fuffered an easier cure from their doctor Rabelais, who enough dif credited the books of chivalry, by only ufing the extravagant ftories of its giants, &c. as a cover for another kind of fatire against the refined politicks of his countrymen; of which they were as much poffeffed as the Spaniards of their romantick bravery: a bravery our Shakspeare makes their characteristic in this description of a Spanish gentleman:

A man of complements, whom right and wrong
Have chofe as umpire of their mutiny:
This child of fancy, that Armado hight,
For interim to our ftudies, fhall relate,

In high-born words, the worth of many a knight,
From tawny Spain, loft in the world's debate."

The fenfe of which is to this effect: This gentleman, fays the fpeaker, ball relate to us the celebrated ftories recorded in the old romances, and in their very file. Why he fays from tawny Spain, is because these romances, being of the Spanish original, the heroes and the scene were generally of that country. He fays, loft in the world's debate, because the subjects of those romances were the crufades of the European Chriftians against the Saracens of Afia and Africa.

Indeed, the wars of the Chriftians against the Pagans were the general fubject of the romances of chivalry. They all feem to have had their ground-work in two fabulous monkish hiftorians: the one, who under the name of Turpin, archbishop of Rheims, wrote the History and Atchievements of Charlemagne and his Twelve Peers; to whom, inftead of his father, they affigned the task of driving the Saracens out of France and the fouth parts of Spain: the other, our Geoffry of Monmouth.

Two of those peers, whom the old romances have rendered most famous, were Oliver and Rowland. Hence Shakspeare makes Alençon, in the first part of Henry VI. fay; " Froyflard, a countryman of ours, records, England all Olivers and Rowlands bred, during the time Edward the third did reign." In the Spanish romance of Bernardo del Carpio, and in that of Roncesvalles, the feats

From tawny Spain, &c.] This paffage may, as Dr. Warburton imagines, be in allufion to the Spanish Romances, of which feveral were extant in English, and very popular at the time this play was written. Such, for instance, as Amadis de Gaule, Don Bellianis, Palmerin d'Oliva, Palmerin of England, the Mirrour of Knighthood, &c. But he is egregiously mistaken in afferting that "the heroes and the fcene were generally of that country," which, in fact, (except in an instance or two nothing at all to the prefent purpose) is never the cafe. If the words loft in the world's debate will bear the editor's conftruction, there are certainly many books of chivalry on the subject. I cannot, however, think that Shakspeare was particularly converfant in works of this defcription: But, indeed, the alternately rhyming parts, at leaft, of the prefent play are apparently by an inferior hand; the remains, no doubt, of the old platform. RITSON.

of Roland are recorded under the name of Roldan el encantador; and in that of Palmerin de Oliva,* or fimply Oliva, those of Oliver: for Oliva is the fame in Spanish as Olivier is in French. The account of their exploits is in the highest degree monftrous and extravagant, as appears from the judgement paffed upon them by the prieft in Don Quixote, when he delivers the knight's library to the fecular arm of the house-keeper," Eccetuando à un Bernardo del Carpio que anda por ay, y a otro llamado Roncesvalles; que eftos en llegando a mis manos, an de eftar en las de la ama, y dellas en las del fuego fin remiffion alguna."+ And of Oliver he fays, "effa Oliva fe haga luego raxas, y fe queme, que aun no queden della las cenizas." The reasonableness of this fentence may be partly feen from one story in the Bernardo del Carpio, which tells us, that the cleft called Roldan, to be seen in the fummit of an high mountain in the kingdom of Valencia, near the town of Alicant, was made with a fingle back-ftroke of that hero's broad-sword. Hence came the proverbial expreffion of our plain and fenfible ancestors, who were much cooler readers of thefe extravagancies than the Spaniards, of giving one a Rowland for his Oliver, that is of matching one impoffible lye with another: as, in French, faire le Roland means, to fwagger. This driving the Saracens out of France and Spain, was, as we fay, the fubject of the elder romances. And the first that was printed in Spain was the famous Amadis de Gaula, of which the inquífitor prieft fays: " fegun he oydo dezir, efte libro fué el primero de Cavallerias qui fe imprimiò en Espana, y todos los demás an tomado principio y origen defte;" and for which he humourously condemns it to the fire, coma à Dogmatazador de una Jeca tan mala. When this fubject was well exhausted, the affairs of Europe afforded them another of the fame nature. For after that the weftern parts had pretty well cleared themselves of these inhofpitable guests, by the excitements of the popes, they carried their arms against them into Greece and Afia, to fupport the Byzantine empire, and recover the holy fepulchre. This gave birth to a new tribe of romances, which we may call of the fecond race or class. And as Amadis de Gaula was at the head of the firft, fo, correfpondently to the subject, Amadis de Græcia was at the head of the latter. Hence it is, we find, that Trebizonde is as celebrated

