OF THE ORIGIN OF ROMANTIC FICTION in EUROPE.
DISSERTATION I.

THAT peculiar and arbitrary ſpecies of Fiction which we commonly call Romantic, was entirely unknown to the writers of Greece and Rome. It appears to have been imported into Europe by a people, whoſe modes of thinking, and habits of invention, are not natural to that country. It is generally ſuppoſed to have been borrowed from the Arabians. But this origin has not been hitherto perhaps examined or aſcertained with a ſufficient degree of accuracy. It is my preſent deſign, by a more diſtinct and extended inquiry than has yet been applied to the ſubject, to trace the manner and the period of its introduction into the popular belief, the oral poetry, and the literature, of the Europeans.

It is an eſtabliſhed maxim of modern criticiſm, that the fictions of Arabian imagination were communicated to the [] weſtern world by means of the cruſades. Undoubtedly thoſe expeditions greatly contributed to propagate this mode of fabling in Europe. But it is evident, although a circum⯑ſtance which certainly makes no material difference as to the principles here eſtabliſhed, that theſe fancies were intro⯑duced at a much earlier period. The Saracens, or Arabians, having been for ſome time ſeated on the northern coaſts of Africa, entered Spain about the beginning of the eighth cen⯑tury ^a. Of this country they ſoon effected a complete con⯑queſt: and impoſing their religion, language, and cuſtoms, upon the inhabitants, erected a royal ſeat in the capital city of Cordoua.

That by means of this eſtabliſhment they firſt revived the ſciences of Greece in Europe, will be proved at large in another place ^b: and it is obvious to conclude, that at the ſame time they diſſeminated thoſe extravagant inventions which were ſo peculiar to their romantic and creative genius. A manuſcript cited by Du Cange acquaints us, that the Spaniards, ſoon after the irruption of the Saracens, entirely neglected the ſtudy of the Latin language; and captivated with the novelty of the oriental books imported by theſe ſtrangers, ſuddenly adopted an unuſual pomp of ſtyle, and an affected elevation of diction ^c. The ideal tales of theſe eaſtern invaders, recommended by a brilliancy of deſcrip⯑tion, a variety of imagery, and an exuberance of invention, hitherto unknown and unfamiliar to the cold and barren conceptions of a weſtern climate, were eagerly caught up, and univerſally diffuſed. From Spain, by the communica⯑tions of a conſtant commercial intercourſe through the ports of Toulon and Marſeilles, they ſoon paſſed into France and Italy.

[] In France, no province, or diſtrict, ſeems to have given theſe fictions of the Arabians a more welcome or a more early reception, than the inhabitants of Armorica or Baſſe Bretagne, now Britany; for no part of France can boaſt ſo great a number of antient romances ^c. Many poems of high antiquity, compoſed by the Armorican bards, ſtill re⯑main ^d, and are frequently cited by father Lobineau in his learned hiſtory of Baſſe Bretagne ^e. This territory was as it were newly peopled in the fourth century by a colony or army of the Welſh, who migrated thither under the con⯑duct of Maximus a Roman general in Britain ^f, and Conan [] lord of Meiriadoc or Denbigh-land ^g. The Armoric language now ſpoken in Britany is a dialect of the Welſh: and ſo ſtrong a reſemblance ſtill ſubſiſts between the two languages, that in our late conqueſt of Belleiſle, ſuch of our ſoldiers as were natives of Wales were underſtood by the peaſantry. Milton, whoſe imagination was much ſtruck with the old Britiſh ſtory, more than once alludes to the Welſh colony planted in Armorica by Maximus and the prince of Meiriadoc. ‘Et tandem ARMORICOS Britonum ſub lege colonos ^h.’ And in the PARADISE LOST he mentions indiſcriminately the knights of Wales and Armorica as the cuſtomary retinue of king Arthur.

This migration of the Welſh into Britany or Armorica, which during the diſtractions of the empire, in conſequence of the numerous armies of barbarians with which Rome was ſurrounded on every ſide, had thrown off its dependence on the Romans, ſeems to have occaſioned a cloſe connection between the two countries for many centuries ^k. Nor will [] it prove leſs neceſſary to our purpoſe to obſerve, that the Corniſh Britons, whoſe language was another dialect of the antient Britiſh, from the fourth or fifth century downwards, maintained a no leſs intimate correſpondence with the natives of Armorica: intermarrying with them, and perpetually re⯑ſorting thither for the education of their children, for ad⯑vice, for procuring troops againſt the Saxons, for the pur⯑poſes of traffick, and various other occaſions. This con⯑nection was ſo ſtrongly kept up, that an ingenious French antiquary ſuppoſes, that the communications of the Armori⯑cans with the Corniſh had chiefly contributed to give a roughneſs or rather hardneſs to the romance or French language in ſome of the provinces, towards the eleventh century, which was not before diſcernible ^l. And this inter⯑courſe will appear more natural, if we conſider, that not only Armorica, a maritime province of Gaul, never much frequented by the Romans, and now totally deſerted by them, was ſtill in ſome meaſure a Celtic nation; but that alſo the inhabitants of Cornwall, together with thoſe of Devonſhire and of the adjoining parts of Somerſetſhire, intermixing in a very ſlight degree with the Romans, and having ſuffered fewer important alterations in their original conſtitution and cuſtoms from the imperial laws and police than any other province of this iſland, long preſerved their genuine manners and Britiſh character: and forming a ſort of ſeparate princi⯑pality under the government of a ſucceſſion of powerful chieftains, uſually denominated princes or dukes of Corn⯑wall, remained partly in a ſtate of independence during the Saxon heptarchy, and were not entirely reduced till the Nor⯑man conqueſt. Cornwall, in particular, retained its old Celtic dialect till the reign of Elizabeth ^m.

[] And here I digreſs a moment to remark, that in the circum⯑ſtance juſt mentioned about Wales, of its connection with Ar⯑morica, we perceive the ſolution of a difficulty which at firſt ſight appears extremely problematical: I mean, not only that Wales ſhould have been ſo conſtantly made the theatre of the old Britiſh chivalry, but that ſo many of the favorite fictions which occur in the early French romances, ſhould alſo be literally found in the tales and chronicles of the elder Welſh bards ⁿ. It was owing to the perpetual com⯑munication kept up between the Welſh, and the people of Armorica who abounded in theſe fictions, and who na⯑turally took occaſion to interweave them into the hiſtory of their friends and allies. Nor are we now at a loſs to give the reaſon why Cornwall, in the ſame French romances, is made the ſcene and the ſubject of ſo many romantic adven⯑tures ^o. In the meantime we may obſerve, what indeed has been already implied, that a ſtrict intercourſe was upheld between Cornwall and Wales. Their languages, cuſtoms, and alliances, as I have hinted, were the ſame; and they were ſeparated only by a ſtrait of inconſiderable breadth. Cornwall is frequently ſtyled Weſt-Wales by the Britiſh writers. At the invaſion of the Saxons, both countries became indiſcriminately the receptacle of the fugitive Bri⯑tons. We find the Welſh and Corniſh, as one people, often uniting themſelves as in a national cauſe againſt the Saxons. They were frequently ſubject to the ſame prince ^p, who ſometimes [] reſided in Wales, and ſometimes in Cornwall; and the kings or dukes of Cornwall were perpetually ſung by the Welſh bards. Llygad Gwr, a Welſh bard, in his ſublime and ſpirited ode to Llwellyn, ſon of Grunfludd, the laſt prince of Wales of the Britiſh line, has a wiſh, ‘"May the prints of the hoofs of my prince's ſteed be ſeen as far as CORNWALL ^q.’ Traditions about king Arthur, to mention no more inſtances, are as popular in Cornwall as in Wales: and moſt of the romantic caſtles, rocks, rivers, and caves, of both nations, are alike at this day diſtinguiſhed by ſome noble atchievement, at leaſt by the name, of that celebrated champion. But to return.

About the year 1100, Gualter, archdeacon of Oxford, a learned man, and a diligent collector of hiſtories, travelling through France, procured in Armorica an antient chronicle written in the Britiſh or Armorican language, entitled, BRUT⯑Y-BRENHINED, or THE HISTORY OF THE KINGS OF BRI⯑TAIN ^r. This book he brought into England, and communi⯑cated it to Geoffrey of Monmouth, a Welſh Benedictine monk, an elegant writer of Latin, and admirably ſkilled in the Britiſh tongue. Geoffrey, at the requeſt and recommen⯑dation of Gualter the archdeacon, tranſlated this Britiſh chronicle into Latin ^s, executing the tranſlation with a tole⯑rable degree of purity and great fidelity, yet not without [] ſome interpolations ^s. It was probably finiſhed after the year 1138 ^t.

[] It is difficult to aſcertain exactly the period at which our tranſlator's original romance may probably be ſuppoſed to have been compiled. Yet this is a curious ſpeculation, and will illuſtrate our argument. I am inclined to think that the work conſiſts of fables thrown out by different rhap⯑ſodiſts at different times, which afterwards were collected and digeſted into an entire hiſtory, and perhaps with new decorations of fancy added by the compiler, who moſt pro⯑bably was one of the profeſſed bards, or rather a poetical hiſtorian, of Armorica or Baſſe Bretagne. In this ſtate, and under this form, I ſuppoſe it to have fallen into the hands of Geoffrey of Monmouth. If the hypotheſis hereafter ad⯑vanced concerning the particular ſpecies of fiction on which this narrative is founded, ſhould be granted, it cannot, from what I have already proved, be more antient than the eighth century: and we may reaſonably conclude, that it was compoſed much later, as ſome conſiderable length of time muſt have been neceſſary for the propagation and eſtabliſh⯑ment of that ſpecies of fiction. The ſimple ſubject of this chronicle, diveſted of its romantic embelliſhments, is a de⯑duction of the Welſh princes from the Trojan Brutus to Cadwallader, who reigned in the ſeventh century ^u. It muſt [] be acknowledged, that many European nations were antiently fond of tracing their deſcent from Troy. Hunnibaldus Fran⯑cus, in his Latin hiſtory of France, written in the ſixth cen⯑tury, beginning with the Trojan war, and ending with Clovis the firſt, aſcribes the origin of the French nation to Francio a ſon of Priam ^w. So univerſal was this humour, and car⯑ried to ſuch an abſurd exceſs of extravagance, that under the reign of Juſtinian, even the Greeks were ambitious of being thought to be deſcended from the Trojans, their an⯑tient and notorious enemies. Unleſs we adopt the idea of thoſe antiquaries, who contend that Europe was peopled from Phrygia, it will be hard to diſcover at what period, or from what ſource, ſo ſtrange and improbable a notion could take its riſe, eſpecially among nations unacquainted with hiſtory, and overwhelmed in ignorance. The moſt rational mode of accounting for it, is to ſuppoſe, that the revival of Virgil's Eneid about the ſixth or ſeventh century, which re⯑preſented the Trojans as the founders of Rome, the capital of the ſupreme pontiff, and a city on various other accounts in the early ages of chriſtianity highly reverenced and diſ⯑tinguiſhed, occaſioned an emulation in many other European nations of claiming an alliance to the ſame reſpectable origi⯑nal. The monks and other eccleſiaſtics, the only readers and writers of the age, were likely to broach, and were in⯑tereſted in propagating, ſuch an opinion. As the more bar⯑barous countries of Europe began to be tinctured with lite⯑rature, there was hardly one of them but fell into the faſhion of deducing its original from ſome of the nations moſt cele⯑brated in the antient books. Thoſe who did not aſpire ſo [] high as king Priam, or who found that claim preoccupied, boaſted to be deſcended from ſome of the generals of Alexander the Great, from Pruſias king of Bithynia, from the Greeks or the Egyptians. It it not in the mean time quite impro⯑bable, that as moſt of the European nations were provincial to the Romans, thoſe who fancied themſelves to be of Trojan extraction might have imbibed this notion, at leaſt have ac⯑quired a general knowledge of the Trojan ſtory, from their conquerors: more eſpecially the Britons, who continued ſo long under the yoke of Rome ^x. But as to the ſtory of Brutus in particular, Geoffrey's hero, it may be preſumed that his legend was not contrived, nor the hiſtory of his ſucceſſors invented, till after the ninth century: for Nennius, who lived about the middle of that century, not only ſpeaks of Brutus with great obſcurity and inconſiſtency, but ſeems totally uninformed as to every circumſtance of the Britiſh affairs which preceded Ceſar's invaſion. There are other proofs that this piece could not have exiſted before the ninth century. Alfred's Saxon tranſlation of the Mercian law is mentioned ^y. Charlemagne's Twelve Peers, and by an ana⯑chroniſm not uncommon in romance, are ſaid to be preſent at king Arthur's magnificent coronation in the city of Caer⯑leon ^z. It were eaſy to produce inſtances, that this chronicle was undoubtedly framed after the legend of ſaint Urſula, the acts of ſaint Lucius, and the hiſtorical writings of the venerable Bede, had undergone ſome degree of circulation in the world. At the ſame time it contains many paſſages which incline us to determine, that ſome parts of it at leaſt were written after or about the eleventh century. I will not inſiſt on that paſſage, in which the title of legate of the apoſtolic ſee is attributed to Dubricius in the character of primate of Britain; as it appears for obvious reaſons to have been an artful interpolation of the tranſlator, who was an eccleſiaſtic. But I will ſelect other arguments. Canute's foreſt, or Cannock-wood [] in Staffordſhire occurs; and Canute died in the year 1036 ^z. At the ideal coronation of king Arthur, juſt mentioned, a tournament is deſcribed as exhibited in its higheſt ſplendor. ‘"Many knights, ſays our Armoric fa⯑bler, famous for feats of chivalry, were preſent, with ap⯑parel and arms of the ſame colour and faſhion. They formed a ſpecies of diverſion, in imitation of a fight on horſeback, and the ladies being placed on the walls of the caſtles, darted amorous glances on the combatants. None of theſe ladies eſteemed any knight worthy of her love, but ſuch as had given proof of his gallantry in three ſeveral encounters. Thus the valour of the men encou⯑raged chaſtity in the women, and the attention of the wo⯑men proved an incentive to the ſoldier's bravery ^a."’ Here is the practice of chivalry under the combined ideas of love and military proweſs, as they ſeem to have ſubſiſted after the feudal conſtitution had acquired greater degrees not only of ſtability but of ſplendor and refinement ^b. And although a ſpecies of tournament was exhibited in France at the recon⯑ciliation of the ſons of Lewis the feeble, in the cloſe of the ninth century, and at the beginning of the tenth, the co⯑ronation of the emperor Henry was ſolemnized with mar⯑tial entertainments, in which many parties were introduced fighting on horſeback; yet it was long afterwards that theſe games were accompanied with the peculiar formalities, and ceremonious uſages, here deſcribed ^c. In the mean time, we [] cannot anſwer for the innovations of a tranſlator in ſuch a deſcription. The burial of Hengiſt, the Saxon chief, who is ſaid to have been interred not after the pagan faſhion, as Geoffrey renders the words of the original, but after the manner of the SOLDANS, is partly an argument that our ro⯑mance was compoſed about the time of the cruſades. It was not till thoſe memorable campaigns of miſtaken devotion had infatuated the weſtern world, that the ſoldans or ſultans of Babylon, of Egypt, of Iconium, and other eaſtern kingdoms, became familiar in Europe. Not that the notion of this piece being written ſo late as the cruſades in the leaſt invalidates the doctrine delivered in this diſcourſe. Not even if we ſup⯑poſe that Geoffrey of Monmouth was its original compoſer. That notion rather tends to confirm and eſtabliſh my ſyſtem. On the whole we may venture to affirm, that this chronicle, ſuppoſed to contain the ideas of the Welſh bards, entirely conſiſts of Arabian inventions. And, in this view, no dif⯑ference is made whether it was compiled about the tenth century, at which time, if not before, the Arabians from their ſettlement in Spain muſt have communicated their ro⯑mantic fables to other parts of Europe, eſpecially to the French; or whether it firſt appeared in the eleventh cen⯑tury, after the cruſades had multiplied theſe fables to an ex⯑ceſſive degree, and made them univerſally popular. And al⯑though the general caſt of the inventions contained in this romance is alone ſufficient to point out the ſource from whence they were derived, yet I chuſe to prove to a demon⯑ſtration what is here advanced, by producing and examining ſome particular paſſages.

