind; that all objects symbolical of this knighthood are beheld with interest; hence the pleasure with which we visit the ancient castles of Chivalry; that the chivalrous mind cannot be affected by age PAGE 241 . 270 Godefridus. "Ista studia, si ad imitandos summos viros spectant, ingeniosorum sunt; sin tantummodo ad indicia veteris memoriæ cognoscenda, curiosorum: te autem hortamur omnes, currentem quidem, ut spero, ut eos, quos novisse vis, etiam imitari velis." Ir used to form a subject of surprise to a great orator, when treating upon history, that while there are so many works which describe the institutions and laws of knighthood, and so many memorials of its past greatness in all the records and institutions of Europe, there should not be one book composed with a view of giving a philosophic history of chivalry. Such a title, it must be confessed, has a very doubtful sound to those who are reminded of the compositions professedly philosophic in every branch of literature, which were so industriously circulated during the last century: but they who had ever the happiness of hearing the admirable man of whom I speak, whose dissertations were so full of eloquence and poetry, so accommodated to the common sense of all, and to the sweetest harmony of nature, that each of them, like a book of Herodotus, might have been offered under the auspices of a Muse, will feel no hesitation to admit that there is a deficiency in the republic of letters, which may be thus expressed, and which it might be the desire of a real philosopher to remove. It is true, no subject can, at first view, assume an aspect of less gravity, or appear farther removed from investigations concerning the intellectual history of man, than that of chivalry; and yet this impression will be found unsupported by any ground of justice. Not to speak at present of the many questions of deep importance to which it may give rise, there is always reason to 1 Cicero de Finibus, lib. v. 2. B suppose that a very high degree of interest will be awakened by every inquiry which recalls to the minds of men the manners and the discipline which were bequeathed to them by their ancestors: it might be concluded, that this consideration of itself would be sufficient to bespeak attention, especially when we observe with what delight men visit the scenes which bring back the images of our chivalrous age, even at times when there is no voice to awaken it but the silent eloquence of some ruined tower or of some deserted court, shadowed by the mossed trees that have outlived the eagle. Perhaps, indeed, in the first instance, the presence of such objects may be required to create that degree of attention upon which the success of all such attempts as the present must depend; and therefore I would invite all persons who propose to follow me in this research, to begin by visiting them, in order that they may gain a vantage-ground, as it were to make silence, and to have the disposition of their minds undisturbed by the objections of the sophists which now infest every thing, that they may engage in youthful meditation fancy free. "Where do you I wish that we should sit down and read this tale of ancient chivalry?" said one of our company, as we walked on a spring morning through the delicious groves that clothe those mountains of Dauphiny which surround the old castle of the family of Bayard. We proposed to turn aside along the banks of the stream, and there sit down in peace. We were all familiar with Plato, and this spot reminded us forcibly of that charming episode where Phædrus and Socrates are described as congratulating each other on being bare-footed, that they may walk through the water; and our light and careless livery was no impediment to our march to the opposite shore, though the stream was rapid and of considerable depth. Upon the opposite bank we found a lofty chestnut with widespreading branches, and beneath it was soft grass and a gentle breeze; and there we sat down near it were shrubs which formed a dense and lovely thicket; and many of them bearing now a full blossom, the whole place was most fragrant; there was a fountain also under the chestnut, clear and cold, as our feet bore witness; and that nothing might be wanting to remind us of those banks of the Ilissus described by Plato, there were some statues from which the ancients would have supposed that here too was a spot sacred to the Nymphs and to Achelaus. But our Ilissus possessed objects of a higher interest than the memorials of Boreas and Orithyia; for within a few hundred yards of the spot where we sat, lower down the bank, there was an altar and a rustic chapel, embowered in arbutus, where, in the summer season, a priest from the neighbouring monastery used to repair to say the holy mass, and to instruct the shepherd youth who had to watch the flocks during these months in places remote from any habitation of men. Who could describe with what refreshing and delicious sweetness the gentle breeze cooled our temples! The summer song of the cicada had already begun to resound in sweet chorus; the grass was most beautiful and rich with varied flowers. Chaucer used to say, at dawn of day walking in the meadow to see these blossoms spread against the sun was a blissful sight, which softened all his sorrow. From this enamelled bank, promising to receive so gently the reclining head, we could discern across the river the grey ruins of that majestic castle which recalled so many images of the olden time, and which was distinguished by a name so peculiarly dear to chivalry that it seemed symbolical of the very bent of honour. It was here, then, that we began to read aloud from a certain romantic volume which first inspired me with the desire to study the counsels and to retrace the deeds of chivalry. II. It is well known, that in times past it was the custom of our ancestors to frame and set forth certain books of examples and doctrines suitable to the various duties of men in the different ranks of life; books which, as St. Gregory says, "while they were to be formed to agree with the quality of particular persons, were yet never to be removed from the art of common edification." The castle had its school as well as the cloister, in which youth was to be instructed -in letters, arms, Fair mien, discourses, civil exercises, wherein it should be trained to piety, heroism, loyalty, generosity, and honour; that men might learn to emulate |