was unhelmed.

He returned to his people, who foon re-helmed him, and having refumed their lances, they met full gallop, and hit each other with fuch force in the middle of their shields, that they would have been unhorfed had they not kept tight feats by the preffure of their legs against the horfes' fides; they went to the proper places, where they refreshed themselves and took breath. Sir John Holland, who had a great defire to shine at this tournament, had his helmet braced, and grasped his fpear again; when the Lord de Saimpi, feeing him advance in a gallop did not decline meeting, but fpurring his horfe on inftantly, they gave blows on their helmets, that were luckily of well-tempered steel, which made sparks of fire fly from them. At this course, the Lord de Saimpi loft his helmet, but the two knights continued their career and returned to their places. This tilt was much praised, and the English and French faid that the Earl of Huntingdon, Sir Boucicaut, and the Lord de Saimpi had excellently well joufted, without fparing or doing themselves any damage. The earl wished to break another lance in honour of his lady, but it was refused him; he then quitted the lifts to make room for others, for he had run his fix lances with fuch ability and courage as gained him praife from all fides."

When the English knights had each run their tilts, they marched in a body to the French knights and said, “All the knights who have accompanied us having now tilted, we take our leave of you and return to Calais, on our way to England. We know well that whoever may wish to try their skill in arms will find you

here for thirty days according to your proclamation. On our return to England, we shall speak loudly of your gallantry, and tell all those who may inquire of thefe deeds of arms, to come and witness them in perfon." "Many thanks,” replied the three knights; "they shall be made welcome and delivered by deeds of arms as you have been, and we defire you will accept our best acknowledgments for the courtefy you have fhown us." This was the ftyle of international courtefies which exifted in the chivalrous and romantic age of England.

Thefe noble sports were of comparatively short duration, for "The tournaments of the fifteenth century provided with fo much care for the protection of the combatants that the chief object of the sport, the development of bravery, was loft; and the fire of emulation burned fo low in the breafts of the chief knights of the time, that they were content to have the number of blows that should be ftruck reduced to as mechanical a precifion as any of the commoneft arrangements of the tilt-yard. The shock of the war horfes, that had formed one of the leading perils of the encounter, was prevented by a double barrier of partitions dividing the hoftile parties, and ftretching across the area of the lifts; while the thrust of the lance and the fword was alfo rendered harmless by the points being blunted."

In the time of Elizabeth the prohibition against taking part in joufts being ftill in force against the lower claffes, tilting at the quintain, joufting upon the ice, and boat tilting were introduced. When the maiden Queen vifited Sandwich in 1573,

fhe was entertained with a tilting upon the water, "where certain wallounds that could well fwym had prepared two boates, and in the middle of each boate was placed a borde, upon which borde there ftood a man, and fo they met together, with either of them a staff and a fhield of wood; and one of them did overthrowe another, at which the queene had good sport."

Sir Henry Lee, who for many years held the proud office of Queen's Champion to Elizabeth, and was bound to prefent himself armed at the Tilt Yard (now Palace Yard), on the 27th of November of every year, feeling himself by the advance of age, unequal to the duties of braving knightly perils for his Queen, begged to be releafed from his office, and from his retirement. may be dated the final decline of thefe chivalrous diverfions. The refignation was tendered on the 23rd of Elizabeth's reign, and in prefence of an affembly unusually gay, numerous, and brilliant. It is thus defcribed in Knight's "Old England":"The joufts being over, the Queen's aged knight, who has now done his devoirs in her fervice for the last time, prefents himself at the foot of the ftairs leading to the Queen's gallery. Juft then, one of thofe cunning furprises takes place, without which no fête of that age could have been confidered complete. The earth, as it were, fuddenly opening, there appeared an extraordinary and most beautiful little chapel, or temple, of white taffeta set upon pillars of porphyry, arched like unto a church, with many lamps burning in it, and the roof fretted with rich gothic work and gilding; an altar within, covered with cloth of gold, and lighted

0

by two large wax candles, in rich candlesticks; on this were laid certain princely prefents, Sir Harry Lee's parting memorials to the Queen. Strains of enchanting fweetness iffued from the temple as the aged knight drew near the throne, and Mr. Hales, her Majesty's fervant, a finger of admirable voice and skill, accompanied the inftruments with thefe touching verses, supposed to be addreffed by Sir Henry to the Queen :

My golden locks Time hath to silver turn'd
(Oh, Time! too swift, and swiftness never ceasing),
My youth 'gainst age, and age at youth hath spurn'd;
But spurn'd in vain-youth waneth by increasing-
Beauty, strength, and youth, flowers fading been;
Duty, faith, and love, are roots, and evergreen.

My helmet now shall make an hive for bees,
And lovers' songs shall turn to holy psalms,
A man-at-arms must now sit on his knees
And feed on prayers that are old age's alms.
And so from court to cottage I depart,
My saint is sure of mine unspotted heart.

And when I sadly sit in homely cell,

I'll teach my swains this carol for a song:
Blest be the hearts that think my sovereign well,
Cursed be the souls that think to do her wrong
Goddess, vouchsafe this aged man his right
To be your beadsman now, that was your knight."

FENCING AND SWORD PLAY.

ENCING was an art in which, as in archery, great proficiency was formerly attained by Englishmen. Ladies loved to witness a difplay of the fencer's skill, and to beftow rewards upon the succefsful fwordfman. The citizens of London practifed the art extenfively. In the fixteenth century Smithfield was in the zenith of its fword play, and when its glory had paffed away, old writers were wont to speak with regret of the "fword and buckler age in Smithfield." At the commencement

of the feventeenth century, we read in the old play of "Two Angry Women," by Henry Porter, "Sword and buckler fight begin to grow out of ufe. I am forry for it; I fhall never fee good manhood again; if it be once gone, this poking fight of rapier and dagger will come up, then a tall man, that is a courageous man and a good fword and buckler man, will be fpitted like a cat or a rabbit." Previous to this period "the art of defence and use of weapons was, according to Stowe, "taught by profeffed