USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Proceedings of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, for the year 1881-1882 > Part 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
He was elected by his fellow citizens to offices of trust, and his official dnties were discharged with rare fidelity. His three years' service as a member of the School Committee was charac- terized by faithfulness and energy, and his influence in that Board was felt long after his term had expired. As one of the Board of Trustees of the Worcester County Mechanics' Associa- tion, he was an active member of the Library Committee wherein he did much to raise the standard of excellence in that depart- ment, by retiring books of fiction and supplying standard works relating to art, science and literature, and from that day to this the policy he advocated has been respected by the Associa- tion. His mind, when directed to public affairs, was free from partizan bias, and he recognized no power strong enough to turn his steps from the path of duty. Ile was a true man, an unfaltering friend, a loyal citizen.
As a member of The Worcester Society of Antiquity, he was deeply interested in its work, and was careful to preserve all its Proceedings, arranging them for the bindery but a short time before his death.
He was a member of the Masonic Order, and for several years devoted much time to the welfare of that ancient institution. He was made a Master Mason in Morning Star Lodge, at Wor- cester, Nov. 1, 1859, and was Secretary of the lodge for several years. He was exalted to the august and sublime degree of a Royal Arch Mason in Worcester Chapter, April 8, 1864 ; and
19
on the 27th of October of the same year he received the Cryptic degrees in Iliram Council of Royal and Select Masters. He was created and dubbed a Knight Templar in Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templars, at Worcester, April 21, 1865. October 31, 1867, he received the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, from the 4º to the 14º, in Worcester Lodge of Perfection.
He received the degrees of the Order of the Eastern Star from Past Grand Patron, Daniel Seagrave, in September, 1869, and affiliated with Stella Chapter, No. 3, at Worcester, when that Chapter was organized in 1871. He was elected Worthy Pat- ron, December 13, 1876, and continued in office four years. He was elected Grand Secretary of the Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star for Massachusetts, at its organiza- tion, Dec. 11, 1876, and held the office till May 13, 1879. He was elected Grand Patron, May 13, 1878, and continued in office two years. Ile was elected Most Worthy Grand Patron of the General Grand Chapter of the order, May 10, 1878, and beld the office till Aug. 20, 1880. He was chairman of the committee appointed to arrange and publish the Ritual of the Order, and that document shows how well his work was done. He was appointed Secretary of Foreign Correspondence by the Grand Chapter of Massachusetts for the year 1879, and re-ap- pointed May 10, 1881. He was elected a life member of Stella Chapter, Jan. 26, 1880. His correspondence with the various masonic bodies and individuals, relating to Masonry and mat- ters pertaining thereto, would make a large volume of useful and interesting matter, full of original thought.
Such has been the career of one whose life and conduct may well be emulated by us. His courage, his ability, his sincerity, his incorruptible moral nature and his persistent adherence to the strietest rules of justice and right, were prominent charac- teristics of his life. His death occurred at his home in this city, Dec. 29, 1881, after an illness of five days. The community was shocked at the announcement of his death-so sudden and unexpected-and the character of the large assembly gathered in the church to observe his funeral rites, bore unmistakable testimony to his worth as citizen.
20
It may be said that Mr. Lamb's life was not satisfactory. In a pecuniary sense this is true ; but it must be admitted that he achieved the most complete success in living an honest life, and when death came he was fully prepared to approach the grave,
"Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."
He was one of the few men who never assumed a false posi- tion for gain ; nor could he be pursuaded by sophistry or logic, or compelled by any human authority, to forget or surrender the title Nature gave him to the highest type of manhood.
Mr. Alfred Waites read the following interesting paper, a copy of which was requested for publication :
THE AGE OF CHIVALRY.
BY ALFRED WAITES.
I have selected this subject because, as far as my observation goes, it is one that is greatly misunderstood. Scarcely any one ever speaks of this age who does not seem to be under the influ- ence of false ideas, bewildered as it were, by the glitter of knights in armor, and the shock of lances in tournament. Even the terms which are used to designate the human beings. and the qualities they posseesed, are as much misunderstood as the age itself. What do you mean by the word "villain?" yet the notion of wickedness and worthlessness which we attach to it is the effect of aristocratic pride and exclusiveness, and not, as Christian says in his notes on Blackstone, "A proof of the horror in which our fathers held all service to feudal lords."* "Villain," simply meant one attached to a villa, or farm, and a collection of the dwellings of these "villains," was a village. The words "knightly" and "chivalrous," I shall leave for your considera- tion while we hurry forward to the examination of these chival-
* Dict. of phrase and fable, p. 936.
