The age of chivalry, in modern Europe, bore a considerable resemblance to the heroic ages of Greece. Chivalry, or knighterrantry, had its origin in the deplorable condition in which the countries of Europe were placed. The knights-errant, or roving knights, were professedly the protectors of the weaker part of the community, and particularly of the fair sex, whose champions they pretended to be, and whose ravishers they very The licentiousness of manners, during the anarchical age of chivalry, was, if we may credit the fragments of its history, both general, and shockingly enormous.

often were.

Even so far forward as the ninth century, there was no public maritime law in Europe; and in consequence of this lawless condition of the seas, piracy was not only tolerated, but held in honor. The petty sovereigns of the nations upon the Baltic, provided each of their sons with a ship or ships, and enjoined it upon them to make their fortunes by piracy and plunder.

There is an instance comparatively recent, and yet bearing an affinity to those that have been adduced above. Scotland, it is well known, is at present, and long has been, one of the most moral countries in the world: yet, only three centuries ago, for want of a stable government, it was a land of robbers and ruffians.

Camden, in his Britannia, speaking of the robberies committed by the Scotch Borderers, in the sixteenth century, says: "They sally out of their own borders, in the night, in troops, through unfrequented by-ways, and many intricate windings.-All the day-time, refresh themselves and their horses in lurking-holes they had pitched upon before, till they arrive, in the dark, at those places they have a design upon. As soon as they have seized upon the booty, they, in like manner, return home in the

night, through blind ways, and fetching many a compass. The more skilful any captain is to pass through those wild deserts, crooked turnings, and deep precipices, in the thickest mists and darkness, his reputation is the greater, and he is looked upon as a man of an excellent head. And they are so very cunning, that they seldom have their booty taken from them, unless sometimes, when, by the help of bloodhounds, following them exactly upon their tracks, they may chance to fall into the hands of their adversaries. When, being taken, they have so much persuasive eloquence, and so many smooth and insinuating words at command, that if they do not move their judges, nay, even their adversaries (notwithstanding the severity of their natures), to have mercy, yet, they incite them to admiration and compassion."

Two important particulars clearly follow from these historical sketches. The one is, that since we live in an age of regulated government and superior civilization, in which life, character and property are well secured by law, we cannot too highly prize those blessings and the other, that it behooves all persons, possessing any regard for religion, or morals, or even for their own personal interests, to use their best endeavors to preserve social order, and to set their faces steadfastly against all wanton violations of good and wholesome laws. Neither is it an unimportant part of Christian education, to teach and habituate children to prize and venerate the wholesome institutions of government and law.

In a free republican government, such as ours, the laws are not only for but from the people, and it is indispensably requisite that its youth should have a general knowledge of its constitution, and of the most interesting parts of its code of civil and criminal law; since without it they will be poorly qualified to act

their parts properly as freemen, either in a public or eyen in a private capacity. Not to mention that some hapless youth, now in vile confinement, might have been deterred from the transgressions which brought them thither, had they been seasonably and fully aware of the penalties that would be incurred by such transgressions.

The Prussian Frederick the Great is said to have remarked, that the laws of a whole realm might be comprised in a pocket volume. And so it might be in an absolute despotism; but in a free, and rich commercial country, the laws must needs be voluminous, and the professors of law numerous. This body of men, whatever be their aberrations in any other respects, have ever been found the strenuous advocates and powerful defenders of civil liberty. The reason is obvious, and a cogent one: it is only in a free country that the lawyers can obtain wealth and consequence; for where the judges are the creatures of a despot, it is not the pleading of the advocate that avails, but the bribe of the client.

Before I end, it is proper to mention the absolute necessity of an impartial and a vigilant administration of the laws, without which they are useless, and sometimes worse than useless. And here, instead of argument, I will merely transcribe a wholesome anecdote from Malcom's History of Persia.

From the year 1757 until the period of his death in 1778, Carim Khan reigned, with great reputation, over the whole of Persia, with the exception of two provinces. Carim one day was on the point of retiring from his judgment seat, harassed and fatigued with a long attendance, when a man rushed forward in apparent distraction, calling out in a loud voice for justice.-

"Who are you?" said Carim. "I am a merchant," replied the man, "and have been robbed and plundered, by thieves, of all I possess.” "What were you about," said the prince, "when you "And why

were robbed ?—"I was asleep," answered the man.— did you sleep?" exclaimed Carim, in a peevish and impatient tone.—“Because," said the undaunted Persian, "I made a mistake, and thought you were awake.”

NUMBER L.

OF A DISPUTATIOUS TEMPER AND HABIT.

It is a saying often quoted as Dr. Franklin's, that "by the collision of different sentiments, sparks of truth are struck out, and light is obtained." But it seems to have been current, though in another manner of phrase, before it came from the pen of the justly celebrated Doctor. In an Almanac, dated one hundred and fourteen years back, I have met with the following homely but pithy verse:

"But quill to quill, like flints on steel do smite,

Which kindle sparks, and those sparks give us light.”

On the other hand, a writer possessed of masterly powers of reasoning, who flourished in the beginning of the last century, appears to have thought that disputing, whether by means of the quill or otherwise, is apt to produce a great deal less of light than of heat and smoke.

Mr. Locke, in his Treatise on Education, observes, "If the use and end of right reasoning be to have right notions and a