cience. thow oure cumis all thing, be thy secure constance, that tiris neuer to suffre. Thou our cumis wanhap, y passis fortune, and in all placis, scho gyffis to the victory. Than be resone thou gettis the crowne, quhen all vertuis gyffis to the ouirhand, & be thy gidyng, cuis to hie louing. Thay sulde weil adoure y, as lady maistres & patrone, sen the end makes al thinge to be louit. Thou art scho that examinis al hertis, & as the goulde, chesis out y fynit hertis in treuth, and leaute, be thy hūyl sufferāce; and quhay ỷ to ỷ assuris and deliueris himselfe, thou rasis him quhen he is to fall, and giffis him sustenance and comfort. bot y febil hert castyn in variance, spillis and tynis, in schort space, all ý it dois; inuy brekis sic folkis, thay want vertu in defalt of fathe, tyris thame, and honour habandōis thame; thay ar punist; Lady god thank y; for gude mē has gude, y to gude attedis. And al noblys y seikis to hie worschip, gife thay be wise & will awowe to serue the, sen y ende makis al warkis to be louit, he dois na thing begynis & endis noght; and y in his warkis inclynis him to variance. Quhen y wark is hie, worthy, and louable, gif ŷ undirtaking turn not to perfeit end, his labour passis as at noght. At manys out of remebrance, & y is atour mesure, repreif & schame, for thair a man tynis his name and his science, & his gudis, incōtenēt, ar tynt and gais to noght. Bot quhay that with right ordanys, and auisis his doings, & to a perfit end, in treuth and laute, perfurnysis tham, his gudis tha makis tham to be amendit and ekit. And thay ý incōtinēt & haisty yeildis tham to fortuney is to adversite, may furwith disauow nobilness, sen the ende in all thingis makis the warkis to 2 dij

be

be louit. O nobil man, thay ar noblis that dispendis thair body and gudis, in treuth and laute, and defendis thair lorde, noght lousande right knot of thair faith, sony ende makis all warkis to be louit.

Noblis, report your matynis in this buke,
And wisely luk ye be not contrefeit;
Nor to retrete sen leaute seikis na nuke,
And god forsuke breuily for to treit

All that fuls ar, and noblis contrefeit.

Icir endis the Porteous of Noblencs, translatit out of franche, in Scottis, be maistir Androw Cadiou, impretit in southt gait of Edinburgh, be Walter Chapma & Androw Millan, y xx dai of aperile the yhere of god

MCCCCC & VIII yheris.

But the virtues of Chivalry, like those of a more modern period, were more frequently the theme of the moralist and minstrel, than exhibited in the character of the knight. A perfect knight, in the days of Chivalry, when the virtues of knighthood were accurately defined, was as rare a phænomenon, as a virtuous man in those modern days, in which all the rules of morality have been investigated. The rapacity of the nobles was often extreme; and, invested with absolute power over their vassals, they frequently exercised the most relentless tyranny upon that class of men. In the Complaynt, the oppression, which the nobles exercised on the commons, is stigmatized in the severest terms; their exactions on their vassals is strongly reprobated, as well as their overbearing pride and extravagant profusion in dress. In the feudal ages, plunder

I

plunder and pillage were the sport of warriors; and they boasted in appropriating the fruit of their rapine. to lavish profusion. "If I devoted myself to robbery,” said an ancient knight," it was not from the desire of acquiring riches; but for the pleasure of spending them." The ancient nobles seem to have arrogated to themselves a right of robbing on the public roads within their proper domains. Undaunted bravery was substituted in the place of all the virtues ; and when a chief of remarkable military prowess appeared, the destructive emanations of his spirit beamed round him like streams of fire, and kindled, to a fiercer blaze, the flames of civil discord and intestine war. In the following passage of an ancient satirist, some of the abuses of Chivalry are bitterly exposed:

"And thilke that han al the wele, in freth, and in feld,
Bothen eorl, and baroun, a kniht of o sheld,
Alle theih beth isworne holi churche holde to rihte,
Sanz faille;
And nu ben theih the ferst that hit sholen assaile.

Hii brewen strut äd stūtise, there as sholde be pes,
Hii sholde gon to the holi lond, and maken there her

res,

And fihte there for the croiz, and shewe the ordre
of kniht,

And awreke ihū crist with launce and speir, to fihte,
And sheld,

And nu ben theih houns in halle, and hares in the

felde.

Knihtes

'Histoire des Troubadours, Vol. I. p. 335.

Knihtes sholde weren weden, in here maner,
After that the ordre asketh, also wel as a frere,
Nu ben theih so degysed, and diuerseliche idizt,
Unnethe may men knowe agleman from a kniht,
Wel neih;
Sois meknesse driuen adoun, and pride is risen on
heih.

Thus is the ordre of kniht turned up so doun,
Al so wel can a kniht chide as any skold of a toun,
Hii sholde ben al so hende as any leuedi in londe,
And for to speke alle vilainie nel nu no kniht wonde,
For shame;
And thus knihtshipe acloied, and waxen al fotlame.

Knihtshipe is acloied, and deolfulliche idizt;
Kunne a boy nu breke a spere, he shal be made a
kniht;

And thus ben knihtes gadered of vnkinde blod,
And enuenimeth that ordre y sholde be so god,
And hende ;
Ac o shrewe in a court many man may shende."

Of the extensive influence of heraldry in the feudal ages, some notices have already been adduced. Genealogy formed a subordinate branch of this fantastic science; and, by the additional importance which it attached to rank, tended still more to inflame the vanity of the higher classes. This vanity is severely censured by the author of the Complaynt; who declares, that antiquity of descent, and the possession of

coat

Satire on Simony, Ms. Apparently of the beginning of the

14th century.

coat-armour, can never be substituted in the place of personal merit. "Ze professe zou to be gentil men, bot zour verkis testifeis that ze ar bot inciuile vilainis. Ze wald be reput and callit vertuous and honest, quhou be it that ze did neuyr ane honest act, and ze reput vthir men for vilanis, that did neuyr ane vilaine act. It aperis that quhen zour nobil predecessours decessit, thai tuke ther vertu and gentreis vitht them to ther sepulture, and thai left na thing vitht zou bot the stile of there gentreis," (p. 242.) The arms, says he, that ye bear in your shields, and in the scals of your signets, which are sculptured on your walls, and blazoned on your windows of glass, were given to your ancestors for the noble deeds they achieved; by bearing their arms, you engage to tread in their steps; or you deserve to be degraded from rank, and divested of your honourable arms, (p. 231.) This origin of coatarmour and blazonry, was always maintained by the heralds, and is plainly asserted in the Lindsay Ms. of Heraldry.

"Armes war maid in auld tymes, for tokynis to ken ye persones, and in takening to ken the virtewis qlk suld be in nobless: and ye estait quhairof it hes, ewery noble suld beir in armes, thingis yat bure significatioun, and quhairin men my appropre ye vertewis of him, and ye knawlege of his estait quhairof yat he is cume; and heirthrow ar put mony and diuerss thingis in armorie, and all hes proprietie and significatioun to knaw ye creatioun of him yat beiris armes; and ye eldest knawlege yat men findis of armes, yat is ye armes of Josue, qlk wes the first worthy that tuk armes, quhairby may be knawin and exponit ye estait of him and of his deidis to perpetuale memorie, and siclykwyss did

eftir