road would sometimes
serve for this military sport, for such it was intended to be, whenever
the heat of the rivals proved not too earnest. The sieur of Sandricourt
was a fine dreamer of feats of chivalry, and in the neighbourhood of his
castle he fancied that he saw a very spot adapted for every game; there
was one admirably fitted for the barrier of a tilting-match; another
embellished by a solitary pine-tree; another which was called the meadow
of the Thorn; there was a _carrefour_, where, in four roads, four
knights might meet; and, above all, there was a forest called
_devoyable_, having no path, so favourable for errant knights who might
there enter for strange adventures, and, as chance directed, encounter
others as bewildered as themselves. Our chivalric Sandricourt found nine
young _seigneurs_ of the court of Charles the Eighth of France, who
answered all his wishes. To sanction this glorious feat it was necessary
to obtain leave from the king, and a herald of the Duke of Orleans to
distribute the _cartel_ or challenge all over France, announcing that
from such a day ten young lords would stand ready to combat, in those
different places, in the neighbourhood of Sandricourt's _chateau_. The
names of this flower of chivalry have been faithfully registered, and
they were such as instantly to throw a spark into the heart of every
lover of arms! The world of fashion, that is, the chivalric world, were
set in motion. Four bodies of assailants soon collected, each consisting
of ten combatants. The herald of Orleans having examined the arms of
these gentlemen, and satisfied himself of their ancient lineage and
their military renown, admitted their claims to the proffered honour.
Sandricourt now saw with rapture the numerous shields of the assailants
placed on the sides of his portals, and corresponding with those of the
challengers which hung above them. Ancient lords were elected judges of
the feats of the knights, accompanied by the ladies, for whose honour
only the combatants declared they engaged.

The herald of Orleans tells the history in no very intelligible verse;
but the burthen of his stanza is still

_Du pas d'armes du chasteau Sandricourt._

He sings, or says,

Oncques, depuis le tempts du roi Artus,
Ne furent tant les armes exaulcees--
Maint chevaliers et preux entreprenans--
Princes plusieurs ont terres deplacees
Pour y venir donner coups et poussees
Qui out ete la tenus si de court