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made its entrance into the world, it was almost sure to die before many weeks had passed; but, did it escape this fate-and, as a child was found to shrink from the rude blast which penetrated its tender frame, or sicken at the close atmosphere and noisome odours that hung about its unventilated home, and turn away in disgust from the coarse, strong food that covered the table-there was no change to a softer climate, no suitable fare provided: the poor little creature was probably pronounced to have been bewitched, and instead of clearing away the filthy rushes amidst which lay long-decaying bones, excrement of dogs, and all sorts of uncleanness, throwing open windows, and pouring in the living air to refresh the weary invalid, in all probability some poor old man or woman would be persecuted even to death for the supposed crime of casting an evil eye on the squire or parson's child, and the poor little sufferer's nerves be fretted with silly superstitious charms, and its body weakened with long fastings, until it sunk into an early grave. And so the weak and delicate, instead of, as in the present day, living on, and probably becoming the parents of delicate children, died; and the strong and healthy only were the propagators of our

race.

But it has been chiefly from such as these that have sprung those of fine strong nerves, and high sensibilities, our men and women of genius; and thus, though from this cause amongst others, our race has become less physically powerful, it has surely gained what is better than brute force-I mean the high intellectual standing which is accorded to us by all the world.

Another cause of the deterioration of strength of which I speak is early and general education. A child who cannot read at seven or eight years old is, in the present day, denounced as an incorrigible dunce; and it is expected that at that age both boys and girls shall know something of several other matters besides mere reading. French and music with girls, Latin and French with boys, and with both arithmetic and geography, etc., are, at an early age, beginning to make lodgements on the young mind. Formerly these children were running, riding, wrestling, and playing all sorts of antics in the air, thereby strengthening their bones and sinews instead of working their brains. Follow their course for a few years, and you will find that every day of their lives presents but a stronger contrast to that of their forefathers at their age; that whereas those were engaged in athletic sports and exercises, rowing and riding, fencing and tilting; and then, as life went on in active war service; or, in times of peace in hunting, and the practice of all kinds of woodcraft and venery. The young men of our day are reading at college from eight to twelve hours a day, seated at a desk in some airless office or bank for a greater number of hours; and happy for them if they are not in worse places, and engaged in more deterio

| rating employments during the hours of evening, and late into the night.

The girls, too, what are they doing? Studying German, and French, and Italian, and music. Reading with a master (seldom enough without) all kinds of science and physiology, analyzing words, making historic charts, &c., &c., until eighteen; then casting all aside, save those pursuits, sach as music and singing, which are calculated to draw admiration, and involving themselves in a round ef drawing-room amusements, seldom taking more exercise than a lounging walk or a waltz affords, and so conceiving the grand objects of their lives fulfilled. O that they would be wise that the mothers and daughters of England would look around them, and see the growing evil which infects our land-that they would remember that their mission on earth is not to spend all on self and self's belongings-to learn to study that only which may make them accomplished and learned women-to spend their time only in seeking something new; but that God has given them all they possess to hold as stewards, and to use to his glory; and that their beauty, their knowledge, their graceful manners, and gentle voices, are as much possessions which they are bound thus to use as is their wealth or any other part of their heritage, and that it is their part and duty to study how these gifts may be used to help those beneath them in their station, how they may best employ such talent in striving to aid the forlorn and desolate, to restore the lost, to comfort the sorrowful; and how they may best bring them to bear, healthfully and helpfully, on cottage life around them. But I digress. My object in this paper is to enlarge a little on the games and pastimes which formed the amusements of our progenitors, at a time when all this book-lore was unknown, and whence, as I conceive, they drew the unbounding store of wealth and physical power which were as remarkable characteristics of the ancient Britons and Saxons as the wonderful mental energies are of men of the present age.

Amongst the earliest records of our history, after the Norman Conquest, we read of the noble youth of the land, one and all, being exercised from childhood in feats of arms, and the practice of every kind of military exploit that was then known. Before the time of the invasion of our land by William the First, athletic sports and trials of strength were much in vogue; but for the practices of chivalry which adorned the time, from the eleventh to the seventeenth century, we are indebted to the French, as the terms used in such sports will show, they being all in the Norman French

the language of the Conqueror-and not in Saxon, which was then the vernacular spoken by the people in general.