Dr. Warburton is quite mistaken in deriving Oliver from (Palmerin de) Oliva, which is utterly incompatible with the genius of the Spanish language. The old romance, of which Oliver was the hero, is entitled in Spanish, "Hiftorias de los nobles Cavalleros Oliveros de Caftilla, y Artus de Algarbe, in fol. en Valladolid, 1501, in fol. en Sevilla, 1507;" and in French thus, "Histoire d'Olivier de Caftille, & Artus d'Algarbe fon loyal compagnon, & de Heleine, Fille au Roy d'Angleterre, &c. tranflatée du Latin par Phil. Kamus, in fol. Gothique." It has alfo appeared in English. See Ames's Typograph. p. 94, 47. PERCY. † B. i. c. 6.

Ibid.

§ Ibid.

in these romances as Roncefvalles is in the other. It may be worth obferving, that the two famous Italian epic poets, Ariofto and Taffo, have borrowed, from each of these claffes of old romances, the fcenes and fubjects of their feveral ftories: Ariosto choosing the first, the Saracens in France and Spain; and Tasso, the latter, the Crufade against them in Afia: Ariofto's hero being Orlando, or the French Roland: for as the Spaniards, by one way of tranfpofing the letters, had made it Roldan, fo the Italians, by another, make it Orland.

The main fubject of thefe fooleries, as we have faid, had its original in Turpin's famous Hiftory of Charlemagne and his Twelve Peers, Nor were the monftrous embellishments of enchantments, &c. the invention of the romancers, but formed upon eastern tales, brought thence by travellers from their crufades and pilgrimages; which indeed have a caft peculiar to the wild imaginations of the eaftern people. We have a proof of this in the travels of Sir John Maundeville, whofe exceffive fuperftition and credulity, together with an impudent monkish addition to his genuine work, have made his veracity thought much worfe of than it deferved. This voyager, fpeaking of the ifle of Cos in the Archipelago, tells the following ftory of an enchanted dragon." And alfo a zonge man, that wit not of the dragoun, went out of the fchipp, and went through the ile, till that he cam to the caftelle, and cam into the cave; and went fo longe till that he fond a chambre, and there he faughe a damy felle, that kembed hire hede, and lokede in a myrour: and fche hadde moche trefoure abouten hire: and he trowed that sche hadde ben a comoun woman, that dwelled there to receive men to folye. And he abode till the damyfelle faughe the schadowe of him in the myrour. And fche turned hire toward him, and asked him what he wolde. And he feyde, he wolde ben hire limman or paramour. And fche asked him, if that he were a knyghte. And he fayde, nay. And then sche fayde, that he might not ben hire limman. But fche bad him gon azen unto his felowes, and make him knyghte, and come azen upon the morwe, and fche fcholde come out of her cave before him; and thanne come and kyffe hire on the mowth and have no drede. For I fchalle do the no maner harm, alle be it that thou fee me in lykeness of a dragoun. For thoughe thou fee me hideouse and horrible to loken onne, I do the to wytene that it is made be enchauntement. For withouten doubte, I am none other than thou seeft now, a woman; and herefore drede the noughte. And zyf thou kyffe me, thou fchalt have all this trefoure, and be my lord, and lord alfo of all that ifle. And he departed," &c. p. 29, 30, ed. 1725. Here we fee the very fpirit of a romance adventure. This honeft traveller believed it all, and so, it seems did the people of the ifle. "And fome men feyne (fays he) that in the isle of Lango is zit the doughtre of Ypocras in forme and

lykeneffe of a gret dragoun, that is an hundred fadme in lengthe, as men feyn: for I have not seen hire. And they of the ifles callen hire, lady of the land." We are not to think then, these kind of ftories, believed by pilgrims and travellers, would have less credit either with the writers or readers of romances: which humour of the times therefore may well account for their birth and favourable reception in the world.

