The Sun.
London, England, 1826-08-17 00:00:00

KNIGHTHOOD:

The profession of a Champion—The warlike sovereigns of
Europe in the 12th century, derived more glory from this personal
distinction, than from the lustre of their diadem. But oupei-
atition mingled in every public and private action of life : in the
holy ware, it sanctified the profession of arms; and the order of
chivalry was assimilated in its rights and privileges to the sacred
orders of priesthood. The bath and white garment of the novice,
were an indecent copy of the regeneration of baptism ; his sword
which he offered on the altar, was blessed by the ministers of re-
ligion; his solemn reception. was preceded by fasts and vigils, and
'he was created a Knight in the name of God, of St. George, and
of St. Michael the Archangel. Ile swore to accomplish .the duties
of his profission ; and education, example, and the public opinion,
were the inviolable guardians of his Oath.—Gibbon's Roman
Empire, rot. 7.—The first of them orders was that of Si. John
Lof Jerusalem, who tleriVed their name' and partietilarlY that of
Rospitallers,- from en hospital in that city for relieving indigences.
pilgrims. The Knights of Malta origininy' inhabited the island
of Rhodes, from whence they were driven by the Ottoman arms
in the year 1522. The Emperor Charles V., by way
of reparation for having suffered Solymen to carry on
his operations against. Rhodes without diaturbante iererttel
to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, the. small island
of Malta, in which they fixed their residence. This order,
partly ecclesiastical, partly military, is allowed by all historians
to have done great service to Christendom by the gallant resist-
ance they made to the , rapid progress of the' infidel*, . Henry
VIII., who could endure us society , that professed obedience to
the Pope, was obliged to have recourse to Parliament for' the dis-
solution of this order. Another artier, Which was entirely of a
military nature, was that of the Knight Templars, so Called trom
it palace adjoining to the Temple of Jerusalem, which, was appro-
Priated to their use for a certain time, by Baldwin 11. The
order of Templar* continued increasing for upwards of two hun-
dred years, and was far spread in Christendom, and particularly
in England. But at length ovine of them at Jerusalem fall-
ing away (as some authors report), to the Saracens from
Christianity, or rather became they greW too potent and
rich, the whole order was suppressed by Clenient V. Anne
1307, by the Council of Vienna 1312, and their substance given
partly to the knights of St. John of Jerusalem, and partly to
other religious institutions. They flourished in England from the
time of Henry 11. till they were suppressed in England and Ire-
land in the time of Henry VIII. Philip the Fair, King Of France,
was the most dangerous, because he was the most powerful of
their enemies. That Prince commanded all the Templar* in his
dominions to be seized in one day, October 5, 1307, and throat n
into prison. The third order of Teutonic knights, of St. Mary
of Jerusalem, though a military institution, was employed in the
relief of the poor. The Teutonic knights, after their, retreat from
Palestine, made themselves masters of Prussia and Poland, where
they obtained a professed subjection to the gospel by fire and
sword -, but-in process of time, their vietorions arms received se-
veral checks, and when the light of the Refortnation arose upon
Germany, they were deprived oldie richest provinces which they
possessed in that country; though they still retain there a certain
portion of their ancient territories.—See Robertson, Hums, and
Henry. Also for the prosecution of the Knights `l'sinipliirs, see
Henry's Great Britain.

RULES for ASCERTAINING a HORSE'S AGE.

