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 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 attempts like 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 everything, so that they may engage in youthful meditation fancy free.

"Where do you 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 Dauphiné 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 wide-spreading 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 Achelous. 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,
And all the blazon of a gentleman;

wherein it should be trained to piety, heroism, loyalty, generosity, and honour; that men might learn to emulate the virtues of their famous ancestors, and as Christian gentlemen, to whom Christendom was a common country, to follow the example of those ancient worthies who were the defenders of the Church, the patrons of the poor, and the glory of their times. It would be idle and presumptuous to remind men that they already possess for their instruction in gentleness and chivalry the deeds of King Arthur and of his knights of the Round Table; of Sir Bevys of Southampton, and Guy of Warwick; the histories of Sir Tristram (no longer the only good knight out of Cornwall),

of Charlemagne and Godfrey of Bouillon; and many other similar volumes in French and English. High stories these; yet, sooth to say, no longer calculated fully to answer the purpose for which they were designed: though the delight of our ancestors, and deemed by them favourable to the increase of virtue, they are but little read by the present race of men, seeing that the language is often hard to be understood-for what they said,

Thai sayd it in so quaint Inglis,
That many wote not what it is;

that in some respects chivalry has adopted a different form and imposed new obligations; and that, at all events, the truth of these renowned stories is questioned, albeit that most ingenious printer, who lived in the reign of King Henry the Seventh, was convinced, by many evidences, that "there was a kyng of thys lande named Arthur, and that in all places, Crysten and Hethen, he was reputed and taken for one of the ix worthy and fyrst and chyef of the Cristen men whose deeds may be found in the book' which treats upon that noble fellowship"; and Holinshed testifies that "surely such one there was of that name, hardie, and valiaunt in arms, who slew in syngular combats certayne gyaunts that were of passyng force and hugeness of stature.” But this will not content men, even though they could see "his sepulture in the Monasterye of Glastyngburye," or "the prynte of his seal at Saynt Edwardes shryne at Westmestre," or even "the round table at Wynchester," or "Sir Gaywayn's sckull in the Castel of Dover." And therefore it might seem a great pity, that, for want of some person to collect what was credible and suitable to the good in the present age, and worthy of

Les neuf Preux: Abbeville, 1487.

acceptance, out of these and other noble histories, and to collect in like manner ensamples and doctrines out of later history, the gentle and heroic deeds of honourable men should be forgotten, their memories sink into the depth and darkness of the earth, and the precious advantage of learning to admire and to emulate such glory, that rich inheritance of a virtuous example, should be lost to ourselves and to our posterity. Wherefore, under the favour and correction of all ingenuous persons, these four books of ensamples and doctrines, forming, as it were, a moral history of the heroic age of Christendom, have been undertaken; and it seemed, that in accordance with the symbolic character which should distinguish all works connected with chivalry, the whole collection might be named "The Broad Stone of Honour," seeing that it would be a fortress like that rock upon the Rhine which appears to represent, as it were, knightly perfection, being lofty and free from the infection of a base world. This, indeed, would be lofty, not to represent the height of an arrogant mind, but what St. Bernard calls "the holy and humble elevation of the heart": it would be broad, not in regard to the way that leadeth to it, which, like that of all divine virtue, is known to be so narrow that few can go in thereat, being the narrow way of those who are called to suffering; it is not the broad road of the world, nor the wide gate that leadeth to its false enchantments; this is strait and narrow, rough and craggy, and hard to climb; they who entered it in times past gave but one counsel, "intrate per angustam portam," but it is broad in respect to its principles and to its law, "latum mandatum tuum nimis "; 1 broad in acknowledging distinctly and broadly the eternal truths of religion,