KNIGHTS. 



appear and receive the honour of knight- 

 hood from the king. This cause and 

 others operated to produce such numbers 

 of knights throughout Europe, that it be- 

 came necessary to invent different orders 

 of knighthood, to render some of the 

 members at least of importance in the 

 estimation of the community. 



Charles I. strangely infatuated and mis- 

 taken in his conduct, adopted the obso- 

 lete practice of his ancient predecessors, 

 and issued " a warrant to the sheriffs in 

 1626, to summons all persons that had for 

 three years past held 40l. per annum, or 

 more, of lands or revenues in their own 

 hands, or the hands of feoffees, and are 

 not yet knights, to come before his majes- 

 ty by the thirty-first of January, to re- 

 ceive the order of knighthood." 



January 28, 1630, the king issued a 

 commission to the Lord Keeper, Lord 

 High Treasurer, &c. to compound with 

 those who had made themselves liable 

 to forfeiture, by neglecting to receive 

 knightood according to act of parliament; 

 alluding to the act of Edward II. This 

 commission, absurd and oppressive be- 

 yond modern conception or endurance, 

 produced above one hundred thousand 

 pounds to the royal treasury, but did the 

 king infinite injury in the opinion of his 

 subjects, wlu) had long considered the 

 statutum de JWilitibus a nullity, and which 

 was afterwards repealed by parliament. 

 Charles, rather alarmed at the general 

 expression of abhorrence excited by his 

 conduct, published " a proclamation for 

 the ease of his subjects, in making their 

 compositions for not receiving the order 

 of knighthood according to law, dated in 

 the preceding July ;" this however was 

 nothing more than an attempt to soften 

 the displeasure of the public, and failed 

 of its effect. The ancient ceremony of 

 making a knight consisted of giving the 

 party a blow on the ear, and striking him 

 on the shoulder with a naked sword, after 

 which he had a sword girded round him, 

 and spurs attached to his heels, and being 

 otherwise completely armed as a knight, 

 he was conducted in solemn procession 

 to hear the offices of religion. 



Since the above period knighthood has 

 been considered a proper method of re- 

 warding persons who have rendered slight 

 services to the state, but the very fre- 

 quent opportunities afforded of confer- 

 ring the honour, has operated in produ- 

 cing the little estimation in which it is 

 held, and from which there is no present 

 prospect of its recovering. The observa- 

 tions just made must not at the same time 

 foe supposed to apply to the more honoui 



able orders which have already been 

 noticed under the article of Knights of 

 the Bath, and Knights of the Garter, ex- 

 clusive of the numerous foreign orders 

 which have existed, and do still exist, in 

 different parts of Europe. 



KxiGHTs' templars. This order has been 

 suppressed for many centuries, but as 

 they were once considered a very pow- 

 erful body, and had large possessions in 

 England, of which the extensive and 

 valuable domain, still known by the 

 name of the Temple, in London, was a 

 part, a slight sketch of their history ap- 

 pears to be necessary. 



The order was instituted in the year 

 1118, for the actual defence of the places 

 rendered saci-ed by the residence and 

 acts of Jesus Christ, in the city of Jeru- 

 salem and its neighbourhood ; and the 

 house which they occupied, being pur- 

 posely situated near the temple there, 

 they acquired the name of Templars ; 

 and, from the same cause, their principal 

 mansions throughout Europe were called 

 temples. The Council of Troyes con- 

 firmed and established them in the rule 

 of St. Bernard, in the year 1127, and the 

 brethren were divided into two classes,'- 

 knights, and servitors. Saladine having 

 invaded and conquered the territories 

 they had bound themselves to protect^ 

 they were compelled to leave the Holy 

 Land, and to establish the order where 

 they found a kind reception, which was 

 almost in every part of the world then 

 under the influence of the Christian re- 

 ligion, as they had double claims on the 

 pious, proceeding from their peculiar 

 profession and sufferings for the cause of 

 the Saviour. During the period they de- 

 pended upon the alms and bounty of the 

 public, they were distinguished for their 

 meek and meritorious conduct, which 

 operated so greatly in their favour, that 

 gifts flowed into their treasuries from the 

 sovereign to the peasant, in every coun- 

 try where a house of knights' templars 

 existed. Matthew Paris asserts, the or- 

 der possessed 9,000 rich convents ; and 

 other writers add, that they had 16,000 

 lordships, with subordinate governors 

 distributed in every part of Europe. 



Under these prosperous circumstances, 

 they became inflated by pride, and inso- 

 lence usurped the place of meekness : re- 

 lying upon their presumed consequence, 

 they did not attempt to conciliate where 

 they had offended ; nor did they seem 

 to suspect the hatred they had generated, 

 till it was too late to resist or retract ; 

 such is the general tenor of the accounts 

 given of the conduct of the knights temp- 



