feudal system. Knight in its ' various- mea>nings gives a clue 

 to the history of knighthood. The word me>aat succesBively, 

 boy, serv'anfc, soldier and mounted wamor to do battle for 

 Icing or noble. Installation of a, knight in the olden time 

 was. a notable pag-e-ant. After ceremonial abhitions, the 

 novice was clad in raiment of three different colors. The 

 white was an emblem of purity, the red that he v/ould shed 

 his blocrd for the faith, and the black that he would fight 

 to the death. After fasting twenty-four hours, he spent in 

 the church a night of prayer. In the morning, after confes- 

 sion, he went to mass., heai'd a dificourse on the duties of 

 knighthood, and approaching the altar with his sword hang- 

 ing from his neck, the svv'ord was taken by the priest, 

 blessed, and returned. Then, kneeling and declaring that 

 his desire to become a knight Vv'as prompted by no selfish 

 motive, his application was granted. After being clad in 

 his armor, he knelt and was dubbed a knight, receiving 

 from the digTiitaxy conferring the honor three strokes on 

 the shoulder, who at the same time said: "In the name of 

 God, and of St. Michael and St. George, I make thee 

 a knight. Be thou brave, bold and loyal." The new-made 

 knight then arose, and the helmet being placed on his head, 

 he sprang on his horse, and, flourishing his swoi'd, with his 

 horse prancing along, he v/ent t-o the castle where he was 

 looked for. 



Such was the twelfth century knight, and IMaloi-y's 

 laiights are near akin to him. The Arthurian bat-ties, were 

 fought, however, before that date, in the days when Celt 

 and Saxon were in a. maelstrom of strife, and before 

 heathendom in Britain had given up the fight against 

 Christianity. But these legends reached the .conrt of the 

 Plantagenet kings through the medium of Breton " con- 

 tours " and Cymric bards, and if in transmission they did 

 take the color of a later age, they are none the less inter- 

 esting, as art and literatui'e of evei^ age a-bound in 

 anachronisms. 



It has been sAid that Maloi^'e book is "a most pleas- 

 iant jumble and 6umma.ry of the legends- ^bcrut AiihuPr" 



