KNIGHTHOOD. 
all thefe inftances prove, or at leaft tend to prove, that the 
heart of man expands itfelf in the moment of danger, and 
conceives a natural defire of uniting itfelf to that of 
others, in order to find fupport if wanted, or to (hare, and 
double by (haring, the pleafure and raptures of victory, 
when obtained. 
Thofe private unions of friendfhip in war took a con- 
fiftency among the Romans foon after the eftablifliment of 
the republic. The brave, the valorous, warriors, foar-’ 
ing above the re'll of the foldiery, fine nomine plebcm, were 
united into a body called the Equejlrian Order, lefs, per¬ 
haps, becaufe they kept and fought upon horfes, than on 
account of their well-tried courage and lleadinefs, on 
horfeback or on foot, to attack or repel the enemy. We 
know, from Florus and other Latin authors, that the in- 
fgnia of knighthood, when Hannibal came to the field of 
Cannae, was a gold ring; and that the defeat was fuch, 
that two buihels of annulets were found on the bloody 
ground after the mighty conflict: Modii duo annulorum 
Carthaginem mijji. Florus, lib. ii. c. 6. It is known alfo that 
a collar, torques, was a mark of equeftrian honour, and that 
the Equifes were often called Torquati. 
When flattery, with the profule fumes of her incenfe, 
began to offufcate the eyes of the fucceflors of Julius and 
Auguftus Caefar, although the Roman eagle difplayed her 
valour and bravery in Europe, Afia, and Africa ; yet, at 
that time, chivalry lay dormant. The foldiers of the le¬ 
gions had nothing to fight for but the gratifications pro- 
mifed by, or rather extorted from, their emperors, and ge¬ 
nerally fettled themfelves the price of their fervices. The 
generals had no other interell but to keep a friendly in- 
tercourfe with their hirelings, and to make the belt ufe 
they could of them to march boldly to the throne at the 
demife of the reigning prince. This felfifii and confined 
fyftein was little fuited to the liberal and expanfive feel¬ 
ings of chivalry ; and for feveral centuries we hear no¬ 
thing of it. Unconnected with each other, feeling but 
very coldly for their enflaved country, the foldiers fought 
for their ftipend. No generous fpark kindled their apa- 
thic and fervile minds. The leader had no nearer view 
than accidental plunder, or the confidence of his legions 5 
and no ultimate fcope, but that of becoming able to fe- 
duee the minds of the people whenever the imperial pur¬ 
ple fliould be put up to public auction. 
Such was the (late of things relative to knighthood, 
when immenfe hordes of favages and barbarians, rufhing 
down, with the rapidity and fiercenefs of torrents, front 
the barren hills of Scythia, of Germany, and of Gaul, 
into the Aufonian vales, brought with them their laws 
and cuftoms, far different from thofe of the people they 
intended to conquer; and it is aftonifliing that, amid It 
thofe compounds of barbarity, ignorance, and rudenefs, 
the feed, the heavenly feed, of what conltituted afterwards 
the very eflence of chivalry ; that is, valour, politenefs, 
and heroic virtue ; undauntedriefs againlt the foe, mild- 
nefs for the vanquiftied, and a paramount fubmiflion to 
the will of the ladies ; fliould have arifen and fpread it¬ 
felf over the whole of Europe ; that this very eflence 
of chivalry fliould have, as a noble tree, extended afar 
its honoured boughs, loaded with the infignia of the re¬ 
ligious and civil military orders, which were fucceflively 
created to perpetuate thofe virtues, thofe charities, which 
are bellowed by Providence upon this w'orld to unite man 
to man in the everlafting ties of brotherly love and friend- 
fhip. At thefe ideas the mind feels a glow of enthufiafm 
and pleafure, which caules the delight we enjoy in read¬ 
ing of bold and patriotic exploits, wherever, whenever, 
and by whomfoever, they are performed. 
