learning. Much time must inevitably elapse before new systems can take root; and when they do, it is imperceptibly and silently. Hence, may the hostile incursions of the Saracens have introduced some portion of Eastern fiction: but not all; for it is the common tendency of a conquered country to engraft its own character and customs upon those of the stronger power.

It has been observed by Ritson (whose virulent and ungentlemanly abuse of his opponents is disgusting in the extreme!) that neither the Spaniards, nor any other nations of Europe, had an opportunity of adopting literary information "from a people with whom they had no connection, but as enemies, whose language they never understood, and whose manners they detested; nor would even have condescended or permitted themselves to make such an adoption from a set of infidel barbarians who have invaded, ravaged, and possessed themselves of some of the best and richest provinces of Spain." 1 Much of this is in substance what has been contended against above; and that a very short period of servitude will not open the sources of a more friendly communication-in appearance at least-between nations under such circumstances, is contrary to historical fact and to human nature. The enslaved must look up to the enslaver for protection— for support; and the latter in return would enforce, under the penalty of extermination, the aid which was considered requisite. Thus, however involuntary and hateful, intercourse must be under all situations. But here the fact is, as Mr. Warton remarks (though Ritson pleases to overlook it), that after the irruption of the Saracens, the Spaniards neglected even the study of the Sacred Writings, for the express purpose of acquiring the Arabic. This curious passage is cited by Du Cange, whose words I shall quote at length :

"Quod vero suprà laudatus Scriptor anonymus de Galliæ nostræ in Lingua Latina barbarie ante Caroli M. tempora, idem de Hispania post Saracenorum irruptionem testatur Alvarus: ubi neglectis et posthabitis Scripturis Sanctis, earumque sacris interpretibus, quotquot supererant Christiani, Arabum Chaldæorumque libris evolvendis incumbebant, gentilitia eruditione præclari, Arabico eloquio sublimati, Ecclesiasticam pulchritudinem ignorantes, et Ecclesiæ flumina de Paradiso manantia, quasi vilissima contemnentes, legem suam nesciebant, et linguam propriam non advertebant Latini, ita ut ex omni Christi Collegio vix inveniretur unus in milleno hominum genere, qui salutatorias fratri posset rationaliter dirigere literas, CUM REPERIRENTUR ABSQUE NUMERO MULTIPLICES TURBÆ, QUI ERUDITE CHALDAICAS

Diss. on Romance and Minstrelsy, vol. i. pp. xx. xxi.

VERBORUM EXPLICARENT POMPAS. Quod quidem abunde firmat; quæ de Elepanto Toletano suprà diximus. Sed et inde satis arguimus unde tot voces Arabicæ in Hispanam, subinde sese intulerunt." 1

We have, then, a complete refutation of Ritson's strongest objection; and perhaps had not the spleen of the writer been more powerful than the good sense and feeling of the man, he never would have hazarded the remark. And if judicial astrology, medicine, and chemistry, were of Arabian origin, and introduced into Europe a century at least before the crusades; if Pope Gerbert, or Sylvester II., who died A.D. 1003, brought the Arabic numerals into France, it is surely reasonable to suppose that these sciences, so intimately connected with magical operations (and with fictions from them) as to confer upon the possessor a title to supernatural agency, would extend their influence to the legendary stories, as well as to the manners of the West, which these very stories are admitted to describe! Yet, after all, it is not to be imagined that the introduction of Eastern invention happened at one time, or in one age; it was rather the growth of many times, and of many ages-continually, though gradually, augmenting, till it attained maturity.

The next hypothesis gives Armorica, or Bretany, as the source of romantic fiction. But to this, the same objections arise that have been started with respect to the rest. Mr. Ellis, in the introduction to his Specimens of Early English Romances, plausibly suggests that all are compatible. He imagines " that the scenes and characters of our romantic histories were very generally, though not exclusively, derived from the Bretons, or from the Welsh of this island; that much of the colouring, and perhaps some particular adventures, may be of Scandinavian origin, and that occasional episodes, together with part of the machinery, may have been borrowed from the Arabians." Which is as much as to say, that each nation contributed something, and very likely they did; but which furnished the greater part, or which originated the whole, is just as obscure as before a reconciliation" of opinions was projected. This conciliatory system will remind the reader of Boccacio's tale of The Three Rings, "the question of which is yet remaining."