The wonderful taste for military prowess and adventure that seems to have possessed the gentry of the land at that period is a curious example of the rapid growth of any new fashion. We see the same infectious characters

pervading the amusements and employments of our day. What one does, all who would be of note or fashion must do, and thus we see all England, in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, devoting their whole thoughts and desires to perfecting themselves in fencing, tilting, archery, &c. Of course in times of war these arts were of high import, and the achieve ments in arms performed by some of the princes and high nobility of those days were very astonishing. But the more frequent use of thein was for exhibition in the splendid tournaments and jousts which formed the chief opportunity for exhibition of the magnificent arms, shields, and other accoutrements of the knights, as well as of the beauty and lustre of the ladies and courtiers who acted on such occasions as spec

tators.

Tournaments were the most grand of all the spectacles of the middle-ages. They were usually exhibited at royal marriages, or when the King would entertain a foreign prince or ambassador, or on such other occasions as pomp and pageantry were supposed to be especially called for. Sometimes, however, jousts were substituted for the more august tourneys, the former being encounters between only two mounted knights; whereas, in the latter many of the flower of the knighthood met as combatants, each bent to overthrow as many adversaries as possible, and thereby to remain conqueror of the field, and receive his guerdon, the prize awarded to the conqueror, from the hands of the fair lady of his vows; for never could there be a knight without a lady-love, and that lady-love one of high degree-a "bright particular star," whom, in most cases, the champion had no hope to wed, but was content that she should be recognized as the goddess of his idolatry, and his highest aspirations were gratified did she vouchsafe him a smile, or the gift of a glove from her fair hand, or a ribbon from her neck to place in his helmet, and, by its cheering influences, to carry him forward to victory.

We find the following directions for the conduct of a tournament in one of the Harleian MSS. First the proclamation, in these terms: "Oyez! Oyez! Lords, knights and esquires, ladies and gentlemen: you are hereby acquainted that a superb achievement-at-arms, and a grand and noble tournament, will be held in the parade of Clarencieux king-at-arms, on the part of the most noble baron, Lord of T-, and on the part of the most noble baron, Lord of C, in the parade of Norroys king-at-arms." Then we have the regulations: "The two barons on whose parts the tournament is undertaken shall be at their lodges two days before the commencement of the sports, when each of them shall cause his arms to be attached to his pavilion, and set up his banner in the front of his parade; and all those who wish to be admitted as combatants on either side must in like manner set up their arms and banners before the parades allotted to them. Upon the evening of the same day they shall

show themselves in their stations, and expose their helmets to view at the windows of their pavilions, and then they may depart to make merry dance and live well. On the morrow the champions shall be at their parades by the hour of ten in the morning, to await the commands of the lord of the parade and the governor, who are the speakers of the tournament. At this meeting the prizes of honour shall be determined."

We are after told that he that shall best resist the strokes of his adversary, and returns them with most adroitness on the part of Clarencieux, shall receive a very rich sword; and he who on the part of Norroys shall show most prowess shall be rewarded with an helmet of equal value. On the morning of the day fixed for the tournament the arms, banners, and helmets of all the combatants were to be exposed at their stations, where the speakers were to examine all, and reject or approve at their pleasure. The arms being returned to their owners the challenging baron caused his banner to be placed at the entry of the parade, and the blazon of his arms to be nailed to the roof of his pavilion. The baron on the other side did the same, and all the knights on either side who were not then present were to forfeit their privileges and not be permitted to tournay.

The king-at-arms and the heralds then went from pavilion to pavilion, crying aloud, "To achievement, brave knights, to achievement!" At this signal the combatants crossed themselves, and on the heralds crying, in like manner, "Come forth, knights and esquires!" then the barons took their places in the lists, the champions ranging themselves on their respective sides under their banners, and then two cords were stretched between them, which cords were to remain untii the speakers commanded the commencement of the sports, when they were to be withdrawn. The combatants were armed with pointless swords, the edges of which were "re-bated," and with a baton or truncheon hanging from their saddles, either of which they were free to use, while the speakers continued to give the words "Laisseir les aler.' When the speakers saw fit to stop the sports the heralds cried "Ployer vos baniers!" which was the signal to stop the games.

