Part 27

"Ah! know'st thou not the very name Of Salem bids thy carnage cease-- A symbol in itself to claim God's people to a house of peace!

"Ask not the Father to reward The hearts that seek, through blood, the Son; O warrior! never by the sword The Saviour's Holy Land is won."

EDWARD BULWER LYTTON

Deep is the bliss of the belted knight, When he kisses at dawn the silken glove, And goes, in his glittering armour dight, To shiver a lance for his ladye-love!

Lightly he couches the beaming spear; His mistress sits with her maidens by, Watching the speed of his swift career With a whispered prayer, and a murmured sigh.

WINTHROP MACKWORTH PRAED

THE CHEVALIER BAYARD

"The Adopted Son of Dame Courtesy" and "Le Chevalier sans Peur et sans Reproche."

"Bayard was perhaps the only hero of the middle ages who deserved the unmingled praise and admiration bestowed upon him. Simple, modest, a sterling friend and tender lover, pious, humane, and magnanimous, he held together in rare symmetrical union the whole circle of the virtues."

THE CHEVALIER BAYARD

PIERRE BAYARD DE TERRAIL (1476-1523 A. D.)

In the reign of Louis XI. there was born in southern France a little dark-eyed boy who was destined to be known in all subsequent ages and in all climes as "the knight without fear and without reproach." Pierre Bayard de Terrail was his real name, but in song and story and history we know him as "The Chevalier Bayard."

Bayard was of gentle birth, and had the good fortune to be descended from a long line of valiant gentlemen who ever held king and country dearer than self, and honor a thing to die for. He also had a good and pious mother. If to his knightly forefathers he owed his fearlessness, it is an everlasting monument to his mother's influence that he lived without reproach.

He first saw the light in the beautiful Château Bayard, in Dauphiny. Here he spent his boyhood much as other little boys of his time spent theirs, and soon developed into a sturdy youth.

When Bayard attained his fourteenth year, his father, then nearing death, called his children around him, and asked each what profession he wished to choose. The eldest boy spoke first, and said that he preferred to remain on his father's estates, leading the life of a quiet country gentleman. But the young Pierre was more ambitious. When it came his turn to speak, he told his father that there was nothing he so much desired as to become a soldier and a knight, and to win glory and honor to the name already made illustrious by his noble ancestors.

His father was much pleased with Pierre's choice, and answered,--

"My son, thou art already very like thy noble grandfather, and I am rejoiced that thou shouldst choose to follow in his footsteps. I shall try immediately to place thee as page in the house of some prince, where thou canst be in training for knighthood."

The father lost no time in fulfilling his promise. The very next day he sent for his brother-in-law, the Bishop of Grenoble, to ask his advice about Pierre.

The good bishop came, attended by many noble knights, and a great banquet was prepared in his honor.

Now, in days of chivalry, a boy's dress and manners were considered of no slight importance. Indeed, most of his early training was especially designed to give him ease and grace in the company of great ladies and gentlemen. As may be easily imagined, the little Pierre's education had not been neglected. He did not fail to array himself in a manner befitting the occasion; and at the banquet he served his father's guests with so much modesty and grace that he drew forth praise from all the company.

The gratified father then told them of Pierre's ambition to become a knight, and asked their advice about his education.

Each gave his friendly counsel, and then the Bishop of Grenoble said,--

"Brother, the good Duke of Savoy, who hath ever been friendly to our house, will be at Chambéry to-morrow; and if it please thee, I will ride thither with my nephew and present him as page to his Grace. I will also take pleasure in equipping the lad properly, so be at no expense."

Amid the applause of the company, Aymond Terrail presented his son to the good bishop, and said with tears in his eyes,--

"I give him into thy hands, and pray God that wherever thou place him, he may do thee honor."

The bishop, true to his promise, provided his nephew with an outfit, and gave him a well-caparisoned horse. Then they made ready to go to Chambéry to meet the Duke of Savoy.

It was with no little interest that the bishop and his friends watched the young page mount his new steed, for it was a mettlesome one, and used only to a man's weight. When Pierre bounded into the saddle, the horse reared and plunged; but the boy kept his seat, and soon, with the aid of bit and spur, had the animal under complete control. The guests praised him greatly, and his father asked him if he felt no fear.

"I hope," answered the young Pierre, "by God's help, to manage my horse among the enemies of the prince I am going to serve."