Another supposition attributes the chief source of romantic fiction to classical and mythological authors; that is, to the stories of Greece and Rome, somewhat altered by modern usages. To this belief Mr. Southey and Mr. Dunlop seem to incline. The latter

8

Du Cange; Gloss. Med. Inf. Lat. tom. i., Præfatio, p. xxxii. § 31. • Vol i. p. 35. Introduction to Amadis of Gaul.

adds that, “after all, a great proportion of the wonders of romance must be attributed to the imagination of the authors." But when these wonders, similarly constructed, pervade the most remote countries, there must be something more than an author's imagination brought into the account. Consideration, however, is due to the idea of a classical origin; and this, blended with the rest, may help to make up a perfect system. Before I proceed to the attempt, I would advert to certain observations which Mr. Dunlop has promulgated in his History of Fiction. He says, "It cannot be denied, and indeed has been acknowledged by Mr. Warton, that the fictions of the Arabians and Scalds are totally different." Much misunderstanding would doubtless be avoided by accurate references: and if Mr. Dunlop be correct in what he asserts, it would be a pleasant thing to know the edition and page to which he alludes. In contradiction to the insinuation here thrown out, Warton says, "But as the resemblance which the pagan Scandinavians bore to the Eastern nations in manners, monuments, opinions, and practices IS SO VERY PERCEPTIBLE AND APPARENT, an inference arises, that their migration from the East must have happened at a period by many ages more recent, and therefore most probably about the time specified by historians." 2 And again, "These practices and opinions co-operated with kindred superstitions of dragons, dwarfs, fairies, giants, and enchanters, which the traditions of the Gothic Scalders had already planted: and produced that extraordinary species of composition which has been called ROMANCE." In another place, indeed, he admits that there were "but few" of these monsters in the poetry of the most ancient Scalds; but that few is quite sufficient for the argument.

So that, one would think, Warton supplies no testimony in support of a doctrine, which I cannot help fancying may be proved altogether groundless. Allowing the early Scaldic odes to be genuine," says Mr. Dunlop, we find in them no dragons, giants, magic rings, or enchanted castles. These are only to be met with in the compositions of the bards who flourished after the native vein of Runic fabling had been enriched by the tales of the Arabians." This is an extremely cautious method of writing; for while we contend that the Easterns furnished the groundwork, and fix the date, Mr. Dunlop may tell us, be it when it may, that it was subsequent to the period in which the Bunic fable flourished in its

1 Page 163.

Hist. of Eng. Poetry, vol. i. p. 110.

I issertation I. p. xxviii.

Vol. i. p. 164.

native purity. Let us examine, however, how far his bold assertion may be maintained, respecting the poetical machinery adopted by the ancient Scalds. Let us advert to EDDA,' a monument "tout-à-fait unique en son espèce," as Monsieur Mallet assures us, and try whether there be not, in fact, almost the whole of what he has rejected.

Gylfe was king of Sweden, and a celebrated magician. When a colony of Asiatics arrived in his country (a tradition which adds strength to my hypothesis) he assumed the form of an old man, and journeyed to the city of Asgard. "Sed Asæ erant perspicaciores, (imo ut) præviderent iter ejus, eumque fascinatione oculorum exciperent. Tunc cernebat ille altum palatium: Tecta ejus erant tecta aureis clypeis, ut tectum novum. Ita loquitur Diodolfius: 'Tectum ex auro micante, Parietes ex lapide, Fundamina aulæ ex montibus fecere Asæ sagaciores.'" 3

