520 
its merits», and, in, the justice, of, me 
followipenassagg NP teh ly,g01 Oh 3 
if Since, th: ic Age, as 
never pines a ol an era. cr hae 
sively, miitary,,,as as that t which is,compre- 
hended. between the tenth and the fifteenth 
centuriess) Almost every order of society 
mingled in the work of slaughter., Mo- 
narehs, ‘nobles};and ‘the. inferior. proprietors 
of the Soil, found.im camps their eommon 
theatre of action; and free cities .poured 
forth bands of. armed burghers to protect 
theix’ harvests, or manned their walls with 
artizans, ‘who enjoyed security within them, 
by no “other tenure than their own good 
swords.” 
Aprecious picture, undoubtedly, of 
that'spléndid’ “age of feudal chivalry” 
whiéh' is gone’ for ever!” when mo- 
narths, nobles, &c:; were but so many 
captains 6f constituted banditti, and 
rape and spoil were privilege “and 
clory';when ' merchants: and’ traders 
hat io! other defence’ fighinst those illus: 
trious ‘depredators: but “their own good 
swords? 4nd “the” London’ apprentices 
(lightly as,.in these piping days of tr ad- 
i ha “democratic, civilization, we may 
estimate city) yalour,) were obliged to 
issue fortlt; severy .nlow and then, in 
armed battalia;! and. drub the. chival- 
rous young nobility into good manners, 
In ‘the ‘passage that immediately fol- 
lows (a palpable imitation, almost 4 
paraphrastic plagiarism, from Gibbon) 
there is) more of ‘séntimentalized ro- 
mance than of the result of a -philoso- 
phic’spirit of historical research : 
“During this long and turbulent period, 
the influence of the softer sex tempered the 
passiort for arms; amd the fierce and brutal 
spirit of »fetidal “anarchy .;.was . gradually 
calmed; and’ humanized,by the progress of 
romantic;sentiment. ; It is.a_trite observa- 
tion,.that .we-are, indebted for the, polished 
courtesy. of modern society to,.the institu- 
tions of chivalry.”2_.< 
J’o those who, in compliment to°an 
aristocracy priding itself in tracing ail 
tenure, and distinction _ of ‘descent | to 
acquisition by the Norman sword, affect 
to.disdain all, historical research. “beyond 
the gloomy . and desolating epoch of the 
conquest, ‘this may sound plausible 
enough. ‘But a’ better acquaintance 
with Saxon and’ Northern Antiquities 
out demonstrate; that it is for the 
a ‘and Oppression, alone, of chival- 
ry, that es He indebted to fendal as- 
sunyption ani grman. usurpation ; not 
for chivalry itsclf,, That it was from the 
northern nations, even in their remote 
and! otherwise sbarbarous' ages,, that we 
derived that ht tianizing respect for the 
softer ‘sex, which tempered and» “miti- 
Philosophy of Contemporary Criticism —No, XL: C 
‘and beauty, if he -had-given hima 
‘(the volume before us, as pvelly 
-produetions, contains amany,-proofs.to,the 
gated. 
Ea alain A 
_Neither.is.the rewiewwers 1 
honest; wren pay te 
nagement Geile aout be 
cient “of all 
the immortal glories. ‘of | 
tiers and, Agincourt,” wey 
indeed, clad. in. complete s 
mounted on ‘horseback, actopeden 7 saa 
quently, at) the easy» pricesof: aviittle> 
horse-flesh: and a few “braises“of. hise 
impenetrable armour, the*splendouts-of* 
the triumph; but it was’ Lede tee 
of the hambler population, “almost 1O8t 
clusively Saxon, that the ¢ atch 
embodied—by whom, in. almo pe 
obstinate. and memorable ; 
victory. was purchased. » ¢).: 
If we had space for. weooal ml 
extracts, at second-hand; we ane 
low the Quarterly compiler: — 
successive articles’ on History 
of a Voyuge to’ the China’ 52 
Voyages dans la Grande Pre 
Smyth's descriptive’ Memoir of and 
its Islands ; the Travels tags 6j 
Schmidtmeyer, Maria Graham; aed ‘ 
Basil Hall in Chili, and to the Os zt 
that Country, and Peri and Me 
Mengin’s View of Modern’ Esy 
toire de ? Egypt sous le Gow mene 
de Mohammed-Aly ), &c. &e.’ But 
is yet another number of this uae 
arrear; and till it shall make - 
appearance, we must look Tor 
to other sources. 9 LCD OCEAY 
2 adits ma ewer 
Of the’ superiority: a .our, 
last to the ion sore a 
point of talent, oyer its Quatterly rz 3 
as well in elegant, as profoun 
ture, exemplifications might be given in. 
abundance, from a very judicious, as, 
well as liberal criticism, on the Posthu-. 
‘mous Poems of Perey Bysshe« She 
‘We must confine ourselves: to the 
Towing? Sant 
eS RET a ais 2B 
“ Pee we grant, cpoates. anil 
its own, - but it. eo Mt, out of ye 
materials... Mr.» Shelley.is..the.. ee 
his own poetry—out of,nothing.: - 
he is deficient in the true, sources: ie 
it play. 
contrary). -But.with him, faneys will, sea 
price, predominated, over,and 
natural. influences: ofethingss 
no respect fer: anaibcety that. didnot. strain 
alt vy zat wo tthe 
