SPRING. SPEED thee, chaste virgin of the pea-bud cheek Gainsborough, 1833. SONNET TO SPRING. Welcome, most hopeful season of the year,- Lists with a tender joy the wild-bird's note, The brightening earth, and sky, and softening gale, THOMAS COOPER. JOHN ACKROYD. To Correspondents. **Correspondents will please address "Thomas Cooper, 5, Park Row, Knightsbridge, London.' S. M. CARTHY.—Apply to Dr. Viettinghoff, Homœopathic and Mesmeric Medical Establishment, 10, Chadwell Street, Myddleton, Square, Clarkenwell; or, to Mr. E. Elliot, Professor of Mesmerism for the cure of Diseases, 29, College-street, Dowgate Hill, City. THOS. PARKER.-They wrote thus because they could not help it. If the writer enquires and reflects, he will understand that, and not be angry with them. W. E. ADAMS.-We may take up the subject some time: it does not seem urgent at present. G. H., Market Rasen ; J. B., Barnsley; Tyro'; ' Alcous the Younger'; T. L., Portsmouth; O. S. B., St. Bees. Their poetry is most respectfully declined. THOMAS ROOKE.--The Bible with 40,000 emendations is published by Bagster, Paternoster Row. D. C. Answer next week. H.W.N."The Pioneer Metropolitan Association for promoting the practice of decomposing the Dead by the agency of Fire," will hold a Public Meeting at the City of London Mechanics' Institute, Gould Square, Crutched Frlars, on Friday in the present week, (3rd of May,) at eight o'clock in the evening. THE AGE OF CHIVALRY. AN ORATION, DELIVERED AT THE CITY OF WESTMINSTER MECHANICS' INSTITUTE, AND OTHER LONDON INSTITUTIONS. BY THOMAS COOPER. (Continued from last number.) Metal rings, or scales, sewn on leather or coarse cloth, appear to have formed the first species of defensive armour worn in Europe, after the various northern tribes had divided among them the sovereignty of the ancient Roman Empire. This seems to have been improved into chain-mail, and scale-mail: the former constituting a brief shirt, composed of intricate rings, something like those of a steel purse: the latter also being connected together independent of the leathern or cloth suit worn underneath. The steel shirt was gradually improved till it fitted the arms and legs, as well as the body; and the Spanish armourers were famous for their excellence in constructing these suits. Upon the chain-mail, plates of iron or steel began to be affixed at the breast, and over the thighs and arms; and, at length, this mixed harness gave way to the complete case of plates of steel. villanous saltpetre was When "Digg'd out of the bowels of the harmless earth," and balls and bullets came into use, plate after plate of steel was gradually laid aside, till the leathern or buff-coat only remained, as in the beginning. You may observe this process of stripping in the valuable show of our Horse Armoury' of the Tower-where the last Stuart, with his huge boots, buffcoat, and patches of steel, looks, one had almost said, 'like a hog in armour' so uncouth is his figure compared with the chivalrous forms of the earlier kings and knights. Defensive armour eventually disappeared-until our Life Guards were opposed to the French Cuirassiers, who wore steel at the breast, in the battle of Waterloo, and beat them without any such defence: it was then judged proper, by a strange sort of wisdom, to give the Guards the cuirasses they now wear! At the period of the Norman Conquest, body armour consisted either of a stiff frock, or tunic, of leather, covered with rings, or otherwise with lozenges of steel or mascles, as they were called,--or otherwise of a covering of the same materials, but forming both jacket and breeches. The former was called the hauberk, the latter a haubergeon. With the hauberk, were worn chausses, or pantaloons of similar materials. With either a hood was worn, fastened round the forehead by leather straps, and of a piece with either the hauberk or haubergeon. Heavy armed shoes defended the feet, and the ankles, up to the knees, were covered by the hose, composed of bands of different colours, which were crossed. William the Conqueror, you may remember, used to call his son Robert, who was short-legged, 'Curt-hose.' The shield was of various shapes, as it continued to be, during succeeding centuries. The helmet, was worn over the hood, and, in that time was conical in shape, and was open at the face, having only the curious nasal piece--a broad piece of iron projecting before the nose: this whimsical appurtenance-for so it looks in pictures-was discontinued after king Stephen was taken prisoner, at the battle of Lincoln, by a knight who held him down by the nasal, after he had been stricken to the earth. The lance, with its streamer, was the general weapon of the Norman chivalry; but the long cutting sword was a frequent weapon-and the Conqueror's own two-handed sword, it is said, none could wield but himself. The iron mace, a short, but very massive weapon was also in use. During this period, the infantry wore utterly without defensive armour, and their weapons were the bow and arrow, save where the old Saxon bill remained in the hands of some. Such is a brief summary of the state of armour in this period according to Dr. Meyrick, whose splendid work was published some twenty-five or thirty years