OUR OWN COUNTRY

By James Montgomery

PATRICK HENRY'S SPEECH

Mr. President, it is natural for man to indulge in
the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes
against a painful truth, and to listen to the song of the
siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of
wise men engaged in the great and arduous struggle for 5
liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those
who, having eyes see not, and having ears hear not, the
things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?
For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am
willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and to10
provide for it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided and that
is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of
the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I
wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the 15
British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes
with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves
and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which
our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir;
it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves20
to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this
gracious reception of our petition comports with those
warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our
land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and
reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling
to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back
our love? 5

Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements
of war and subjugation, the last argument to which
kings resort. I ask, sir, what means this martial array,
if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can
gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has 10
Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world to
call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No,
sir, she has none. They are meant for us. They can be
meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet
upon us those chains which the British ministry have been15
so long forging.

And what have we to oppose them? Shall we try argument?
Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years.
Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing.
We have held the subject up in every light of which it is20
capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to
entreaty and supplication? What terms shall we find that
have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech
you, sir, deceive ourselves longer. Sir, we have done
everything that could have been done to avert the storm 25
that is now coming on. We have petitioned, we have remonstrated,
we have supplicated, we have prostrated
ourselves before the throne and have implored its interposition
to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry
and Parliament. 30

Our petitions have been slighted, our remonstrances
have produced additional violence and insult, our supplications
have been disregarded, and we have been spurned
with contempt from the foot of the throne. In vain, after
these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and
reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If
we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate these5
inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending,
if we mean not basely to abandon the noble
struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which
we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the
glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must10
fight! I repeat, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms
and to the God of hosts is all that is left us.

They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with
so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be
stronger? Will it be the next week or the next year? 15
Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a
British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we
gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we
acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely
on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom, hope, 20
until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?
Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means
which the God of Nature hath placed in our power.

Three millions of people armed in the holy cause of
liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, 25
are invincible by any force which our enemy can send
against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone.
There is a just God who presides over the destinies of
nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles
for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to 30
the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have
no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now
too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat
but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged.
Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston!
The war is inevitable, and let it come! I repeat, sir, let
it come! 5

It is vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may
cry Peace, peace! But there is no peace. The war is
actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the North
will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our
brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here 10
idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they
have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased
at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it,
Almighty God! I know not what course others may take,
but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! 15

ABRAHAM LINCOLN TO MRS. BIXBY

Dear Madam: I have been shown in the files of the War
Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts 5
that you are the mother of five sons who have
died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak
and fruitless must be any words of mine which should
attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming.
But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the 10
consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic
they died to save. I pray that our heavenly Father may
assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you
only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the
solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a 15
sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

THE FLOWER OF LIBERTY

By Oliver Wendell Holmes

TRUE PATRIOTISM

By Benjamin Harrison

Let us exalt patriotism and moderate our party contentions.
Let those who would die for the flag on the
field of battle give a better proof of their patriotism and a
higher glory to their country by promoting fraternity and
justice. A party success that is achieved by unfair methods 5
or by practices that partake of revolution is hurtful and
evanescent, even from a party standpoint. We should
hold our different opinions in mutual respect; and, having
submitted them to the arbitrament of the ballot, should
accept an adverse judgment with the same respect that we 10
would have demanded of our opponents if the decision had
been more in our favor.

No other people have a government more worthy of their
respect and love, or a land so magnificent in extent, so
pleasant to look upon, and so full of generous suggestion15
to enterprise and labor. God has placed upon our head
a diadem, and has laid at our feet power and wealth beyond
definition or calculation. But we must not forget that
we take these gifts upon the condition that justice and
mercy shall hold the reins of power, and that the upward 20
avenues of hope shall be free for all the people.

I do not mistrust the future. Dangers have been in
frequent ambush along our path, but we have uncovered
and vanquished them all. Passion has swept some of our
communities, but only to give us a new demonstration that
the great body of our people are stable, patriotic, and law-abiding. 5
No political party can long pursue advantage
at the expense of public honor, or by rude and indecent
methods, without protest and fatal disaffection in its own
body. The peaceful agencies of commerce are more fully
revealing the necessary unity of all our communities, and10
the increasing intercourse of our people is promoting mutual
respect. We shall find unalloyed pleasure in the revelation
which our census will make of the swift development of the
great resources of some of the states. Each state will
bring its generous contributions to the great aggregate of 15
the nation's increase. And when the harvests from the
fields, the cattle from the hills, and the ores from the earth,
shall have been weighed, counted, and valued, we will turn
from all to crown with the highest honor the state that has
most promoted education, virtue, justice, and patriotism 20
among its people.

