of Kynge Arthur and of certen of his Knyghtes-or, briefly, The Death of Arthur (La Morte d'Arthur). Caxton, who had translated and printed so many works, had frequently been asked by noble lords and gentlemen why he never published any work relating to the Holy Grail, or to King Arthur, the great national hero of England. Of the famous heroes in history nine were, in those days, considered to rise pre-eminently above their fellows-the nine worthies, as they were called; of these, three were heathens: Hector, Alexander, Cæsar; three were Jews: Joshua, David, Judas Maccabæus, and three were Christians: Arthur, Charlemagne, Godefroy de Bouillon. Honest Caxton, in his reply as to why he had not included King Arthur's history among his publications, stated that he omitted such histories as were doubtful; that it was very questionable whether such a King Arthur had ever existed; that many persons had considered the traditions about him to be fables and inventions, and that some trustworthy chronicles did not make any mention of him or of his knights. Caxton, however, was not let off so easily; he was overwhelmed with proofs that Arthur was an historical personage; he was told, “Fyrst ye may see his sepulture in the monasterye of Glastyngburye... where his body was buryed, and after founden and translated into the sayd monasterye. Ye shal se also in thystorye of Bochas in his book de casu principum, parte of his noble actes and also his falle. Also Galfrydus, in his Brutysshe book recounteth his lyf. And in divers places of Englond many remembraunces ben yet of hymn and shal remayne perpetually, and also of his knyghtes. First in the abbey of Westmestre at saynt Edwardes shryne remayneth the prynte of his seal in reed waxe closed in beryll, in which is wryton Patricius Arthurus, Britannie, Gallie, Germanie, Dacie imperator. Item, in the castel of Dover ye may see Gauwayns skulle, and Cradoks mantel; at Wynchester, the rounde table; in other places Launcelottes swerd, and many other thynges.. And also he is spoken of beyonde the see, moo bookes made of his noble actes, than there be in Englond, as wel in Duche,* Italyen, Spanysshe and Grekesshe as in Frensshe." Caxton thereupon declared himself convinced: "thenne all

* Duche (Dutch) included the Low-German and the Netherland dialect.

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these thynges forsayd aledged, I coude not wel denye but that there was suche a noble kyng named Arthur, and reputed one of the IX. worthies, and first and chyef of the cristen men, and many noble volumes be made of hym and of his noble knyghtes in Frensshe, which I have seen and redde beyonde the see, which been not had in our maternal tongue, but in Walsshe ben many, and also in Frensshe and somme in Englysshe, but no wher nygh alle. Wherfore such as have late ben drawen oute bryefly into Englysshe, I have after the symple connyng that God hath sente to me, under the favour and correctyon of al noble lordes and gentylmen, emprysed to enprynte a book of the noble hystoryes of the sayd Kynge Arthur, and of certeyn of his knyghtes after a copye unto me delyvered, whiche copye syr Thomas Malorye dyd take out of certyn bookes of Frensshe and reduced it into Englysshe."

Sir Thomas Malory was one of the first men of distinction -with the exception of Sir John Maundeville-to write works. in English, and this was at a time when a Scottish king had already won his laurels as a national poet. It was a happy idea of Sir Thomas's to make King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table the subject of his work; for Middle English poetry-not to mention prose-had by no means exhausted the theme, and the imperfect knowledge and contradictory statements that had been made about many of the personages and events connected with the legend, made it appear doubly desirable to possess a full and comprehensive account of them. In the year 1469, or at the beginning of 1470, Sir Thomas had finished his compilation, and fifteen years afterwards Caxton brought it within the reach of a large circle of readers, since which time, by means of numbers of reprints and new editions, it has more and more distinctly influenced the popular English idea of the Arthurian legend, and furnished important material for the classic poetry both of the great era and of our own time.

Where Malory himself obtained the materials for his narrative is well known upon the whole-or, at least, we think we know whence he took them. There is the "Merlin" founded upon Robert de Boron's poem, the latter parts of which, at all events, were made use of, and two different continuations of it, the one appearing here to be interwoven

with the other; there is "Launcelotte" in its later form, together with the later versions of the Search for the Grail, and the Death of Arthur, which had been added to it before Malory's day; there is, finally, "Tristan" also, which is again interwoven with "Launcelotte "-all of them French prose-romances. In many passages, however, it is distinctly evident that Malory may have made use of earlier sources no longer accessible to us; and again, there are differences which though unimportant are difficult to account for; or there is extraneous matter, in the narrative, which shows that here, too, where everything appears plain and clear, problems still remain to be solved.