21
ric days. Ile who endeavors to discover the origin and prog- ress of chivalry, says Sismondi, * meets with difficulties of every kind. He finds himself on the borders of reality and fiction, sometimes deceived by poets and romancers, and sometimes misled by incapable chroniclers.
The romance of chivalry, in French and in Latin, the fables of Archbishop Turpin, the brilliant stories of the Court of Char- lemagne inserted in the Chronicles of St. Denis, had become, from the eleventh century, the habitual reading of those who ocenpied themselves with arms and love ; it was their only in- struction, the only example which they cared to follow : and the book which was designed to be the pastime of a winter eve- ning, became a rule of conduct. He who wishes to disentangle fiction from reality, runs the risk of being deceived by the po- etic sentiment which is within himself; because he finds the generous emotions of virtue and of nobility of soul so little satis- fied by the men of history, he ends by adopting the heroes of romance .*
The Order of Chivalry was a religious and military engage- ment. The Chevalier devoted himself "to God and the ladies." The candidate had first to take a bath, which was to signify that he presented himself cleansed from sin. He was then clothed with a white tunic, with a robe of vermillion, and a coat of black. These colors represented the purity of his future life, the blood which it was his duty to shed for the church, the death which he ought always to have in remembrance. The sash was to typify his engagement to live from that time forward in chas- tity. The spurs were gilt, and signified that he should fly with rapidity wherever duty called him. He who bonnd on the sword. had recommended to him uprightness and loyalty, the defense of the poor against the rich, and to sustain the weak against the strong. In order that the novice should remember these things, he was struck upon the neck with a sword, or given a box on the ear. (colaphus). In the same way when a great lord accorded a charter, he gave a box on the ear to the witness, of however high rank, so that the memory of the
* Histoire des Francais III. 2.
22
transaction should not escape him. And here, I may state, we find the origin of another custom, and find oddly enough, that the striking on the neck or shoulder, in the ceremony of knight- hood, and the whipping of the boys in "beating the boundaries," as narrated by Henzel,* Pepys,t and others, are identical in their source, and the knight was struck as the boy was whipped that the lesson imparted might not be forgotten. The chevalier was required by his vow to remove from any place in which there was treason or false judgment, if he were not strong enough to prevent it ; to aid with all his power the ladies and damsels ; to fast every Friday ; and to make an offering every day at mass. Thus we see the priests did not forget themselves when they took part in the institution of chivalry. ;
It would, however, be unjust to think so unworthily of the church as to compare her with this institution ; her doors were open to the poor as well as to the rich ; the humblest might enter her service and wield a power greater than that of any earthly king ; might ascend the throne of Peter, assume the triple crown, and sway the destinies of the world. But the order of chivalry was accorded only to men of noble blood. An insurmountable barrier was raised which separated the chevalier from the villain, and which the latter could never hope to cross. Courage and virtue, as well as happiness and liberty, were considered the exclusive prerogative of noble blood : the great mass of mankind were actually thought unworthy of being considered a portion of the human race .; The peasantry in- deed were placed npon a level with vermin, and hunted much in the same way. The nobles had a saying, "Stroke the clown, he will pummel you ; pummel the clown, he will stroke you."
The vocation of the knights of the fourteenth century was to crush the weak. The D'Aubricicourt robbed and killed at ran- dom, to deserve well of his lady ; for says the chronicler "He was desperately in love."§
* Mensel, Geschichte der Deutschen, I. 52. + Pepys' Diary I. 188, (May 23, 1661.) # Sismondi, III. 6. § Michelet Hist. France, I. 446.