The books of the Arabians and Perſians abound with ex⯑travagant traditions about the giants Gog and Magog. Theſe they call Jagiouge and Magiouge; and the Caucaſian wall, [] ſaid to be built by Alexander the Great from the Caſpian to the Black Sea, in order to cover the frontiers of his domi⯑nion, and to prevent the incurſions of the Sythians ^d, is cal⯑led by the orientals the WALL of GOG and MAGOG ^e. One of the moſt formidable giants, according to our Armorican romance, [] which oppoſed the landing of Brutus in Britain, was Goemagot. He was twelve cubits high, and would unroot an oak as eaſily as an hazel wand: but after a moſt obſti⯑nate encounter with Corineus, he was tumbled into the ſea from the ſummit of a ſteep cliff on the rocky ſhores of Corn⯑wall, and daſhed in pieces againſt the huge crags of the de⯑clivity. The place where he fell, adds our hiſtorian, taking its name from the giant's fall, is called LAM-GOEMAGOT, or GOEMAGOT'S LEAP, to this day ^f. A no leſs monſtrous giant, whom king Arthur ſlew on Saint Michael's Mount in Corn⯑wall, is ſaid by this fabler to have come from Spain. Here the origin of theſe ſtories is evidently betrayed ^g. The Ara⯑bians, or Saracens, as I have hinted above, had conquered Spain, and were ſettled there. Arthur having killed this redoubted giant, declares, that he had combated with none of equal ſtrength and proweſs, ſince he overcame the mighty giant Ritho, on the mountain Arabius, who had made himſelf a robe of the beards of the kings whom he had killed. This tale is in Spenſer's Faerie Queene. A magician brought from Spain is called to the aſſiſtance of Edwin, a prince of Northumberland ^h, educated under Solomon king of the Armoricans ⁱ. In the prophecy of Merlin, delivered to Vorti⯑gern after the battle of the dragons, forged perhaps by the tranſlator Geoffrey, yet apparently in the ſpirit and manner of the reſt, we have the Arabians named, and their ſitua⯑tions in Spain and Africa. ‘"From Conau ſhall come forth a wild boar, whoſe tuſks ſhall deſtroy the oaks of the fo⯑reſts of France. The ARABIANS and AFRICANS ſhall dread him; and he ſhall continue his rapid courſe into the moſt diſtant parts of Spain ^k."’ This is king Arthur. In the ſame prophecy, mention is made of the ‘"Woods of [] Africa."’ In another place Gormund king of the Africans occurs ^l. In a battle which Arthur fights againſt the Ro⯑mans, ſome of the principal leaders in the Roman army are Alifantinam king of Spain, Pandraſus king of Egypt, Boccus king of the Medes, Evander king of Syria, Micipſa king of Babylon, and a duke of Phrygia ^m. It is obvious to ſuppoſe how theſe countries became ſo familiar to the bard of our chronicle. The old fictions about Stonehenge were derived from the ſame inexhauſtible ſource of extravagant imagina⯑tion. We are told in this romance, that the giants con⯑veyed the ſtones which compoſe this miraculous monument from the fartheſt coaſts of Africa. Every one of theſe ſtones is ſuppoſed to be myſtical, and to contain a medicinal virtue: an idea drawn from the medical ſkill of the Arabians ⁿ, and more particularly from the Arabian doctrine of attri⯑buting healing qualities, and other occult properties, to ſtones ^o. Merlin's transformation of Uther into Gorlois, and of Ulfin into Bricel, by the power of ſome medical pre⯑paration, is a ſpecies of Arabian magic, which profeſſed to work the moſt wonderful deceptions of this kind, and is men⯑tioned at large hereafter, in tracing the inventions of Chaucer's poetry. The attribution of prophetical language to birds was common among the orientals: and an eagle is ſuppoſed to ſpeak at building the walls of the city of Paladur, now Shafteſbury ^p. The Arabians cultivated the ſtudy of philoſophy, [] particularly aſtronomy, with amazing ardour ^o. Hence aroſe the tradition, reported by our hiſtorian, that in king Arthur's reign, there ſubſiſted at Caer-leon in Glamorgan⯑ſhire a college of two hundred philoſophers, who ſtudied aſtronomy and other ſciences; and who were particularly employed in watching the courſes of the ſtars, and predicting events to the king from their obſervations ^p. Edwin's Spaniſh magician above-mentioned, by his knowledge of the flight of birds, and the courſes of the ſtars, is ſaid to foretell future diſaſters. In the ſame ſtrain Merlin, prognoſticates Uther's ſucceſs in battle by the appearance of a comet ^q. The ſame enchanter's wonderful ſkill in mechanical powers, by which he removes the giant's Dance, or Stonehenge, from Ireland into England, and the notion that this ſtupendous ſtructure was raiſed by a PROFOUND PHILOSOPHICAL KNOW⯑LEDGE OF THE MECHANICAL ARTS, are founded on the Arabic literature ^r. To which we may add king Bladud's magical operations ^s. Dragons are a ſure mark of orientaliſm. One of theſe in our romance is a ‘"terrible dragon flying from the weſt, breathing fire, and illuminating all the country with the brightneſs of his eyes ^t."’ In another place we have a giant mounted on a winged dragon: the dragon erects his ſcaly tail, and wafts his rider to the clouds with great rapidity ^u.

Arthur and Charlemagne are the firſt and original heroes of romance. And as Geoffrey's hiſtory is the grand repoſitory of the acts of Arthur, ſo a fabulous hiſtory aſcribed to Turpin is the ground work of all the chimerical legends which have been related concerning the conqueſts of Charlemagne and his twelve peers. Its ſubject is the expulſion of the Saracens [] from Spain: and it is filled with fictions evidently cogenial with thoſe which characteriſe Geoffrey's hiſtory ^w.

Some ſuppoſe, as I have hinted above, this romance to have been written by Turpin, a monk of the eighth century; who, for his knowledge of the Latin language, his ſanctity, and gallant exploits againſt the Spaniſh Saracens, was pre⯑ferred to the archbiſhoprick of Rheims by Charlemagne. Others believe it to have been forged under archbiſhop Turpin's name about that time. Others very ſoon after⯑wards, in the reign of Charles the Bald ^x. That is, about the year 870 ^y.

Voltaire, a writer of much deeper reſearch than is ima⯑gined, and the firſt who has diſplayed the literature and cuſtoms of the dark ages with any degree of penetration and comprehenſion, ſpeaking of the fictitious tales concern⯑ing Charlemagne, has remarked, ‘"Ces fables qu'un moine ecrivit au onzieme ſiecle, ſous le nom de l'archeveque Turpin ^z."’ And it might eaſily be ſhewn that juſt before the commencement of the thirteenth century, romantic ſtories about Charlemagne were more faſhionable than ever among the French minſtrels. That is, on the recent pub⯑lication of this fabulous hiſtory of Charlemagne. Hiſtorical evidence concurs with numerous internal arguments to prove, that it muſt have been compiled after the cruſades. In the twentieth chapter, a pretended pilgrimage of Charlemagne to the holy ſepulchre at Jeruſalem is recorded: a forgery [] ſeemingly contrived with a deſign to give an importance to thoſe wild expeditions, and which would eaſily be believed when thus authenticated by an archbiſhop ^a.

There is another ſtrong internal proof that this romance was written long after the time of Charlemagne. Our hiſ⯑torian is ſpeaking of the numerous chiefs and kings who came with their armies to aſſiſt his hero: among the reſt he mentions earl Oell, and adds, ‘"Of this man there is a ſong commonly ſung among the minſtrels even to this day ^b."’ Nor will I believe, that the European art of war, in the eighth century, could bring into the field ſuch a prodigious parade of battering rams and wooden caſtles, as thoſe with which Charlemagne is ſaid to have beſieged the city Agen⯑num ^c: the cruſades ſeem to have made theſe huge military machines common in the European armies. However we may ſuſpect it appeared before, yet not long before, Geof⯑frey's romance; who mentions Charlemagne's TWELVE PEERS, ſo laviſhly celebrated in Turpin's book, as preſent at king Arthur's imaginary coronation at Caer-leon. Al⯑though the twelve peers of France occur in chronicles of the tenth century ^d; and they might beſides have been ſug⯑geſted to Geoffrey's original author, from popular traditions and ſongs of minſtrels. We are ſure it was extant before the year 1122, for Calixtus the ſecond in that year, by papal [] authority, pronounced this hiſtory to be genuine ^e. Mon⯑ſieur Allard affirms, that it was written, and in the eleventh century, at Vienna by a monk of Saint Andrew's ^f. This monk was probably nothing more than ſome Latin tran⯑ſlator: but a learned French antiquary is of opinion, that it was originally compoſed in Latin; and moreover, that the moſt antient romances, even thoſe of the Round Table, were originally written in that language ^g. Oienhart, and with the greateſt probability, ſuppoſes it to be the work of a Spaniard. He quotes an authentic manuſcript to prove, that it was brought out of Spain into France before the cloſe of the twelfth century ^h; and that the miraculous exploits performed in Spain by Charlemagne and earl Roland, recorded in this romantic hiſtory, were unknown among the French before that period: except only that ſome few of them were obſcurely and imperfectly ſketched in the metrical tales of thoſe who ſung heroic adventures ⁱ. Oienhart's ſup⯑poſition that this hiſtory was compiled in Spain, the centre of oriental fabling in Europe, at once accounts for the na⯑ture and extravagance of its fictions, and immediately points to their Arabian origin ^k. As to the French manuſcript of [] this hiſtory, it is a tranſlation from Turpin's Latin, made by Michel de Harnes in the year 1207 ^l. And, by the way, from the tranſlator's declaration, that there was a great im⯑propriety in tranſlating Latin proſe into verſe, we may con⯑clude, that at the commencement of the thirteenth century the French generally made their tranſlations into verſe.

In theſe two fabulous chronicles the foundations of romance ſeem to be laid. The principal characters, the leading ſub⯑jects, and the fundamental fictions, which have ſupplied ſuch ample matter to this ſingular ſpecies of compoſition, are here firſt diſplayed. And although the long continuance of the cruſades imported innumerable inventions of a ſimilar complexion, and ſubſtituted the atchievements of new cham⯑pions and the wonders of other countries, yet the tales of Arthur and of Charlemagne, diverſified indeed, or enlarged with additional embelliſhments, ſtill continued to prevail, and to be the favourite topics: and this, partly from their early popularity, partly from the quantity and the beauty of the fictions with which they were at firſt ſupported, and eſpecially becauſe the deſign of the cruſades had made thoſe ſubjects ſo faſhionable in which chriſtians fought with infi⯑dels. In a word, theſe volumes are the firſt ſpecimens [] extant in this mode of writing. No European hiſtory before theſe has mentioned giants, enchanters, dragons, and the like monſtrous and arbitrary fictions. And the reaſon is obvious: they were written at a time when a new and unnatural mode of thinking took place in Europe, intro⯑duced by our communication with the eaſt.