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

By Katharine Lee Bates

O BEAUTIFUL! MY COUNTRY!

By James Russell Lowell

THE PROBLEMS OF THE REPUBLIC

By Theodore Roosevelt

Modern life is both complex and intense, and the
tremendous changes wrought by the extraordinary
industrial development of the half century are felt in every
fiber of our social and political being. Never before have
men tried so vast and formidable an experiment as that of 5
administering the affairs of a continent under the form of a
democratic republic. The conditions which have told for
our marvelous material well-being, which have developed
to a very high degree our energy, self-reliance, and individual
initiative, also have brought the care and anxiety 10
inseparable from the accumulation of great wealth in
industrial centers.

Upon the success of our experiment much depends, not
only as regards our own welfare, but as regards the welfare
of mankind. If we fail, the cause of free self-government15
throughout the world will rock to its foundations, and
therefore our responsibility is heavy, to ourselves, to the
world as it is to-day, and to the generations yet unborn.

There is no good reason why we should fear the future,
but there is every reason why we should face it seriously, 20
neither hiding from ourselves the gravity of the problems
before us, nor fearing to approach these problems with the
unbending, unflinching purpose to solve them aright.

Yet after all, though the problems are new, though the
tasks set before us differ from the tasks set before our 5
fathers who founded and preserved this republic, the
spirit in which these tasks must be undertaken and these
problems faced, if our duty is to be well done, remains
essentially unchanged. We know that self-government is
difficult. We know that no people needs such high traits 10
of character as that people which seeks to govern its affairs
aright through the freely expressed will of the free men who
compose it.

But we have faith that we shall not prove false to memories
of the men of the mighty past. They did their work; 15
they left us the splendid heritage we now enjoy. We in our
turn have an assured confidence that we shall be able to leave
this heritage unwasted and enlarged to our children's children.

To do so, we must show, not merely in great crises, but
in the everyday affairs of life, the qualities of practical 20
intelligence, of courage, of hardihood, of endurance, and
above all, the power of devotion to a lofty ideal, which
made great the men who founded this republic in the days
of Washington; which made great the men who preserved
this republic in the days of Abraham Lincoln. 25

THE MEANING OF AMERICANISM

By Charles Evans Hughes

We want something more than thrills in our patriotism—we
want thought; we want intelligence—a
new birth of the sentiment of unity in the nation.

My dream of America is America represented in public
office by its best men working entirely for the good of the 5
Republic and according to the laws and ordinances established
by the people for the government of their conduct,
and not for personal or political desires and ambitions;
America working her institutions as they were intended to
be worked, with men whose sole object shall be to secure 10
the end for which the offices were designed.

And if one will throw his personal fortunes to the winds,
if he will perform in each place, high or low, the manifest
obligations of that place, we will soon have those victories
of democracy which will make the Fourth of July in its 15
coming years a far finer and nobler day than it has ever
been in the fortunate years of the past.

When we are thinking of the ideals of democracy, we
are thinking of the schools, and we deplore every condition
in which we find man lower than he should be under a free
government, and we want greater victories of democracy,
that the level of success shall be raised. 5

We are not a rash people; we are not filled with the
spirit of militarism. We are not anxious to get into trouble,
but if anybody thinks that the spirit of service and sacrifice
is lost and that we have not the old sentiment of self-respect,
he doesn't understand the United States. 10

We want patriotism, and I don't think that we are going
to lose it very soon, although I do devoutly hope that out
of the perils and difficulties of this time may come a new
birth of the sentiment of unity. I do hope that in the
midst of all these troublesome conditions we will have a 15
better realization of our national strength and the import
of our democratic institutions.

The boy is going to thrill at the sight of the flag to-day
just as he did fifty years or one hundred years ago. We
are all going to thrill when we hear the words of our 20
national hymn and we think of the long years of struggle
and determination that have brought us to this hour. But
we want something more than thrills in our patriotism:
we want thought; we want intelligence.

Not vast extent of territory, not great population, not 25
simply extraordinary statistics of national wealth, although
they speak in eloquent words of energy and managing
ability; but what we need more than anything else is an
intelligent comprehension of the ideals of democracy.
Those ideals are that every man shall have a fair and equal 30
chance according to his talents. It is not an ideal of democracy
that one alone shall emerge because of conspicuous
ability, but that there shall be a great advance of the plain
people of the country, upon whom the prosperity of the
country depends.

