The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-08-14

mnurs. d'idees. Ell de :contouness parncnl'sI |
A., moVen Are europeen ct don't Panalog NC I g, |
SO retrouye pas dams les anpales humalnes:i
r. rose In Europe With the Gothic catnedlai'
closely intertwined with that sublime Eeit
uion which united 10 Its service oil tue eoui,
sqe. capacity, and genius OF romanHc anu
wonderful age. Love, futth, and honor Wel5
The white angels; lawless pride, lust, anu
vengeance the tends, blszoned on LTD pan
ners. Ossian and the Ni6etungen Leo SID 9,
of chiyatry Id its lusty, untramnelleo, ano
heroic youth. . 81
when Froissart wrote, the tendency OF
events had already marked its decline, as the
fierce and naughty independence OF the leu
dal noble was auelled by the centraIzlpg
mower of kings, and the purity OF knigntnooo
smiled By the corfyIpting influences OF courts.
Yet. even at that period, the romantic loea
prevailed that it was essential to gentie'
msn's character to pay bis debts, that men
| faced fatigues, priyations, ana oeatn lIse'
rather than fak in their plighted latin.
Then comes the discovery OF guupowder,
and. foreshadewing the fact, Arlosto sings
how the brave Roland captures shooting
iron from felon;ous governor, and throws
the abominahe invention into the sea Wild
this indignant exclamation: go, oase anu
unworthy Weapon, that no true knight may
ever use-forged by Bee'zsbu6-Whereoy
cowardice, weakness, and rascallty may tl, !,
umph over strength, courage, ana Justlce
But the brave Roland was mistaken. duh,
| powder only cracked the she'll ana aeniahoea
| q change of weapons. Indeed, 't eiesaeu
the r6le of knighthood by discardlnS mere
brutal strength from the catalogue OF chlVat'
rio virtues, and exalting the power OF cour-
age and justice. .L,.
Il was really the discovery of printing that
killed ehiyalry, soul and body. Then the
mower that comes of knowledge passed over
to the unarmed people. The unlettered
nrince could no longer delegate the Writing
and reading of his letters to bired Varlet,
and the doughty Douglass dared no longer
| boast, ,l..
.sThank Heaven that no son OF mine
Save Gawain ever penned line.
| II became question of learning to read, in
stead of learning to ride. Life is not loLg
enonph for both, Warriors were superseded
nv philosophers, tournaments by scholastic
disputstions study bowed the stalWart
frame, the pen cramped the iron hand, Latin
and Greek queled the passionate energy
while subtleties and dogmas added the sim.
pIe brain of knighthood, incidentally engen-
dering more uuarrels than all the gunpo Tder,
percussion, and nitro-g Iycerine since discoV-
cred have ever been able to settle. 1t was
the discovery of printing, then, that over
turned chivalry, and is undermining many
other ancient systems that people don't sus'
pect.
Whatever of knightly spirit remained to
the nineteenth century, high-cocked bonnets
and Colts reyolyers will certainly eXterml.
nate. "The age of chiyalry Is indeed past"
"The knights are dust.
And their good swords are rust;
Their souls are with the saints, we trust"
And well may we join with Burke, and Cole
ridge, and all the other orators and poets IN
Iamenting the downfall of an institution
which, although originating in ignorance
and barbarism, and furnished with vices and
abuses, aspired at least to foster all that is
pure, exalted, and admirable in the human
character--an institution SO grand and i'm
pressive even in its ruins that Cervantes in
ridicuing it has drawn one of the noblest
characters in literature; and our young Vir'
ginians, in reproducing one OF its minor
preliminary exercises, enjoy an entertain
ment far more elegant, exciting, and pic
turesque than either boating, ase.balliDg. or
trotting.matches.-- Crayon, IN Har-
per'S Magazine for September.