Hitherto I have conſidered the Saracens either at their immigration into Spain about the ninth century, or at the time of the cruſades, as the firſt authors of romantic fabling among the Europeans. But a late ingenious critic has advanced an hypotheſis, which aſſigns a new ſource, and a much earlier date, to theſe fictions. I will cite his opinion of this matter in his own words. ‘"Our old romances of chivalry may be derived in a LINEAL DES⯑CENT from the antient hiſtorical ſongs of the Gothic bards and ſcalds.—Many of thoſe ſongs are ſtill preſerved in the north, which exhibit all the ſeeds of chivalry before it became a ſolemn inſtitution.—Even the com⯑mon arbitrary fictions of romance were moſt of them familiar to the antient ſcalds of the north, long before the time of the cruſades. They believed the exiſtence of giants and dwarfs, they had ſome notion of fairies, they were ſtrongly poſſeſſed with the belief of ſpells and in⯑chantment, and were fond of inventing combats with dragons and monſters ^m."’ Monſieur Mallet, a very able and elegant inquirer into the genius and antiquities of the northern nations, mantains the ſame doctrine. He ſeems to think, that many of the opinions and practices of the Goths, however obſolete, ſtill obſcurely ſubſiſt. He adds, ‘"May we not rank among theſe, for example, that love and admiration for the profeſſion of arms which prevailed among our anceſtors even to fanaticiſm, and as it were through ſyſtem, and brave from a point of honour?— [] Can we not explain from the Gothic religion, how judi⯑ciary combats, and proofs by the ordeal, to the aſtoniſh⯑ment of poſterity, were admitted by the legiſlature of all Europe ⁿ: and how, even to the preſent age, the people are ſtill infatuated with a belief of the power of magi⯑cians, witches, ſpirits, and genii, concealed under the earth or in the waters?—Do we not diſcover in theſe religious opinions, that ſource of the marvellous with which our anceſtors filled their romances; in which we ſee dwarfs and giants, fairies and demons," &c ^o.’ And in another place. ‘"The fortreſſes of the Goths were only rude caſtles ſituated on the ſummits of rocks, and rendered inacceſſible by thick misſhapen walls. As theſe walls ran winding round the caſtles, they often called them by a name which ſignified SERPENTS or DRAGONS; and in theſe they uſually ſecured the women and young virgins of diſtinction, who were ſeldom ſafe at a time when ſo many enterpriſing heroes were rambling up and down in ſearch of adven⯑tures. It was this cuſtom which gave occaſion to antient romancers, who knew not how to deſcribe any thing ſimply, to invent ſo many fables concerning princeſſes of great beauty guarded by dragons, and afterwards delivered by invincible champions ^p.’

[] I do not mean entirely to reject this hypotheſis: but I will endeavour to ſhew how far I think it is true, and in what manner or degree it may be reconciled with the ſyſtem delivered above.

A few years before the birth of Chriſt, ſoon after Mithri⯑dates had been overthrown by Pompey, a nation of Aſiatic Goths, who poſſeſſed that region of Aſia which is now called Georgia, and is connected on the ſouth with Perſia, alarmed at the progreſſive encroachments of the Roman armies, re⯑tired in vaſt multitudes under the conduct of their leader Odin, or Woden, into the northern parts of Europe, not ſubject to the Roman government, and ſettled in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and other diſtricts of the Scandinavian terri⯑tory ^q. As they brought with them many uſeful arts, parti⯑cularly the knowledge of letters, which Odin is ſaid to have invented ^r, they were hoſpitably received by the natives, [] and by degrees acquired a ſafe and peaceable eſtabliſhment in the new country, which ſeems to have adopted their lan⯑guage, laws, and religion. Odin is ſaid to have been ſtiled a god by the Scandinavians; an appellation which the ſupe⯑riour addreſs and ſpecious abilities of this Aſiatic chief eaſily extorted from a more ſavage and unciviliſed people.

This migration is confirmed by the concurrent teſtimo⯑nies of various hiſtorians: but there is no better evidence of it, than that conſpicuous ſimilarity ſubſiſting at this day between ſeveral cuſtoms of the Georgians, as deſcribed by Chardin, and thoſe of certain cantons of Norway and Swe⯑den, which have preſerved their antient manners in the pureſt degree ^s. Not that other ſtriking implicit and in⯑ternal proofs, which often carry more conviction than direct hiſtorical aſſertions, are wanting to point out this migration. The antient inhabitants of Denmark and Nor⯑way inſcribed the exploits of their kings and heroes on rocks, in characters called Runic; and of this practice many marks are ſaid ſtill to remain in thoſe countries ^t. This art or cuſtom of writing on rocks is Aſiatic ^u. Modern travel⯑lers report, that there are Runic inſcriptions now exiſting in the deſerts of Tartary ^x. The WRITTEN MOUNTAINS of the Jews are an inſtance that this faſhion was oriental. Antiently, when one of theſe northern chiefs fell honourably in battle, his weapons, his war-horſe, and his wife, were conſumed with himſelf on the ſame funeral pile ^y. I need [] not remind my readers how religiouſly this horrible cere⯑mony of ſacrificing the wife to the dead huſband is at preſent obſerved in the eaſt. There is a very remarkable corre⯑ſpondence, in numberleſs important and fundamental points, between the Druidical and the Perſian ſuperſtitions: and notwithſtanding the evidence of Ceſar, who ſpeaks only from popular report, and without preciſion, on a ſubject which he cared little about, it is the opinion of the learned Banier, that the Druids were formed on the model of the Magi ^z. In this hypotheſis he is ſeconded by a modern anti⯑quary; who further ſuppoſes, that Odin's followers im⯑ported this eſtabliſhment into Scandinavia, from the con⯑fines of Perſia ^a. The Scandinavians attributed divine virtue to miſletoe; it is mentioned in their EDDA, or ſyſtem of religious doctrines, where it is ſaid to grow on the weſt ſide of Val-hall, or Odin's elyſium ^b. That Druidical rites exiſted among the Scandinavians we are informed from many antient Erſe poems, which ſay that the Britiſh Druids, in the extremity of their affairs, ſollicited and obtained aid from Scandinavia ^c. The Gothic hell exactly reſembles that which we find in the religious ſyſtems of the Perſians, the moſt abounding in ſuperſtition of all the eaſtern nations. One of the circumſtances is, and an oriental idea, that it is full of ſcorpions and ſerpents ^d. The doctrines of Zeno, who borrowed moſt of his opinions from the Perſian philo⯑ſophers, are not uncommon in the EDDA. Lok, the evil [] deity of the Goths, is probably the Arimanius of the Per⯑ſians. In ſome of the moſt antient Iſlandic chronicles, the Turks are mentioned as belonging to the juriſdiction of the Scandinavians. Mahomet, not ſo great an inventor as is imagined, adopted into his religion many favourite no⯑tions and ſuperſtitions from the bordering nations which were the offspring of the Scythians, and eſpecially from the Turks. Accordingly, we find the Alcoran agreeing with the Runic theology in various inſtances. I will mention only one. It is one of the beatitudes of the Mahometan paradiſe, that blooming virgins ſhall adminiſter the moſt luſcious wines. Thus in Odin's Val-hall, or the Gothic elyſium, the departed heroes received cups of the ſtrongeſt mead and ale from the hands of the virgin-goddeſſes called Valkyres ^e. Alfred, in his Saxon account of the northern ſeas, taken from the mouth of Ohther, a Norwegian, who had been ſent by that monarch to diſcover a north-eaſt paſſage into the Indies, conſtantly calls theſe nations the ORIENTALS ^f. And as theſe eaſtern tribes brought with them into the north a certain degree of refinement, of luxury and ſplendor, which appeared ſingular and prodigious among barbarians; one of their early hiſtorians deſcribes a perſon better dreſſed than uſual, by ſaying, ‘"he was ſo well cloathed, that you might have taken him for one of the Aſiatics ^g."’ Wor⯑mius mentions a Runic incantation, in which an Aſiatic inchantreſs is invoked ^h. Various other inſtances might here [] be added, ſome of which will occaſionally ariſe in the future courſe of our inquiries.

It is notorious, that many traces of oriental uſages are found amongſt all the European nations during their pagan ſtate; and this phenomenon is rationally reſolved, on the ſuppoſition that all Europe was originally peopled from the eaſt. But as the reſemblance which the pagan Scandina⯑vians bore to the eaſtern nations in manners, monu⯑ments, 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 their hiſtorians. In the mean time we muſt re⯑member, that a diſtinction is to be made between this expe⯑dition of Odin's Goths, who formed a ſettlement in Scandi⯑navia, and thoſe innumerable armies of barbarous adventu⯑rers, who ſome centuries afterwards, diſtinguiſhed by the ſame name, at different periods overwhelmed Europe, and at length extinguiſhed the Roman empire.

When we conſider the rapid conqueſts of the nations which may be comprehended under the common name of Scythians, and not only thoſe conducted by Odin, but by Attila, Theodoric, and Genſeric, we cannot aſcribe ſuch ſuc⯑ceſſes to brutal courage only. To ſay that ſome of theſe irreſiſtible conquerors made war on a luxurious, effeminate, and enervated people, is a plauſible and eaſy mode of ac⯑counting for their conqueſts: but this reaſon will not ope⯑rate with equal force in the hiſtories of Genghizcan and [] Tamerlane, who deſtroyed mighty empires founded on arms and military diſcipline, and who baffled the efforts of the ableſt leaders. Their ſcience and genius in war, ſuch as it then was, cannot therefore be doubted: that they were not deficient in the arts of peace, I have already hinted, and now proceed to produce more particular proofs. Innumerable and very fundamental errors have crept into our reaſonings and ſyſtems about ſavage life, reſulting merely from thoſe ſtrong and undiſtinguiſhing notions of barbariſm, which our prejudices have haſtily formed concerning the character of all rude nations ⁱ.

Among other arts which Odin's Goths planted in Scandi⯑navia, their ſkill in poetry, to which they were addicted in a peculiar manner, and which they cultivated with a won⯑derful enthuſiaſm, ſeems to be moſt worthy our regard, and eſpecially in our preſent inquiry.

As the principal heroes of their expedition into the north were honourably diſtinguiſhed from the Europeans, or ori⯑ginal Scandinavians, under the name of Asae, or Aſiatics, ſo the verſes, or language, of this people, were denominated ASAMAL, or ASIATIC ſpeech ^k. Their poetry contained not only the praiſes of their heroes, but their popular traditions and their religious rites; and was filled with thoſe fictions which the moſt exaggerated pagan ſuperſtition would natu⯑rally implant in the wild imaginations of an Aſiatic people. And from this principle alone, I mean of their Aſiatic origin, ſome critics would at once account for a certain capricious ſpirit of extravagance, and thoſe bold eccentric conceptions, which ſo ſtrongly diſtinguiſh the old northern poetry ^l. Nor [] is this fantaſtic imagery, the only mark of Aſiaticiſm which appears in the Runic odes. They have a certain ſublime and figurative caſt of diction, which is indeed one of their pre⯑dominant characteriſtics ^m. I am very ſenſible that all rude nations are naturally apt to cloath their ſentiments in this ſtyle. A propenſity to this mode of expreſſion is neceſſarily occaſioned by the poverty of their language, which obliges them frequently to ſubſtitute ſimilitudes and circumlocu⯑tions: it ariſes in great meaſure from feelings undiſguiſed and unreſtrained by cuſtom or art, and from the genuine efforts of nature working more at large in uncultivated minds. In the infancy of ſociety, the paſſions and the imagination are alike uncontrouled. But another cauſe ſeems to have con⯑curred in producing the effect here mentioned. When ob⯑vious terms and phraſes evidently occurred, the Runic poets are fond of departing from the common and eſtabliſhed dic⯑tion. They appear to uſe circumlocution and compariſons not as a matter of neceſſity, but of choice and ſkill: nor are theſe metaphorical colourings ſo much the reſult of want of words, as of warmth of fancy ⁿ.

[] Their warmth of fancy, however, if ſuppoſed to have proceeded from the principles above ſuggeſted, in a few ge⯑nerations after this migration into Scandinavia, muſt have loſt much of its natural heat and genuine force. Yet ideas and ſentiments, eſpecially of this ſort, once imbibed, are long remembered and retained, in ſavage life. Their reli⯑gion, among other cauſes, might have contributed to keep this ſpirit alive; and to preſerve their original ſtock of images, and native mode of expreſſion, unchanged and una⯑bated by climate or country. In the mean time we may ſuppoſe, that the new ſituation of theſe people in Scan⯑dinavia, might have added a darker ſhade and a more ſavage complexion to their former fictions and ſuperſtitions; and that the formidable objects of nature to which they became familiariſed in thoſe northern ſolitudes, the piny precipices, the frozen mountains, and the gloomy foreſts, acted on their imaginations, and gave a tincture of horror to their imagery.

