reat captains of the British hosts, who, by the
military organization and discipline which it afforded to the nation,
were enabled during the reigns of the Plantagenets, the Tudors, and the
Stuarts to preserve our soil inviolate from a foreign foe, and to force
entire Europe into respect and homage of the British name.

It is also true that the Baron, his family, domestics, and retainers,
were in this era the only persons who possessed any scholarship,
learning, or even good manners. The interior of the castle was graced
with beauty, order, and comparative refinement. There letters and
learning were sought after, if not largely acquired. Good manners and
regularity prevailed. The Baron himself spent much of his time in the
bosom of his family, and must have been improved in the gentler circle
which there assembled. He for a time lost the bluntness and ferocity of
his warlike life. A priest, or minister of religion, was also generally
an appendage of the castle; and his profession, being an improving,
learned, and pacific one, must have acted beneficially on those with whom
he associated. The instruction and example of the inmates of the castle
must therefore have been beneficial to the whole feudal society around:
to which may be added the historical fact that after the introduction of
the feudal system, and by the sanction and encouragement of the Barons,
were compiled the only literary works of the period of which we have any
account. In the solitudes of the baronial castle were composed the only
chronicles of that era which have descended to us. Within the walls of
the castellated abode generally dwelt the priests, bards, and other
literati of the time; where they had leisure and encouragement to pursue
their avocations; and thence issued forth their chronicles, poems, and
productions. These influences must, therefore, have tended greatly to
the civilization and improvement of the whole feudal society.

On the other hand, we must not overlook the fact that the feudal state
was decidedly hostile to general freedom--its very nature militated
against general liberty--its existence was inconsistent with progress and
the spread of freedom and intelligence. The continuance and influence of
the feudal dominion depended on the passive submission of all the
inhabitants of the domain. Every manifestation of discontent or
uneasiness on the part of the latter was, therefore, watched by the chief
with a jealous eye; e