1830.] 



Domestic and Foreign* 



than has been usually employed. The ex- 

 travagant representations of its modern hi- 

 storians have a tendency, Mr. S. thinks, " to 

 make men regard the advantages at present 

 possessed by society as of less value than 

 they really deserve, or to be indifferent to 

 the struggle which is going on to provide 

 mankind with more certain guides in pursuit 

 of knowledge and happiness than were en- 

 joyed when war was the only road to distinc- 

 tion, and carnage the first of virtues." The 

 author traces the origin of chivalry to the 

 forests of Germany, and finds its leading 

 principles in activity long before Charle- 

 magne; but to him he assigns the honour 

 of consecrating it by religion, or rather of 

 coupling it with ecclesiastical sanctions. At 

 the commencement of the cruad_>s, the in- 

 stitution was in its full development and 

 glory. Dedicated to the service of the church, 

 the knight was the champion of her rights, 

 and rewarded with her favours temporal and 

 spiritual. Honour was his first principle of 

 conduct ; inflexible adherence to his word, 

 which he observed rigidly without regard to 

 circumstances, though productive often of the 

 noblest sacrifices, was also often the source 

 of mischief and absurdity. Truth, too, was 

 a distinguishing quality of the true knight ; 

 but the beauty of the virtue itself was lost 

 sight of under the specious colouring of 

 ambitious fancy. 



It may be observed, and the remark will apply to 

 more cases than the present, that the worship of 

 truth is comparatively easy, when the sacrifices we 

 offer are all of our own invention, and made only 

 at such times as may ensure their reward, either in 

 the increase of our reputation, or in stfme other 

 advantage. The history of chivalry contains ample 

 proofs that such was, with very few exceptions, the 

 devotion which the knight paid to this angelic vir- 

 tue. He never broke a vow ; but both the making 

 and observance of it contributed largely to raise his 

 reputation. If it was an extraordinary one, and 

 required particular labour and hazard to fulfil it, he 

 had measured the difficulty beforehand; he had cal- 

 culated how much admiration and praise he should 

 receive when he had gone through the voluntary 

 trial ; and he bore with him, in the peril of the 

 encounter.the pleasant feeling which always attaches 

 to the consciousness of being watched and admired 

 while combating any danger. Nor must it be for- 

 gotten, that a large number of the vows which the 

 knights made, and obtained the greatest praise for 

 observing, had their origin, not merely in personal 

 vanity, but in the expectation of their aiding them 

 in the most difficult of their love-adventures. To 

 vow that he would perform some notable exploit in 

 honour of his lady, was the noblest piece of gallantry 

 which a knight could exhibit. It elevated him in 

 the eyes of his brother-chevaliers, contributed to 

 establish the reputation of the dame for the power 

 of her charms, and thereby ensured him her smiles, 

 when every other expedient of the despairing lover 

 had proved fruitless. When such a reward as this 

 awaited him at the conclusion of his enterprise, it is 

 possible, that he might have undertaken it without 

 any other consideration ; and when we compare the 

 number of instances which are on record of this 

 kind with those in which truth seems to have been 



M.M. New Series. Vol.. IX. No. 53. 



honoured and pursued for her own sake, we are 

 compelled, however unwillingly, to regard the re- 

 fined veracity of knights as possessed, in general, of 

 no other quality but its refinement. That they had 

 a very clear apprehension of the beauty of truth, 

 either moral or religious, whatever we know of their 

 habits or pursuits tend greatly to disprove : that, if 

 they did understand it, they were guilty of the 

 coldest and most base hypocrisy ever practised, we 

 have evidence in nearly every work which, either 

 purposely or not, affords any description of chival- 

 rous times. 



The effect of the institutions of chivalry 

 upon the condition of women, Mr. S. is 

 inclined to think greatly exaggerated. The 

 passage is too long for extraction; it will 

 repay the reader. The history of the cru- 

 sades is a rapid but distinct narrative, and 

 furnishes an adequate view of those why 

 does Mr. S. call them ? Holy Wars. 



Travels in Kamtchatka and Siberia, with 

 a Narrative of a Residence in China. 2 vols. 



12mo. By Peter D obeli. 1830 Mr. Peter 



Dobell designates himself " Counsellor of 

 the court of his imperial majesty the em- 

 peror of Russia," without affording another 

 word of explanation. We like modesty and 

 reserve very well ; but there is some dif- 

 ference between silence and babbling, and 

 some little communication of who he is what 

 were his occupations what the object of his 

 several journeys in these strange lands, would 

 really have been very acceptable, and have 

 given something like personal interest to his 

 intelligent but very dull volumes. Appa- 

 rently he is English ; whether merchant or 

 naval commander is doubtful ; and whether 

 officially engaged in his residences in China 

 and Kamtchatka, or pursuing his own busi- 

 ness, is equally uncertain. What is the 

 ground of this shyness ? Not any conscious- 

 ness of imposture, we feel confident ; pro- 

 bably some dread of his imperial master. 

 His first visit to China was in 1798, but sub- 

 sequently he resided in the country, of course 

 at Macao or Canton, seven or eight years, 

 and once travelled as far as Pekin ; but of 

 Pekin he is silent as the grave, and confines 

 his communications relative to China to the 

 factories at the only ports foreigners are al- 

 lowed to visit. The greater part of the 

 volumes is occupied with his tour through 

 Kamtchatka, and his subsequent journey to 

 Petersburgh, along the coast of the sea of 

 Ochotsk, and through Siberia. He landed 

 from a vessel, of which he appears to have 

 had the command, at St. Peter and St. Paul, 

 and finding the governor to be at the other 

 extremity of the peninsula, he proceeded 

 thither forthwith, by canoes and sledges, 

 some seven hundred and fifty versts, and 

 back again, all in the summer season. In 

 the depth of the following winter, he started 

 again for Russia, in a kibitka, or covered 

 sledge, drawn by dogs, and arrived at Pe- 

 tersburgh in safety, after encountering innu- 

 merable hardships, from the severity of the 



4F 