The joust often formed the conclusion of the tournament, but it also very frequently was held as a wholly separate talemail, though considered inferior to the tournament was a game or trial of skill with lances. It seems to have heen of considerable antiquity, having been practised in the reign of Stephen, Edward I., &c. The combatants in jousts used spears without iron heads, and the play was to strike the opponent on the front of the helmet, so as either to unhorse him or break the spear. In the days of chivalry jousts were more especially made in honour of ladies, who inspirited the knights by their presence at the spectacles, and at their close dispensed the prizes and rewards. They were, as were the tournaments, exceedingly splendid. The lists were superbly decorated,

as were the pavilions of the knights, and the scaffold or galleries, from which the beautiful ladies who patronized the sports, with their attendants, princes, and relatives sate, all being hung with tapestries of gold and silver, and needlework, and the dresses of the noble ladies glittering with gorgeous colours and rich jewels. We read little of flowers as decorations in those days, indeed it is probable that they were not much used, as the gardens of even noble castles and palaces seem to have been more used for the growth of such herbs and simples as were employed in culinary and medical purposes rather than for the mere growth of "posies," and the art of making artificial flowers ap pears to be of later date. Alas! the eyes of the fair ladies of those days were not feasted with the sight of such splendid geraniums and fuchsias, and calceolarias and portulaccas, &c., &c., as now flourishes even in our cottage- | gardens; nor did crystal houses then shelter the splendour of "East and Western Ind" for their delectation.

The very children in the Middle-ages were initiated into the military sports, their little toys being made such as to lead to them. We read of a wheeled toy, probably of the 15th century, of a knight and his horse, made of brass and completely equipped for the joust, with hole in its stand for a cord to be tied, that the little gentleman to whom it belonged might draw it about as children of the present day do their wooden horses or carts. In this toy the man and the horse were separate, and so balanced that a blow on the helmet would throw the rider off his steed.

There were also boat jousts, some grave and some laughable and absurd. In the tournaments or jousts on land none below the rank of esquire could play; but the passion for such sports took such hold of the public mind that these boat jousts, and other corresponding diversions were invented for the gratification of the London apprentices and others of inferior degree. In boat jousts the game was that two boats impelled by rowers, and each bearing an armed man, with spear, shield, and helmet, should rapidly approach each other, and the conqueror was he who could dexterously turn aside his adversary's spear with his shield, and at the same time strike him with his own spear so as to overthrow him into the river without himself being moved. Boats were in attendance to pick up the conquered. In Queen Elizabeth's time, when she visited Sandwich, she was entertained by a boaten joust, "where certain wallounds (walloons ?), that could each swym, had prepared two boates, and in the middle of each boate was placed a borde, upon which borde there stood a man, and so they met together, with either of them a staff and a shield of wood, and one of them did overthrowe another, at which the Queene had good sporte." No doubt it would not unfrequently be the case, as Stow narrates, that "for the most part one or both of them were overthrown and well ducked."

The quintain, or riding at the ring, was an

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other of the sports, in which both noble and simple shared. Then came various kinds of quintain, some of them apparently of greater antiquity than tournaments and jousts. The quintain was originally nothing more than the trunk of a tree or post set up for the practice of tyros in chivalry: this was superseded by a staff or spear stuck in the earth with a shield hung on it, and the skill was displayed in so smiting the shield with the lance, as to break the ligatures which bound it and throw it to the ground. Then was substituted for a shield a wooden figure which they called "a Saracen." This was armed at all points, and bore a shield and club. This "Saracen" was placed on a pivot, and so contrived as to move with facility. In running at the "Saracen" the horseman had to direct his lance right to the middle of the forehead between the eyes; if he succeeded in doing this, a certain number of the strokss were reckoned to his score, but if he failed and struck wide of his aim, and especially if he struck the shield, round would go the image with sudden velocity, and if not very careful the prostrated lancer would get a powerful thump on his back from the wooden sabre of the image; a result that caused much laughter and mockery in the surrounding spectators, and was accounted very disgraceful to the sufferer.

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But the quintain was not always played by mounted lancers, it was often performed on foot : a post called a pel" (from palas a post) was set up, and the practitioner armed with sword and shield was to assail it as he would a man aiming his blows at the head, legs, &c., or rather at those parts of the "pel" which would answer in position to those parts of a man. Arms of double weight were recommended on these occasions to give strength and power to the frame.

"This fanne and mace whiche either doubil wight
Of shield, or swayed in conflicte or bataile,
Shall exercise as well swordsmen as knyghtes,
And nae man, as they sayn, is seyn prevaile
In field or in castell though he assayle;
That with the pile nathe put firste grate exercise,
Thus writeth Werrouvis, olde, and wyse."