It is all very well to talk about the Declaration of Independence
and the strong sentiments it contains, but that 5
was backed by men who couldn't have committed it to
memory, men who couldn't have repeated it, but men in
whose lives was the incarnation of independence and whose
spirit was breathed into that immortal document.

It is because we had men who were willing to suffer, to 10
die, to venture, to sacrifice, that we have a country, and
it is only by that spirit that we will ever be able to keep a
country. I love to think of those hardy men coming here
with the same spirit that led the pioneers to the West and
Farther West, the same spirit which in every part of our 15
land has accounted for our development.

Quiet men, not noisy men; sensible men, not foolish
men; straight men, honest men, dependable men, real
men—that is what we mean by Americanism.

—From a Speech Delivered at Easthampton, L. I., July 4, 1916.

WHAT CONSTITUTES A STATE?

By William Jones

A PATRIOTIC CREED

By Edgar A. Guest

THE LISTS AT ASHBY

By Sir Walter Scott

The lists now presented a most splendid spectacle.
The sloping galleries were crowded with all that was
noble, great, wealthy, and beautiful in the northern and
midland parts of England; and the contrast of the various
dresses of these dignified spectators rendered the view as5
gay as it was rich, while the interior and lower space, filled
with the substantial burgesses and yeomen of merry England,
formed, in their more plain attire, a dark fringe, or
border, around this circle of brilliant embroidery, relieving,
and at the same time setting off, its splendor. 10

The heralds finished their proclamation with their usual
cry of "Largess, largess, gallant knights!" and gold and
silver pieces were showered on them from the galleries,
it being a high point of chivalry to exhibit liberality toward
those whom the age accounted at once the secretaries and
the historians of honor. The bounty of the spectators
was acknowledged by the customary shouts of "Love of 5
Ladies—Death of Champions—Honor to the Generous—Glory
to the Brave!" To which the more humble
spectators added their acclamations, and a numerous band
of trumpeters the flourish of their martial instruments.
When these sounds had ceased, the heralds withdrew from 10
the lists in gay and glittering procession, and none remained
within them save the marshals of the field, who, armed cap-a-pie,
sat on horseback, motionless as statues, at the opposite
ends of the lists.

Meantime, the inclosed space at the northern extremity 15
of the lists, large as it was, was now completely crowded
with knights desirous to prove their skill against the challengers,
and when viewed from the galleries presented the
appearance of a sea of waving plumage intermixed with
glistening helmets and tall lances, to the extremities of20
which were, in many cases, attached small pennons of
about a span's breadth, which, fluttering in the air as the
breeze caught them, joined with the restless motion of the
feathers to add liveliness to the scene.

At length the barriers were opened, and five knights 25
chosen by lot advanced slowly into the area; a single champion
riding in front and the other four following in pairs.
All were splendidly armed, and my Saxon authority records
at great length their devices, their colors, and the embroidery
of their horse trappings. It is unnecessary to be 30
particular on these subjects. To borrow lines from a
contemporary poet, who has written but too little—

Their escutcheons have long moldered from the walls of
their castles. Their castles themselves are but green 5
mounds and shattered ruins—the place that once knew
them knows them no more—nay, many a race since theirs
has died out and been forgotten in the very land which they
occupied with all the authority of feudal lords. What,
then, would it avail the reader to know their names or the 10
evanescent symbols of their martial rank!

Now, however, no whit anticipating the oblivion which
awaited their names and feats, the champions advanced
through the lists, restraining their fiery steeds and compelling
them to move slowly, while, at the same time, they 15
exhibited their paces, together with the grace and dexterity
of the riders. As the procession entered the lists, the sound
of a wild barbaric music was heard from behind the tents of
the challengers, where the performers were concealed. It
was of Eastern origin, having been brought from the Holy 20
Land; and the mixture of the cymbals and bells seemed to
bid welcome at once, and defiance, to the knights as they
advanced.

With the eyes of an immense concourse of spectators
fixed upon them, the five knights advanced up the platform 25
upon which the tents of the challengers stood, and
there separating themselves, each touched slightly, and
with the reverse of his lance, the shield of the antagonist to
whom he wished to oppose himself. The lower orders of
spectators in general—nay, many of the higher class, and30
it is even said several of the ladies—were rather disappointed
at the champions choosing the arms of courtesy.
For the same sort of persons who, in the present day, applaud
most highly the deepest tragedies were then interested in a
tournament exactly in proportion to the danger incurred by
the champions engaged.

