HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD. 655 
-Ynoulder away so long as the profession 
‘of arms is honourable, and military en- 
terprize held high in admiration. 
‘Orders of chivalry existed in very re- 
mote antiquity, and to trace the origin 
‘of them would be an enquiry rather cu- 
rious than useful. Romulus established 
an order of Equites consisting of three 
hundred noble youths; the members of 
this order had a horse and ring presented 
to them at the public expence, on condi- 
tion that they appeared on horseback 
whenever the state required their ser- 
“vices ; and Dionysius in describing the 
‘transvectio, which was a solemn proces- 
sion, instituted in honour of Castor and 
Pollux, says that every man bore the or- 
naments which had been presented to 
~him by the general as a reward of his 
-walour. Plutarch also tells us, that 
‘when the Equites had served out their 
Tegal time, it was customary for their 
horse to be led to the seat of the two 
censors in the forum, where each gave 
an account of his services, and after an 
‘examination into ‘his merits, was dis- 
‘charged accordingly with glory or dis- 
‘race. ‘lhe investiture of the sword and 
shield among the Germans, as mention- 
ed by Tacitus, was obviously an order of 
“Merit, at once the reward of valorous 
atchievements, and an incentive to the 
_ performance of them. 
The spirit of chivalry which took its 
_ rise in times of turbulence and barbarism 
_ will not be suffered to languish even in 
_ periods of peace and civilization: among 
_ barbarous nations,arms, as it is the most 
-tiseful, so it is the only honourable pro- 
| fession : it is well known that during se- 
Wvéral centuries, in those ages when sci- 
snce was uncultivated, and the arts of 
beace were considered as ignoble, every 
gh-born gentleman in Europe was a 
dier ; his body was trained to feats of 
Bardihood and prowess, and his whole 
*mind was given to the acquirement of 
military skill, His sports were military : 
‘tournaments and jousts were at once an 
| exercise and an amusement to him. In 
the feudal ages the weak were exposed 
‘the ‘insolence and rapacity of the 
ne ; ‘all was’ anarchy and violence, 
‘the’sallies of an oppressor upon the 
nocent and-defenceless ‘were repulsed 
"some more generous and more power- 
‘ulindividual. For the purpose of pro- 
séting the oppressed, and of securing 
sir own possessions from rapine and 
onder, individuals of rank «associated, 
“strengthened their association by-a 
religious ceremony ; admission into these 
associations was deemed the highest ho- 
nour, the qualifications required of the 
candidate were not of vulgar attammment, 
and the ceremonies of hisadmission were 
solemn and impressive. t 
That these chivalrous institutions 
should be preserved in periods of peace 
and civilization will not surprise us, if 
we consider that the virtues of knight- 
hood have led to that civilization which 
we now enjoy, and must ever be essential 
to its existence, Humanity, generosity, 
courtesy, and fidelity, were no less 
knightly virtues than valour and prow- 
ess: to 'the genius of chivalry we are in- 
debted for the high sense of honour 
which peculiarly distinguishes military 
men, and for that humanity with which 
the operations of war itself are carried 
on, and which strips it of half its horrors. 
Orders of knighthood however were not 
always instituted for military purposes, 
the support of the christian religion be- 
ing generally a partial object at least: 
the most noble Order of the Garter: bad 
its origin in the gallantry of Edward the 
third, a virtue for the refinements of 
which we are also indebted to chivalry, 
and the order of St. Lazarus of Jerusa- 
lemwas instituted upon a principle of 
benevolence.’ The particular duty of the 
last fraternity “‘ was to superintend and 
heal those who were labouring under the 
ravages of the leprosy ; and to that end 
a celebrated hospital at Jerusalem, «of 
which St. Lazarus was the patron, was . 
especially consigned to the patron, asia 
receptacle for lepers.” That other than 
military objects were in view, and the 
extermination of the enemies of christia- 
nity by the sword is indisputable, since 
the order of knighthood is yet' conferred 
on females, and there are in existence at 
this day four orders solely instituted for 
the ladies. 
These were doubtless deviations from 
the original institution, in whatever age 
or in whatever country that institution 
sprung. In the feudal times men of opu- 
lence, in addition ‘to the superiority of 
their armour and their weapons over:the 
common people, Had also the advantage 
of fighting on horseback. This*was'so 
striking a distinction that an cquestrian 
order would obviously arise -from it. 
‘Mr. Gibbon says, that between tthe .agte 
of Charlemagne ‘and that of ‘the Cru- 
sadés, a revolution had taken place 
among the Spaniards, the Normans, and 
the French, which ‘was gradually ex- 