23
The terror of the peasants of France, at this time, (1358) was so extreme that, says Michelet,* they no longer slept ; they who lived on the banks of the Loire, passed whole nights on the is- lands, or in boats moored in the middle of the stream. In Pic- ardy the affrighted inhabitants dug hiding places for themselves in the ground. Here families huddled together on the approach of an enemy ; and here the women and children wasted away for whole weeks and months, while the husbands and fathers timidly stole to the church steeple to see if the men of war had left the country. They did not always leave it soon enough for the poor inhabitants to sow and gather in the harvest. In vain did they hide themselves under ground ; famine reached them there. In the brie and the beauvoisis above all, the whole land was left bare. Everything was spoiled or destroyed. Food was to be had in castles alone .¡ Can we wonder that some of the peasants dared to retaliate? They did, with the vengeance of despair. They even dared to attack some of the castles, and cut the throats of the barons. Then the great and noble were aroused ; they had never dreamed of such a height of daring. Charles the Bad flattered the leaders of the revolt till they were in his power, and then treacherously put them to the sword. The principal was crowned with a red-hot tripod. In all di- rections the nobles massacred the peasantry, without enquiring or caring whether they had a share in the revolt or not; and, says a contemporary, they wrought so much evil in the country there was no need of the English coming to destroy the king- dom ; they never could have done the mischief that the barons did. The chevaliers hanged the poor wretches in troops to the nearest trees ; the king of Navarre, in one day, strung up three thousand. The peasants, informed that food and treasure were to be found in the city of Meaux, flocked thither in crowds, many of them unarmed, and attempted to capture the city. Then the nobles sallied forth cased in armor from head to foot, and thus equipped, smote the defenseless rustics with complete impunity. They rushed upon them, cut them down, and flung them in great heaps into the river ; in short, killed upwards of
* Ilist. France, II. 447. + Michelet, I. 447.
24
seven thousand of them. Some escaped for a time; but the barons had not done with them ; they formed hunting parties and scoured the country round to catch the peasants ; they drove the hunted, frightened creatures into the town of Meaux ; shut the gate to preclude the possibility of escape ; and then, burned up the city .*
Edward, the "Black Prince," has again and again been lauded as the mirror of knighthood and of chivalry. As he was return- ing from Spain, where his military prowess had been exerted to the utmost, to replace Peter the cruel upon the throne of Castile, from which the avengers of his crimes had driven him, this gallant Edward was informed that war had been resumed with France, and that his services were needed there. He according- ly proceeded thither, laid siege to the town of Limoges, whose inhabitants fought with a bravery which should have gained for them the sympathy of a conqueror ; but in these chivalric days, bravery, except in a brother knight, bravery displayed by the canaille, was treated as a crime, and the exhibition of valor on the part of the people was invariably punished by the direst cruelty. The "Black Prince" was at this time near his death. He could not ride on horseback, and was borne into the town in a litter, that he might personally superintend the accomplish-' ment of the vengeance he meditated. He gave orders that every inhabitant of that town, every man, woman, and child, should be put to death. In this "mirror of chivalry," tottering age, defenseless womanhood, found no protector ; the people rushed into his presence and little children raised their little hands, knelt down before him, and begged for mercy in the agony of despair, but found no touch of pity in that savage breast. Hour after hour the slaughter went on, and only ceased when the last of the victims had been butchered. ; The princes and nobles delighted in these massacres, and acquired a strange thirst for blood. Children were tought to dabble in it. Young boys of fifteen exulted in murder. Monstrelett tells us how John of Ligny, count of Luxembourg, took his little nephew
* Froissart, CLXXXIV. + Froissart, CCXC. ¿ Monstrelet, I. 623.
25
with him, pursued some fugitive soldiers, and instructed him how to kill several, in which the child took much delight.