Having intimated their more pacific purpose, the champions5
retreated to the extremity of the lists, where they
remained drawn up in a line; while the challengers, sallying
each from his pavilion, mounted their horses, and
headed by Brian de Bois-Guilbert, descended from the
platform and opposed themselves individually to the knights 10
who had touched their respective shields.

At the flourish of clarions and trumpets they started out
against each other at full gallop; and such was the superior
dexterity or good fortune of the challengers that those
opposed to Bois-Guilbert, Malvoisin, and Front-de-Bœuf, 15
rolled on the ground. The antagonist of Grantmesnil,
instead of bearing his lance point fair against the crest or
the shield of his enemy, swerved so much from the direct
line as to break the weapon athwart the person of his opponent—a
circumstance which was accounted more disgraceful 20
than that of being actually unhorsed; because the
latter might happen from accident, whereas the former
evinced awkwardness and want of management of the
weapon and of the horse. The fifth knight alone maintained
the honor of his party and parted fairly with the 25
Knight of St. John, both splintering their lances without
advantage on either side.

The shouts of the multitude, together with the acclamations
of the heralds and the clangor of the trumpets,
announced the triumph of the victors and the defeat of 30
the vanquished. The former retreated to their pavilions,
and the latter, gathering themselves up as they could,
withdrew from the lists in disgrace and dejection, to agree
with their victors concerning the redemption of their arms
and their horses, which, according to the laws of the
tournament, they had forfeited. The fifth of their number
alone tarried in the lists long enough to be greeted by the 5
applauses of the spectators, amongst whom he retreated, to
the aggravation, doubtless, of his companions' mortification.

A second and a third party of knights took the field; and
although they had various success, yet, upon the whole,
the advantage decidedly remained with the challengers, 10
not one of whom lost his seat or swerved from his charge—misfortunes
which befell one or two of their antagonists
in each encounter. The spirits, therefore, of those opposed
to them seemed to be considerably dampened by their continued
success. Three knights only appeared on the fourth 15
entry, who, avoiding the shields of Bois-Guilbert and
Front-de-Bœuf, contented themselves with touching those
of the three other knights, who had not altogether manifested
the same strength and dexterity. This politic selection
did not alter the fortune of the field: the challengers 20
were still successful. One of their antagonists was overthrown
and both the others failed in the attaint, that is,
in striking the helmet and shield of their antagonist firmly
and strongly with the lance held in a direct line, so that the
weapon might break unless the champion was overthrown. 25

After this fourth encounter, there was a considerable
pause; nor did it appear that anyone was very desirous
of renewing the contest. The spectators murmured among
themselves; for, among the challengers, Malvoisin and
Front-de-Bœuf were unpopular from their characters, and 30
the others, except Grantmesnil, were disliked as strangers
and foreigners.

But none shared the general feeling of dissatisfaction
so keenly as Cedric the Saxon, who saw, in each advantage
gained by the Norman challengers, a repeated triumph
over the honor of England. His own education had taught
him no skill in the games of chivalry, although, with the 5
arms of his Saxon ancestors, he had manifested himself on
many occasions a brave and determined soldier.

He looked anxiously to Athelstane, who had learned the
accomplishments of the age, as if desiring that he should
make some personal effort to recover the victory which was 10
passing into the hands of the Templar and his associates.
But, though both stout of heart and strong of person,
Athelstane had a disposition too inert and unambitious to
make the exertions which Cedric seemed to expect from
him. 15

"The day is against England, my lord," said Cedric, in
a marked tone; "are you not tempted to take the lance?"

"I shall tilt to-morrow," answered Athelstane, "in the
mêlée; it is not worth while for me to arm myself to-day."

Two things displeased Cedric in this speech. It contained20
the Norman word mêlée (to express the general
conflict), and it evinced some indifference to the honor of
the country; but it was spoken by Athelstane, whom he
held in such profound respect that he would not trust himself
to canvass his motives or his foibles. Moreover, he 25
had no time to make any remark, for Wamba thrust in his
word, observing, "It was better, though scarce easier, to be
the best man among a hundred than the best man of
two."

Athelstane took the observation as a serious compliment; 30
but Cedric, who better understood the jester's meaning,
darted at him a severe and menacing look; and lucky it
was for Wamba, perhaps, that the time and place prevented
his receiving, notwithstanding his place and service, more
sensible marks of his master's resentment.

The pause in the tournament was still uninterrupted,
excepting by the voices of the heralds exclaiming—"Love 5
of ladies, splintering of lances! Stand forth, gallant knights,
fair eyes look upon your deeds!"