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Wounde him, make woundes wide, Hew of his honde, his legges, his thighs, his armys; It is the Turk, though he be sleyn noon harm is.'

The name is probably derived from the inventors of the game quinctus or quintas. It is spoken of by Vegetias as common among the Roman youth, and was by them probably introduced into England. There was a water quintan, which was much of the same character as the water jousts, being played by tilting from boats at a shield erected on a post in the water.

Tilting, or running at the ring, was also a fashionable amusement. The name seems

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MY DEAR C

The world may turn or stand still, the horizon be black or clear, we Parisians must enjoy ourselves, particularly at this season, when the dark, dull days are only supportable by the thoughts of the brilliantly-lighted-up rooms, the gay dresses, and the magic dance that is in store for us as soon as night closes in. Amusement we must have, and this winter seems to answer all our hopes, for there are dinners and fétes everywhere, their Majesties and King Hausmann setting the example. The first ball at the Hotel de Ville was splendid, as it always is; many prefer it to those given at the Tuileries, and pretend that it is more select and the costumes more costly, which is very probable, because there is more room to show oneself in the magnificent saloons of the Hotel de Ville than in those of the Palace, where it is generally a regular cram. But what, for the moment, most occupies us is the late opening of the Chambers, and the Emperor's speech. Was it to be peace, Or war? Numerous and various were the rumours abroad as to the good or bad tidings therein contained. Some insisted on his Majesty's liberal intentions for the interior of his Empire, others shook their heads in doubt. And, after all, what has the speech told us? That we are ready for war if our enemies provoke us, and that Napoleon III. has the firm intention to rule as he thinks fit. We can at least see that through the ambiguity of the language, in spite of the skill of the commentators to turn and explain it as their desires incite them. Those who wish for war exult. The Emperor wishes for peace, but he lets us see that peace is far from being sure. Those who desire peace find in the imperial speech substantial hopes that peace we shall have. It is amusing to see what different and opposite conjectures may be drawn from one piece of oratorical eloquence. Their Majesties and the little Prince looked in remarkably good health and spirits at the ceremony. The Empress in particular was all beauty and smiles; she was dressed in sky-blue, trimmed with white lace, with a very long train,

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and a blue bonnet, of a very high shape, on a profusion of fair hair; two splendid diamonds— solitaires-for ear-rings. It was remarked by all that she shook hands very cordially with the Prince Napoleon, who is only just recovered from a fever that has rendered him very pale and thin. His wife (the Princess Clotilde) was also present, very simply dressed in grey. All the time of the ceremony no carriages were allowed to circulate in the rue de Rivoli. Two velocipedes (the new-fashioned two-wheeled carriages for one person, and that person his own horse) arrived in lull gallop. The sergent de ville was puzzled to know whether he must stop them or not. His orders had not foreseen the case. What should I do? asked he of a garde de Paris. The garde twirled his moustache at the gravity of the case: "One velocipede has only two wheels, so is no carriage; but two have four wheels, which certainly makes a carriage, so stop them and send them back," which was accordingly done, to the great annoyance of those who were on them, and who protested that there was no fear of their horses taking fright, or doing any harm to anyone! The garde de Paris's opinion did not coincide with theirs, so there was no alternative but to turn back.

Our guest the Queen of Spain_receives frequent visits from the Tuileries. It is an odd occurrence, that so many of the last of the Bourbons should have now taken refuge in France! Some men seem to hope that the little "Prince des Astruries"-as they call Isabella's eldest son here-will be chosen by the Spanish nation, and it is said that the Emperor favours, with all his power, this solution of the Spanish question. The royal boy accompanied the Prince Imperial to the theatre on the 1st of January, and I believe is frequently with him. He is sent every morning to the College Stanislos-an institution half clerical, half belonging to the University-for his studies. They say that the Empress is bigoted; but really I can scarcely believe it, for the Prince Imperial's German master professes the Jewish faith, and an English clergyman has just been appointed

to teach him English-that does not appear very | intolerant. It is true that the child's governor, the General Froissart, is complete master in his Imperial pupil's education, and they say half rules the palace.