A ſkill in poetry ſeems in ſome meaſure to have been a national ſcience among the Scandinavians, and to have been familiar to almoſt every order and degree. Their kings and warriors partook of this epidemic enthuſiaſm, and on fre⯑quent occaſions are repreſented as breaking forth into ſpon⯑taneous ſongs and verſes ^o. But the exerciſe of the poetical [] talent was properly confined to a ſtated profeſſion: and with their poetry the Goths imported into Europe a ſpecies of poets or ſingers, whom they called SCALDS or POLISHERS of LANGUAGE. This order of men, as we ſhall ſee more diſtinctly below, was held in the higheſt honour and vene⯑ration: they received the moſt liberal rewards for their verſes, attended the feſtivals of heroic chiefs, accompanied them in battle, and celebrated their victories ^p.

Theſe Scandinavian bards appear to have been eſteemed and entertained in other countries beſides their own, and by that means to have probably communicated their fictions to various parts of Europe. I will give my reaſons for this ſuppoſition.

In the early ages of Europe, before many regular govern⯑ments took place, revolutions, emigrations, and invaſions, were frequent and almoſt univerſal. Nations were alternately [] deſtroyed or formed; and the want of political ſecurity expoſed the inhabitants of every country to a ſtate of eternal fluctuation. That Britain was originally peopled from Gaul, a nation of the Celts, is allowed: but that many colonies from the northern parts of Europe were afterwards ſuc⯑ceſſively planted in Britain and the neighbouring iſlands, is an hypotheſis equally rational, and not altogether deſtitute of hiſtorical evidence. Nor was any nation more likely than the Scandinavian Goths, I mean in their early periods, to make deſcents on Britain. They poſſeſſed the ſpirit of adventure in an eminent degree. They were habituated to dangerous enterpriſes. They were acquainted with diſtant coaſts, exerciſed in navigation, and fond of making expe⯑ditions, in hopes of conqueſt, and in ſearch of new acqui⯑ſitions. As to Scotland and Ireland, there is the higheſt probability, that the Scutes, who conquered both thoſe coun⯑tries, and poſſeſſed them under the names of Albin Scutes and Irin Scutes, were a people of Norway. The Caledo⯑nians are expreſsly called by many judicious antiquaries a Scandinavian colony. The names of places and perſons, over all that part of Scotland which the Picts inhabited, are of Scandinavian extraction. A ſimple catalogue of them only, would immediately convince us, that they are not of Celtic, or Britiſh, origin. Flaherty reports it as a re⯑ceived opinion, and a general doctrine, that the Picts mi⯑grated into Britain and Ireland from Scandinavia ^q. I for⯑bear to accumulate a pedantic parade of authorities on this occaſion: nor can it be expected that I ſhould enter into a formal and exact examination of this obſcure and complicated [] ſubject in its full extent, which is here only intro⯑duced incidentally. I will only add, that Scotland and Ire⯑land, as being ſituated more to the north, and probably leſs difficult of acceſs than Britain, might have been objects on which our northern adventurers were invited to try ſome of their earlieſt excurſions: and that the Orkney-iſlands remained long under the juriſdiction of the Norwegian potentates.

In theſe expeditions, the northern emigrants, as we ſhall prove more particularly below, were undoubtedly attended by their ſcalds or poets. Yet even in times of peace, and without the ſuppoſition of conqueſt or invaſion, the Scan⯑dinavian ſcalds might have been well known in the Britiſh iſlands. Poſſeſſed of a ſpecious and pleaſing talent, they fre⯑quented the courts of the Britiſh, Scottiſh, and Iriſh chief⯑tains. They were itinerants by their inſtitution, and made voyages, out of curioſity, or in queſt of rewards, to thoſe iſlands or coaſts which lay within the circle of their mari⯑time knowledge. By theſe means, they eſtabliſhed an in⯑tereſt, rendered their profeſſion popular, propagated their art, and circulated their fictions, in other countries, and at a diſtance from home. Torfaeus aſſerts poſitively, that various Iſlandic odes now remain, which were ſung by the Scandinavian bards before the kings of England and Ireland, and for which they received liberal gratuities ^r. They were more eſpecially careſſed and rewarded at the courts of thoſe princes, who were diſtinguiſhed for their warlike character, and their paſſion for military glory.

Olaus Wormius informs us, that great numbers of the northern ſcalds conſtantly reſided in the courts of the kings of Sweden, Denmark, and England ^s. Hence the tradition in an antient Iſlandic Saga, or poetical hiſtory, may be ex⯑plained; which ſays, that Odin's language was originally [] uſed, not only in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, but even in England ^t. Indeed it may be naturally concluded from theſe ſuggeſtions, that the Scandinavian tongue became fami⯑liar in the Britiſh iſlands by the ſongs of the ſcalds: unleſs it be rather preſumed, that a previous knowledge of that tongue in Britain was the means of facilitating the admiſſion of thoſe poets, and preparing the way for their reception.

And here it will be much to our preſent argument to obſerve, that ſome of the old Gothic and Scandinavian ſu⯑perſtitions are to this day retained in the Engliſh language. MARA, from whence our Night-mare is derived, was in the Runic theology a ſpirit or ſpectre of the night, which ſeized men in their ſleep, and ſuddenly deprived them of ſpeech and motion ^u. NICKA was the Gothic demon who inha⯑bited the element of water, and who ſtrangled perſons that were drowning ^w. BOH was one of the moſt fierce and formidable of the Gothic generals ^x, and the ſon of Odin: the mention of whoſe name only was ſufficient to ſpread an immediate panic among his enemies ^y.

[] The fictions of Odin and of his Scandinavians, muſt have taken ſtill deeper root in the Britiſh iſlands, at leaſt in England, from the Saxon and Daniſh invaſions.

That the tales of the Scandinavian ſcalds flouriſhed among the Saxons, who ſucceeded to the Britons, and became poſ⯑ſeſſors of England in the ſixth century, may be juſtly pre⯑ſumed ^z. The Saxons were originally ſeated in the Cimbric Cherſoneſe, or thoſe territories which have been ſince called Jutland, Angelen, and Holſtein; and were fond of tracing the deſcent of their princes from Odin ^a. They were there⯑fore a part of the Scandinavian tribes. They imported with them into England the old Runic language and letters. This appears from inſcriptions on coins ^b, ſtones ^c, and other monuments; [] and from ſome of their manuſcripts ^d. It is well known that Runic inſcriptions have been diſcovered in Cum⯑berland and Scotland: and that there is even extant a coin of king Offa, with a Runic legend ^e. But the converſion of the Saxons to chriſtianity, which happened before the ſeventh century, entirely baniſhed the common uſe of thoſe cha⯑racters ^f, which were eſteemed unhallowed and necromantic; and with their antient ſuperſtitions, which yet prevailed for ſome time in the popular belief, aboliſhed in ſome meaſure their native and original vein of poetic fabling ^g. They ſud⯑denly became a mild and poliſhed people, addicted to the arts of peace, and the exerciſe of devotion; and the poems they have left us are chiefly moral rhapſodies, ſcriptural hiſtories, or religious invocations ^h. Yet even in theſe pieces they have frequent alluſions to the old ſcaldic fables and heroes. Thus, in an Anglo-Saxon poem on Judith, Holofernes is [] called BALDER, or leader and prince of warriors. And in a poetical paraphraſe on Geneſis, Abimelech has the ſame ap⯑pellation ⁱ. This Balder was a famous chieftain of the Aſiatic Goths, the ſon of Odin, and ſuppoſed to inhabit a magnificent hall in the future place of rewards. The ſame Anglo-Saxon paraphraſt, in his proſopopea of Satan ad⯑dreſſing his companions plunged in the infernal abyſs, adopts many images and expreſſions uſed in the very ſublime deſ⯑cription of the Eddic hell ^k: Henry of Huntingdon com⯑plains of certain extraneous words and uncommon figures of ſpeech, in a Saxon ode on a victory of king Athelſtan ^l. Theſe were all ſcaldic expreſſions or alluſions. But I will give a literal Engliſh tranſlation of this poem, which can⯑not be well underſtood without premiſing its occaſion. In the year 938, Anlaff, a pagan king of the Hybernians and the adjacent iſles, invited by Conſtantine king of the Scots, en⯑tered the river Abi or Humber with a ſtrong fleet. Our Saxon king Athelſtan, and his brother Eadmund Clito, met them with a numerous army, near a place called Brunen⯑burgh; and after a moſt obſtinate and bloody reſiſtance, drove them back to their ſhips. The battle laſted from day⯑break till the evening. On the ſide of Anlaff were ſlain ſix petty kings, and ſeven chiefs or generals. ‘"King Adelſtan, the glory of leaders, the giver of gold chains to his nobles, and his brother Eadmund, both ſhining with the bright⯑neſs of a long train of anceſtors, ſtruck [the adverſary] in war; at Brunenburgh, with the edge of the ſword, they clove the wall of ſhields. The high banners fell. The earls of the departed Edward fell; for it was born within them, even from the loins of their kindred, to defend the treaſures and the houſes of their country, and [] their gifts, againſt the hatred of ſtrangers. The nation of the Scots, and the fatal inhabitants of ſhips, fell. The hills reſounded, and the armed men were covered with ſweat. From the time the ſun, the king of ſtars, the torch of the eternal one, roſe chearful above the hills, till he returned to his habitation. There lay many of the northern men, pierced with lances; they lay wounded, with their ſhields pierced through: and alſo the Scots, the hateful harveſt of battle. The choſen bands of the Weſt-Saxons, going out to battle, preſſed on the ſteps of the deteſted nations, and ſlew their flying rear with ſharp and bloody ſwords. The ſoft effeminate men yielded up their ſpears. The Mercians did not fear or fly the rough game of the hand. There was no ſafety to them, who ſought the land with Anlaff in the boſom of the ſhip, to die in fight. Five youthful kings fell in the place of fight, ſlain with ſwords; and ſeven captains of Anlaff, with the innumerable army of Scottiſh mariners: there the lord of the Normans [Northern-men] was chaſed; and their army, now made ſmall, was driven to the prow of the ſhip. The ſhip ſounded with the waves; and the king, marching into the yellow ſea, eſcaped alive. And ſo it was, the wiſe northern king Conſtantine, a veteran chief, returning by flight to his own army, bowed down in the camp, left his own ſon worn out with wounds in the place of ſlaughter; in vain did he lament his earls, in vain his loſt friends. Nor leſs did Anlaff, the yellow⯑haired leader, the battle-ax of ſlaughter, a youth in war, but an old man in underſtanding, boaſt himſelf a con⯑queror in fight, when the darts flew againſt Edward's earls, and their banners met. Then thoſe northern ſol⯑diers, covered with ſhame, the ſad refuſe of darts in the reſounding whirlpool of Humber, departed in their ſhips with rudders, to ſeek through the deep the Iriſh city and their own land. While both the brothers, the [] king and Clito, lamenting even their own victory, toge⯑ther returned home; leaving behind them the fleſh-de⯑vouring raven, the dark-blue toad greedy of ſlaughter, the black crow with horny bill, and the hoarſe toad, the eagle a companion of battles with the devouring kite, and that brindled ſavage beaſt the wolf of the wood, to be glutted with the white food of the ſlain. Never was ſo great a ſlaughter in this iſland, ſince the Angles and Saxons, the fierce beginners of war, coming hither from the eaſt, and ſeeking Britain through the wide ſea, over⯑came the Britons excelling in honour, and gained poſ⯑ſeſſion of their land ^m."’

This piece, and many other Saxon odes and ſongs now remaining, are written in a metre much reſembling that of the ſcaldic dialogue at the tomb of Angantyr, which has been beautifully tranſlated into Engliſh, in the true ſpirit of the original, and in a genuine ſtrain of poetry, by Gray. The extemporaneous effuſions of the glowing bard ſeem na⯑turally to have fallen into this meaſure, and it was probably more eaſily ſuited to the voice or harp. Their verſification for the moſt part ſeems to have been that of the Runic poetry.

As literature, the certain attendant, as it is the parent, of true religion and civility, gained ground among the Saxons, poetry no longer remained a ſeparate ſcience, and the profeſſion of bard ſeems gradually to have declined among them: I mean the bard under thoſe appropriated characteriſtics, and that peculiar appointment, which he ſuſtained among the Scandinavian pagans. Yet their na⯑tional love of verſe and muſic ſtill ſo ſtrongly predominated, that in the place of their old ſcalders a new rank of poets aroſe, called GLEEMEN or Harpers ⁿ. Theſe probably gave [] riſe to the order of Engliſh Minſtrels, who flouriſhed till the ſixteenth century.

And here I ſtop to point out one of the principal reaſons, why the Scandinavian bards have tranſmitted to modern times ſo much more of their native poetry, than the reſt of their ſouthern neighbours. It is true, that the inhabitants of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, whether or no from their Aſiatic origin, from their poverty which compelled them to ſeek fortunes at foreign courts by the exerciſe of a popular art, from the ſucceſs of their bards, the nature of their republican government, or their habits of unſettled life, were more given to verſe than any other Gothic, or even Celtic, tribe. But this is not all: they re⯑mained pagans, and retained their original manners, much longer than any of their Gothic kindred. They were not completely converted to chriſtianity till the tenth century ^o. Hence, under the concurrence however of ſome of the cauſes juſt mentioned, their ſcaldic profeſſion acquired greater degrees of ſtrength and of maturity: and from an uninterrupted poſ⯑ſeſſion through many ages of the moſt romantic religious ſuperſtitions, and the preſervation of thoſe rough manners which are ſo favourable to the poetical ſpirit, was enabled to produce, not only more genuine, but more numerous, compo⯑ſitions. True religion would have checked the impetuoſity of their paſſions, ſuppreſſed their wild exertions of fancy, and baniſhed that ſtriking train of imagery, which their [] poetry derived from a barbarous theology. This circum⯑ſtance alſo ſuggeſts to our conſideration, thoſe ſuperior advantages and opportunities ariſing from leiſure and length of time, which they enjoyed above others, of circulating their poetry far and wide, of giving a general currency to their mode of fabling, of rendering their ſkill in verſifica⯑tion more univerſally and familiarly known, and a more conſpicuous and popular object of admiration or imitation to the neighbouring countries. Hence too it has happened, that modern times have not only attained much fuller information concerning their hiſtorical tranſactions, but are ſo intimately acquainted with the peculiarities of their character.

