ot's shoulder, passed onward, and, grazing the cheek of a foot
soldier, stood quivering in the sand. He then was about to draw his
ponderous sword--but the tremendous spear of Sir Launcelot, whizzing
strongly in the air, passed through his thickly quilted belt, and,
burying itself in his bowels, made Sir Galaad to fall breathless from
his horse. Now might you hear the shouts of victory on one side, and
the groans of the vanquished on the other; or, as old Homer expresses
it,

Victors and vanquished shouts promiscuous rise.
With streams of blood the slippery fields are dyed,
And slaughtered heroes swell the dreadful tide.

_Iliad_ [passim].

[Footnote 218: "Whilst there are strong, able, and active
men of the king's side, to defend his cause, there is no
danger of [this] misfortune." _Letter to the Craftsman on
the Game of Chess_, p. 13.]

[Footnote 219: "When therefore the men of one party attack
those of the other, though their spleen at first may only
seem bent against a _Bishop_, a _Knight_, or an inferior
officer; yet, if successful in their attacks on that servant
of the king, they never stop there: they come afterwards to
think themselves strong enough even to attack _the Queen_,"
&c. _The same_, p. 12.]

[Footnote 220: "_The Knight_ (whose steps, as your
correspondent justly observes, are not of an ordinary kind,
and often surprise men who oppose him) is of great use in
extricating _the King_ out of those difficulties in which
his foes endeavour to entangle him.--He is a man whom a wise
player makes great use of in these exigences, and who
oftenest defeats the shallow schemes and thin artifices of
unskilful antagonists. They must be very bad players who do
not guard against the steps of _the Knight_." _The same_, p.
14.]

[Footnote 221: "The Lady of the Lake; famous in King Arthurz
Book"--says Master Laneham, in his Letter to Master Humfrey
Martin; concerning the entertainment given by Lord Leicester
to Q. Elizabeth at Kenilworth Castle: A.D. 1575, edit. 1784,
p. 12. Yet more famous, I add, in a poem under this express
title, by WALTER SCOTT, 1810.]

[Footnote 222: See the authority (p. 40) quoted in the note
at page 157, ante.]

And, truly, the army of Narcottus seemed wasted with a great
slaughter: yet on neither side, had the monarch b