The dignity of knighthood, together with the folem- 
nities it was at firft conferred with, mod probably, as we 
have juft hinted, originated with the ancient Germans and 
other warlike nations. In early times, when the youth 
of thofe countries arrived at the ftate of manhood, .in imi¬ 
tation of bellowing the prelexta robe, a ceremony ufed 
among the Romans, they were brought into fome affem- 
787 
bly of the people, and there prefented with a fliield and a 
lance: and this Tacitus calls , primus juvtntce honos. From 
this cuftom of prefenting the youth with a fliield and a 
lance, arofe that of adoptio per arma, as it was ufually call¬ 
ed ; a form obferved by the Gothic kings and other princes, 
and which was no other than the fovereign’s delivering 
fome kind of weapon into the hands of the perlon fo in¬ 
tended to be adopted, and giving judgment and confir¬ 
mation of him under the ftyle of his foil ; thus to bear 
and ufe arms. From this practice of the barbarous na¬ 
tions of the north, the fafliion of knighting was, as we 
mentioned before, introduced into the weftern and fouth- 
ern empires, where the ’ceremonies of creating knights 
foon became various. At firft, the principal folemnity 
merely confided in girding with a belt and fword the per- 
fon intended to be advanced to the dignity of knight¬ 
hood , and giving him a gentle blow on the neck; another 
ceremony was that of putting fpurs on the heels of the 
new knight, and with a naked fword ftriking him either 
on the ear or cheek, as if to admonifti him that he fhould 
be at all times ready to revenge any injury or infult of¬ 
fered to his fovereign, with as much zeal arid valour as if 
it had been offered to himfelf. FlcSlit genu ante principem 
candidatus, ab eoque leniter nudo enje in humero percutilur ; addi- 
tis verbis folemni more conceptis. Aub. Mi rams. Orig. Eq. Ord. 
This conftant and univerfal cuftom of ftriking the candi¬ 
date with a naked fword has puzzled many'learned anti¬ 
quaries as to its fignification and proper meaning. The rea- 
fon we have juft afligned we hope is fuflicient; yet fome 
have fuppofed that in thofe romantic ages, when fo much 
was faid and believed about transformations and magic 
wonders, all performed by a ftroke and the occult power 
of the wizard or fairy wand ; the fword, in this cafe, 
feemed to have had the faculty of transforming at once 
the Ample and yet undiftinguiflied warrior into the dig¬ 
nified perfon of a knight. At prefent, and for feveral 
centuries paft, the ceremony of creating a knight has ufu¬ 
ally been this: The perfon intended to be knighted kneels 
down before the fovereign, who, ftriking him gently with 
a fword, pronounces him to be a knight. This is called 
perfonal invejliturc, in contradiffinelion to the manner of 
creating knights by letters patent; inftances of which, 
although very rare, may be produced out of the annals of 
the German and other empires. 
To give our readers a proper idea of the high efteem in 
which knights were anciently held, we mult infert here 
the very words of William Segar, Norroy king of arms, 
who, in his “ Honor military and civil,” printed at Lon¬ 
don in the year 1602, gives us, in the Proteme to his fe- 
cond book, the following definition of that diltinguiihed 
fituation in life. 
“ Forafmuch as the actions of arms, (chiefly on horfe¬ 
back) are and ever have been nfed of noble perfonages 
and gentlemen of belt quality, whom the Romans in their 
flourifliing time, by a general term, called equitcs, and are 
prefently of the Italians and Spaniards named cavalierly 
wdthout refpect of private dignity or other diftinction ; 
we will for this time (yet with refpefl and under correc¬ 
tion) adventure to Engliflr the word eques, a gentleman 
that profefles honour, virtue, and arms, or any of them ; 
particularly difcourfing on what quality he ought to be, as 
follows : 
Firft, he muft be of good conftitution and convenient 
ftrength to endure travail (labours and hardfliips) in ac¬ 
tions appertaining to foldiers. 
Secondly, he fliould be well favoured of face and comely 5 
for commonly God and nature give beauty to fuch per- 
fons as are deftined to command; and from others, born 
to obey, he has withholden that favour ; which moved 
fome writers to affirm, that the princely prefence of Pria- 
mus did (how him to be worthy of government and to 
command other men. 
Thirdly, he (hould be of bold afpeCt, rather inclined to 
feverity then foftnels; which countenance the Swifs and 
Turk do much affect. 
Fourthly^ 
