They stoop to fate,
And must give up their murmuring breath,
When they, pale captives, creep to death.

The garlands wither on your brow,
Then boast no more your mighty deeds;
Upon death's purple altar now
See, where the victor-victim bleeds;
All heads must come
To the cold tomb,
Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet, and blossom in their dust.

JAMES SHIRLEY.

[Notes: _James Shirley_ (1594-1666). A dramatic poet.

_And plant fresh laurels when they kill_ = even by the death they spread
around them in war, they may win new laurel-wreaths by victory.

_Purple_. As stained with blood.]

* * * * *

GROWTH OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY.

Various improvements in the system of jurisprudence, and administration
of justice, occasioned a change in manners, of great importance and of
extensive effect. They gave rise to a distinction of professions; they
obliged men to cultivate different talents, and to aim at different
accomplishments, in order to qualify themselves for the various
departments and functions which became necessary in society. Among
uncivilized nations there is but one profession honourable, that of
arms. All the ingenuity and vigour of the human mind are exerted in
acquiring military skill or address. The functions of peace are few and
simple, and require no particular course of education or of study as a
preparation for discharging them. This was the state of Europe during
several centuries. Every gentleman, born a soldier, scorned any other
occupation; he was taught no science but that of war; even his exercises
and pastimes were feats of martial prowess. Nor did the judicial
character, which persons of noble birth were alone entitled to assume,
demand any degree of knowledge beyond that which such untutored soldiers
possessed. To recollect a few traditionary customs which time had
confirmed, and rendered respectable; to mark out the lists of battle
with due formality; to observe the issue of the combat; and to pronounce
whether it had been conducted according to the laws of arms, included
everything that a baron, who acted as a judge, found it necessary to
understand.

But when the forms of legal proceedings were fixed, when the rules of
decision were committed to writing, and collected into