out about the time of the Restoration. According to Peter Heylin it had for some time before been unfashionable in France, and its abandonment in England probably formed a part of that French code of politeness, which Charles introduced on his return. The last traces of its existence are perhaps in one or two letters, from country gentlemen, in the Spectator, one of which occurs in No. 240. The writer relates of himself that he had always been in the habit, even in great assemblies, of saluting all the ladies round; but a town bred gentleman had lately come into the neighbourhood, and introduced his "fine reserved airs." "Whenever," says the writer, "he came into a room, he made a profound bow, and fell back, then recovered with a soft air, and made a bow to the next, and so on. This is taken for the present fashion; and there is no young gen

tlewoman within several miles of this

place who has

been kissed ever since his first appearance among us."

B.

"FOR long," eloquently observes Mr. James, "the Christian religion had struggled alone, a great but shaded light, through the storms of dark and barbarous ages. Till Chivalry arose there was nothing to uphold it; but from that moment, with a champion in the field to lead forth the knowledge that had been imprisoned in the cloister, the influence of religion began to increase, the influence of the divine truth itself gradually wrought upon the hearts of men, purifying, calming, refining, till the world grew wise enough to separate the perfection of the gospel from the weakness of its teachers, and to reject the errors, while they restrained the power of the church of Rome.

"Chivalry stood forth the most glorious institution

that man himself ever devised. In its youth and in its simplicity it appeared grand and beautiful, but from its own intrinsic excellence and from its contrast with the things around. In its after years it acquired pomp and luxury; and to pomp and luxury naturally succeeded decay and death; but still the legacy that it left behind to posterity was a treasure of noble feelings and generous principles.

"There cannot be a doubt that chivalry, more than any other institution (except religion) aided to work out the civilization of Europe. It first taught devotion and reverence to those weak, fair beings, who but in their beauty and gentleness have no defence. It first raised love above the passions of the brute, and by dignifying woman, made woman worthy of love. It gave purity to enthusiasm, crushed barbarous selfishness, taught the heart to expand like a flower to the sunshine, beautified glory with generosity, and smoothed even the rugged brow of war."* Such was CHIVALRY! It arose, like Christianity, from very small beginnings, and was fostered by the approving smiles of heaven and the church. It flourished till its work was complete; until might no longer usurped the place of right; until it had polished the manners of society, and made a high way in the desert of savage hearts for that religion, of which it was the faithful handmaid.

Chivalry flings a romantic colouring over bygone time. When we look back through the cloudy vista of past years, and see the lordly prelates and priests and abbots glide by with all the pomp and circum

stance of the papacy, we gaze upon the solemn vision with awe and reverence, and no more; but when we fancy the gallant train of mail-clad knights pouring from the baronial castle," to succour the helpless and oppressed, and never to turn back from an enemy," and the bright and beautiful maidens, the idols of their idolatry, whom they loved and honoured next to their Redeemer, and for whom they were always willing to shed their life blood; when we follow these swordsmen to the camp, and see them raging like lions in the battle-field, yet sparing and assisting their fallen adversaries,-to the court, and behold them the great examples of all that dignifies humanity, we feel constrained to love them like our own brethren, and to regard them as instruments peculiarly chosen to fructify and advance the amelioration of our species.

As yet we have only viewed these champions en masse, let us single out one of them, and on the

* James's "History of Chivalry," p. 14.

present occasion take a short survey of the education and initiation of an ancient Knight.

The young aspirant for martial fame remained till he was five years of age (some say seven) under the care of his mother or female relatives, who taught him the rudiments of christian learning and holy chivalry. He was then removed from his home to the Castle of some illustrious chieftain, who, unbiassed by parental tenderness, initiated the embryo warrior into the trials and hardships of his intended profession. There for seven years longer he was distinguished by the name of page or valet; he served his lovely mistress at her toilet, slept in her bed-chamber, and attended her at the just and tourney; he poured out the wine for his lord at the banquet, and the rest of his time was fully employed in learning all sorts of gymnastic exercises, the principal blasts of venerie to be sounded when the hounds were uncoupled, when the prey was discovered, when it was brought to bay, and when it fell; to flay and disembowel the prostrate animal, place it on the table, and carve the dishes. This is "the noblest way," observes the poet,

*

"Of breeding up our youth in letters, arms,
Fair mien, discourses, civil exercises,
And all the blazon of a gentleman.
Where can he learn to vault, to ride, to fence,
To move his body gracefully, to speak
His language purer, or to turn his mind
On manners more to the harmony of nature,
Than in these nurseries of nobility?"