ago; and whose descriptions are borne out by the celebrated Bayeux Tapestry —that curious picture history of the expedition of the Conqueror, executed in his own time. From the fourteenth century, plated armour took the place of chain-mail completely. The iron breast-plate, or cuirass, as it is now termed,-brassarts for the arms, ailettes for the shoulders, cuisses for the thighs, poleyns for the knees, greaves for the shins, the camail for the throat, and the back-piece, were all separate pieces of harness, which occupied some time in putting on, and in fastening together with rivets. The head-piece underwent considerable changes. The conical form gave way to the cylindrical: the helmet now resembled in form our modern hat without the brim. Afterwards it was modelled more after the pattern of the old classic helmet. The visor was, at first, added to it, as a fixture; but this, at length, gave way to the bever, or moveable protection for the face-deriving its name from the Italian bevere, to drink, because it could be raised for that purpose. When the classic form, or that fitting close to the head, was adopted, the terms casque, burgonet, and basinet began to be used to designate the helmet. Crests surmounting the helmet came into use in the fiftteenth century; but plumes were not worn till the fifteenth, when all had become pomp and parade, and firearms were near putting an end to the gorgeous cumber in which men-of-war were clothed. While chain-armour was worn, the surcoat, or tabard, was a linen-garment decked with the heraldic insignia of the knight, and was put on over the mail. But when plated armour began to be perfected, the knight's heraldic bearings, or 'coat-of-arms', were emblazoned on the steel; and the armourers of Milan became so famous for their engraved and chased work, that it was copied and emulated all over Europe. This most brief and imperfect glance at the armour of Knighthood has already brought us upon the subject of heraldry-that most fanciful and foolish of all the marks and customs of Chivalry,--and, for that reason one would suppose, since one cannot see that another can be alleged,—the very trace of Chivalry still most fondly and proudly preserved. It is preserved, however, and therefore like all other foolish observances around us, must be enquired into, by all who choose to gather multifarious knowledge. And let me assure all who have been indisposed to look at heraldry hitherto, that the treatises upon it-especially old ones-are full of entertaining matter. Some of these old books contain abstruse arguments to show, not only that heraldry has a very ancient origin (as from the Trojan war, or Joseph's 'coat of many colours', or even from Adam in Paradise), but that the highest intelligent existences the angels, the archangels, the cherubim and seraphim,-nay, even the Holy Trinity-have all their proper heraldic emblazonments! Of course, you will not expect me to adduce the argument on such high matters. Any of you who can get a sight of Sir John Ferne, or Gwillim, or Sir George Mackenzie, or the Lady Juliana Berners-I mean of the curious books written by these antiquated persons-will be enabled to satisfy yourselves concerning them. In what age heraldry can be properly said to have arisen I have never been able to satisfy myself; but, suffice it to say, that anciently 6 6 the hearing of heraldic arms was the distinctive mark of gentility, but 'in our days' says Bailey, writing at the beginning of the last century, 'all are accounted gentlemen that have money; and if a man have no coat of arms, the King at Arms can sell him one.' And this sale takes place, even in this our enlightened nineteenth century. Vulgar-minded men having become rich, desire a coat of arms' for the pannels of their carriages, or for decorating parts of their mansions, or adorning their plate; at the Heralds' office application is inade, and the Garter, Clarencieux, Norroy, Lyon, or Ulster 'Kings at Arms'-wondrously assisted by the golden fees, discover that the applicant-even though his father and grandfather may have been scavengers or chimney-sweeps-is descended from some grand Crusader, and therefore entitled, to mount an escallop shell, or a besant, or a half-moon, or a Saracen's head, or a cross flory,' or 'cross bottomy', or some other kind of cross, on his shield; or they make out that he is really descended from some high family who mounted a griffin, or a wivern, or a blue lion, or a black bull, or the head of a boar, or the paws of a bear, as the sign of their nobility-and therefore, he said applicant who has 'downed with his dust', shall be privileged to shew his high descent, by bearing the same enviable emblazonments. This is costly fooling-to say the best of it. Yet, with all its absurdities, I like to peep at this heraldry its terms are soon learned-chevron and fesse and bend and pale and chief, gules and argent and azure and or, and so on ; and I often find some curious point of family or national history illustrated, by reading a shield of arms-though you may think such occasional employment strange for a professed democrat. I hold, however, that all knowledge-even the knowledge of foolish and absurd things-is useful. The mottoes at