66

Here, beyond dispute, is an enchanted castle. And not only so, but the common oriental practice of putting a number of questions as the test of a person's wisdom, occurs in this very fable. Qui est le plus ancien ou le premier des Dieux ?" is first asked, and other interrogatories follow, of a similar character. Then for the GIANTS -in the Runic mythology nothing is more common. Speaking of the formation of man, the Edda observes (I follow the French translation of M. Mallet): "Cet homme fut appellé Yme; les Géans le nomment Oergelmer, et c'est de lui que toutes leurs familles descendent, comme cela est dit dans la Voluspa : Toutes les Prophétesses viennent de Vittolfe; les sages de Vilmôde, LES GEANS de Yme,' et dans un autre endroit: 'Des fleuves Elivages ont coulé des goutes de venim, et il souffla un vent d'où un Géant fut formé. De lui viennent toutes les races Gigantesques.' 9994 In this place we have not merely an accidental notice of giants, but their full genealogy, and a quotation from a poem still more ancient than the Edda, introduced in support of it. Afterwards mention is made of the Dwarfs: "Alors les Dieux s'etant assis sur leurs thrônes rendirent

"The Edda was compiled, undoubtedly with many additions and interpolations, from fictions and traditions in the old Runic poems, by Soemund Sigfusson, surnamed the Learned, about the year 1057."-WARTON. But Warton has not proved his undoubtedly; and though I do not deny the probability of interpolations, I shall not relinquish the giants, &c., without further proof.

2 Monumens de la Mythol. et de la Poesie des Celtes, &c., p. 13, Pref.

3"But the Asiatics were more quick-sighted; nay, they foresaw his journey, and deceived him with their enchantments. Then he beheld a lofty palace its roofs were covered with golden shields, like a new roof. Thus Diodolfius speaks of it: The Asiatics, more skilful, made the roof of shining gold, and its walls of stone; the foundations of the hall were mountains.'"-GORANSON, Lat. Tr. of the Edda.

• Mythologie Celtique, p. 11.

la justice et délibererent sur ce qui concernoit les NAINS. Cette espèce de créatures s'etoit formée dans la poudre de la terre, comme les vers naissent dans un cadavre."1 And again of the Fairies and Genii, or beings answering to them-"Les unes sont d'origine divine, d'autres descendent des GENIES, d'autres des Nains, comme il est dit dans ses vers: Il y a des FEES de diverse origine, quelques unes viennent des Dieux, et d'autres des GENIES, d'autres des Nains.”2 This fable gives a very curious account of the fairies: "Voici," says M. Mallet, "une Théorie complette de la Féerie;" but they are perhaps, as Bishop Percy has remarked, more analogous to the Weird Sisters than to the popular notion of fairyism in the present day. The ninth fable of the EDDA alludes to "LES GENIES lumineux," who are said to be "plus brillans que le soleil; mais les noirs sont plus noirs que la poix." And what is this but the good and bad genii of Eastern romance? Thor's "vaillante ceinture, qui a le pouvoir d'accroitre ses forces," and the "chaine magique," are equivalent to the enchanted ring; nor are "le grand serpent de Midgard," with other monsters, so unlike the oriental Dragon, as to preclude any comparison.

In short, the reader clearly distinguishes the accordance of the Northern mythology with that of the East. I could cite many more examples, but they are unnecessary; and if, as Mr. Dunlop imagines, "in the Eastern Peris we may trace the origin of EUROPEAN FAIRIES," by what possible contrivance, if he will be consistent, can he deny to the fairies of the North that claim which he grants to the whole of EUROPE ?

I shall now proceed to account for the introduction of romantic fiction, by a channel which appears to me the most natural, and therefore the most likely to be true. I would begin with that period in which the persecutions of the pagan rulers drove the primitive Christians into the East. Full of the mysterious wonders of the Apocalypse, not less than of the miraculous records of the Holy Gospels; imbued with all that the Old Testament narrates, and probably anticipating similar interposition from Heaven in their own persons; their minds wrought up by many causes to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, and their hearts glowing with a fervour that no other ages can boast-they were well prepared to receive the impres

Mythologie Celtique, p. 30.

a Ibid. p. 40.

Ibid. p. 36.
• Ibid. pp. 84 and 90.

The Apocryphal continuation of the Book of Esther, and Bel and the DRAGON, seem to bespeak the prevalence of this fiction in the East at a very early period. • Hist. of Fiction, vol. i. p. 165.