The other monkish hiftorian, who supplied the romancers with materials, was our Geoffry of Monmouth. For it is not to be fuppofed, that these children of fancy (as Shakspeare in the place quoted above, finely calls them, infinuating that fancy hath its infancy as well as manhood,) should stop in the midst of so extraordinary a career, or confine themselves within the lifts of the terra firma. From him therefore the Spanish romances took the story of the British Arthur, and the knights of his round table, his wife Gueniver, and his conjurer Merlin. But ftill it was the fame fubject, (essential to books of chivalry,) the wars of Chriftians against Infidels. And, whether it was by blunder or defign, they changed the Saxons into Saracens, I fufpect by defign; for chivalry without a Saracen was fo very lame and imperfect a thing, that even the wooden image, which turned round on an axis, and ferved the knights to try their fwords, and break their lances upon, was called by the Italians and Spaniards, Saricino and Sarazino; fo clofely were these two ideas connected.

In thefe old romances there was much religious fuperftition mixed with their other extravagancies; as appears even from their very names and titles. The first romance of Launcelot of the Lake and King Arthur and his Knights, is called the Hiftory of Saint Greaal. This faint Greaal was the famous relick of the holy blood pretended to be collected into a vessel by Jofeph of Arimathea. So another is called Kyrie Eleifon of Montauban. For in those days Deuteronomy and Paralipomenon were fuppofed to be the names of holy men. And as they made faints of the knights-errant, fo they made knights-errant of their tutelary faints; and each nation advanced its own into the order of chivalry. Thus every thing in those times being either a faint or a devil, they never wanted for the marvellous. In the old romance of Launcelot of the Lake, we have the doctrine and difcipline of the church as formally delivered as in Bellarmine himfelf. "Là confeffion (fays the preacher) ne vaut rien fi le cœur

"For it is not to be fuppofed, that thefe Children of Fancy, as Shakspeare calls them, infinuating thereby that fancy bath its infancy as well as manbood, thould ftop," &c.]

I cannot conceive how Shakspeare, by calling Armado the Child of Fancy, infinuates that fancy hath its infancy as well as manhood. The showing that a woman had a child, would be a strange way of proving her in her infancy.-By calling Armado the Child of Fancy, Shakspeare means only to describe him as fantastical. M. MASON.

n'eft repentant; et fi tu es moult & eloigné de l'amour de noftre Seigneur, tu ne peus eftre recordé fi non par trois chofes: premierement par la confeffion de bouche; fecondement par une contrition de cœur; tiercement par peine de cœur, & par oeuvre d'aumône & charité. Telle efte la droite voye d'aimer Dieu. Or va & fi te confeffe en cette maniere & recois la difcipline des mains de tes confeffeurs, car c'est le figne de merite.--Or mande le roy fes evefques, dont grande partie avoit en l'oft, & vinrent tous en fa chapelle. Le roy vint devant eux tout nud en pleurant, & tenant fon plein point de vint menuës verges, fi les jetta devant eux, & leur dit en foupirant, qu'ils priffent de luy vengeance, car je fuis le plus vil pecheur, &c.-Apres prinft difcipline & d'eux & moult doucement la receut." Hence we find the divinity lectures of Don Quixote and the penance of his 'fquire, are both of them in the ritual of chivalry. Lastly, we find the knight-errant, after much turmoil to himself, and disturbance to the world, frequently ended his courfe, like Charles V. of Spain, in a monaftery; or turned hermit, and became a faint in good earnest. And this again will let us into the fpirit of thofe dialogues between Sancho and his master, where it is gravely debated whether he fhould not turn faint or archbishop.

There were feveral caufes of this ftrange jumble of nonsense and religion. As firft, the nature of the fubject, which was a religious war or crufade: fecondly, the quality of the firft writers, who were religious men; and thirdly, the end of writing many of them, which was to carry on a religious purpofe. We learn, that Clement V. interdicted jufts and tournaments, because he understood they had much hindered the crufade decreed in the council of Vienna. "Torneamenta ipfa & haftiludia five juxtas in regnis Francia, Angliæ, & Almanniæ, & aliis nonnullis provinciis, in quibus ea confuevere frequentiús exerceri, fpecialiter interdixit." Extrav. de Torneamentis C. unic. temp. Ed. I. Religious men, I conceive, therefore, might think to forward the defign of the crufades by turning the fondness for tilts and tournaments into that channel. Hence we fee the books of knight-errantry fo full of folemn jufts and torneaments held at Trebizonde, Bizance, Tripoly, &c. Which wife project, I apprehend, it was Cervantes's intention to ridicule, where he makes his knight purpofe it as the beft means of fubduing the Turk, to affemble all the knights-errant together by proclamation.* WARBURTON.

It is generally agreed, I believe, that this long note of Dr. Warburton's is, at leaft, very much mifplaced. There is not a fingle paffage in the character of Armado, that has the leaft relation to any Story in any romance of chivalry. With what propriety therefore a

See Part II. 1. 5. c. I.