The chevaliers were the principal support of the crusades, to which, in virtue of the power he had received as the succes- sor of St. Peter, the Pope exhorted the Christain world. They were called upon to punish the enemies of the faith, who were supposed to have desecrated the holy places of Palestine. Ev- ery sinner was absolved from every sin ; even murder was for- given him who would take up arms in defence of the church. Hell was not permitted to punish erime, and heaven was gained by the assasination of a Saracen .*
Multitudes sped upon this pious errand, and flocked by thou- sands to fight beneath the consecrated banner. Some Germans thought it would be more consistent to extinguish the unbeliev- ers in Europe, before undertaking to exterminate the infidels of Asia ; and in pursuance of this laudable purpose, count Emicho of Leinigen, fell upon the Jews and murdered twelve thousand of them .; Indeed, throughout this age. the Jews were treated with atrocious cruelty. A political disturbance or the visit of an ' epidemic, was quite sufficient excuse for a massacre of the Jews. The king sometimes interfered in their favor, not from disinter- ested motives, we may be sure, but because he considered them his own peculiar property, and sometimes when he was short of money, he actually mortgaged his Jews.# Such was the rage for fighting in this unhappy time, that the highest dignitaries in the church threw off tiara, mitre, pallium and rochet, and "clad in complete steel," went forth, "Preachers who spake to the purpose, steady, straightforward and strong, with irresistible logic : orthodox, flashing conviction right into the hearts of the heathen."$
Charlemagne endeavored repress this warlike spirit among ecclesiastics, and forbade them to carry arms ; and once, when he saw a young bishop vault lightly into the saddle, he sternly commanded the nimble theologian to resign his bishopric and
* Hist. Littrraire des Troubadours. Hallam Mid. Ages, I. 47, 50 Ex. Pop. Del. 65. + Menzel. I. 364, 365. ¿ Hume, II. 136. § Rabelais, II. 339. Froissart, II. Ch. 132.
26
to enroll himself in the number of his military followers. The ordinances of Charlemagne* however, failed to abolish this un- christain temper ; and, long after, his time, (1194) the bishop of Beauvais, in all his martial accoutrements, was captured in battle by king Richard the first. The Pope, Celestin the third, angrily demanded that the bishop, the son of the church. should be given up to him. "Return to me my son," he wrote to Rich- ard ; whereupon, Richard wrote to the Pope, at the same time sending the steel armor of the bishop, with these words, taken from the history of Joseph : "Know now whether this be thy son's coat or no."t Religion was now a mixture of superstition and mummery, a term, by the way, which both the French and the English derive from the name of the founder of the religion of Islam, Mahomet, Mahoom, Mahoomery. } It was not Christ- ianity as we moderns understand it, but a degenerate heathenism which ruled the minds of men.
Had an antique Roman revisited the earth at this period, he would have discovered that every ancient deity had assumed a Christian name. St. Margaret in births, and St. Nicholas in tempests, were invoked with just as much success as Lucina and Neptune. Diana and Bacchus, Esculapius and Ceres ; Miner- va and Priapus, were replaced by St. Hubert, St. Vincent, St- Cosme, St. Gengul, St. Catharine, and St. Fiacre ; enjoying the the same power over the elements, animals. maladies and infer- nal spirits. The Romans had Vertumnus the god of the sea- sons, and Pomona the patron of orchards ; Ilygeia the goddess of health ; Fornax the goddess of bakers ; Oecator the god of harrowing ; Runcina the goddess of weeding: Hippona the goddess of stables and horses ; Bubona the goddess of oxen.
The Christians had St. Appoliniea for curing toothache : St. Blaise for sore throats ; St. Lambert for fits. St Wendolin was retained to take care of the cows and calves. and St. Gertrude to drive away rats. The most licentious practices appeared again in the worship of St. Guignolet, of St. Geurlichon and of St. Renand. But worse than all, a poet dares to render thanks
* Menzel, Gesch. I. 230. + Voltaire, essai sur les Moeurs, Chap. L. Rog- er of Wendover, II. 148.(note.)
27
to heaven and St Julien for his success in outraging a woman .* When the saints were thus honored it is not surprising to find that God was entirely neglected, In fact about this time the offerings at the cathedral of Canterbury, were as follows : upon the altar of St. Thomas a Becket 950 pounds ; on the altar of the Virgin Mary, four pounds ; upon the altar dedicated to God, nothing .** It was considered of the greatest importance that these knights should distinguish themselves by some wild feat or adventurous deed of arms. They were impatient for wart as affording them the best opportunity to prove their devotion "to God and the ladies." Then were the wildest freaks enact- ed, which read like the antics of a world gone mad. They would swear to keep one of their eyes covered with a piece of black cloth, so that they could not see with it, until they had performed some deed of arms.it They would vow to wear heavy chains upon the left arm every Sunday ; swear not to sleep in a bed ; to take nothing to eat or drink, except three sups of wine in honor of the holy trinity ; not to undress till a city was taken ; the Chevaliers of the Star vowed not to remove in battle more than four acres from the spot where they last combatted, which imprudent vow caused the destruction of the order which swore it .; The most extraordinary vows were those which were sworn upon a pheasant, a peacock, or a heron.