The music also of the challengers breathed from time to
time wild bursts expressive of triumph or defiance, while
the clowns grudged a holiday which seemed to pass away 10
in inactivity; and old knights and nobles lamented in
whispers the decay of martial spirit, spoke of the triumphs
of their younger days, but agreed that the land did not now
supply dames of such transcendent beauty as had animated
the justs of former times. 15

Prince John began to talk to his attendants about making
ready the banquet, and the necessity of adjudging the
prize to Brian de Bois-Guilbert who had, with a single
spear, overthrown two knights and foiled a third.

At length, as the Saracenic music of the challengers concluded 20
one of those high and long flourishes with which
they had broken the silence of the lists, it was answered
by a solitary trumpet, which breathed a note of defiance
from the northern extremity. All eyes were turned to see
the new champion which these sounds announced, and no 25
sooner were the barriers opened than he paced into the
lists.

As far as could be judged from a man sheathed in armor,
the new adventurer did not greatly exceed the middle size
and seemed to be rather slender than strongly made. 30
His suit of armor was formed of steel, richly inlaid with
gold, and the device on his shield was a young oak tree
pulled up by the roots with the Spanish word Desdichado,
signifying "disinherited". He was mounted on a gallant
black horse, and as he passed through the lists he gracefully
saluted the prince and the ladies by lowering his
lance. The dexterity with which he managed his steed, 5
and something of youthful grace which he displayed in his
manner, won him the favor of the multitude, which some
of the lower class expressed by calling out, "Touch Ralph
de Vipont's shield—touch the Hospitaler's shield; he
has the least sure seat; he is your cheapest bargain." 10

The champion, moving onward amid these well-meant
hints, ascended the platform by the sloping alley which
led to it from the lists, and to the astonishment of all
present, riding straight up to the central pavilion, struck
with the sharp end of his spear the shield of Brian de 15
Bois-Guilbert until it rang again.

All stood astonished at his presumption, but none more
than the redoubted knight whom he had thus defied to
mortal combat and who, little expecting so rude a challenge,
was standing carelessly at the door of the pavilion. 20

"Have you confessed yourself, brother," said the Templar,
"and have you heard Mass this morning, that you
peril your life so frankly?"

"I am fitter to meet death than thou art," answered the
Disinherited Knight; for by this name the stranger had 25
recorded himself in the books of the tourney.

"Then take your place in the lists," said Bois-Guilbert,
"and look your last upon the sun; for this night thou shalt
sleep in Paradise."

"Gramercy for thy courtesy," replied the Disinherited 30
Knight, "and to requite it, I advise thee to take a fresh
horse and a new lance, for by my honor you will need both."

Having expressed himself thus confidently, he reined his
horse backward down the slope which he had ascended and
compelled him in the same manner to move backward
through the lists till he reached the northern extremity,
where he remained stationary in expectation of his antagonist. 5
This feat of horsemanship again attracted the applause
of the multitude.

However incensed at his adversary for the precautions
which he recommended, Brian de Bois-Guilbert did not
neglect his advice; for his honor was too nearly concerned 10
to permit his neglecting any means which might insure
victory over his presumptuous opponent. He changed
his horse for a proved and fresh one of great strength and
spirit. He chose a new and tough spear, lest the wood of
the former might have been strained in the previous encounters 15
he had sustained. Lastly, he laid aside his shield,
which had received some little damage, and received another
from his squires. His first had only borne the general
device of his order, representing two knights riding upon one
horse, an emblem expressive of the original humility and 20
poverty of the Templars, qualities which they had since
exchanged for the arrogance and wealth that finally occasioned
their suppression. Bois-Guilbert's new shield bore
a raven in full flight, holding in its claws a skull, and bearing
the motto Gare le Corbeau. 25

When the two champions stood opposed to each other
at the two extremities of the lists, the public expectation
was strained to the highest pitch. Few augured the possibility
that the encounter could terminate well for the
Disinherited Knight, yet his courage and gallantry secured 30
the general good wishes of the spectators.

The trumpets had no sooner given the signal than the
champions vanished from their posts with the speed of
lightning and closed in the center of the lists with the
shock of a thunderbolt. The lances burst into shivers up
to the very grasp and it seemed at the moment that both
knights had fallen, for the shock had made each horse recoil 5
backwards upon its haunches. The address of the riders
recovered their steeds by use of the bridle and spur; and
having glared on each other for an instant with eyes which
seemed to flash fire through the bars of their visors, each
made a demivolt, and retiring to the extremity of the 10
lists, received a fresh lance from the attendants.

