Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science, Volume 26 December, 1880., Various None [best books to read for beginners .txt] 📗

Volume 26 Title 1 (Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science) Pg 122

Merlo,  And Again Concealed The Fact Until The End Of The Combat,  When He

Asked The Judges To Excuse Him From Jousting Further That Day,  As His

Right Hand,  Which He Had Previously Sprained,  Was Again Dislocated,  And

Caused Him Terrible Suffering; And Well It Might,  For The Flesh Was

Lacerated And The Whole Arm Seemed Paralyzed.

 

The Wounds Received The 28Th Of July Were,  Unfortunately,  Sufficiently

Healed By The 6Th Of August To Enable Him To Enter The Lists With The

Unhappy Esberte De Claramonte,  An Aragonese. "Would To God," Exclaims

The Chronicler,  "He Had Never Come Here!" In The Ninth Encounter

Quinones' Lance Entered His Antagonist'S Left Eye And Penetrated The

Brain. The Luckless Knight Broke His Lance In The Ground,  Was Lifted

From His Saddle By The Force Of The Blow,  And Fell Dead Without Uttering

A Word; "And His Face Seemed Like The Face Of One Who Had Been Dead Two

Hours." The Aragonese And Catalans Present Bewailed His Death Loudly,

And Quinones Was Grieved In His Soul At Such A Great Misfortune. Every

Possible Honor Was Shown The Dead Knight,  And The Welfare Of His Soul

Was Not Forgotten. Master Anton,  Quinones' Confessor,  And The Other

Priests Were Sent For To Administer The Sacraments,  And Quinones Begged

Them To Chant The _Responsorium_[8] Over The Body,  As Was Customary In

The Church,  And Do In all Respects As Though He Himself Were The Dead

Man. The Priest Replied That The Church Did Not Consider As Sons Those

Who Died In Such Exercises,  For They Could Not Be Performed Without

Mortal Sin,  Neither Did She Intercede For Their Souls; In Proof Whereof

He Referred To The Canonical Law,  Cap. _De Torneamentis_.[9] However,  At

The Earnest Request Of Quinones,  Messer Anton Went With A Letter To The

Bishop Of Astorga To Ask Leave To Bury Claramonte In Holy Ground,

Quinones Promising If It Were Granted To Take The Dead Knight To Leon

And Bury Him In His Own Family Chapel. Meanwhile,  They Bore The Body To

The Hermitage Of Santa Catalina,  Near The Bridge Of Orbigo,  And There It

Remained Until Night,  When Messer Anton Returned Without The Desired

License; So They Buried Claramonte In Unconsecrated Ground Near The

Hermitage,  With All Possible Honor And Amid The Tears Of The Assembled

Knights. This Mournful Event Does Not Seem,  However,  To Have Made A Very

Deep Impression,  For That Same Afternoon The Jousting Was Continued.

 

The Remaining Days Were Marked By No Unusual Occurrence: Several Were

Seriously But Not Fatally Wounded,  And One By One The Defenders Of The

Pass Were Disabled; So That When The 9Th Of August,  The Last Day Of The

Jousts,  Arrived,  Sancho De Ravenal Was The Only One Of The Ten Defenders

Who Was Able To Enter The Lists. He Maintained The Pass That Day Against

Two Knights,  And Then The Jousts Were Declared Ended. When The Decision

Was Known There Was Great Rejoicing And Blowing Of Trumpets,  And The

Lists Were Illuminated With Torches. The Judges Returned The Spurs Which

Still Hung In The Stand To The Owners Who Through Lack Of Time Had Not

Been Able To Joust. Quinones And Eight Of His Companions (Lope De Aller

Was Confined To His Bed By His Wounds) Entered The Lists In The Same

Manner And Order As On The First Day,  And Halting Before The Judges

Quinones Addressed Them As Follows: "It Is Known To Your Honors How I

Presented Myself Here Thirty Days Ago With These Companions,  And The

Cause Of My So Doing Was To Terminate The Captivity In Which Until This

Moment I Was To A Very Virtuous Lady,  In Token Of Which I Have Worn This

Volume 26 Title 1 (Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science) Pg 123

Iron Collar Continually Every Thursday. The Condition Of My Ransom Was,

As You Know,  Three Hundred Lances Broken Or Guarding This Pass Thirty

Days,  Awaiting Knights And Gentlemen Who Should Free Me From Said

Captivity; And Whereas I Believe,  Honorable Sirs,  That I Have Fulfilled

Everything According To The Terms Set Down At The Beginning,  I Therefore

Beg You Will Command Me To Remove This Iron Collar In Testimony Of My

Liberty."

 

The Judges Answered Briefly As Follows: "Virtuous Gentleman And Knight,

After Hearing Your Declaration,  Which Seems Just And True,  We Hereby

Declare Your Enterprise Completed And Your Ransom Paid; And Be It Known

To All Present That Of The Three Hundred Lances Mentioned In The

Agreement But Few Remain Yet To Be Broken,  And These Would Not Have

Remained Unbroken Had It Not Been For Lack Of Adversaries. We Therefore

Command The King-At-Arms And The Herald To Remove The Collar From Your

Neck And Declare You From This Time Henceforth Free From Your Enterprise

And Ransom." | The King-At-Arms And The Herald Then Descended From The

Stand,  And In The Presence Of The Notaries With Due Solemnity Took The

Collar From Quinones' Neck In Fulfilment Of The Judges' Command.