It is probable, that the Daniſh invaſions produced a con⯑ſiderable alteration in the manners of our Anglo-Saxon an⯑ceſtors. Although their connections with England were tranſient and interrupted, and on the whole ſcarcely laſted two hundred years, yet many of the Daniſh cuſtoms began to prevail among the inhabitants, which ſeem to have given a new turn to their temper and genius. The Daniſh faſhion of exceſſive drinking, for inſtance, a vice almoſt natural to the northern nations, became ſo general among the Anglo-Saxons, that it was found neceſſary to reſtrain ſo pernicious and contagious a practice by a particular ſtatute ^p. Hence it ſeems likely, that ſo popular an entertainment as their poetry gained ground; eſpecially if we conſider, that in their expeditions againſt England they were of courſe attended by many northern ſcalds, who conſtantly made a part of their military retinue, and whoſe language was underſtood by the Saxons. Rogwald, lord of the Orcades, who was alſo himſelf a poet, going on an expedition into Paleſtine, carried with him two Iſlandic bards ^q. The noble ode, called [] in the northern chronicles the ELOGIUM OF HACON ^r, king of Norway, was compoſed on a battle in which that prince, with eight of his brothers fell, by the ſcald Eyvynd; who for his ſuperior ſkill in poetry was called the CROSS of POETS, and fought in the battle which he celebrated. Hacon earl of Norway was accompanied by five celebrated bards in the battle of Jomſburgh: and we are told, that each of them ſung an ode to animate the ſoldiers before the en⯑gagement began ^s. They appear to have been regularly brought into action. Olave, a king of Norway, when his army was prepared for the onſet, placed three ſcalds about [] him, and exclaimed aloud, ‘"You ſhall not only record in your verſes what you have HEARD, but what you have SEEN."’ They each delivered an ode on the ſpot ^t. Theſe northern chiefs appear to have ſo frequently hazarded their lives with ſuch amazing intrepidity, merely in expecta⯑tion of meriting a panegyric from their poets, the judges, and the ſpectators of their gallant behaviour. That ſcalds were common in the Daniſh armies when they invaded England, appears from a ſtratagem of Alfred; who, availing himſelf of his ſkill in oral poetry and playing on the harp, entered the Daniſh camp habited in that character, and procured a hoſpitable reception. This was in the year 878 ^u. Anlaff, a Daniſh king, uſed the ſame diſguiſe for re⯑connoitring the camp of our Saxon monarch Athelſtan: tak⯑ing his ſtation near Athelſtan's pavilion, he entertained the king and his chiefs with his verſes and muſic, and was diſ⯑miſſed with an honourable reward ^w. As Anlaff's dialect muſt have diſcovered him to have been a Dane; here is a proof, of what I ſhall bring more, that the Saxons, even in the midſt of mutual hoſtilities, treated the Daniſh ſcalds with favour and reſpect. That the Iſlandic bards were com⯑mon in England during the Daniſh invaſions, there are numerous proofs. Egill, a celebrated Iſlandic poet, having murthered the ſon and many of the friends of Eric Blodoxe, king of Denmark or Norway, then reſiding in Northum⯑berland, and which he had juſt conquered, procured a pardon by ſinging before the king, at the command of his queen Gunhilde, an extemporaneous ode ^x. Egill compliments the king, who probably was his patron, with the appellation of the [] Engliſh chief. ‘"I offer my freight to the king. I owe a poem for my ranſom. I preſent to the ENGLISH CHIEF the mead of Odin ^y."’ Afterwards he calls this Daniſh conqueror the commander of the Scottiſh fleet. ‘"The com⯑mander of the Scottiſh fleet fattened the ravenous birds. The ſiſter of Nera [Death] trampled on the foe: ſhe trampled on the evening food of the eagle."’ The Scots uſually joined the Daniſh or Norwegian invaders in their attempts on the northern parts of Britain ^z: and from this circumſtance a new argument ariſes, to ſhew the cloſe com⯑munication and alliance which muſt have ſubſiſted between Scotland and Scandinavia. Egill, although of the enemy's party, was a ſingular favourite of king Athelſtan. Athelſtan once aſked Egill how he eſcaped due puniſhment from Eric Blodoxe, the king of Northumberland, for the very capital and enormous crime which I have juſt mentioned. On which Egill immediately related the whole of that tranſaction to the Saxon king, in a ſublime ode ſtill extant ^a. On another occaſion Athelſtan preſented Egill with two rings, and two large cabinets filled with ſilver; promiſing at the ſame time, to grant him any gift or favour which he ſhould chuſe to requeſt. Egill, ſtruck with gratitude, immediately compoſed a panegyrical poem in the Norwegian language, then com⯑mon to both nations, on the virtues of Athelſtan, which the latter as generouſly requited with two marcs of pure gold ^b. Here is likewiſe another argument that the Saxons had no ſmall eſteem for the ſcaldic poetry. It is highly rea⯑ſonable to conjecture, that our Daniſh king Canute; a po⯑tentate of moſt extenſive juriſdiction, and not only king of [] England, but of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, was not without the cuſtomary retinue of the northern courts, in which the ſcalds held ſo diſtinguiſhed and important a ſta⯑tion. Human nature, in a ſavage ſtate, aſpires to ſome ſpecies of merit; and in every ſtage of ſociety is alike ſuſcep⯑tible of flattery, when addreſſed to the reigning paſſion. The ſole object of theſe northern princes was military glory. It is certain that Canute delighted in this mode of entertain⯑ment, which he patroniſed and liberally rewarded. It is related in KNYTLINGA-SAGA, or Canute's Hiſtory, that he commanded the ſcald Loftunga to be put to death, for daring to comprehend his atchievements in too conciſe a poem. ‘"Nemo, ſaid he, ante te, auſus eſt de me BREVES CANTILENAS componere."’ A curious picture of the tyrant, the patron, and the barbarian, united! But the bard extorted a ſpeedy pardon, and with much addreſs, by producing the next day before the king at dinner an ode of more than thirty ſtrophes, for which Canute gave him fifty marcs of purified ſilver ^c. In the mean time, the Daniſh language began to grow perfectly familiar in England. It was eagerly learned by the Saxon clergy and nobility, from a principle of ingratiating themſelves with Canute: and there are many manuſcripts now remaining, by which it will appear, that the Daniſh runes were much ſtudied among our Saxon anceſtors, under the reign of that monarch ^d.

The ſongs of the Iriſh bards are by ſome conceived to be ſtrongly marked with the traces of ſcaldic imagination; and theſe traces, which will be reconſidered, are believed ſtill to ſurvive among a ſpecies of poetical hiſtorians, whom they call TALE-TELLERS, ſuppoſed to be the deſcendants of the original Iriſh bards ^e. A writer of equal elegance and veracity [] city relates, ‘"that a gentleman of the north of Ireland has often told me of his own experience, that in his wolf⯑huntings there, when he uſed to be abroad in the moun⯑tains three or four days together, and laid very ill in the night, ſo as he could not well ſleep, they would bring him one of theſe TALE-TELLERS, that when he lay down would begin a ſtory of a KING, or a GIANT, a DWARF, and a DAMSEL ^f."’ Theſe are topics in which the Runic poetry is ſaid to have been greatly converſant.

Nor is it improbable that the Welſh bards ^g might have been acquainted with the Scandinavian ſcalds. I mean before [] their communications with Armorica, mentioned at large above. The proſody of the Welſh bards depended much on alliteration ^h. Hence they ſeem to have paid an at⯑tention to the ſcaldic verſification. The Iſlandic poets are ſaid to have carried alliteration to the higheſt pitch of exact⯑neſs in their earlieſt periods: whereas the Welſh bards of the ſixth century uſed it but ſparingly, and in a very imper⯑fect degree. In this circumſtance a proof of imitation, at leaſt of emulation, is implied ⁱ. There are moreover, ſtrong inſtances of conformity between the manners of the two nations; which, however, may be accounted for on general principles ariſing from our comparative obſervations on rude life. Yet it is remarkable that mead, the northern nectar, or favourite liquor of the Goths ^k, who ſeem to have ſtamped it with the character of a poetical drink, was no leſs cele⯑brated among the Welſh ^l. The ſongs of both nations abound [] with its praiſes: and it ſeems in both to have been alike the delight of the warrior and the bard. Talieſſin, as Lhuyd informs us, wrote a panegyrical ode on this inſpring beverage of the bee; or, as he tranſlates it, De Mulſorum HYDROMELI ^k. In Hoel Dha's Welſh laws, tranſlated by Wootton, we have, ‘"In omni convivio in quo MULSUM bibitur ^l."’ From which paſſage, it ſeems to have been ſerved up only at high feſtivals. By the ſame conſtitutions, at every feaſt in the king's caſtle⯑hall, the prefect or marſhal of the hall is to receive from the queen, by the hands of the ſteward, a HORN OF MEAD. It is alſo ordered, among the privileges annexed to the office of prefect of the royal hall, that the king's bard ſhall ſing to him as often as he pleaſes ^m. One of the ſtated officers of the king's houſhold is CONFECTOR MULSI: and this officer, together with the maſter of the horſe ⁿ, the maſter of the hawks, the ſmith of the palace ^o, the royal bard ^p, the firſt [] muſician^q, with ſome others, have a right to be^r ſeated in the hall. We have already ſeen, that the Scandinavian ſcalds were well known in Ireland: and there is ſufficient evidence to prove, that the Welſh bards were early connected with the Iriſh. Even ſo late as the eleventh century, the practice continued among the Welſh bards, of receiving inſtructions in the bardic profeſſion from Ireland. The Welſh bards were reformed and regulated by Gryffyth ap Conan, king of Wales, in the year 1078. At the ſame time he brought over with him from Ireland many Iriſh bards, for the infor⯑mation and improvement of the Welſh ^s. Powell acquaints us, that this prince ‘"brought over with him from Ireland divers cunning muſicians into Wales, who deviſed in a manner all the inſtrumental muſic that is now there uſed: as appeareth, as well by the bookes written of the ſame, [] as alſo by the names of the tunes and meaſures uſed among them to this daie ^t."’ In Ireland, to kill a bard was highly criminal: and to ſeize his eſtate, even for the public ſervice and in time of national diſtreſs, was deemed an act of ſacrilege ^u. Thus in the old Welſh laws, whoever even ſlightly injured a bard, was to be fined ſix cows and one hundred and twenty pence. The murtherer of a bard was to be fined one hundred and twenty-ſix cows ^w. Nor muſt I paſs over, what reflects much light on this reaſoning, that the eſtabliſhment of the houſhold of the old Iriſh chiefs, exactly reſembles that of the Welſh kings. For, beſides the bard, the muſician, and the ſmith, they have both a phyſician, a huntſman, and other correſponding officers ^x. We muſt alſo remember, that an intercourſe was neceſſarily produced between the Welſh and Scandinavians, from the piratical irruptions of the latter: their ſcalds, as I have already remarked, were reſpected and patroniſed in the courts of thoſe princes, whoſe territories were the prin⯑cipal objects of the Daniſh invaſions. Torfaeus expreſsly affirms this of the Anglo-Saxon and Iriſh kings; and it is [] at leaſt probable, that they were entertained with equal re⯑gard by the Welſh princes, who ſo frequently concurred with the Danes in diſtreſſing the Engliſh. It may be added, that the Welſh, although living in a ſeparate and detached ſituation, and ſo ſtrongly prejudiced in favour of their own uſages, yet from neighbourhood, and unavoidable communications of various kinds, might have imbibed the ideas of the Scandinavian bards from the Saxons and Danes, after thoſe nations had occupied and overſpread all the other parts of our iſland.

