bella. It was subsequently revised and compared with the old manuscript fragments by Garcias Ordognez de Montalvo, who at length published an amended edition in 1547, at Salamanca. From the prior edition of 1526, D'Herberay formed his translation of the four books of Amadis, dedicated to Francis I., and printed 1540. To these he added other four books, containing the exploits of the descendants of Amadis, which were drawn from Spanish originals: the family history was subsequently carried to the twenty-fourth book by translators who also wrought from Spanish originals, but sometimes added interpolations of their own; and the whole received the name of Amadis de Gaul, which was the title of all the peninsular prototypes. The first books, which relate peculiarly to the exploits of Amadis, were compressed by the Count de Tressan, in his free translation, into two volumes 12mo. His labour was entirely useless, as he has, in a great measure, changed the incidents of the romance, and hid the genuine manners and feelings of chivalry under the varnish of French sentiment. A late version by Mr Southey is greatly preferable, as the events are there accurately related, and the manners faithfully observed.

The era of the exploits of Amadis is prior to

the age of Arthur or Charlemagne, and he is the most ancient as well as the most fabulous of all heroes of chivalry. He is said in the romance to have been the illegitimate offspring of Perion, king of Gaul, and Elisena, princess of Britany. The mother, to conceal her shame, exposed the infant, soon after his birth, in a cradle, which was committed to the sea. He was picked up by a knight of Scotland, who was returning from Britany to his own country, and who reared him under the name of Child of the Sea. When twelve years of age he was sent to be educated at the court of the king of Scotland. There a mutual attachment was formed between him and Oriana, who was daughter of Lisuarte, king of England, but had been sent to Scotland on account of the commotions in her own country. After Amadis had received the honour of knighthood, he proceeded to the succour of Perion, king of Gaul, who by this time had espoused Elisena, and had become the father of another son, named Galaor. This second child had been stolen by a giant, who wished to educate him according to his own system; but Perion was consoled for the loss by the recognition of Amadis, who was discovered to be his son by means of a ring, which had been placed on his finger when he was exposed. His parents

derived the greater satisfaction from this acknowledgment, as Amadis had already proved his valour by the overthrow of the king of Ireland, who had invaded Gaul, an exploit similar to that with which it may be recollected Tristan began his

career.

It is impossible to give any account of the adventures of Amadis after his return to England, though they only divide the romance with those of his brother Galaor-the wars of extermination he carried on against giants-the assistance he afforded to Lisuarte against the usurper Barsinan and the enchanter Arcalaus-his long retirement under the name of Beltenebros to a hermitage, after receiving a cruel letter from his mistress Oriana, one of the chief points of Don Quixote's fantastic imitation-the battles he fought, after quitting this abode, against Cildadan, king of Ireland-the defeat of a hundred knights, by whom Lisuarte had been attacked; and, finally, his innumerable exploits in Germany and in Turkey, when the jealousy and suspicion of Lisuarte, excited by evil counsellors, had forced him to leave Oriana and the court of England.

Amadis returned, however, in sufficient time to rescue his beloved princess from the power of the Romans, to whose ambassadors Lisuarte had given

her up, to be espoused by the emperor's brother. Their fleet having been intercepted by Amadis, and totally defeated, Oriana was conveyed to the Firm Island by her lover. A long war was then carried on betwixt Lisuarte and Amadis, in which the former was worsted; and when weakened by two dreadful battles, he was unexpectedly attacked by an old enemy, Aravigo, who was urged on by the enchanter Arcalaus. When in this dilemma, he was saved by the generosity of Amadis, who having turned to his assistance the arms he had lately employed against him, defeated his enemies, slew Aravigo, and took Arcalaus prisoner. On account of this conduct, and a discovery that the delights of matrimony had been anticipated, Lisuarte consented to the formal union of his daughter with Amadis. Their nuptials were celebrated on the Firm Island, and Oriana terminated the wonderful enchantments of that spot, by entering the magic apartment, which could only be approached by the fairest and most faithful woman in the world.

The notion of a chamber, a tower, or island, accessible only to a certain hero or beauty, and which occurs in many of the subsequent books of Amadis, is evidently derived from oriental fiction, which, as naturally to be expected, abounds more

in the romances of the peninsula, than in those of France or England. We are told in an eastern story, that Abdalmalek, 5th caliph of the Ommiades, and one of the first who invaded Spain, arrived at a castle erected by the fairies, on one of the most remote mountains in Spain. The gate was secured, not by a lock, but by a dragon's tooth, and over it was an inscription, which imported that it was accessible to none but Abdalmalek.

But while eastern fictions have supplied some magical adventures, especially towards the conclusion of the work, the earlier and greater part of Amadis de Gaul is occupied with combats, which are generally described with much spirit, yet are tiresome by frequent repetition; and at length scarcely interest us, as we become almost certain of the success of the hero from the frequent recurrence of victory.

Though the story does not lead us, like many other romances, through the adventures of a multitude of knights, changing without method from one to another, it suspends our attention between the exploits of Amadis and those of his brother Galaor.

Amadis excels the French romances of chivalry in the delineation of character. There is much sweetness in the account of the infancy and boy