lace of their mistresses, who, as usual, admit their lovers to the privileges, before they have possessed the characters, of husbands. It afterwards occurred to them to send ambassadors to Esplandian and Amadis de Gaul, to talk of their nuptials: but, meanwhile, the emperor of Trebizond and Perion were carried off by pagan wiles, during a hunting match; and Lisuarte having gone in quest of them, came to the spot where they were detained, and was imprisoned in the same confinement.

While her lover Lisuarte thus remained in durance, the princess of Trebizond gave birth to a son, afterwards known by the name of

AMADIS OF GREECE,"

whose adventures, blended with those of his sem. piternal ancestry, form the 9th book of the family history, which is feigned, in the commencement of the 2d part, to have been imitated in Latin from the Greek, and thence translated into the Romance language: "Sacada de Griego in Latin, y de Latin en romance, segun lo escrivio el gran sabio Alquife en las magicas."

! Amadis de Grecia hijo de Don Lisuarte. Burgos, 1535,

The imprudent anticipation of Onoloria rendered concealment necessary, and, during the baptism of her infant, which was performed at a retired fountain, he was carried off by corsairs, and sold by them to the Moorish king of Saba (Sheva). It has been remarked, that the lineage of Amadis generally had from infancy some striking personal peculiarity, which, in the untoward circumstances of their birth and childhood, was essential to a future acknowledgment by their parents. Amadis of Greece was distinguishable by the representation of a sword on his breast. Hence, when, at the age of fourteen, he obtained some order of chivalry from the king of Saba, he assumed the name of the Knight of the Flaming Sword. A black courtier being jealous of the favour which He of the Flaming Sword enjoyed with the king, accused him to his master of a criminal intrigue with the queen. Amadis was obliged privately to escape from the wrath of the incensed monarch, and thus at an early age enters on the career of adventure.

The exploits in this romance commence, as they did in that of Esplandian, at the Forbidden Mountain. Amadis, who was yet an obdurate heathen, defeated and expelled the Christian possessors who held it for the Greeks, and afterwards

defended it in single combat against the Emperor Esplandian himself, who came in person to recover that important citadel. After this he fell in with the king of Sicily; their acquaintance commenced with a combat, but Amadis subsequently aided him in various enterprises, to which he was stimulated by the passion he had conceived for this monarch's daughter.

In the course of his navigation to Sicily, Amadis arrived at an island where he disenchanted the emperor of Trebizond, Lisuarte, Perion, and Gradaffile. These princes, and their female companion Gradaffile, as was mentioned in the end of the last romance, had been carried off by pagan stratagems, and were lying in the dormant state into which they had been lulled by the sorcery of a pagan princess, in the same manner, though with different views, that their ancestors had been put to rest by Urganda. When these heroes were completely roused, Amadis de Gaul having set out in quest of adventures, met with the queen of Saba, who was scouring the seas in search of a champion to defend her against the false charge of conjugal infidelity. Amadis espoused her quarrel, and having arrived in Saba, overthrew her accuser, and established to the satisfaction of the king the in

nocence of his wife, and his Eleve of the Flaming Sword.

After the account of this exploit, a considerable portion of the romance is occupied with the unremitting pursuit, by Amadis of Greece, of a knight whom he erroneously imagined to be in love with the princess of Sicily, because he overheard him reciting amorous verses. He long pursued him with unabating animosity, and met with many adventures during his chase; but was at length undeceived at a personal interview, at which he seems to have learned, for the first time, that there could be other subjects of amatory verses besides the princess of Sicily.

While Amadis was thus occupied, his father Lisuarte had returned to Trebizond, and had formally requested the hand of Onoloria. Unfortunately for his pretensions, Zairo, sultan of Babylon, had become enamoured of this princess in a dream, and had arrived at Trebizond, accompanied by his sister Abra, to demand her in marriage. His propositions were much relished by the emperor, but, being of course opposed by Lisuarte, the sultan resorted to warlike measures to obtain possession of Onoloria; he accordingly besieged Trebizond, but the champions he se

lected to decide his pretensions were defeated by Gradaffile, who appeared in the disguise of a knight. The sultan afterwards forcibly carried off the object of his passion, but his fleet was encountered by Amadis de Gaul, who was sailing to the relief of Trebizond. Onoloria was rescued, and the sultan himself was slain.

Abra, his sister, succeeded to the throne of Babylon. This princess, when she accompanied her brother to Trebizond, had become enamoured of Lisuarte: her suit had been rejected, and the pangs of ill-requited affection, added to the desire of avenging the death of her brother, induced her to raise up knights in all parts of the world to attempt the destruction of Lisuarte. One of her damsels, while on this quest, met with Amadis of Greece, and made him promise to grant her mistress the head of Lisuarte as a gift. Hence, on the arrival of Amadis at Trebizond, there was a dreadful combat between the father and son, which must have terminated fatally to one or other, had it not been broken off by the appearance of Urganda, who now revealed that Amadis was the offspring of Lisuarte.

This, however, was but an incidental exploit on the part of Amadis; his attention had lately been engrossed by objects different from those by which