When the boy attained fourteen, he was admitted to the degree of squire, when he plunged at once into all the perils of the tented field; thither he followed his and while the knights fought hand to hand in deadly leader, buckled on his armour, and led his war-horse, strife with other knights, their equals, his duty was of the melée, and to furnish him with fresh horses and to cover his master, should he fall, and drag him out weapons, when the latter were broken or wrenched from his grasp, and the former perished under him; but he might not draw the sword (which he exchanged

for the short dagger with religious ceremony on his entering into the second grade of chivalry) against the knightly adversaries of his gallant lord. At other times he engaged in martial exercises: " he was taught," says the biographer of Bouçicaut, when a

* One was, to ride in full career against a wooden figure holding a buckler, called a quintaine. This quintaine turned on an axis; and as there was a wooden sword in the other hand of the supposed opponent, the young cavalier, if he did not manage the horse and weapon with address, received a blow when the shock of his charge made the quintaine spring round.

elected entered into that chamber with the esquires, who, being experienced in matters of chivalry, instructed him in the nature, dignity, and duties of this military order, and took diligent care that all the ceremonies thereof (which had their allegorical significations) should be powerfully recommended and punctually observed; and such esquires, who from this service were usually called esquires governors, did not permit the elected to be seen abroad during the evening of his first entry, but sent for the proper barber to make ready a bathing vessel, handsomely lined on the inside and outside with linen, having cross hoops over it, covered with tapestry,, for defence against the cold air of the night, and a blanket was spread on the floor, by the side of the bathing vessel. Then the beard of the elected being shaven, and his hair cut, the esquires acquainted the sovereign, or great master, that, it being even-song, the elected was prepared for the bath. Whereupon some of the most sage and experienced knights went to council and direct the elect in the order and feats of chivalry; which knights, being preceded by several esquires of the sovereign's household, making all the usual signs of rejoicing, and having minstrels playing on several instruments before them, forthwith repaired to the door of the prince's chamber, while the esquires governors, upon hearing the music, undressed the elected, and put him into the bath; and the music ceasing, these grave knights, entering the chamber without any noise, severally, one after the other kneeling near the bathing vessel, with a soft voice, instructed the elected in the nature and course of the bath, and put him in mind, that for ever after he ought to keep his body and mind pure and undefiled. And thereupon the knights each of them cast some of the water of the bath upon the shoulders of the elected, and retired, while the esquires governors took the elected out of the bath, and conducted him to his pallet bed, which was plain, and without curtains. And as soon as his body was dry, they clothed him very warm in a robe of russet, having long sleeves reaching down to the ground, and tied about the middle with a cordon of ash-colored and russet silk, with a russet hood, like to a hermit, having a white napkin hanging to the cordon or girdle; and, the barber having removed the bathing vessel, the experienced knights again entered, and from thence conducted the elected to the chapel of King Henry VII. And they being there entered, preceded by all the esquires making rejoicings, and the minstrels playing before them, the elected thanked

they all departed, leaving only the elected, one of the prebendaries of the church of Westminster, the chandler, and the verger of the church. There he performed his vigils during the whole night, in prayers to God, with a taper burning before him. And when the day broke, and the elected had heard mattins, the esquires governors reconducted him to the prince's chamber, and laid him in bed, and cast over him a coverlet of gold, lined with carde. And when the proper time came, these esquires acquainted the great master that the elected was ready to rise, who commanded the experienced knights as before to proceed to the prince's chamber; and the elected having been roused by the music, and the esquires having provided every thing in readiness, the experienced knights at their entry wished the elected a good morning, acquainting him that it was time to rise; whereupon, the esquires taking him by the arm, the oldest of the knights gave him his shirt, the next his breeches, the third his doublet, the fourth a surcoat of red tartarin, lined and edged with white sarcenet, two others took him out of bed, two others drew on his boots, in token of the beginning of his warfare, another girded him with his white unornamented girdle, another put on his coif or bonnet; and lastly, another flung on him the costly mantle of his order."-The above account is abridged from the fourth statute of the "Order of the Bath," and the ceremonies recorded are said to be "precisely those which have been observed in former centuries." modern times these rites are never performed, although they are enjoined by the laws and ordinances. J. F. R.

