Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-05-22

necessary adjunct to the equipment OIL
| a gentleman. Poliziano. an Italian poet
Of the time. complained that he was sS
popular that men came to him foi
everything in the way of letters, even
for O motto for a swopd-hilt.
In the Greek and Roman mythology
are many wonderful and miraculous:
tales Of swords. as that OF Perseus usina
the celestial weapon OF Cronos to cut
| of tho Gorgeous head. When leaving
| home, the father of Thescus charged
the mother OF the boy TO keep him By
| her side until ne could move a certain
| stone of great weight. Years passed
and the boy grew stronger and stronger
| until he lifted the stone one day. and
| found beneath Il a wonderful sword
with a hilt of fine workmanship. Armed
with this tabled weapon. he set out upon
his journey through the world. Staying
the Minotaur, and working many mira
Giles, while the sword remained "a trusty
friend throughout his ADVENTUROUS life.
The Homeric writings abound with
| spirited allusions 10 the sword, although
| it is probably the sword o. Homer
own time that IS described. rather than
the actual weapon OF the Trojan war;
among the ancient Britons two
| kinds OF bronze swords were used,
| one the leaf-blade; the other re-
| semblins the rapier An old custom
among these primitive people was the
| placing OF the food Of "A young child upon
| The blade o. It's fathers sword, while the
| mother conveyed IL safely 20 the child s
! mouth. praying. at the same time, that
! her son might die amid the clash Of arms.
The Arthufian Legends tell Of a won
| derful sword. ExcaliDur, owned by King
Arthur OF the Round Table. and given
to him by the Lady Of the Lake:
Clothed in white samite, mystic, won
derful she gave the King his huge, cross
hilted sword whereby TO drive the
heather out"
The poet goes on to describe the sword
as follows:
The blade 20 bright
That men are blinded by it-on one side,
Craven in the oldest tongue of all this
world,
Take me-; but turn the blade and you
shall see,
And written in the speech we speak your
self,
Cast me away!"
After the Round Table had fallen. and
as the King himself lay dying of his
take the sword Excalibur and fling 1t far
away into the lake from which 1t came.
And the arm clothed in white samite,
mystic, wonderful caught the weapon
by its hilt, abaZe with diamonds, BRAN
dished 1t three times aloft, and "drew 1t
under in the mere"
Almost as celebrated as the "Cid" him
self are the two swords, Colada and
Tizon, welded by the Spanish hero in so
many conflicts with the Moors. 1.-THE
great Colada blade was won in battle
and valued at a thousand marks of silver
and is said TO be preserved to-day in the
Armenia at Madrid. Upon the marriage
Of his daughters to the Counts of Cor
rion. the Cid Campeador gave the two
great sword TO his sons-in-hw. When
the Infantes of Corrlon proved faithless
husbands and towards, the swords same
back again into the hands of the Cid, and
were used in the ensuing combat to
avenge the deserted wives.
To-day in Spain the manufacture of
the sword Is still fiourishing, and the
Toledo blade Is noted throughout the
world for it's excellence. The great fac
tory, Just out Of Toledo, employs six hun
bred workmen, men ana boys. and in
finite pains are taken to perfect the
blades. Each sword is well tested by
being thrown against q shield. and If the
point does not turn a hairs breadth it
is pronounced good and marked with the
royal sign, and the word 'Artilleria."
which tells its make to the connoisseur.
Weeks. even months, are spent upon the
designs for these blades and handles,
which are, perhaps, used after compile
ton in the bull-hghts Of the Spanish
holidays.
In French history we read of the IA
nous sword carried in battle by Joan Of
Arc. Early In her short career the
''voices" told her of an ancient
sword which she would find at
Fierbois, concealed behind the al
tar OF st. GATHERINGS church. The
priests knew nothing of the weapon,
but Joan sent officers to search for it,
and II was discovered buried in the EARTH
at the spot described The sword, when
unearthed, was rusty and without a
sheath, but 1.-The Maid" would not have
1t sharpened. as she said she would never
use It, but carry 1t as weapon BETTING
her position. By some, this ancient
sword is said to have belonged TO Charlie
magne, but of this statement no SUBJ
stantial proof is to be found.
How closely woven about the sword ~
the drama Of "The Nibelungen Ring'l
W lHC SlAOiib VI w dloC lllNO
the old ash tree, so that the hlt alone
projected, only Siegmund his son, was
possessed Of strength enough TO draw 1t
out again. Nothing" he named the
sword, and fought bravely with it in the
deadly combat with Hunding, in which
his life ended. Broken and rosted, 1t
comes into the hands of Siegfried, in the
second part of the Wagnerian drama,
and there Is no scene in the Tetralogy
more effective than that in which the
hero FORCES anew the famous weapon of
his ancestors. He sings as he works,
and the sword motive runs through the
opera, an inseparable part of 1t.
The poetry and romance of all countries
of the old world are filed with illusions
to the sword. The practice of arms and
that Of literature have always gone hand
in hand. Sadi, the great Persian poet
wrote:
1.-TWO persons, oh. conquering King
patrOnizei
The man who has strength, and the man
who is wise:
II man has not handled the pen or the
sword,
Over him, should he die, say no sorrow
ing word"
The Canal and the Farmers.
(New York Journal)