There has been a great deal said lately on the way our national riches are protected in point of the pictures belonging to our museums. A fire at Madame Trolong's (the wife of the President of the Senate) destroyed, a little while ago, two pictures belonging to the gallery of the Luxembourg. The public was not pleased, and our papers took it up, and asked why those chefd'œuvres, that are purchased with the public money for our public galleries, are thus exposed to be burnt through the negligence of a servant? They also affirmed that no one has the right to lend those pictures to adorn the apartments of those in office. A very just remark, methinks. However, no answer was given. A semi-official paper stated that all public property belongs to the Emperor, that he has the right to dispose of the pictures as he thinks fit. The question became warmer and warmer, and it was discovered that about thirty other pictures had been lent by the Director des Beaux Arts to the Imperial Cerclea kind of club-house. Nothing governmental that! The indignation became greater and greater, and at last the Director des Beaux Arts has vouchsafed an answer. The pictures lent to the Imperial Cercle are of minor value, and were stowed away in the lumber-rooms of the Museum. They were lent during the Exhibition when the Cercle was daily crowded with strangers of distinction, who could thus admire them, &c., &c. However, it is his Excellency's intention to call them in immediately, and so here the question rests. After all, it appears a strange thing that a man placed to protect the national collection of paintings should have a right to dispose of them according to his fancy! I remember hearing a lady say, a little while ago, that through the medium of her cousin, then a Minister of State, she had obtained from Monsieur Nieuwerkerke two splendid pictures for her parish church. How differently Napoleon I. considered the works of Art in the public museums! He says, somewhere in his memoirs, that when Josephine, profiting by his position, had adorned their apartments with pictures from the public galieries, that though he had them daily before his eyes, it appeared to him that they were stolen from him, because they were no longer in his public galleries!

Mr. Jefferson Davis is now in Paris; he intends settling here, for the education of his children. The Parisians who know him are delighted with his manners and conversation. He is indefatigable in visiting our public monuments, which he very much admires; but what astonishes us the most is that a man who bas

been a president of a republic-a monarch we may say can dine on two dishes and desire nothing more. It is the height of philosophy. But the real "lion" of the day is Monsieur le

President Seguier, late president or chief judge of the court of justice at Toulouse, who has had the courage to resign office to protest against the judgment rendered in the condemnation of the press in the affair for the Baudin subscription. Some throne him as a hero, and deputation after deputation have been to congratulate him on his heroism; others only see in his conduct revenge for the way his father-inlaw, the General Goyon, has been treated by Government. The General was for some time at the head of the troops in Rome, and gave frequent proofs of his attachment to the Pope while there. He has lately been put on pension, much to his annoyance. At the age of sixty all officers are pensioned off, except those who have gained the right to remain on full pay by having, before that age, commanded the troops in face of the enemy, which honour the General Goyon had never had; and as Government was not sorry to get rid of him, I suppose his expostulations were not listened to. A wit says Government was certainly wrong: for when the General commanded the troops in face of the Romans, he was most assuredly in face of the enemy. The revolt in the Réunion Island has also occupied public attention, and we expect a change will be made in accordance with the rights of this colony, though I do not suppose that the Corps Legislatif will be opened to them as they demand.

The

M. de Frias inhabits the entresol (a kind of first-floor in the Hotel Bel-Respiro). Chinese embassy, just arrived, have hired the two storeys above M. de Frias. The other night the Chinese gentlemen made a mistake and entered their neighbour's apartment, their key fitting perfectly well the other lock, and without further ado they went to bed. In the middle of the night M. de Frias returned home, entered, and was about putting on his nightcap, when, to his horror, he found his bed occupied. "Au voleur! au voleur!" he cried, thinking that the thief, in wishing to try his bed, had found it so comfortable that he had fallen asleep in it. Immediately, one-two-three Chinese arrived, alarmed by the cries issuing from their companions' room. I wonder whether they had all their nightcaps on, and whether they have adopted the European male head-dress à la Mr. Caudle! M. de Frias rubbed his eyes to see if he had not a hallucination; and what rendered the scene more comical is that not one could speak French, or understand a word. Gesticulations, Chinese on one hand and French on the other, followed, but finding it impossible to make anything out on either side, both parties finished by bursting out laughing. Others in the hotel came to the rescue, and the affair was cleared up, the Chinamen leaving the apartment, and M. de Frias at length retiring to rest.

We are soon to have a new novel from Victor Hugo. An indiscreet person of the Paris press tells us that he has seen the manuscript at the printer's: "L'homme qui rit," is the title. We are impatient to have it; particularly as the in

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