The "Morte d'Arthur "--by which title the work is generally known-can in no way divest itself of the character of being a compilation: repetitions, contradictions, and other irregularities are by no means of rare occurrence. At the same time, it is, upon the whole, arranged with a certain degree of skill, for in spite of the abundance of episode, Malory has succeeded in producing a kind of unity, and even though some monotony in the variety was unavoidable, still the plan and style of the narrative do not allow our interest to sleep, or, if asleep, it is aroused at definite points. Above all, the terse style of the narrative, in simple, but by no means colourless language, produces a good effect; and it was this alone which made it possible to compress the mass of material within a space readily surveyable.

XI.

In the mean time the influence of Chaucer and his school had already spread to the northern part of Britain, to Scotland, and was pointing out to a national literature in the full vigour of youth, a road towards a higher artistic development.

Up to the fourteenth century, the Scottish language had formed merely a branch of the North-English dialect, and had not produced a literature in any way dependent or at all national in character. And although the foundation of the Scottish nationality had been laid as early as the tenth

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and more particularly in the eleventh century, it was long before it had advanced far enough for a national consciousness to manifest itself. Four districts, with four races, more or less different in language, customs, and culture, were united under the sceptre of the Scottish kings. The northwest was inhabited by the Scots, who had originally crossed from Ireland, and ultimately gave their name to the new kingdom and its dynasty; their descendants, in the inhospitable Highlands, have maintained their peculiarities of character up to most recent times. In the north-east lived the Picts, whom it is difficult to classify ethnologically, but who are possibly an admixture of Keltic and Teutonic blood. The inhabitants south of the Frith of Clyde were Britons, while those south of the Frith of Forth were men of English blood. Not any one of these races was in every respect superior to the other, and hence it was only very gradually that the superior culture of the English race-their language and customs-could make its way northward, and thus confer a higher kind of support-a community of ideas -upon the political unity which was constantly in danger owing to the variety of local interests, the fanaticism of parties, and the hostile feelings between the clans. It is true that the English element in Scotland did obtain vigorous support from the inhabitants of the southern kingdom, and that the Britons inhabiting the district between the Frith of Clyde and the Solway, were at an early date imbued with English culture, not only by what reached them from the eastern district, but from the south as well. Still, these very relations with England-ethnological, linguistic, dynastic, and feudal-while they undoubtedly facilitated the English element acquiring the ascendency in Scotland, were almost as likely to retard the development of a national consciousness in the Scottish people. It must have been long before the inhabitants of the southern districts-to the east as well as to the west-accustomed themselves to regard the Esk and Tweed as the boundaries of their nationality, in place of the Clyde and Forth.

Other circumstances, also, had retarded the national development of the Scottish nation, other influences of culture had forced themselves to the front, and had to be worked out. First of all by the Scandinavians, who had

in various ways been connected with the earlier history of the Scottish people, and had permanently held possession of their outposts-the islands to the north of Britain. At a later date there was also the influence of the French language and customs, which proceeded directly from France, partly from Norman England, and partly from dynastic and political considerations. At the beginning of the thirteenth century complaints had certainly been raised, that the Scottish kings preferred-in the way of birth, manners, language, and mode of life-being regarded as Frenchmen rather than as Scotchmen, and that while they oppressed their own subjects they surrounded themselves with French favourites.

The national consciousness of the Scottish people reached its full development at last, in the struggle for political independence which broke out between them and their southern neighbours after the death of their king Alexander III., in 1286, and was carried on with varying success against Edward I. and his successors. It was also during this period that the national poetry of Scotland took its rise-a national poetry which sang triumphantly of victories achieved, which jeered at English defeats or scoffed at English customs, or which appealed to Heaven in its own distress, but, above all, glorified the deeds of the champions of the national freedom. Two heroes, undoubtedly, stood as the central figures of this poetry: Sir William Wallace, the darling of the multitude, the inspired agitator, the warrior of gigantic stature, of joyous mien, of iron strength, and overpowering intrepidity, the ever-ready defender of the oppressed, the merciless destroyer of his adversaries, in whom was embodied the hardiness, the daring, the wild fanaticism, as well as the shrewdness-nay, the craftiness-of the Scottish character; and Robert Bruce, the chivalrous king, the far-sighted politician, the heroic man who-not being free from egotistical motives-began his career with intrigue and murder, yet succeeded in making his followers overlook this by his resoluteness in misfortune, his calm and humane disposition after victory, the man of inexhaustible resources of mind and body, whose marvellous fortunes and glorious successes carried with them the future of Scotland.