Litchfield enquirer., 1878-08-08
MEDIEVAL AND MODERN
 KNIGHTHOOD.
CORNELL GLASS GRAFTON.
BY VIM, P. PICKETT, OF LIToHFIELD.

BY VIM. P. PICKETT, OF LITOHFIELD.
 At all times, and in all ages, the element of herOism has formed an important part of the
 human character. While the exterior circum-
 stance under which It has been manifested
 have assumed the most varied forms, the es-
 sential spirit has remained ever the same. Obedient to the great law of progress the old
 is ever giving place to the new, and from the
 lower form the higher is being constantly
 evolved. In the great design of the universe
 the ancient system of knighthood fulfilled it's
 mission. Through the dark page of the mid
 dle ages, like stream of glowing light on a
 background of shadow, runs the wondrous sto-
 " of chivalry.
 "Where throngs of knights and barons bold, In weeds of peace high triuInphs hold, With store of ladies whose bright eyes Rain influence and judge the prize."
 I lThis noble institution reared it's stately edi-
 flee on the mouldering ruins of the great Ro-
 man Empire. When the scattered fragments seemed utterly alienated from each other, it served as the golden clasp which bound the
 best of the world together with the bond of l fraternity. The Church and Medieval Knight hood preserved the most valuable legacies of 1 the ancient world, and through them we share l in their inestimable benefits. During the mid
 dle ages the knowledge, the culture, and the ACAuCuiCut OL GIIC WOIlu SOuSuG SuClLCT the protecting shield of chivalry.
 l It gave purity to enthusiasm, crushed bar berous selfishness; taught the heart to expand | as flower in the sunlight beautified glory | with generosity, and cast halo of romance over the rugged front of war; Let us not scru- | tinize too closely it's defects. If the lives of
 some of it's followers fell far below it's lofty
 standard of excellence, and the mass of man
 kind were excluded:from it's duties and privile- ges let us remember that there is scarcely a l noble feeling or bright aspiration that we Ind ln our daily life or trace in the history of | modern Europe, that does not owe some of it's
 lustre to the animating principle of chivalry.
 But the spirit of the 14th century is gone.
 In It's place has arisen the knighthood of to-
 day, whose nature and duties may perhaps fur
 nish fitting theme for this occasion. Like
 the knighthood of old it is based on the bond
 of fraternity, but unlike it no gate of adamant
 excludes the earnest application for admission.
 It IS broad comprehensive association, found- ed on integrity, intelligence and generous sympathy with the advancement of humanity.
 Its watchword is culture, and perfection it's goal. In the midst of our restless nineteenth
 century life it holds it's place, an unrecugnized
 association, embracing all that is good, all that
 is generous all that is beautiful in our modern existence.
 The christian warrior of the middle ages de- voted his life to three objects: his lady, his
 king, and his Ged. It was an ennobling idea that of generous, honorable deeds in the ser
 vice of women, the state, and religion. The
 knight of to-day who aspires to distinction
 must acquire it in the same honorable service,
 and devotion to high ideals. Through obe-
 dience alone does man become worthy of free dom.
 The knight of fable and romance felt, dimly
 and unconsciously, that, in his combats against giants, dragons, and forms of darkness, he was striving against the same spirit of evil, and | that these were but the Protean forms in
 which It's presence was manifested. With the
 clearer perception of the present we discern that
 his impression was essentially true one, His
 conflict was the same as our own. The same spirit of evil confronts us to-day and though
 the form is changed, the nature is identical War, slavery, violence, wrong, all the mani fold shapes of human suffering are but differ
 ent revelations of it's power. It is against this spirit that the Modern Knighthood must fear lesSly enter into conflict. On the face of eve ny individual we meet, it's print is apparent Its stamp is impressed on the productions of l our thinkers and poets. It looks down upon
 us from the sad countenance of the world
 worn Dante, prompts those obstinate ques- tlonings of invisible things" that haunt the magic page of Shakespeare -recurs again and again in the intricate problem of Faust In the service of humanity victories may be won grander far than those in which the heroes of
 old gained renown..
 As the old chivalry was the voice of the spirit of the past, so the new knighthood is the index of the spirit of the present of the future. Its work is the destruction of the forms of cruelty and wrong that have weighed
 like an incubus on the past, and the subtitu- tlon of the popular government of the present. KY1irp
 from day to day. It inspires the nations of Europe to renewed efforts towards liberal gov ernment-shields the republic of France from
 the attacks of bigotry and reaction-instills through the most absolute governments the leaven of it's vivifying principles. The knight of to-day girds on his armor to do valiant bat tie in the defence of the government of the people The voices ofthe illustrious dead in the cause inspire his efforts. One comes from the eloquent lips of the exiled MaZZini, glow ing with his fervid aspiration for Italian unity.
 We hear it's echo in the words of the gifted Emmet, standing face to face with death, the martyr to a nations cause. From the scaffold and the dungeon; from the haunts of lonely exile, come separate voices, swelling into a mighty intonation, melting to earnest effort in the cause of truth. Enemies appear in nu nerous forms. From the peril of caste and oligarchy we escape only to be confronted by others equally menacing. In our own land we find organizations of men engaged in the at- tempt to rend asunder the bonds of society, and reduce us to condition of social anarchy. For the principle of individual effort and inde- pendent development, they are eager to substi- tute system in which the indolent and vi- cious shall share alike with the industrious
 They must be met. It is the grandest triumph of the human will out of obstacles to forge the means of future progress. The stormy pillows of the ocean floats the commerce of the world, the ightnings carry it's messages of advance | nent and hope. So through earnest effort and patient culture may we, like the benefcent Creator: ''Out of evil seek to bring forth good :" and by carefully guiding one of the
 natural impulses of mankind avert the evil consequences of Socialism.