A loud shout from the spectators, waving of scarfs and
handkerchiefs, and general acclamations, attested the interest
taken by the spectators in this encounter; the most equal,
as well as the best performed, which had graced the day. 15
But no sooner had the knights resumed their station
than the clamor of applause was hushed into a silence so
deep and so dead that it seemed the multitude were afraid
even to breathe.

A few minutes' pause having been allowed, that the 20
combatants and their horses might recover breath, Prince
John with his truncheon signed to the trumpets to sound
the onset. The champions a second time sprung from their
stations and closed in the center of the lists, with the same
speed, the same dexterity, the same violence, but not the25
same equal fortune as before.

In this second encounter, the Templar aimed at the center
of his antagonist's shield and struck it so fair and forcibly
that his spear went to shivers, and the Disinherited Knight
reeled in his saddle. On the other hand, that champion 30
had, in the beginning of his career, directed the point of his
lance toward Bois-Guilbert's shield, but changing his aim
almost in the moment of encounter, he addressed it to the
helmet, a mark more difficult to hit, but which, if attained,
rendered the shock more irresistible. Fair and true, he
hit the Norman on the visor, where his lance's point kept
hold of the bars. 5

Yet, even at this disadvantage, the Templar sustained
his high reputation; and had not the girths of his saddle
burst, he might not have been unhorsed. As it chanced,
however, saddle, horse, and man rolled on the ground under
a cloud of dust. 10

To extricate himself from the stirrups and fallen steed
was to the Templar scarce the work of a moment; and,
stung with madness, both at his disgrace and at the acclamations
with which it was hailed by the spectators, he
drew his sword and waved it in defiance of his conqueror.15
The Disinherited Knight sprang from his steed and also
unsheathed his sword. The marshals of the field, however,
spurred their horses between them and reminded them
that the laws of the tournament did not, on the present
occasion, permit this species of encounter. 20

"We shall meet again, I trust," said the Templar,
casting a resentful glance at his antagonist; "and where
there are none to separate us."

"If we do not," said the Disinherited Knight, "the fault
shall not be mine. On foot or horseback, with spear, 25
with ax, or with sword, I am alike ready to encounter thee."

More and angrier words would have been exchanged,
but the marshals, crossing their lances betwixt them,
compelled them to separate. The Disinherited Knight
returned to his first station, and Bois-Guilbert to his 30
tent, where he remained for the rest of the day in an
agony of despair.

Without alighting from his horse, the conqueror called
for a bowl of wine, and opening the beaver, or lower part
of his helmet, announced that he quaffed it "To all true
English hearts, and to the confusion of foreign tyrants."
He then commanded his trumpet to sound a defiance to 5
the challengers, and desired a herald to announce to them
that he should make no election, but was willing to encounter
them in the order in which they pleased to advance
against him.

The gigantic Front-de-Bœuf, armed in sable armor, was 10
the first who took the field. He bore on a white shield a
black bull's head, half defaced by the numerous encounters
which he had undergone, and bearing the arrogant motto,
Cave, adsum. Over this champion the Disinherited
Knight obtained a slight but decisive advantage. Both 15
knights broke their lances fairly, but Front-de-Bœuf, who
lost a stirrup in the encounter, was adjudged to have the
disadvantage.

In the stranger's third encounter, with Sir Philip Malvoisin,
he was equally successful; striking that baron so 20
forcibly on the casque that the laces of the helmet broke,
and Malvoisin, only saved from falling by being unhelmeted,
was declared vanquished like his companions.

In his fourth combat, with De Grantmesnil, the Disinherited
Knight showed as much courtesy as he had 25
hitherto evinced courage and dexterity. De Grantmesnil's
horse, which was young and violent, reared and plunged in
the course of the career so as to disturb the rider's aim,
and the stranger, declining to take the advantage which
this accident afforded him, raised his lance, and passing30
his antagonist without touching him, wheeled his horse
and rode back again to his own end of the lists, offering
his antagonist, by a herald, the chance of a second encounter.
This De Grantmesnil declined, avowing himself
vanquished as much by the courtesy as by the address of
his opponent.

Ralph de Vipont summed up the list of the stranger's 5
triumphs, being hurled to the ground with such force that
the blood gushed from his nose and his mouth and he was
borne senseless from the lists.

The acclamations of thousands applauded the unanimous
award of the prince and marshals, announcing that day's 10
honors to the Disinherited Knight.

—Ivanhoe.