 

During The Thirty Days' Jousting Sixty-Eight Knights Had Entered The

Lists: Of These,  One,  Messer Arnoldo De La Floresta Bermeja (Arnold Von

Rothwald?),  Was A German; One An Italian,  Messer Luis De Aversa; One

Breton,[10] Three Valencians,  One Portuguese,  Thirteen Aragonese,  Four

Catalans,  And The Remaining Forty-Four Were From The Castiles And Other

Parts Of Spain. The Number Of Courses Run Was Seven Hundred And

Twenty-Seven,  And One Hundred And Sixty-Six Lances Were Broken. Quinones

Was Afterward Killed By Gutierre Quijada,  One Of The Knights Who Took

Part In The Passo Honroso,  And With Whom He Seems To Have Had Some Kind

Of A Feud. Quinones' Sword May Still Be Seen At Madrid In The Royal

Armory,  No. 1917.

 

T.F. Crane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Automatism.

 

Concluding Paper.

 

 

 

 

A Few Months Ago,  Walking Along Fifteenth Street,  I Came Up Behind A

Friend And Said,  "Good-Morning." No Answer. "Good-Morning,  Sir," A

Little Louder.--"Oh,  Excuse Me: I Did Not Hear You The First Time."--"

How Then Did You Know That I Had Spoken Twice?" My Friend Was

Nonplussed,  But What Had Happened Was This: On My First Speaking The

Impulse Of The Voice Had Fallen Upon His Ear And Started A Nerve-Wave

Which Had Struggled Up As Far As The Lower Apparatus At The Base Of The

Brain,  And,  Passing Through This,  Had Probably Even Reached The Higher

Nerve-Centres In The Surface Of The Cerebrum,  Near To Which

Consciousness Resides,  But Not In Sufficient Force To Arouse

Consciousness. When,  However,  The Attention Was Excited By My Second

Address,  It Perceived The First Faint Impulse Which Had Been Registered

Volume 26 Title 1 (Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science) Pg 124

Upon The Protoplasm Of The Nerve-Centres,  Although Unfelt. Probably Most

Of My Readers Have Had A Similar Experience. A Word Spoken,  But Not

Consciously Heard,  Has A Moment Afterward Been Detected By An Effort As

Distinctly Conscious As That Made By The Man Who Is Attempting To

Decipher Some Old Faint Manuscript. This Incident And Its Explanation

Will Serve To Illustrate The Relation Which Seems To Exist Between

Consciousness And Sensation,  And Also Between Consciousness And The

General Mental Actions.

 

It Will Perhaps Render Our Thinking More Accurate If We Attempt To Get A

Clear Idea Just Here As To What Consciousness Is And What It Is Not.

Various Definitions Of The Term Have Been Given,  But The Simplest And

Truest Seems To Be That It Is A Knowledge Of The Present Existence Of

Self,  And Perhaps Also Of Surrounding Objects,  Although It Is

Conceivable That A Conscious Person Might Be Shut Off From All Contact

With The External World By Abolition Of The Senses. Consciousness Is

Certainly Not What The Philosopher And The Theologian Call The Ego,  Or

The Personality Of The Individual. A Blow On The Head Puts An End For

The Time Being To Consciousness,  But Not To The Man'S Personality.

Neither Is Consciousness The Same As The Sense Of Personal Identity,

Although It Is Closely Connected With It. The Conviction Of A Man That

He Is The Same Person Through The Manifold Changes Which Occur In Him As

The Successive Years Go On Is Evidently Based On Consciousness And

Memory. This Is Well Illustrated By Some Very Curious Cases In Which The

Sense Or Knowledge Of Personal Identity Has Been Completely Lost. Not

Long Ago An Instance Of Such Complete Loss Was Recorded By Doctor

Hewater (_Hospital Gazette_,  November,  1879). The Gentleman Who Was The

Subject Of This Loss Found Himself Standing Upon The Depot-Platform In

Belaire City,  Ohio,  Utterly Ignorant Of Who He Was Or Where He Came From

Or Where He Was Going To. He Had A Little Money In His Pocket,  And In

His Hand A Small Port-Manteau Which Contained A Pair Of Scissors And A

Change Of Linen. He Was Well Dressed,  And On Stating At The Nearest

Hotel His Strange Condition And Asking For A Bed,  Was Received As A

Guest. In The Evening He Went Out And Attended A Temperance Lecture.

Excited By The Eloquence Of The Speaker,  He Was Seized With An

Uncontrollable Impulse,  Rushed From The Room And Began To Smash With A

Club The Windows Of A Neighboring Tavern. The Roughs Ran Out Of The

Saloon And Beat Him Very Badly,  Breaking His Arm: This Brought Him To

The Police-Station,  And Thence To The Hospital. For Months Every Effort

Was Made To Identify Him,  But At The Date Of Reporting Without Avail. He

Was Known In The Hospital As "Ralph," That Name Having Been Found On His

Underclothing. His Knowledge Upon All Subjects Unconnected With His

Identity Is Correct: His Mental Powers Are Good,  And He Has Shown

Himself Expert At Figures And With A Pen. For A Long Time It Was Thought

That He Was Feigning,  But Every One About Him Was Finally Convinced That

He Is What He Says He Is--Namely,  A Man Without Knowledge Of His

Personal Identity. This Curious Case,  Which Is By No Means Unparalleled

In The Annals Of Psychological Medicine,  Shows How Distinct Memory Is

From Consciousness. Memory Of The Past Was In Ralph Entirely Abolished

So Far As Concerned His Own Personality,  But Consciousness Was Perfect,

And The Results Of Previous Mental Training Remained,  As Is Shown By His

Use Of Figures. It Was As Though There Was A Dislocation Between

Consciousness And The Memory Of Self.

 

The Distinctness Of Consciousness From Memory Is Also Shown By Dreams.

Events Which Have Passed Are Often Recalled During The Unconsciousness

Of Sleep. The Curious Although Common Carrying Of The Memory Of A Dream