faction of these experts in genealogy. According to the story,
the Caliph called a great assembly of the people, and invited the
sherifs to appear; then, half drawing his sword, he said:

"Here is my pedigree," and scattering gold among the spectators, added,
"and there is my proof."

It was perhaps the best argument he could produce. The sherifs could
only protest their entire satisfaction at this convincing evidence; and
it is at any rate certain that, whatever they thought of the Caliph's
claim, they did not contest it. The capital was placarded with his name,
and the praises of Ali and Moizz were acclaimed by the people, who
flocked to his first public audience. Among the presents offered him,
that of Gawhar was especially splendid, and its costliness illustrates
the colossal wealth acquired by the Fatimites. It included five hundred
horses with saddles and bridles encrusted with gold, amber, and precious
stones; tents of silk and cloth of gold, borne on Bactrian camels;
dromedaries, mules, and camels of burden; filigree coffers full of gold
and silver vessels; gold-mounted swords; caskets of chased silver
containing precious stones; a turban set with jewels, and nine hundred
boxes filled with samples of all the goods that Egypt produced.

GROWTH AND DECADENCE OF CHIVALRY

TENTH TO FIFTEENTH CENTURY

LEON GAUTIER

(Writers on the history of chivalry are unable to refer its origin to
any definite time or place; and even specific definition of chivalry is
seldom attempted by careful students. They rather give us, as does
Gautier in the picturesque account which follows, some recognized
starting-point, and for definition content themselves with
characterization of the spirit and aims of chivalry, analysis of its
methods, and the story of its rise and fall.

Chivalry was not an official institution that came into existence by the
decree of a sovereign. Although religious in its original elements and
impulses, there was nothing in its origin to remind us of the foundation
of a religious order. It would be useless to search for the place of its
birth or for the name of its founder. It was born everywhere at once,
and has been everywhere at the same time the natural effect of the same
aspirations and the same needs. "There was a moment when people
everywhere felt the necessity of tempering the ardor of old German
blood, and of giving to their ill-regulated passions an ideal. Hence
chivalry!"

Yet chivalry