Many pieces of the Scottiſh bards are ſtill remaining in the high-lands of Scotland. Of theſe a curious ſpecimen, and which conſidered in a more extenſive and general reſpect, is a valuable monument of the poetry of a rude period, has lately been given to the world, under the title of the WORKS OF OSSIAN. It is indeed very remarkable, that in theſe poems, the terrible graces, which ſo naturally characteriſe, and ſo generally conſtitute, the early poetry of a barbarous people, ſhould ſo frequently give place to a gentler ſet of manners, to the ſocial ſenſibilities of poliſhed life, and a more civiliſed and elegant ſpecies of imagination. Nor is this circumſtance, which diſarranges all our eſtabliſhed ideas concerning the ſavage ſtages of ſociety, eaſily to be accounted for, unleſs we ſuppoſe, that the Celtic tribes, who were ſo ſtrongly addicted to poetical compoſition, and who made it ſo much their ſtudy from the earlieſt times, might by de⯑grees have attained a higher vein of poetical refinement, than could at firſt ſight or on common principles be expected among nations, whom we are accuſtomed to call barbarous; that ſome few inſtances of an elevated ſtrain of friendſhip, of love, and other ſentimental feelings, ex⯑iſting in ſuch nations, might lay the foundation for intro⯑ducing a ſet of manners among the bards, more refined and exalted than the real manners of the country: and that panegyrics on thoſe virtues, tranſmitted with improvements [] from bard to bard, muſt at length have formed characters of ideal excellence, which might propagate among the peo⯑ple real manners bordering on the poetical. Theſe poems, however, notwithſtanding the difference between the Gothic and the Celtic rituals, contain many viſible veſtiges of Scan⯑dinavian ſuperſtition. The alluſions in the ſongs of Oſſian to ſpirits, who preſide over the different parts and direct the various operations of nature, who ſend ſtorms over the deep, and rejoice in the ſhrieks of the ſhipwrecked mariner, who call down lightning to blaſt the foreſt or cleave the rock, and diffuſe irreſiſtible peſtilence among the people, beautifully conducted indeed, and heightened, under the ſkilful hand of a maſter bard, entirely correſpond with the Runic ſyſtem, and breathe the ſpirit of its poetry. One fiction in particular, the moſt EXTRAVAGANT in all Oſſian's poems, is founded on an eſſential article of the Runic belief. It is where Fingal fights with the ſpirit of Loda. Nothing could aggrandiſe Fingal's heroiſm more highly than this marvellous encounter. It was eſteemed among the antient Danes the moſt daring act of courage to engage with a ghoſt ^y. Had Oſſian found it convenient, to have introduced religion into his compoſitions ^z, not only a new ſource had [] been opened to the ſublime, in deſcribing the rites of ſacri⯑fice, the horrors of incantation, the ſolemn evocations of infernal beings, and the like dreadful ſuperſtitions, but pro⯑bably many ſtronger and more characteriſtical evidences would have appeared, of his knowledge of the imagery of the Scandinavian poets.

Nor muſt we forget, that the Scandinavians had con⯑quered many countries bordering upon France in the fourth century ^a. Hence the Franks muſt have been in ſome mea⯑ſure uſed to their language, well acquainted with their man⯑ners, and converſant in their poetry. Charlemagne is ſaid to have delighted in repeating the moſt antient and bar⯑barous odes, which celebrated the battles of antient kings ^b. [] But we are not informed whether theſe were Scandinavian, Celtic, or Teutonic poems.

About the beginning of the tenth century, France was invaded by the Normans, or NORTHERN-MEN, an army of adventurers from Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. And although the conquerors, eſpecially when their ſucceſs does not ſolely depend on ſuperiority of numbers, uſually aſſume [] the manners of the conquered, yet theſe ſtrangers muſt have ſtill further familiariſed in France many of their northern fictions.

From this general circulation in theſe and other countries, and from that popularity which it is natural to ſuppoſe they muſt have acquired, the ſcaldic inventions might have taken deep root in Europe ^c. At leaſt they ſeem to have prepared the way for the more eaſy admiſſion of the Arabian fabling about the ninth century, by which they were, however, in great meaſure, ſuperſeded. The Arabian fictions were of a more ſplendid nature, and better adapted to the increaſing civility of the times. Leſs horrible and groſs, they had a novelty, a variety, and a magnificence, which carried with them the charm of faſcination. Yet it is probable, that many of the ſcaldic imaginations might have been blended with the Arabian. In the mean time, there is great reaſon to believe, that the Gothic ſcalds enriched their vein of fabling from this new and fruitful ſource of fiction, opened by the Arabians in Spain, and afterwards propagated by the cruſades. It was in many reſpects cogenial with their own ^d: and the northern bards, who viſited the countries [] where theſe new fancies were ſpreading, muſt have been naturally ſtruck with ſuch wonders, and were certainly fond of picking up freſh embelliſhments, and new ſtrokes of the marvellous, for augmenting and improving their ſtock of poetry. The earlieſt ſcald now on record is not before the year 750. From which time the ſcalds flouriſhed in the northern countries, till below the year 1157 ^e. The celebrated ode of Regner Lodbrog was compoſed about the end of the ninth century ^f.

And that this hypotheſis is partly true, may be concluded from the ſubjects of ſome of the old Scandic romances, manuſcripts of which now remain in the royal library at Stockholm. The titles of a few ſhall ſerve for a ſpecimen; which I will make no apology for giving at large. ‘"SAGAN AF HIALMTER OC OLWER. The Hiſtory of Hialmter king of Sweden, ſon of a Syrian princeſs, and of Olver Jarl. Containing their expeditions into Hunland, and Arabia, with their numerous encounters with the Vikings and the giants. Alſo their leagues with Alſola, daughter of Ringer king of Arabia, afterwards married to Hervor king of Hunland, &c.—SAGAN AF SIOD. The Hiſtory of Siod, ſon of Ridgare king of England; who firſt was made king of England, afterwards of Babylon and Niniveh. [] Comprehending various occurrences in Saxland, Babylon, Greece, Africa, and eſpecially in Eirice^g the region of the giants.—SAGAN AF ALEFLECK. The Hiſtory of Alefleck, a king of England, and of his expeditions into India and Tartary.—SAGAN AF ERIK WIDFORLA. The Hiſtory of Eric the traveller, who, with his companion Eric, a Daniſh prince, undertook a wonderful journey to Odin's Hall, or Oden's Aker, near the river Piſon in India ^h."’ Here we ſee the circle of the Iſlandic poetry enlarged; and the names of countries and cities belonging to another quarter of the globe, Arabia, India, Tartary, Syria, Greece, Babylon, and Niniveh, intermixed with thoſe of Hunland, Sweden, and England, and adopted into the northern romantic nar⯑ratives. Even Charlemagne and Arthur, whoſe hiſtories, as we have already ſeen, had been ſo laviſhly decorated by the Arabian fablers, did not eſcape the Scandinavian ſcalds ⁱ. Accordingly we find theſe ſubjects among their Sagas. ‘"SAGAN AF ERIK EINGLANDS KAPPE. The Hiſtory of Eric, ſon of king Hiac, king Arthur's chief wreſtler.—HISTORICAL RHYMES of king Arthur, containing his league with Charlemagne.—SAGAN AF IVENT. The Hiſtory of Ivent, king Arthur's principal champion, containing his battles with the giants ^k.—SAGAN AF [] KARLAMAGNUSE OF HOPPUM HANS. The Hiſtory of Charle⯑magne, of his champions, and captains. Containing all his actions in ſeveral parts. 1. Of his birth and coronation: and the combat of Carvetus king of Babylon, with Od⯑degir the Dane ^l. 2. Of Aglandus king of Africa, and of his ſon Jatmund, and their wars in Spain with Charle⯑magne. 3. Of Roland, and his combat with Villaline king of Spain. 4. Of Ottuel's converſion to chriſtianity, and his marriage with Charlemagne's daughter. 5. Of Hugh king of Conſtantinople, and the memorable exploits of his champions. 6. Of the wars of Ferracute king of Spain. 7. Of Charlemagne's atchievements in Rounce⯑valles, and of his death ^m."’ In another of the Sagas, Jarl, a magician of Saxland, exhibits his feats of necro⯑mancy before Charlemagne. We learn from Olaus Magnus, that Roland's magical horn, of which archbiſhop Turpin relates ſuch wonders, and among others that it might be heard at the diſtance of twenty miles, was frequently celebrated in the ſongs of the Iſlandic bards ⁿ. It is not likely that theſe pieces, to ſay no more, were compoſed till the Scandinavian tribes had been converted to chriſtianity; that is, as I have before obſerved, about the cloſe of the tenth century. Theſe barbarians had an infinite and a national contempt for the chriſtians, whoſe religion inculcated a ſpirit of peace, gen⯑tleneſs, and civility; qualities ſo diſſimilar to thoſe of their own [] ferocious and warlike diſpoſition, and which they naturally interpreted to be the marks of cowardice and puſillanimity ^o. It has, however, been urged, that as the irruption of the Normans into France, under their leader Rollo, did not take place till towards the beginning of the tenth century, at which period the ſcaldic art was arrived to the higheſt perfection in Rollo's native country, we can eaſily trace the deſcent of the French and Engliſh romances of chivalry from the Northern Sagas. It is ſuppoſed, that Rollo carried with him many ſcalds from the north, who tranſmitted their ſkill to their children and ſucceſſors: and that theſe, adopting the religion, opinions, and language, of the new country, ſubſtituted the heroes of chriſtendom, inſtead of thoſe of their pagan anceſtors, and began to celebrate the feats of Charlemagne, Roland, and Oliver, whoſe true hiſtory they ſet off and embelliſhed with the ſcaldic figments of dwarfs, giants, dragons, and inchantments ^p. There is, however, ſome reaſon to believe, that theſe fictions were current among the French long before; and, if the principles advanced in the former part of this diſſertation be true, the fables adhering to Charlemagne's real hiſtory muſt be referred to another ſource.

Let me add, that the inchantments of the Runic poetry are very different from thoſe in our romances of chivalry. The former chiefly deal in ſpells and charms, ſuch as would preſerve from poiſon, blunt the weapons of an enemy, pro⯑cure victory, allay a tempeſt, cure bodily diſeaſes, or call the dead from their tombs: in uttering a form of myſterious words, or inſcribing Runic characters. The magicians of romance are chiefly employed in forming and conducting a train of deceptions. There is an air of barbaric horror in the [] incantations of the ſcaldic fablers: the magicians of romance often preſent viſions of pleaſure and delight; and, although not without their alarming terrors, ſometimes lead us through flowery foreſts, and raiſe up palaces glittering with gold and precious ſtones. The Runic magic is more like that of Canidia in Horace, the romantic reſembles that of Armida in Taſſo. The operations of the one are frequently but mere tricks, in compariſon of that ſublime ſolemnity of necromantic machinery which the other ſo awefully diſplays.

It is alſo remarkable, that in the earlier ſcaldic odes, we find but few dragons, giants, and fairies. Theſe were intro⯑duced afterwards, and are the progeny of Arabian fancy. Nor indeed do theſe imaginary beings often occur in any of the compoſitions which preceded the introduction of that ſpecies of fabling. On this reaſoning, the Iriſh tale-teller mentioned above, could not be a lineal deſcendant of the elder Iriſh bards. The abſence of giants and dragons, and, let me add, of many other traces of that fantaſtic and bril⯑liant imagery which compoſes the ſyſtem of Arabian ima⯑gination, from the poems of Oſſian, are a ſtriking proof of their antiquity. It has already been ſuggeſted, at what period, and from what origin, thoſe fancies got footing in the Welſh poetry: we do not find them in the odes of Talieſſin or Aneurin ^q. This reaſoning explains an obſervation [] of an ingenious critic in this ſpecies of literature, and who has ſtudied the works of the Welſh bards with much attention. ‘"There are not ſuch extravagant FLIGHTS in any poetic compoſitions, except it be in the EASTERN; to which, as far as I can judge by the few tranſlated ſpeci⯑mens I have ſeen, they bear a near reſemblance ^r."’ I will venture to ſay he does not meet with theſe flights in the elder Welſh bards. The beautiful romantic fiction, that king Arthur, after being wounded in the fatal battle of Cam⯑lan, was conveyed by an Elfin princeſs into the land of Faery, or ſpirits, to be healed of his wounds, that he reigns there ſtill as a mighty potentate in all his priſtine ſplendour, and will one day return to reſume his throne in Britain, and reſtore the ſolemnities of his champions, often occurs in the antient Welſh bards ^s. But not in the moſt antient. It [] is found in the compoſitions of the Welſh bards only, who flouriſhed after the native vein of Britiſh fabling had been tinctured by theſe FAIRY TALES, which the Arabians had propagated in Armorica, and which the Welſh had received from their connection with that province of Gaul. Such a fiction as this is entirely different from the caſt and com⯑plection of the ideas of the original Welſh poets. It is eaſy to collect from the Welſh odes, written after the tenth century, many ſignatures of this EXOTIC imagery. Such as, ‘"Their aſſault was like ſtrong lions. He is valourous as a lion, who can reſiſt his lance? The dragon of Mona's ſons were ſo brave in fight, that there was horrible con⯑ſternation, and upon Tal Moelvre a thouſand banners. Our lion has brought to Trallwng three armies. A dragon he was from the beginning, unterrified in battle. A dragon of Ovain. Thou art a prince firm in battle, like an elephant. Their aſſault was as of ſtrong lions. The lion of Cemais fierce in the onſet, when the army ruſheth to be covered with red. He ſaw Llewellyn like a burning dragon in the ſtrife of Arſon. He is furious in fight like an outrageous dragon. Like the roaring of a furious lion, in the ſearch of prey, is thy thirſt of praiſe."’ Inſtead of producing more proofs from the multitude that might be mentioned, for the ſake of illuſtration of our argument, I will contraſt theſe with ſome of their natural unadulterated thoughts. ‘"Fetch the drinking horn, whoſe gloſs is like the wave of the ſea. Tudor is like a wolf ruſhing on his prey. They were all covered with blood when they re⯑turned, and the high hills and the dales enjoyed the ſun equally ^t. O thou virgin, that ſhineſt like the ſnow on the brows of Aran ^u: like the fine ſpiders webs on the graſs on a ſummer's day. The army at Offa's dike panted [] for glory, the ſoldiers of Venedotia, and the men of Lon⯑don, were as the alternate motion of the waves on the ſea⯑ſhore, where the ſea-mew ſcreams. The hovering crows were numberleſs: the ravens croaked, they were ready to ſuck the proſtrate carcaſes. His enemies are ſcattered as leaves on the ſide of hills driven by hurricanes. He is a warrior, like a ſurge on the beach that covers the wild ſalmons. Her eye was piercing like that of the hawk ^w: her face ſhone like the pearly dew on Eryri ^x. Llewellyn is a hero who ſetteth caſtles on fire. I have watched all night on the beach, where the ſea-gulls, whoſe plumes glitter, ſport on the bed of billows; and where the herbage, growing in a ſolitary place, is of a deep green ^y."’ Theſe images are all drawn from their own country, from their ſituation and circumſtances; and, although highly poetical, are in general of a more ſober and temperate colouring. In a word, not only that elevation of alluſion, which many ſuppoſe to be peculiar to the poetry of Wales, but that fertility of fiction, and thoſe marvellous fables recorded in Geoffrey of Monmouth, which the generality of readers, who do not ſufficiently attend to the origin of that hiſtorian's ro⯑mantic materials, believe to be the genuine offspring of the Welſh poets, are of foreign growth. And, to return to the ground of this argument, there is the ſtrongeſt reaſon to ſuſpect, that even the Gothic EDDA, or ſyſtem of poetic mythology of the northern nations, is enriched with thoſe higher ſtrokes of oriental imagination, which the Arabians had communicated to the Europeans. Into this extravagant tiſſue of unmeaning allegory, falſe philoſophy, and falſe theology, it was eaſy to incorporate their moſt wild and romantic conceptions ^z.

