the same time there arrived at this spot a number of the Greek princes, who were travelling to the Tower of the Universe, to attempt the deliverance of their kindred. Sylvia was then discovered to be the daughter of Lisuarte, and was soon after united to her beloved Anastarax.

Meanwhile Florisel and Darinel had been driven to the coast of Apolonia, where Florisel forgetting Sylvia, became enamoured of Helena, princess of that country, but was soon forced to leave his new mistress, and, during his absence, accomplished the deliverance of his kindred; an adventure, the completion of which had all along been reserved for him.

On his way back to Apolonia he landed at Colchos, where he met with Alastraxare. Falanges, a Greek knight, and the constant companion of Florisel in his expeditions, fell in love with and fi nally espoused this Amazon. Florisel, on his arrival in Apolonia, found his mistress Helena, who had been constrained to this by her father, on the eve of a marriage with the prince of Gaul, but Florisel interrupted the marriage ceremony, by carrying off the bride. This rape of the second Helen, as she is termed, produced a great war. The forces of all the potentates of the west of Europe laid siege to Constantinople, and defeated the

Greek army, chiefly through the aid of the Russians. The savage monarch of that people, however, offended that his assistance had not been solicited by either party, was anxious for the destruction of both. Accordingly the Greeks having made an attempt to retrieve matters, the Russians unexpectedly fell on their former allies, and thus delivered Constantinople from the western invasion, and secured Florisel in the possession of Helena.

The romance might here have received termination, and the reader repose, but there yet remain two-thirds of the family history, and the adventures of a long series of heroes, who of course must be ushered in by an account of the previous amours of their ancestors. Amadis of Greece, in pursuing the treacherous Russians, to whom his country had been so much indebted, and who set sail immediately after their late notable exploit, was driven on a desert island, where he resolved to stay and do penance, on account of his infidelity to the princess of Sicily. Here he remained till that princess accidentally arrived on the island, and, after the proper expostulations, persuaded him to return to his wife Niquea. Meanwhile the Greek knights, particularly Florisel and Falanges, had set out in quest of Amadis, and had ar

VOL. II.

rived at the isle of Guinday. Sidonia, the queen of this country, proposed to marry Falanges; but, as he was scrupulous in maintaining his fidelity to Alastraxare, Florisel agreed to substitute himself in the place of his friend, and accordingly espoused her majesty under the feigned name of Moraizel. He soon after abandoned his bride, but the effect of this short intercourse was the birth of Dithe most beautiful of all the princesses of romance, and the heroine of the eleventh and twelfth books of this fabulous history, which chiefly con tain the adventures of

C***

ana,

son of Falanges and Alastraxare. A representation of the figure of the incomparable Diana having been rashly exhibited at Athens, where Agesilan was prosecuting his studies, he was inspired with such an irresistible passion, that he repaired, in the disguise of a minstrel, to the court of Queen Sidonia, the mother of his mistress, and was presented to her daughter as an amusing companion. Here he occasionally entertained the court ladies by the exercise of his musical and poetical talents, but at other times distinguished himself as an ama

zon, in combating the knights, who on various pretexts came to molest Sidonia. The circumstance of a lover residing with his mistress, and unknown. to her, in the disguise of a female, is frequent in subsequent romances, as in the Arcadia and Argenis, and its origin must be looked for in the stoof the concealment of Achilles.

ry

Agesilan at length having sufficiently distinguished himself by his exploits, appeared in his real character, and undertook to bring Sidonia the head of Florisel, against whom, since he had married and abandoned her, under the name of Moraizel, she had conceived the most bitter resentment. In prosecution of this scheme, Agesilan arrived at Constantinople, and defied Florisel to mortal fight. It was arranged that this combat should take place in the dominions of Sidonia, but it was there discovered, on the arrival of the champions, that Florisel might be turned to better account by employing him in defence of the island which had been recently invaded by the Russians. Having got rid of these enemies, Agesilan and Diana were affianced, and the general joy was increased by the arrival of the elder and younger Amadis. The Greek princes then set sail for Constantinople, where it was intended that the nuptials of Agesilan and Diana should be solem

nized. A tempest having arisen during the voy age, Agesilan and Diana were separated from the rest of their kindred, and thrown together on a desert rock, where they would have perished, had not a knight mounted on a griffin picked them up, and conveyed them to his residence in the Green Isle, one of the Canaries. Next morning their preserver having become enchanted with the beauty of Diana, privately carried her off to a remote part of the island, and was proceeding to give her the most lively demonstrations of attachment, when she was rescued by corsairs who had accidentally landed, and was conveyed on board their vessel. Agesilan having missed their host, and being also unable to find Diana, set out in quest of her on the griffin. Having in vain surveyed the island from the back of this winged monster, he traversed many other atmospheres, and at length descended in the country of the Garamantes. The king of this region, on account of his pride, had been struck blind, and had been sentenced to have the food prepared for him devoured by a nauseous dragon, who was now driven off by Agesilan. This story corresponds with that in the Orlando Furioso, (c. 33. st. 102, &c.), of Senapus, king of Ethiopia, who, on account of his overweening pride, had been struck blind, and had his