GRAMMONT'S MEMOIRS.

In

WALPOLE, speaking of this work, in a letter to Pinkerton, dated Jan. 25th, 1795, says:— "Harding copies likeness very faithfully in general; but then the engravers, who work from his drawings, never see the originals, and preserve no resemblance at all; as was the case with the last edition and translation of Grammont, in which, besides false portraits, as Marshal Turrenne, with a nose the reverse of his; and a smug Cardinal Richelieu, like a young abbé ; and the Duchess of Cleveland, called by a wrong name; there is a print, from my Mrs. Middleton, so unlike, that I pinned up the print over against the other, and nobody would have guessed that one was taken from the other."-The edition of Grammont alluded to was that published in 1794, in quarto,

ARTHUR'S STONE.

ABOUT ten miles west of Swansea, on the top of a mountain called Cefyn Bryn, in the district of Gower, is a Cromlech, known by the name of Arthur's Stone; most probably from the practice into which the common people naturally fall, of connecting every thing remarkable for its antiquity, the origin of which is obscure or unknown, with the most prominent character in some memorable period of their history.*

Cevyn Bryn, in English "the ridge of the mountain," is a bold eminence, called by Llwyd, in his additions to Camden's Glamorganshire," the most noted hill in Gower," overlooking the Severn sea; and, upon the north-west point of it this cromlech stands. It is formed of a stone, is fourteen feet in length, and seven feet two inches in depth, being much thicker, as supposed, than any similar remains in Wales. Generally speaking, its shape is irregular; but one side has been rendered flat and perpendicular, by detaching large pieces to form mill-stones. It has eight perpendicular supporters, one of which, at the north-west end, is four feet two inches in height; the entire height of the structure is therefore eleven feet four inches. The supporting stones terminate in small points, on which the whole weight (which cannot be less than twenty-five tons) of the cromlech rests. Some few other stones stand under it, apparently intended as supporters, but not now in actual contact. All the component stones are of a

In Anglesea, in the northern part of the isle, on the lands of Llugwy, is a stupendous Cromlech, of the rhomboidal form, called Arthur's Quoit. The greatest diagonal measures seventeen feet two inches, the lesser fifteen feet; its thickness is three feet nine inches. It has several supporting stones, but is not more than two feet from the ground. In Llugwy woods are several Druidical circles, nearly contiguous to each other.-Ep.

hard compact lapis molaris (mill-stone), of which the subtratum of the mountain is said to consist.

Immediately under the cromlech is a spring of clear water, or "holy well," which has obtained the name, in Welsh, of Our Lady's Well: a spring thus situated plainly shews that the monument is not sepulchral. The fountain and cromlech are surrounded by a vallum of loose stones, piled in an amphitheatrical form. As we know that the Druids consecrated groves, rocks, caves, lakes, and fountains to their superstitions, there is little doubt but that Arthur's Stone was erected over one of their sacred springs it afterwards became a place of Christian assembly for instruction and prayer; and, as the adoration of the Virgin began, in the darker ages, to vie with, if not altogether eclipse, that of the Saviour of Mankind, the fountain obtained the name of Our Lady's Well.

Arthur's Stone is celebrated in the Welsh Triads

(which are notices of remarkable historical events and other matters conjoined in threes) as one of the three stupendous works effected in Britain; of which Stonehenge is another, and Silbury Hill perhaps the third. In the Triads it is called the Stone of Shetty, from a place of that name in its neighbourhood; and, "like the work of the Stone of Sketty," has grown into a Welsh proverb to express undertakings of great difficulty. The people who elevated these enormous

masses have left no written records of their own im

mediate times, although their descendants were not slow in lighting their torch at the flame of human learning. We gather what may be considered but obscure sketches of their customs, from the contemporary poets and historians of more polished nations; yet they have scattered the surface of the British soil with imperishable monuments of their existence, against which the storms of two thousand years have wreaked their fury in vain. Though silent witnesses, the antiquary considers them as a link in the tangible records of human history, which connects it, in some degree, with the postdiluvian times.

WELL-FLOWERING.

THE custom of decorating springs and fountains with flowers was derived from ages long anterior to the introduction of Christianity; although in many places, * This article is condensed, principally, from a communication made to the Society of Antiquaries, by A. J. Kempe, Esq. F.S.A., and published in the Appendix to the 23d volume of "The Archæologia," pp. 420-425. The cut also is copied (but reduced) from that work.