The herald., 1897-04-23

q IN rough magnifIcence array'd,
when ancient chivaIry dispiay'd
The pomp of her heroic games,
And crested chiefs and tissued danes
Assembled, at the clarion's call,
In some proud castie's high-archeo nall
Warton.
~rh. eastern monarch who proclaimed
reward to him who should discover new
uleasurs would have deserved we'll OF man
kind had he stipulated that 1t should d
h1ameIess. Whately.
There was a gallant showing maze
1t the jousting yard yesterday Feats
of strength, of skill, of agile power ano
Of science were not lacking and much
nleasant fooling was done by those
clowns in whose ears the laughter
and cheers of the multitude must have
been precious.
AS time wags along wondrous changes
are wrought, but in the athletic field
the public humor has not changed much,
and any alteration in the form of bod
ilv contest has been brought about by
force rather of circumstances than by
individual inclination. Even yet the
thoughts of the physically strong man
fly back fondly to the times
"When every morning brought a noble
And every chance brought out noble
knight
But the thousands of people that
thronged yesterday to the jousts saw
in certain respects, much the same as
their ancestors saw before them at the
iousts and tournaments of the chival-
ric age.
Originally, perhaps. only exercises In
riding. the iousts and tournaments be-
came in France contests of skill and
strength, and in that form were intro
duced into Germany in the twelfth
century. During the golden age" OF
chivalry. only persons of ascertained
nobility and of blameless character
could participate in them, and hence
they were always preceded by a scru-
tiny of the contestants coat of arms.
They were governed by fixed laws, the
violation of which involved punishment
ana QlSkIaCt. SoSiA "NeAA @A4o
his masters coat of arms emblazoned
ON his peculiar costume. pursuivants
and functionaries of various grades, all
in appropriate colors, had charge OF
the proceedings. Fools, who brought
the ridiculous into relief upon such oc-
casions, piled their vocation at the ex-
pense of the participants in the tourney.
The knights fought either singly or
in troops. The weapons consisted OF
lances, swords or maces, the latter in
tended simply to deprive the helmets of
their ornamentation; the former were
sharp pointed if the combat were real,
otherwise the points were blunted. The
armor, more complete than that used
in war, extended even to the steed.
Sometimes the horses were cased in
mail. but in the lance tilt, which was
the usual form of tournament, they
were merely covered with cloths adapt
ed to the outlines of the body, even COW
ering the eyes, SO as to prevent their
shying. The shields and helmets of the
and even the coverings of the
steeds, were decorated with coats of
arms, allegorical devices, and even
comical pictures.
AT jousts of lance-breaking the par
ticipants were separated by a board
ing, while in other cases there was no
barrier except that which excluded the
spectators from the lists. The guests
Of rank occupied tribunes the principal
one being reserved for the Queen of
Beauty, who was to bestow the guerdon
on the winner. In the beginning the
prizes consisted of gold chaplets, chains,
1af fcts Af Sffh a nj oil
character.
After the decline of chivalry the EN-
peror Maximilan I made many petty
regulations concerning tournaments
which refined away their genuine spir-
It. AS serious and occasionally fatal
accidents resulted from these sports
for even battle axes were sometimes
used, they were much modified by the
sixteenth century and became mere ex-
hibitions of skill In this form the COM
petitors had for an opponent wooden
figure of a Turk, or else they strove to
catch on their spear points ring hung
up for the purpose, and though the
was not won with danger, it
was applauded as vigorously as were
the combats of old. This sport was
called ring fitting or 'carrousel." Its
last form is that Of the flying wooden
horses which are today the delight of
the boys and girls to be found at every
fair and picnic ground, and which are
the last relic of the once gallant sports
of chivalry. How have the mighty
fallen!
OF PAST GAMES
But while the games yesterday re-
Bembled, in some respects, the jousting
of the knightly age the contestants
themselves figured more az did the con-
testants in the Roman gladiatorial
shows, minus all the brutalizing ele-
ment which made the amphitheater a
curse, if they had only known it, to the
Roman populace.
In those olden days the contestants
belonged to four classes-slaves, prison.
ers of war, condemned criminals and
free men who entered the arena as a
profession. The exposure of slaves was
later forbidden. The free men, in sub
hitting themselves to the stern discip-
line of the "lanista," took an oath which
bound them to submit to be burnt alive,
beaten, or killed with the sword at the
bidding of their trainer. The training
was severer, perhaps, than a modern
athlete would care to submit to. The
athlete was hardened to bear pain by
being beaten with rods. His diet was