and the pattern of the weak. And as women were more exposed to injury than men ; and as ladies of rank and merit were, for reasons already given, the objects of veneration to all men of breeding, the true knight was ambitious, above all things, to appear the champion of the fair sex. To qualify himself for this honour, he was careful to acquire every accomplishment that could entitle him to their confidence: he was courteous, gentle, temperate, and chaste. He bound himself, by solemn vows, to the performance of those virtues: so that, while he acted with honour in his profession, a lady might commit herself to his care without detriment to her character; he being in regard to those virtues as far above suspicion, as a clergyman is now. And, that women of fashion might confide in him with the more security, he commonly attached himself to some one lady, whom he declared to be the sole mistress of his affections, and to whom he swore inviolable constancy. Nothing is more ridiculous than Don Quixote's passion for Dulcinea del Toboso, as Cervantes has described it: and yet it was in some sort necessary for every knight errant to have a nominal mistress; because, if he had not ac

knowledged any particular attachment, nor made any vows in consequence of it, his conduct, where women were concerned, might have been suspected; which would alone have disqualified him for what he justly thought the most honourable duty annexed to his profession. In a word, the chastity of a knight errant was to be no less unimpeachable, than the credit of a merchant now is, or the courage of a soldier.

The true knight was religious, valiant, passionately fond of strange adventures, a lover of justice, a protector of the weak, a punisher of the injurious; temperate, courteous, and chaste; and zealous, and respectful, in his attentions to the fair sex. And this is the character assigned him in all those old romances and poems that describe the adventures of chivalry.

On the Love of Petrarch for Laura. PETRARCH'S passion for Laura, though disinterested, seems to have been in some degree fictitious, or at least, not quite so serious a matter as many people imagine. "He was "wretched to show he had wit," as the song

says he loved after the Provensal fashion: he wanted to make passionate verses; and Laura, being a beautiful lady, and a married one too, with a pretty romantic name, suited his poctical purposes as well as Dulcinea del Toboso did the heroic views of Don Quixote. Had his heart been really engaged, he could not have gone on, from day to day, in the same strain of elegant and elaborate whining: a sincere passion would have allowed him neither time nor tranquillity for such amusement.— What is observed, in the old aphorism, of violent grief, that it is silent, and of slight sorrow, that it vents itself in words, will be found to hold true of many of our affections. Hammond was not in love when he wrote his elegies, as I have been informed on good authority and Young, while composing the most pathetic parts of the Night-thoughts, was as cheerful as at other times. These are

not the only instances that might be mentioned.

Robinson Crusoe-its Origin and Merits. THE account commonly given of this wellknown work is as follows..

Alexander Selkirk, a Scotch mariner, happened, by some accident which I forget, to be left in the uninhabited island of Juan Fernandes in the South Seas. Here he continued four years alone, without any other means of supporting life, than by running down goats, and killing such other animals as he could come at. To defend himself from danger during the night, he built a house of stones rudely put together, which a gentleman, who had been in it, (for it was extant when Anson arrived there) described to me as so very small, that one person could with difficulty crawl in, and stretchi himself at length. Selkirk was delivered by an English vessel, and returned home. A late French writer says, he had become so fond of the savage state, that he was unwilling to quit it but that is not true. The French writer either confounds the real story of Selkirk with a fabulous account of one Philip Quarl, written after Robinson Crusoe, of which it is a paltry imitation, or wilfully misrepresents the fact, in order to justify, as far as he is able, an idle conceit, which, since the time of Rousseau, has been in fashion amongst infidel and affected theorists on the continent, that savage life is most natural to us, and that

:

H

1

the more a man resembles a brute in his mind, body, and behaviour, the happier he becomes, and the more perfect.-Selkirk was advised to get his story put in writing, and published. Being illiterate himself, he told every thing he could remember to Daniel Defoe, a professed author of considerable note; who, instead of doing justice to the poor man, is said to have applied these materials to his own use, by making them the groundwork of Robinson Crusoe, which he soon after published; and which, being very popular, brought him a good deal of money.

Some have thought, that a love-tale is necessary to make a romance interesting. But Robinson Crusoe, though there is nothing of love in it, is one of the most interesting narratives that ever was written; at least in all that part which relates to the desert island: being founded on a passion still more prevalent than love, the desire of self-preservation; and therefore likely to engage the curiosity of every class of readers, both old and young, both learned and unlearned.

I am willing to believe, that Defoe shared the profits of this publication with the poor seaman; for there is an air of humanity in it,