(eques), among the Romans, a person of the second degree of nobility, following immediately that of the senators. See EQUESTRIAN Order, and Equites.

Cnacht (Germ.), in feudal history, was originally an appellation or title given by the ancient Germans to their youth after being admitted to the privileges of bearing arms.

The passion for arms among the Germanic states, as described by Dr Stuart*, was carried to extremity. It was amidst scenes of death and peril that the young were educated: It was by valour and feats of prowess that the ambitious signalized their manhood. All the honours they knew were allotted to the brave. The sword opened the path to glory. It was in the field that the ingenious and the noble flattered most their pride, and acquired an ascendancy. The strength of their bodies, and the vigour of their counsels, surrounded them with warriors, and lifted them to command.

But, among these nations, when the individual felt the call of valour, and wished to try his strength against an enemy, he could not of his own authority take the lance and the javelin. The admission of their youth to the privilege of bearing arms, was a matter of too much importance to be left to chance or their own choice. A form was invented by which they were advanced to that honour.

The council of the district, or of the canton to which the candidate belonged, was assembled. His age and his qualifications were inquired into; and if he was deemed worthy of being admitted to the privileges of a soldier, a chieftain, his father or one of his kindred adorned him with a shield and the lance. In consequence of this solemnity, he prepared to distinguish himself; his mind opened to the cares of the public; and the domestic concerns, or the offices of the family from which he had sprung, were no longer the objects of his attention. To this ceremony, so simple and so interesting, the institution of knighthood is indebted for its rise.