nd the captive Jews in consequence carried the knowledge of the true God into the country of their conquerors. The Greeks carried arms into many countries, and their hostile armies, as well as their peaceful colonies, disseminated their arts and their language. The Romans at length drew their swords in Greece, and when they subdued that land of liberty and arts, they enlightened and improved themselves by the manners and principles of a cultivated race of men. The learning which the Romans acquired by conquest, in time informed the minds of military officers; and when their legions traversed all the countries which surround the Mediterranean, wherever they subjugated nations, and exacted tribute, they imparted knowledge, and often afforded means to make men wiser and better.

9. Britain was conquered by the Romans, and thither they first carried the Christian religion; and, at this day, whatever we, who are descended from English ancestors, know of the languages of Greece and Rome, and of all antiquity, has been transmitted to us because the lust of power urged the Romans to invade the birth-place of our ancestors. But however useful war may have been in the world, the arts of peace are the surest and happiest instruments by which the ignorant may be taught, and the wicked made better. Navigation, printing, agriculture, all that awakens inen to industry, which employs their minds and their hands, and attaches them to their benefactors, are the good works of benevolence; and these are means which the wise now employ to civilize the barbarous and the ignorant all over the world.

Before the discovery of gunpowder, wars were carried on with arms different from those in use at the present time. Most of you have seen pictures which represent ancient warriors: they have metal caps or helmets on their heads, spears in their hands, a sword at their side, a shield on one arm, and a dress closely fitted to their bodies, composed of plates of metal, and called a coat of mail, to defend their persons. Besides soldiers thus attired and equipped, there were, in the ancient armies, the Slingers and Archers: the former threw stones from a sling at the enemy, and the latter discharged arrows.

2. The cities which were exposed to attack, were surrounded by high walls, which, at regular distances had towers erected upon them, where watchmen were stationed to observe the approach of an enemy, or to receive any intelligence that might come from abroad. It is related in the second book of Kings, that the prophet Elisha anointed Jehu to be king of Israel in place of Jehoram, and Jehu afterwards pursued Jehoram to the city of Jezreel, and there shot him with an arrow, which pierced him to the heart.

3. As Jehu approached "there stood a watchman on the tower of Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu, and said, I see a company. And Jehoram said, take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say,-Is it peace ?" Jehu returned no answer of peace, but when the king went out to meet him, he slew him.

4. A watch for the security of large towns is still necessary. Those who live in towns are familiar with watchmen. "The third watch of

the night," is an expression in the New Testament it signifies the third division of time when one watchman ceased and another commenced the watch. The occupation of a watchman is toilsome. In Agamemnon, one of the tragedies of Eschylus, a watchman on the palace of the king thus describes the weariness and wakefulness of his nights.

5. Ye fav'ring gods, relieve me from this toil:
Fixed as a dog, on Agamemnon's roof
I watch the livelong year, observing hence
The host of stars, that in the spangled skies
Take their bright stations, and to mortals bring
Winter and Summer ;---radiant rulers when
They set, or rising glitter through the night.
meanwhile the dews

Fall on my couch, unvisited by dreams :
For fear, lest sleep should close my eyes, repels
The soft intruder.
Potter's Translation.

There is a certain period in the history of Eupe called the Middle Ages. The middle Ages extended from the fifth to the fifteenth century. Feople in these ages did not respect each other's rights, and some humane men made it their business to defend the weak, and punish the oppressor. These voluntary redressors of grievances com posed the order of Chivalry or Knighthood. Persons who followed this vocation were Knights; but no one could take this order upon himself, after the laws of the institution were settled, until he had performed actions worthy of that dignity, or had been educated for it.

2. At that time, persons engaged in trade, mechanics, and labourers upon the land, were con

sidered low people. The land was divided among proprietors of great tracts, or a large extent of country. The ancestors of these landholders had been military conquerors, who had seized these lands from certain half-civilized original possessors ; and the lords of the middle ages, and times which immediately succeeded, inherited these assumed rights. The lords built large and strong edifices, called castles, upon their estates; and the labourers, who cultivated the soil, worked without wages, and were in fact slaves of the lords, called vassals.

3. It appears that during the reign of the Saxon kings in Britain, which was before the end of the eleventh century, (1066,) there existed a small class of landholders, called Franklins or freemen, who were neither nobles nor vassals, but gentlemen, and composed a respectable middle order of people. The Franklins held the same sort of authority as the nobles over their vassals.

4. To know thus much of the state of society, or the condition and character of different classes of people where Chivalry existed, is necessary, in order to comprehend what Chivalry was. Young gentlemen, who were bred up to this profession of arms, were required to be of honourable birth— the sons of nobles or gentlemen. They were under the protection of some lord; and were instructed in the use of arms, and the management of the war-horse. From the age of seven to fourteen, the candidates for Knighthood were called Pages or Varlets; froin fourteen until the ceremonies of Knighthood were performed, they were Esquires; and after the ceremony was over, they were usually accosted as Sir Knight.