ties of the feudal tenure no longer subsisted; the voluntary
service of the knights and their followers were either prompted by zeal
or attachment, or purchased with rewards and promises; and the numbers
of each squadron were measured by the power, the wealth, and the fame,
of each independent chieftain. They were distinguished by his banner,
his armorial coat, and his cry of war; and the most ancient families
of Europe must seek in these achievements the origin and proof of
their nobility. In this rapid portrait of chivalry I have been urged to
anticipate on the story of the crusades, at once an effect and a cause,
of this memorable institution. [58]

[Footnote 55: Of the words gentilis, gentilhomme, gentleman, two
etymologies are produced: 1. From the Barbarians of the fifth century,
the soldiers, and at length the conquerors of the Roman empire, who were
vain of their foreign nobility; and 2. From the sense of the civilians,
who consider gentilis as synonymous with ingenuus. Selden inclines to
the first but the latter is more pure, as well as probable.]

[Footnote 56: Framea scutoque juvenem ornant. Tacitus, Germania. c. 13.]

[Footnote 57: The athletic exercises, particularly the caestus and
pancratium, were condemned by Lycurgus, Philopoemen, and Galen, a
lawgiver, a general, and a physician. Against their authority and
reasons, the reader may weigh the apology of Lucian, in the character of
Solon. See West on the Olympic Games, in his Pindar, vol. ii. p. 86-96
243-248]

[Footnote 58: On the curious subjects of knighthood, knights-service,
nobility, arms, cry of war, banners, and tournaments, an ample fund of
information may be sought in Selden, (Opera, tom. iii. part i. Titles
of Honor, part ii. c. 1, 3, 5, 8,) Ducange, (Gloss. Latin. tom. iv. p.
398-412, &c.,) Dissertations sur Joinville, (i. vi.--xii. p. 127-142,
p. 161-222,) and M. de St. Palaye, (Memoires sur la Chevalerie.)]

Such were the troops, and such the leaders, who assumed the cross for
the deliverance of the holy sepulchre. As soon as they were relieved by
the absence of the plebeian multitude, they encouraged each other,
by interviews and messages, to accomplish their vow, and hasten their
departure. Their wives and sisters were desirous of partaking the danger
and merit of the pilgrimage: their portable treasures were conveyed in
bars of silver and gold; and the princes and barons were attended by
their equipage of hounds and hawks to amuse the