Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Chivaley,
who was to knight him . The lord asked , "To what end do you desire to dnter into this order ? If it is that you may be rich , repose yourself , and be honoured without doing honour to Knighthood , you are * unworthy of it , and would be to the Knighthood what the simoniaeal ecclesiastic is to the prelacy . " And on the young
man ' s answering that l * e promised well to discharge the duties of a Knight , the lord granted his request . Then he was arrayed in his garb , hauberk or coat of mail , spurs , & c , by the Knigbfcs in attendance , and on somie occasions ladies took part in the ceremony ¦'; . the last act being that of girding on his sword . He waste
to use the modern English expression , which is derived from the -French adouhe , which formerly signified C { adopted . '' The lord next gave him the aecolade , and , with three strokes with the fiat of his sword upon the shoulder , said , "In the name of God , St . Michael , o * St . George [ these saints were varied ] , I make thee a Knight ;"
ttdding , " Be thou brave , bold , and loyal , '' His helmet was then given to him , arid a horse brought , upon which he sprang without the aid of stirrup and caracoled within the church . He finally quitted the church on his charger , and exhibited himself to the populace waiting without .
We have preserved the exhprtation delivered by the Bishop of Cambray on the reception into the Knightly order of William of Hainault , Count of Ostrevant : — " He who wishes to be a Knight must have great qualities ; must be of noble birth , bountiful in giving / high in courage , strong in danger , secret in council , patient in difficulties , powerful against his enemies , prudent in all his deeds . He must swear to keep the following rules :---To undertake nothing without having
heard mass fasting ; to spare neither his blood nor . his life for the Christian faith and for the defence of the Church ; to give aid to all widows and orphans ; to "undertake no war without a legitimate cause ; to favour no injustice , but to protect the innocent and oppressed ; to be humble in all things ; to defend the property of his people ; to deny no right to his sovereign ; and to live irreproachably before God and man . If you will , oh , William , Count of Ostrevant , keep these rules , you will acquire great honour in this world , and in the end life
eternal . At the present day , such an institution as the feudal system , and all belonging to it , appears cumbrous and oppressive ; but the period of its foundation , the decline of the Roman Empire , was that of Europe ' s greatest demoralization ; and amid the crime and profligacy which everywhere prevailed , the vices of treachery , falsehood , and ingratitude , were pre-eminently distinguished . Eor these a corrective was found
in the feudal system , as its very essence was fidelity and honourable obligation . Chivalry , the offspring of feudalism , inculcated high principles of honour and veracity ; but the greatest moraladvantage was trial by a man's peers . "We are unable to find in the histories of the nations of antiquity , that there was one in which the people felt toy confidence in the administration of justice ; in all their annals we find the same indignant complaint—That judges still the poisonous hane imbibe , And every hand grows callous with a bribe .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Chivaley,
who was to knight him . The lord asked , "To what end do you desire to dnter into this order ? If it is that you may be rich , repose yourself , and be honoured without doing honour to Knighthood , you are * unworthy of it , and would be to the Knighthood what the simoniaeal ecclesiastic is to the prelacy . " And on the young
man ' s answering that l * e promised well to discharge the duties of a Knight , the lord granted his request . Then he was arrayed in his garb , hauberk or coat of mail , spurs , & c , by the Knigbfcs in attendance , and on somie occasions ladies took part in the ceremony ¦'; . the last act being that of girding on his sword . He waste
to use the modern English expression , which is derived from the -French adouhe , which formerly signified C { adopted . '' The lord next gave him the aecolade , and , with three strokes with the fiat of his sword upon the shoulder , said , "In the name of God , St . Michael , o * St . George [ these saints were varied ] , I make thee a Knight ;"
ttdding , " Be thou brave , bold , and loyal , '' His helmet was then given to him , arid a horse brought , upon which he sprang without the aid of stirrup and caracoled within the church . He finally quitted the church on his charger , and exhibited himself to the populace waiting without .
We have preserved the exhprtation delivered by the Bishop of Cambray on the reception into the Knightly order of William of Hainault , Count of Ostrevant : — " He who wishes to be a Knight must have great qualities ; must be of noble birth , bountiful in giving / high in courage , strong in danger , secret in council , patient in difficulties , powerful against his enemies , prudent in all his deeds . He must swear to keep the following rules :---To undertake nothing without having
heard mass fasting ; to spare neither his blood nor . his life for the Christian faith and for the defence of the Church ; to give aid to all widows and orphans ; to "undertake no war without a legitimate cause ; to favour no injustice , but to protect the innocent and oppressed ; to be humble in all things ; to defend the property of his people ; to deny no right to his sovereign ; and to live irreproachably before God and man . If you will , oh , William , Count of Ostrevant , keep these rules , you will acquire great honour in this world , and in the end life
eternal . At the present day , such an institution as the feudal system , and all belonging to it , appears cumbrous and oppressive ; but the period of its foundation , the decline of the Roman Empire , was that of Europe ' s greatest demoralization ; and amid the crime and profligacy which everywhere prevailed , the vices of treachery , falsehood , and ingratitude , were pre-eminently distinguished . Eor these a corrective was found
in the feudal system , as its very essence was fidelity and honourable obligation . Chivalry , the offspring of feudalism , inculcated high principles of honour and veracity ; but the greatest moraladvantage was trial by a man's peers . "We are unable to find in the histories of the nations of antiquity , that there was one in which the people felt toy confidence in the administration of justice ; in all their annals we find the same indignant complaint—That judges still the poisonous hane imbibe , And every hand grows callous with a bribe .