The Spirit and Influence of Chivalry. By John Batty. (Elliot
Stock.)—Undoubtedly a good deal of out-of-the-way learning is exhibited in this book, although rather unfortunately it is shown too much in the form of lengthy quotations. The essay was originally written a quarter of a century ago, when Mr.
Batty was, to use his own language, "in what might be termed, the romantic stage of life ; " and although it has been rewritten and "some effusive expressions modified," its author's original love for the ideal of chivalry remains. Unconsciously, perhaps, he rather minimises, if he does not quite ignore, the darker aspects of chivalry, although it is quite true that he prints in a special chapter certain extracts emphasising these aspects. There is a good deal of sensible, and even refined—though of necessity common- place—moralising in some of the chapters, more especially in those of them in which chivalry in humble life is dwelt upon. The best chapters in the book, as it seems to us, are "The Origin of Chivalry," and "Chivalry represented by ArchEeology." Alto- gether, this volume is a handy and very well got-up little dictionary of the subject of which it treats.
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