ictory was decided by the number of knights unhorsed.
The prizes to the victors were adjudged and delivered by the queen
and the ladies. This authority of the fair sex contributed greatly to
polish the manners of the nobility and gentry of the middle ages, who
were anxious to court the favour of those who were the distributors of
public honours.

Sometimes this entertainment was followed by jousts. Two cavaliers,
out of gallantry, would break a lance in honour of the ladies. These
were followed by others until the lists were again cleared for the
tournament. The difference between tournaments and jousts was, that
the former were in the nature of battles, the latter of duels.

When the sports were over, the heralds and pursuivants declared the
names and titles of the knights, and proclaimed the heraldic ornaments
which the emperor, king, or prince that presided at the tournament
granted to those whom he pleased to reward or favour.

Notwithstanding all the precautions to prevent the mischief that might
happen at these martial exercises few were exhibited in which a great
number were not wounded, some killed in the melee, others crushed by
the falling of the scaffolds, or trod to death by the horses. Kings,
princes, and gallant knights from every part of Europe have perished
at different times while attending or taking part in those mimic
battles. Successive popes thundered out their anathemas against all
that encouraged this warlike and dangerous amusement. Those who
perished in these sanguinary entertainments were denied the honour of
Christian burial; and yet, so strong was the passion of the nobility
of Europe for these martial sports, from a desire to display their
grandeur, courage, and address before the ladies and the assembled
multitude, that no bulls, decretals, or anathemas of the church were
able to restrain them. The use of gunpowder, and the consequent
inutility of armour to defend the person in battle, gradually put
an end to these animating shows. The tragical death of Henry II. of
France, in 1559, who was accidentally killed in a tournament, caused
laws to be passed prohibiting their being held in that kingdom. They
were continued in England till the beginning of the seventeenth
century.

An attempt was made to revive these martial exhibitions in Scotland, a
few years ago, by Lord Eglintoun, the acknowledged leader in all manly
sports, elegant athletic exercises, and baronial liberality. This
noble p