The Spirit of Chivalry in Westminster Hall Page #2

"The Spirit of Chivalry in Westminster Hall" is a brief piece by Charles Dickens that reflects on themes of honor, justice, and the noble ideals of chivalry. Set against the backdrop of London's historic Westminster Hall, Dickens explores the dignity of the legal system and the moral values associated with true knightly conduct. Through a blend of narrative and reflection, he critiques contemporary society while evoking the grandeur of the past, advocating for a revival of the honorable principles that once guided human interactions. This work encapsulates Dickens' characteristic wit and social commentary, offering insight into Victorian ideals and the pursuit of nobility in everyday life.

• Essay

								

rough and apart as the lattice-work of a garden summerhouse, represents
the texture of a human face; but the face cannot be painted so.  A
smear upon the paper may be understood, by virtue of the context gained
from what surrounds it, to stand for a limb, or a body, or a cuirass, or
a hat and feathers, or a flag, or a boot, or an angel.  But when the time
arrives for rendering these things in colours on a wall, they must be
grappled with, and cannot be slurred over in this wise.  Great
misapprehension on this head seems to have been engendered in the minds
of some observers by the famous cartoons of Raphael; but they forget that
these were never intended as designs for fresco painting.  They were
designs for tapestry-work, which is susceptible of only certain broad and
general effects, as no one better knew than the Great Master.  Utterly
detestable and vile as the tapestry is, compared with the immortal
Cartoons from which it was worked, it is impossible for any man who casts
his eyes upon it where it hangs at Rome, not to see immediately the
special adaptation of the drawings to that end, and for that purpose.
The aim of these Cartoons being wholly different, Mr. Maclise’s object,
if we understand it, was to show precisely what he meant to do, and knew
he could perform, in fresco, on a wall.  And here his meaning is; worked
out; without a compromise of any difficulty; without the avoidance of any
disconcerting truth; expressed in all its beauty, strength, and power.

To what end?  To be perpetuated hereafter in the high place of the chief
Senate-House of England?  To be wrought, as it were, into the very
elements of which that Temple is composed; to co-endure with it, and
still present, perhaps, some lingering traces of its ancient Beauty, when
London shall have sunk into a grave of grass-grown ruin,—and the whole
circle of the Arts, another revolution of the mighty wheel completed,
shall be wrecked and broken?

Let us hope so.  We will contemplate no other possibility—at present.
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