[] It muſt be confeſſed, that the ideas of chivalry, the appen⯑dage and the ſubject of romance, ſubſiſted among the Goths. But this muſt be underſtood under certain limitations. There is no peculiarity which more ſtrongly diſcriminates the manners of the Greeks and Romans from thoſe of modern times, than that ſmall degree of attention and re⯑ſpect with which thoſe nations treated the fair ſex, and that inconſiderable ſhare which they were permitted to take in converſation, and the general commerce of life. For the truth of this obſervation, we need only appeal to the claſſic writers: in which their women appear to have been devoted to a ſtate of ſecluſion and obſcurity. One is ſurpriſed that barbarians ſhould be greater maſters of complaiſance than the moſt poliſhed people that ever exiſted. No ſooner was the Roman empire overthrown, and the Goths had over⯑powered Europe, than we find the female character aſſuming an unuſual importance and authority, and diſtinguiſhed with new privileges, in all the European governments eſtabliſhed by the northern conquerors. Even amidſt the confuſions of ſavage war, and among the almoſt incredible enormities committed by the Goths at their invaſion of the empire, they forbore to offer any violence to the women. This perhaps is one of the moſt ſtriking features in the new ſtate of manners, which took place about the ſeventh century: and it is to this period, and to this people, that we muſt refer the origin of gallantry in Europe. The Romans never intro⯑duced theſe ſentiments into their European provinces.

[] The Goths believed ſome divine and prophetic quality to be inherent in their women; they admitted them into their coun⯑cils, and conſulted them on the public buſineſs of the ſtate. They were ſuffered to conduct the great events which they predicted. Ganna, a prophetic virgin of the Marcomanni, a German or Gauliſh tribe, was ſent by her nation to Rome, and admitted into the preſence of Domitian, to treat con⯑cerning terms of peace ^y. Tacitus relates, that Velleda, another German propheteſs, held frequent conferences with the Roman generals; and that on ſome occaſions, on account of the ſacredneſs of her perſon, ſhe was placed at a great diſtance on a high tower, from whence, like an oracular divinity, ſhe conveyed her anſwers by ſome choſen meſſenger ^z. She appears to have preſerved the ſupreme rule over her own people and the neighbouring tribes ^a. And there are other inſtances, that the government among the antient Germans was ſometimes veſted in the women ^b. This practice alſo prevailed among the Sitones or Norwegians ^c. The Cimbri, a Scandinavian tribe, were accompanied at their aſſemblies by venerable and hoary-headed propheteſſes, apparelled in long linen veſtments of a ſplendid white ^d. Their matrons and daughters acquired a reverence from their ſkill in ſtudying ſimples, and their knowledge of healing wounds, arts reputed myſterious. The wives frequently attended their huſbands in the moſt perilous expeditions, and fought with great intre⯑pidity in the moſt bloody engagements ^e. Theſe nations dreaded [] captivity, more on the account of their women, than on their own: and the Romans, availing themſelves of this appre⯑henſion, often demanded their nobleſt virgins for hoſtages ^f. From theſe circumſtances, the women even claimed a ſort of precedence, at leaſt an equality ſubſiſted between the ſexes, in the Gothic conſtitutions.

But the deference paid to the fair ſex, which produced the ſpirit of gallantry, is chiefly to be ſought for in thoſe ſtrong and exaggerated ideas of female chaſtity which prevailed among the northern nations. Hence the lover's devotion to his miſtreſs was encreaſed, his attentions to her ſervice multiplied, his affection heightened, and his ſollicitude ag⯑gravated, in proportion as the difficulty of obtaining her was enhanced: and the paſſion of love acquired a degree of delicacy, when controlled by the principles of honour and purity. The higheſt excellence of character then known was a ſuperiority in arms; and that rival was moſt likely to gain his lady's regard, who was the braveſt champion. Here we ſee valour inſpired by love. In the mean time, the ſame heroic ſpirit which was the ſureſt claim to the favour of the ladies, was often exerted in their protection: a protection much wanted in an age of rapine, of plunder, and piracy; when the weakneſs of the ſofter ſex was expoſed to conti⯑nual dangers and unexpected attacks ^g. It is eaſy to ſup⯑poſe the officious emulation and ardour of many a gallant young warrior, preſſing forward to be foremoſt in this ho⯑nourable ſervice, which flattered the moſt agreeable of all paſſions, and which gratified every enthuſiaſm of the times, [] eſpecially the faſhionable fondneſs for a wandering and mili⯑tary life. In the mean time, we may conceive the lady thus won, or thus defended, conſcious of her own importance, affecting an air of ſtatelineſs: it was her pride to have pre⯑ſerved her chaſtity inviolate, ſhe could perceive no merit but that of invincible bravery, and could only be approached in terms of reſpect and ſubmiſſion.

Among the Scandinavians, a people ſo fond of cloathing adventures in verſe, theſe gallantries muſt naturally become the ſubject of poetry, with its fictitious embelliſhments. Accordingly, we find their chivalry diſplayed in their odes; pieces, which at the ſame time greatly confirm theſe obſer⯑vations. The famous ode of Regner Lodbrog, affords a ſtriking inſtance; in which, being impriſoned in a loath⯑ſome dungeon, and condemned to be deſtroyed by venomous ſerpents, he ſolaces his deſperate ſituation by recollecting and reciting the glorious exploits of his paſt life. One of theſe, and the firſt which he commemorates, was an at⯑chievement of chivalry. It was the delivery of a beautiful Swediſh princeſs from an impregnable fortreſs, in which ſhe was forcibly detained by one of her father's captains. Her father iſſued a proclamation, promiſing that whoever would reſcue the lady, ſhould have her in marriage. Regner ſuc⯑ceeded in the attempt, and married the fair captive. This was about the year 860 ^h. There are other ſtrokes in Reg⯑ner's ode, which, although not belonging to this particular ſtory, deſerve to be pointed out here, as illuſtrative of our argument. Such as, ‘"It was like being placed near a beau⯑tiful virgin on a couch.—It was like kiſſing a young widow in the firſt ſeat at a feaſt. I made to ſtruggle in the twilight that golden-haired chief, who paſſed his mornings among the young maidens, and loved to converſe with [] widows.—He who aſpires to the love of young virgins, ought always to be foremoſt in the din of arms ⁱ."’ It is worthy of remark, that theſe ſentiments occur to Regner while he is in the midſt of his tortures, and at the point of death. Thus many of the heroes in Froiſſart, in the greateſt extremities of danger, recollect their amours, and die think⯑ing of their miſtreſſes. And by the way, in the ſame ſtrain, Boh, a Daniſh champion, having loſt his chin, and one of his cheeks, by a ſingle ſtroke from Thurſtain Midlang, only re⯑flected how he ſhould be received, when thus maimed and disfigured, by the Daniſh girls. He inſtantly exclaimed in a tone of ſavage gallantry, ‘"The Daniſh virgins will not now willingly or eaſily give me kiſſes, if I ſhould perhaps return home ^k."’ But there is an ode, in the KNYTLINGA-SAGA, written by Harald the VALIANT, which is profeſſedly a ſong of chivalry; and which; excluſive of its wild ſpirit of ad⯑venture, and its images of ſavage life, has the romantic air of a ſet of ſtanzas, compoſed by a Provencial troubadour. Harald, appears to have been one of the moſt eminent ad⯑venturers of his age. He had killed the king of Drontheim in a bloody engagement. He had traverſed all the ſeas, and viſited all the coaſts, of the north; and had carried his pira⯑tical enterpriſes even as far as the Mediterranean, and the ſhores of Africa. He was at length taken priſoner, and de⯑tained for ſome time at Conſtantinople. He complains in this ode, that the reputation he had acquired by ſo many hazardous exploits, by his ſkill in ſingle combat, riding, ſwimming, gliding along the ice, darting, rowing, and guiding a ſhip through the rocks, had not been able to make any impreſſion on Eliſſiff, or Eliſabeth, the beautiful daughter of Jarilas, king of Ruſſia ^l.

Here, however, chivalry ſubſiſted but in its rudiments. Under the feudal eſtabliſhments, which were ſoon afterwards erected in Europe, it received new vigour, and was inveſted [] with the formalities of a regular inſtitution. The nature and circumſtances of that peculiar model of government, were highly favourable to this ſtrange ſpirit of fantaſtic heroiſm; which, however unmeaning and ridiculous it may ſeem, had the moſt ſerious and ſalutary conſequences in aſſiſting the gene⯑ral growth of refinement, and the progreſſion of civiliſation, in forming the manners of Europe, in inculcating the prin⯑ciples of honour, and in teaching modes of decorum. The genius of the feudal policy was perfectly martial. A nu⯑merous nobility, formed into ſeparate principalities, affecting independence, and mutually jealous of their privileges and honours, neceſſarily lived in a ſtate of hoſtility. This ſitua⯑tion rendered perſonal ſtrength and courage the moſt requi⯑ſite and eſſential accompliſhments. And hence, even in time of peace, they had no conception of any diverſions or public ceremonies, but ſuch as were of the military kind. Yet, as the courts of theſe petty princes were thronged with ladies of the moſt eminent diſtinction and quality, the ruling paſſion for war was tempered with courteſy. The prize of contending champions was adjudged by the ladies; who did not think it inconſiſtent to be preſent or to preſide at the bloody ſpectacles of the times; and who, themſelves, ſeem to have contracted an unnatural and unbecoming ferocity, while they ſoftened the manners of thoſe valorous knights who fought for their approbation. The high notions of a noble deſcent, which aroſe from the condition of the feudal conſtitution, and the ambition of forming an alliance with powerful and opulent families, cheriſhed this romantic ſyſtem. It was hard to obtain the fair feudatary, who was the object of univerſal adoration. Not only the ſplendor of birth, but the magnificent caſtle ſurrounded with embattelled walls, guarded with maſſy towers, and crowned with lofty pinnacles, ſerved to inflame the imagination, and to create an attachment to ſome illuſtrious heireſs, whoſe point of honour it was to be chaſte and inacceſſible. And the difficulty [] of ſucceſs on theſe occaſions, ſeems in great meaſure to have given riſe to that ſentimental love of romance, which acquieſced in a diſtant reſpectful admiration, and did not aſpire to poſſeſſion. The want of an uniform adminiſtration of juſtice, the general diſorder, and ſtate of univerſal anarchy, which naturally ſprung from the principles of the feudal policy, preſented perpetual oppor⯑tunities of checking the oppreſſions of arbitrary lords, of delivering captives injuriouſly detained in the baronial caſtles, of puniſhing robbers, of ſuccouring the diſtreſſed, and of avenging the impotent and the unarmed, who were every moment expoſed to the moſt licentious inſults and injuries. The violence and injuſtice of the times gave birth to valour and humanity. Theſe acts conferred a luſtre and an im⯑portance on the character of men profeſſing arms, who made force the ſubſtitute of law. In the mean time, the cruſades, ſo pregnant with enterprize, heightened the habits of this warlike fanaticiſm. And when theſe foreign expedi⯑tions were ended, in which the hermits and pilgrims of Paleſtine had been defended, nothing remained to employ the activity of adventurers but the protection of innocence at home. Chivalry by degrees was conſecrated by religion, whoſe authority tinctured every paſſion, and was engrafted into every inſtitution, of the ſuperſtitious ages; and at length compoſed that ſingular picture of manners, in which the love of a god and of the ladies were reconciled, the ſaint and the hero were blended, and charity and revenge, zeal and gallantry, devotion and valour, were united.

Thoſe who think that chivalry ſtarted late, from the na⯑ture of the feudal conſtitution, confound an improved effect with a ſimple cauſe. Not having diſtinctly conſidered all the particularities belonging to the genius, manners, and uſages of the Gothic tribes, and accuſtomed to contemplate nations under the general idea of barbarians, they cannot look for the ſeeds of elegance amongſt men, diſtinguiſhed [] only for their ignorance and their inhumanity. The rude origin of this heroic gallantry was quickly overwhelmed and extinguiſhed, by the ſuperior pomp which it neceſſarily adopted from the gradual diffuſion of opulence and civility, and that blaze of ſplendor with which it was ſurrounded, amid the magnificence of the feudal ſolemnities. But above all, it was loſt and forgotten in that higher degree of embel⯑liſhment, which at length it began to receive from the repre⯑ſentations of romance.

