1825}. 
yf BE | fen 
itself to our observation, is a review of 
eyrich’s, Critical Inquiry into Ancient 
ig8 2 0 Re . o> No: C. t to 
rmour, from the Norman Conques 
the Reign. of Charles £I.; which is thus 
introduced: 3 
“ There-is- no branch of antiquarian re- 
search»more interesting in itself, ‘or: more 
useful ,for-historical illustration, than the 
study ofthe armour, of ‘the middle ages. 
The,;subject: awakens’ every association 
which belongs to the olden.time of romance. 
It isjinterwoyen with all the splendour of 
chivalry; the,dinvof Paynim. battle, the 
alarums of feudal combats, and the festive 
but perilous encounter of the courtly joust 
and tournament.» Among those monumen- 
tal effigies, which are, frequently, our only 
records of armour, some cross-legged figure, 
inithevaisles of our venerable cathedrals, 
will occasionally recall the memory of the 
heroic enthusiasm’and mistaken piety of the 
crusader, and conduct us, in idea, through 
his toilsome march and deadly/conflict with 
the Saracen :,at: such a,moment, his :con- 
tempt of suffering and of danger ; his sacri- 
fice of home and kindred; his ready endu- 
rance of torture and death,—rise at once 
before us, and forbid us from censuring, with 
seyerity the madness of his enterprise. Or, 
if we turn to the rude paintings and illumi- 
nated MSS. of the times, for armorial cos- 
tume; the ‘well-foughten’ fields of honour, 
the glittering) array of ‘steel-clad warriors, 
the: solemn display: of judicial battle, the 
gayer lists, for, trial. of knightly. skill and 
“Jadye-love;’ the baronial. hall, the min- 
strelsy, the mask, the banquet, and the ball, 
spring up. before us in dazzling and fantastic 
Be Bi. Lid 
_, In this preliminary paragraph there is 
quite enough, we suppose, of that pic- 
tutesque. sentence-making which con- 
stitutes fine writing, to please a majority 
of that class of readers to whom the 
reviewer appeals: nor do we object to 
it on that account. It is no unfitting 
prologue to the anti-historic sentimen- 
tality about “the Age of Chivalry,” 
which ensues.’ But the flourish about 
“eminent “interest and utility,” &c., 
has become so mere a commonplace, in 
almost every article, on almost every 
subject, withthe manufacturers of criti- 
cal disquisition, that it may fairly be 
questioned, whether, in nine instances 
out of ‘ten, itis to be regarded as an 
instinctive recurrence of technical cant, 
or a make-weight quantity, to eke out 
the measure: of the page. Its. obtrusive 
frequency reminds us of ‘the advertise- 
ments of Steers’s, Opodeldoc, which 
used, heretofore, to make» their regular 
appearance in one or other of the news- 
papers every day, from Christmas’ to 
Midsummer, and from Midstimmer' td 
Christmay agaity—beginning always with 
pty 
Philosoph 'y of Contemporary, Criticism.—No. XL. 
519 
the same specific words, “ At this par- 
ticular season of :the; year, when,” &c. 
The costume of ancient armory is, 
undoubtedly, an amusing subject of an- 
tiquarian research ; but what.is.there in 
it, more than in multitudes of other 
topics, to entitle it to any vaunted pre- 
eminence of utility or interest? , 
But it is not in this assumntion, of 
imaginary ‘importance alone. that’ the 
writer manifests his taste. It is con- 
Spicuous. also, in’ the peculiar inteligi- 
bility of his. metaphors.’ Take, for ‘ex- 
ample, the first sentence of his ‘second 
paragraph :— 
“ But, dispelling the illusions of fancy, it 
is by reducing the inquiry into the changes 
of armour to the standard of sober reason, 
that the subject acquires ‘its historical 
value.” F 
Reducing inquiry to a standard,,ap- 
pears to us, we confess, rather an extra- 
ordinary process. Conducting ‘inquiry 
according to the:dictates, or in obedience 
to the principles, &c. of ‘sober ‘réason, 
would be modes of expression we could 
understand. But inquiry, we’ should 
suppose, includes the idea of process, 
or progression; and to reduce progres- 
sion to a standard, does, to our appre- 
hension, appear about as comprehensible 
as “a progressive standing still.” Nor 
are we, among other novelties of meta- 
phorical’ compost spread over these 
pages, much more delighted, either with 
the euphony of diction, or the chiar’os- 
curo of imagery in the sentence, when 
we are told, that “the illustrious indi- 
vidual at the head ‘of the Ordnanee,” 
is “ the last person who should be: in- 
indifferent to the preservation’ of our 
military records, to which his ‘own 
achievements have given their crowning 
splendour.” ative 
Achievements may indeed confer’ a 
crown of splendour upon individuals, or 
upon institutions—but here, Splendour 
herself becomes the active agent in the 
coronation; and crowns—what ? why 
Records! Such slips of the pen, the 
customary results of perpetual quest of 
the flowery and ornamental, might per- 
haps be excused in any but a belles- 
lettres critic, especially if glossed over 
by any redeeming grace of euphonous 
collocation; but, “his own achievements 
have given their crowning’ splendour,” 
flows with as little felicity of utterance 
to the ear, as could well be contrived, 
in the structure of any sentence involy- 
ing so large a proportion of liquid. ele- 
ments. >: fpnaniap tales) Sout 
The article, however, is, not without 
its 