the bottom of a coat of arms may often occasion an interesting train of thought, and sometimes awaken reflections not very favourable to the motto-bearer. Thus the proud Duke of Beaufort, who boasts his descent from a Plantagenet, on the wrong side of the blanket,' as we say-has Mutare vel timere sperno-'I scorn to change or to fear,' for his motto ; and a very truthful one it is, when his Tory unchangeableness is remembered. My Lord Stanley's Sans changer-Without changing,' is equally notablethough we remember that he has changed since he stood forth as the acutest debater for the Reform Bill-and we may wish he would once more falsify his motto and change again. Che sara sara- What will be, will be,' saith the Italian motto of the Bedford family; and surely a saying more significant of the statesmanship of little Lord John could not be uttered. Not resolve, not duty, not what ought to be, directs him--but utter helplessness: he takes the reins, but lets accident guide the team of government, with Mussulman resignation,--and can only exclaim- What will be, will be !' Jamais arriere- Never behind,' is the motto of the Douglas-but alas! the Douglas is ever behind now-for a more obscure peer is not found mentioned in the pages of Burke or Debrett! Other mottoes of the high born' are still keener satires upon themselves for some proclaim 'I dare, while they are the veriest poltroons in existence; and others say 'I give,' when the heraldic knave should have written 'I take my pension for doing nothing' ! The stirring subject of the Crusades will form a sequel to our imperfect discourse of to-night, and I shall, therefore, reserve mention even of the leading events of those singular enterprises. I have merely suggested materials for thought, rather than treated of Chivalry with fulness your own reading will enable you to fill up the outline, if you choose to concern yourselves so far with the historic Past, and the source of some part of the fantastic Present, as to enter more fully into the enquiry, The Age of Chivalry is gone!' was 6 the melancholy exclamation of Edmund Burke, in the passage often quoted as the most eloquent in his work on the French Revolution,-but the reflection need not make us equally melancholy. Let the Age of Horse troops' (for it means no more!) go, and all its errors with it! We cannot understand the history of Europe without understanding the customs of Chivalry, --and the figures of those old knights, clothed in mail, may serve to remind us of many a deed of valour which proves what courage belongs to human nature what perseverance, what fortitude, what power of surmounting difficulty. But if the heroism of their times had been devoted to worthier objects, how much more advanced might our times have been in real civilization! The Age of Chivalry is gone!'-Let it go for a nobler and better Chivalry is begun. Bacon and Newton began it for science, and Herschell and Davy and Watt have nobly succeeded them in the lists: Wickliffe and Luther began it for the freedom of opinion; and Priestley and Channing, Strauss and Theodore Parker, have since stepped forth for still moresignal 'derring-do': Bernard Gilpin, and Howard, and Clarkson essayed to commence it anew for philanthropy; and Fourier and Owen, and others, have not been less daring, but more universal and all-embracing in the Chivalry for human happiOf the true knighthood of civilisation we may all be members-warring against wrong-lifting a lance for free opinion-wielding the moral weapon of persuasion-displaying the courtesy of true tolerance. Let us all enlist-let us all swear that we will, to the utmost of our power, contend against error in every form. Let us set the example, one and all, for those who are to come after us-that we may help to bring nearer the time, the faith in whose arrival ever cheers us,-when the shout of a morally regenerated and happy world over ignorance and wrong and oppression, will be Victory, victory!' ness. CRITICAL EXEGESIS OF GOSPEL HISTORY, ON THE BASIS OF STRAUSS'S 'LEBEN JESU.' A SERIES OF EIGHT DISCOURSES; DELIVERED AT THE LITERARY INSTITUTION, JOHN STREET, TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD, AND AT THE HALL OF SCIENCE, CITY ROAD, ON SUNDAY EVENINGS, DURING THE WINTERS OF 1848-9, AND 1849-50. But, if the turning of the water into wine, at the marriage of Cana in Galilee, were the beginning of Christ's miracles, how is it that Matthew Mark, and Luke, have no mention of it? Must we repeat the question--How, if they were all inspired' they should not have known of it, or should have forgotten it? As Christ's first miracle, they surely would not have omitted it. There is but one rational solution of this difficulty: the story arose in a region of tradition unknown to the first three Gospel writers. Legend was busy in the various regions round Galilee, as well as within it; and she could not be expected to act with uniformity. She only chose for her model the ancient mythical stories. Thus, since Moses had procured water for the Israelites out of the rock, and the ass's jaw-bone wherewith Samson slew his thousand men was miraculously rendered a reservoir to quench his thirst; since Moses had made bitter water sweet, and Elisha had |