There is in the library of Berne, Switzerland, }} an old French manuscript entitled, "Le voeu du heron," which, judging from internal evidence, was written in the fourteenth or fifteenthi century. I have ventured upon a translation of this literary curiosity, and will read it to you, because it furnishes us with a graphic representation of the manners of the time; and be- cause concurring as it does with historic facts, it has attained a degree of probability which amounts to certainty. § Nothing appears more revolting than the vow of the queen of England ; but the ancient manners were atrocious, and inspired ideas and sentiments which cause us to shudder at their ferocity. §§
* Hist. litteraire des Troubadours, I. 11. ** Ludovic Lalanne, Curiosities des Traditions, 131. + Mem. Chev. I. 84. ++ Froissart, I. Chap. 28. ¿ Sis- mondi, 7. 21. ¿¿ Palaye, Memories sur L'ancienne Chevalerie, III. 119. § Ibid., III. 20. §§ Ibid., III. 18.
28
In the spring of the year 1338, Edward the Third, king of England, held plenary court, sitting in the midst of barons ; his features wore a distracted and gloomy air ; his head was bowed upon his breast, and the thoughts which occupied his spirits were not those of love. At the same time Robert D'Artois, banished from France and a refugee in London, went out to enjoy the pleasure of the chase. His hawk, which he held on his wrist perceived a heron, and darting upward, seized its prey and bore it to his master. Robert was ashamed of so vile a capture ; but having reflected a moment, he bethought himself that he might make it useful in his projects of vengeance. He detached the heron from the claws of the bird and gave it to his cook to remove the feathers and roast it; after this was done Robert placed it between two silver dishes, and then bore it to the palace of Edward, followed by three minstrels and two noble damsels who joined the accents of their voices to the symphony of the musicians. Entering the hall, he addressed the chevaliers saying : "I come for the purpose of inviting you to make, on this heron, vows worthy of your valor. It is as you know, the meanest and most fearful of birds, being fright- ened even at its own shadow. For this reason it is that I am going to offer it to the most cowardly of men." Then the count turned toward Edward and presented the heron to him as the price of his indifference to the crown of France which he weakly abandoned to the power of his rival. Stung by this reproach, the king trembled with anger and protested that a year should not pass away without Philip seeing him upon his lands in France, with fire and sword in his hands, to revenge the affront which had been put upon him ; even though the French opposing should consist of an army ten times more numerous than his own. Robert dissimulating his joy smiled maliciously, and congratulated himself upon his first success.
Then complaining of having been unjustly treated by Philip, after all the services which he had rendered him, he engaged to enter Edward's army and thus revenge the injuries and wrongs which he had suffered. He then took the dishes of silver fol- lowed by his fiddlers, who accompanied with the sound of their instruments the voices of the damsels. The count crossed the
29
hall and addressed himself to the earl of Salisbury, who was desperately in love with the daughter of the earl of Derby, and invited him as the bravest and most amorous of that assembly, to give an example to the others, and pronounce his vow on the heron. "With all my heart," responded. Salisbury : "If the Virgin Mary were here in person, and if she would consent to despoil herself of her divinity, to dispute the prize of beauty with her I love, I know not to whom I should yield the prefer- ence, and much fear I should not be willing to make an ex- change ; but what motive can more strongly induce me to exhibit my valor to its full extent than the hope of obtaining the willing smiles of that beauty for whom I shall ever glory in bearing arms, though impatient to obtain the boon which she heartlessly refuses. I demand from her to-day only one favor, that she will lend me a finger of her beautiful hand ; and that she will deign to place it on my right eye, in such a manner that it may be entirely closed." The lady instead of one finger, extended two, and closed the eye so effectually that he was quite unable to see ont of it. Then the chevalier swore never to open that eye till he should have entered France, and to uphold the rights of Ed- ward, had fought with Philip's army ranged in order of battle.
The count of Artois then called the daughter of the generous Derby, and invited her to concur in the vow made on the heron, for the defense of the rights of the king of England. The noble maiden then promised to listen to the pleadings of no other lord, till the vow of her lover should be accomplished. At these words the heart of the amorons chevalier was transported with new courage and he felt animated with joy.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.