Yearlings and two-year-olds are alike in mouth, and
must be judged by general appearance. At three years old
thehorse has four horse teeth, two above,and two below, in
front of the mouth, which supply the place of the sucking
teeth. At four he has eight horse teeth, four above and
four below, having the corner teeth only sucking teeth.
At five years old these are gone, and the tusk is imp on
each side of the mouth. A dark ma. or hollow, is ge-
nerally observable in *ll the teeth in the bottom jaw at
-I‘mat, ve years old ; and the welts are concave M. their inner surface.. At six, the two middle teeth have quite
lost this mark, and the tusk is higher up, and longer, and
not so concave. At seven, the next two, teeth' have
lest it, and the corner teeth only have the mark left its therm
At eight it has grown out of these, and no mark left at
all. Thq. tusks also become longer, and instead of being
concave in their inner surface, bee:omit convex; ,the
horse is thin termed aged. Thera is a great deal
of difference in the mouths of horses ; some •have
lost the mark in all, except the corner teeth, even as early
as five years 'old; others have the front teeth in the top
jaw, projecting over the bottom teeth, at the same age,
arid I haVe seen hories at seven years old, with the corner
teeth appearing like those of a five-year-old. You may
form some idea of the age from the appeerance, of the
mouth in general, when the marks are no longer visible.—
If the corner teeth do not appear long, and running for-
ward, as it were to the front of the mouth ;if they retain
their square shape, and shut well together ; the tusks are
not blunt, and have the least concavity in their inner sur-
face, you may conclude that the horse is not very, old,
particularly if his head he not grey, and not very hollow
above the eyes; though this latter shape sometimes exists
in young horses. A concave tusk is the most certain cri-
terion of youth; and as mares have no tusk at all, they
must be judged with reference to what I have Said
isbout
the Corner teeth. It is here necessary to" Mention, that
the difficulty of acquiring an accurate knowledge of the
age of horses by their teeth, is very much increased by the
tricks that are practised.
It is generally allowed that no horses are fit to work
till at least five years old; and it is a com cstom
with great breeders in the North of England and with
many dealers, to pull out the sucking teeth when the
animal is rising four years old ; the mouth ix forced by these
means, for the horse-teeth succeeding soon after the ope-
ration, the animal appears to be a five-year-old. To
such deception, regard must be paid to the fink. detectEry
horse, upon attaining the full age of five, ha' the tusk
it:completely up on each side of the mouth; but in forced
hvatrteroed-uYrng flee: 11;°.
irregularityti hnk le
1g gums. ugmtrhso.swit:Trhhi eoht
htre4ertsehfrkteroftiotrtni I:sof:ton:1k teeth, nu
.leyn jtFltyl
08
atmes exists newi
dna tekemi niol aft
to s
aih'tasi
Kniye.
willti nh
aloneeir operation;appearance
en abeanyod
l the
to aa. accordingbeti obt.hisiteirievrtiienmga7r4yooft.sar' pltiesirf,fimenFullithiaiges
been practised.

ALARM OF EARTIIQIIA—K-F.7—="--s.—" Upo'n* t' ll' I'' 61.14
.zsymptoms of an eerthquake
Chile and La Platanets, beet their )
,
their knees,
inisericordia " (nriesrtely
It.hien..nativ(eassYrs 111 r. liti'etrieirinboitlifil*Tfarliil'6"4P°iint
mortified at th. eir pus'illenimitylviitomnujedesnriewloys, iit),fociil,,u,e.rnit.r;iry:eimr,elvadp:i.ltn.inallina7eiroat.i
for never stirring out of the ho'ute 00 i_th4,..,''‘l/431,1,,r„reit.ne,:14 ;I'*".Y
smart shocks; but having been a wiitasel ss" w, """ ..- -7 - - the
treat earthquake of 1822, 1 enuftes that my courage failedotne,
.01 I was afterwards no We forwai.d than °there in ti)iiig out of
d .irs on the slightest annuneisition of an earthquake. Col't'i"
Hall's observation is cor.rect; when he says, that the rutteeptibility
.onres°rfevPethiedreers:irtiellpoutilii:ithbttoiheeerocila:::Pt:Tetrt:r.ten7he.l:Atfbitety:::;:wihth:::;:gpkicrtei.eitialtit',":44rtine;jdn7,4:'rsibtirtnnofittillitylithttelilteebteiniolltpt)ieirlat,:tit2ii:oit:tiett:t
drat WI! *Wit ' not fall over
and clearing way amity and tables!,
them in running. into the open air in, the tlerk. Even hi the
snatri.4„etnicts, °tair:reintiul:Thrlalet'fitelirnvehget:fivorretingiwielrehuintiee,o;;:ll,l":Ylritue:nrdittat'llilblticisiti4nfbigereiliPorg:tns.:l4Praiteewatinit, le.
or
befW.it tilt shock itself hes-followed the noise. A person who' has
bacons alive to the letting cell aOutely distinguish a slight shbek;
„bon eeetber:fteed, arrived, and a stranger to Vtosensation, no
antic* nO.motiost whatever. "—Edinburgh. Evotiosf Cottrtikii