From the foregoing obſervations taken together, the following general and comprehenſive concluſion ſeems to reſult.

Amid the gloom of ſuperſtition, in an age of the groſſeſt ignorance and credulity, a taſte for the wonders of oriental fiction was introduced by the Arabians into Europe, many countries of which were already ſeaſoned to a reception of its extravagancies, by means of the poetry of the Gothic ſ [...]alds, who perhaps originally derived their ideas from the fame fruitful region of invention. Theſe fictions, coinciding with the reigning manners, and perpetually kept up and improved in the tales of troubadours and minſtrels, ſeem to have centered about the eleventh century in the ideal hiſtories of Turpin and Geoffrey of Monmouth, which record the ſuppoſititious atchievements of Charlemagne and king Arthur, where they formed the ground-work of that ſpecies of fabulous narrative called romance. And from theſe be⯑ginnings or cauſes, afterwards enlarged and enriched by kindred fancies fetched from the cruſades, that ſingular and capricious mode of imagination aroſe, which at length compoſed the marvellous machineries of the more ſublime Italian poets, and of their diſciple Spenſer.

ON THE INTRODUCTION OF LEARNING into ENGLAND.
DISSERTATION II.

THE irruption of the northern nations into the weſtern empire, about the beginning of the fourth century, forms one of the moſt intereſting and im⯑portant periods of modern hiſtory. Europe, on this great event, ſuffered the moſt memorable revolutions in its govern⯑ment and manners; and from the moſt flouriſhing ſtate of peace and civility, became on a ſudden, and for the ſpace of two centuries, the theatre of the moſt deplorable devaſtation and diſorder. But among the diſaſters introduced by theſe irreſiſtible barbarians, the moſt calamitous ſeems to have been the deſtruction of thoſe arts which the Romans ſtill conti⯑nued ſo ſucceſsfully to cultivate in their capital, and which they had univerſally communicated to their conquered pro⯑vinces. Towards the cloſe of the fifth century, very few traces of the Roman policy, juriſprudence, ſciences, and literature, [] remained. Some faint ſparks of knowledge were kept alive in the monaſteries; and letters and the liberal arts were happily preſerved from a total extinction during the confuſions of the Gothic invaders, by that ſlender degree of culture and protection which they received from the prelates of the church, and the religious communities.

But notwithſtanding the famous academy of Rome^a with other literary ſeminaries had been deſtroyed by Alaric in the fourth century; yet Theodoric the ſecond, king of the Oſtrogoths, a pious and humane prince, reſtored in ſome degree the ſtudy of letters in that city, and encouraged the purſuits of thoſe ſcholars who ſurvived this great and general deſolation of learning ^b. He adopted into his ſervice Boe⯑thius, the moſt learned and almoſt only Latin philoſopher of that period. Caſſiodorus, another eminent Roman ſcholar, was Theodoric's grand ſecretary: who retiring into a mo⯑naſtery in Calabria, paſſed his old age in collecting books, and practiſing mechanical experiments ^c. He was the author of many valuable pieces which ſtill remain ^d. He wrote with little elegance, but he was the firſt that ever digeſted a ſeries of royal charts or inſtruments; a monument of ſingular utility to the hiſtorian, and which has ſerved to throw the [] moſt authentic illuſtration on the public tranſactions and legal conſtitutions of thoſe times. Theodoric's patronage of learning is applauded by Claudian, and Sidonius Apollinaris. Many other Gothic kings were equally attached to the works of peace; and are not leſs conſpicuous for their juſtice, pru⯑dence, and temperance, than for their fortitude and magna⯑nimity. Some of them were diligent in collecting the ſcat⯑tered remains of the Roman inſtitutes, and conſtructing a regular code of juriſprudence ^d. It is highly probable, that thoſe Goths who became maſters of Rome, ſooner acquired ideas of civility, from the opportunity which that city above all others afforded them of ſeeing the felicities of poliſhed life, of obſerving the conveniencies ariſing from political economy, of mixing with characters reſpectable for prudence and learning, and of employing in their counſels men of ſupe⯑rior wiſdom, whoſe inſtruction and advice they found it their intereſt to follow. But perhaps theſe northern adventurers, at leaſt their princes and leaders, were not even at their firſt migrations into the ſouth, ſo totally ſavage and unciviliſed as we are commonly apt to ſuppoſe. Their enemies have been their hiſtorians, who naturally painted theſe violent diſturbers of the general repoſe in the warmeſt colours. It is not eaſy to conceive, that the ſucceſs of their amazing en⯑terprizes was merely the effect of numbers and tumultuary depredation: nor can I be perſuaded, that the laſting and flouriſhing governments which they eſtabliſhed in various parts of Europe, could have been framed by brutal force alone, and the blind efforts of unreflecting ſavages. Superior ſtrength and courage muſt have contributed in a conſider⯑able degree to their rapid and extenſive conqueſts; but at the ſame time, ſuch mighty atchievements could not have been planned and executed without ſome extraordinary vigour of mind, uniform principles of conduct, and no common talents of political ſagacity.

[] Although theſe commotions muſt have been particularly unfavourable to the more elegant literature, yet Latin poetry, from a concurrence of cauſes, had for ſome time begun to relapſe into barbariſm. From the growing encreaſe of chriſtianity, it was deprived of its old fabulous embel⯑liſhments, and chiefly employed in compoſing eccleſiaſtical hymns. Amid theſe impediments however, and the neceſſary degeneration of taſte and ſtyle, a few poets ſupported the character of the Roman muſe with tolerable dignity, during the decline of the Roman empire. Theſe were Auſonius, Paulinus, Sidonius, Sedulius, Arator, Juvencus, Proſper, and Fortunatus. With the laſt, who flouriſhed at the be⯑ginning of the ſixth century, and was biſhop of Poitiers, the Roman poetry is ſuppoſed to have expired.

In the ſixth century Europe began to recover ſome degree of tranquillity. Many barbarous countries during this pe⯑riod, particularly the inhabitants of Germany, of Frieſland, and other northern nations, were converted to the chriſtian faith ^e. The religious controverſies which at this time di⯑vided the Greek and Latin churches, rouſed the minds of men to literary enquiries. Theſe diſputes in ſome meaſure called forth abilities which otherwiſe would have been un⯑known and unemployed; and, together with the ſubtleties of argumentation, inſenſibly taught the graces of ſtyle, and the habits of compoſition. Many of the popes were perſons of diſtinguiſhed talents, and promoted uſeful knowledge no leſs by example than authority. Political union was by degrees eſtabliſhed; and regular ſyſtems of government, which alone can enſure perſonal ſecurity, aroſe in the various provinces of Europe occupied by the Gothic tribes. The Saxons had taken poſſeſſion of Britain, the Franks be⯑came maſters of Gaul, the Huns of Pannonia, the Goths of [] Spain, and the Lombards of Italy. Hence leiſure and re⯑poſe diffuſed a mildneſs of manners, and introduced the arts of peace; and, awakening the human mind to a con⯑ſciouſneſs of its powers, directed its faculties to their proper objects.

In the mean time, no ſmall obſtruction to the propagation or rather revival of letters, was the paucity of valuable books. The libraries, particularly thoſe of Italy, which abounded in numerous and ineſtimable treaſures of literature, were every where deſtroyed by the precipitate rage and undiſtin⯑guiſhing violence of the northern armies. Towards the cloſe of the ſeventh century, even in the papal library at Rome, the number of books was ſo inconſiderable, that pope Saint Martin requeſted Sanctamand biſhop of Maeſtricht, if poſſible to ſupply this defect from the remoteſt parts of Ger⯑many ^g. In the year 855, Lupus, abbot of Ferrieres in France, ſent two of his monks to pope Benedict the third, to beg a copy of CICERO DE ORATORE, and QUINTILIAN'S INSTITUTES ^h, and ſome other books: ‘"for, ſays the abbot, [] although we have part of th [...]ſe books, yet there is no whole or complete copy of them in all France ⁱ".’ Albert abbot of Gemblours, who with incredible labour and immenſe expence had collected an hundred volumes on theological and fifty on profane ſubjects, imagined he had formed a ſplendid library ^k. About the year 790, Charlemagne granted an unlimited right of hunting to the abbot and monks of Sithiu, for making their gloves and girdles of the ſkins of the deer they killed, and covers for their books ^l. We may imagine that theſe religious were more fond of hunting than reading. It is certain that they were obliged to hunt before they could read: and at leaſt it is probable, that under theſe circumſtances, and of ſuch materials, they did not manufacture many volumes. At the beginning of the tenth century books were ſo ſcarce in Spain, that one and the ſame copy of the bible, Saint Jerom's Epiſtles, and ſome volumes of eccleſiaſtical offices and martyrologies, often ſerved ſeveral different monaſteries ^m. Among the conſtitutions given to the monks of England by archbiſhop Lanfranc, in the year 1072, the following injunction occurs. At the beginning of Lent, the librarian is ordered to deliver a book to each of the religious: a whole year was allowed for the peruſal of this book: and at the returning Lent, thoſe monks who had neglected to read the books they had reſpectively received, are commanded to proſtrate themſelves before the [] abbot, and to ſupplicate his indulgence ⁿ. This regulation was partly occaſioned by the low ſtate of literature which Lanfranc found in the Engliſh monaſteries. But at the ſame time it was a matter of neceſſity, and is in great mea⯑ſure to be referred to the ſcarcity of copies of uſeful and ſuitable authors. In an inventory of the goods of John de Pontiſſara, biſhop of Wincheſter, contained in his capital palace of Wulveſey, all the books which appear are nothing more than ‘"Septendecem pecie librorum de diverſis Scienciis ^o."’ This was in the year 1294. The ſame prelate, in the year 1299, borrows of his cathedral convent of St. Swithin at Wincheſter, BIBLIAM BENE GLOSSATAM, that is, the Bible, with marginal Annotations, in two large folio volumes: but gives a bond for due return of the loan, drawn up with great ſolemnity ^p. This Bible had been bequeathed to the convent the ſame year by Pontiſſara's predeceſſor, biſhop Ni⯑cholas de Ely: and in conſideration of ſo important a bequeſt, that is, ‘"pro bona Biblia dicti epiſcopi bene gloſata,"’ and one hundred marks in money, the monks founded a daily maſs for the ſoul of the donor ^q. When a ſingle book was bequeathed [] to a friend or relation, it was ſeldom without many reſtrictions and ſtipulations ^r. If any perſon gave a book to a religious houſe, he believed that ſo valuable a donation merited eternal ſalvation, and he offered it on the altar with great ceremony. The moſt formidable anathemas were pe⯑remptorily denounced againſt thoſe who ſhould dare to alien⯑ate a book preſented to the cloiſter or library of a religious houſe. The prior and convent of Rocheſter declare, that they will every year pronounce the irrevocable ſentence of damnation on him who ſhall purloin or conceal a Latin tranſlation of Ariſtotle's PHYSICS, or even obliterate the title ^s. Sometimes a book was given to a monaſtery on con⯑dition that the donor ſhould have the uſe of it during his life: and ſometimes to a private perſon, with the reſervation that he who receives it ſhould pray for the ſoul of his benefactor. The gift of a book to Lincoln cathedral, by biſhop Repingdon, in the year 1422, occurs in this form and under theſe curious circumſtances. The memorial is written in Latin, with the biſhop's own hand, which I will give in Engliſh, at the beginning of Peter's BREVIARY OF THE BIBLE. ‘"I Philip of Repyndon, late biſhop of Lincoln, give this book called Peter de Aureolis to the new library to be built within the church of Lincoln: reſerving the uſe and poſſeſſion of it to Richard Tryſely, clerk, canon and pre⯑bendary of Miltoun, in fee, and to the term of his life: and afterwards to be given up and reſtored to the ſaid library, or the keepers of the ſame, for the time being, faithfully and without delay. Written with my own hand, A. D. 1422 ^t."’ When a book was bought, the [] affair was of ſo much importance, that it was cuſtomary to aſſemble perſons of conſequence and character, and to make a formal record that they were preſent on this occaſion. Among the royal manuſcripts, in the book of the SENTENCES of Peter Lombard, an archdeacon of Lincoln has left this entry ^u. ‘"This book of the SENTENCES belongs to maſter Robert, archdeacon of Lincoln, which he bought of Geof⯑frey the chaplain, brother of Henry vicar of Northelking⯑ton, in the preſence of maſter Robert de Lee, maſter John of Lirling, Richard of Luda, clerk, Richard the al⯑moner, the ſaid Henry the vicar and his clerk, and others: and the ſaid archdeacon gave the ſaid book to God and ſaint Oſwald, and to Peter abbot of Barton, and the con⯑vent of Barden ^w."’ The diſputed property of a book often occaſioned the moſt violent altercations. Many claims appear to have been made to a manuſcript of Matthew Paris, be⯑longing to the laſt-mentioned library: in which John Ruſ⯑ſell, biſhop of Lincoln, thus conditionally defends or explains his right of poſſeſſion. ‘"If this book can be proved to be or to have been the property of the exempt monaſtery of ſaint Alban in the dioceſe of Lincoln, I declare this to be my mind, that, in that caſe, I uſe it at preſent as a loan under favour of thoſe monks who belong to the ſaid monaſtery. Otherwiſe, according to the condition under which this book came into my poſſeſſion, I will that it ſhall belong to the college of the bleſſed Win⯑cheſter Mary at Oxford, of the foundation of William Wykham. Written with my own hand at Bukdane, 1 Jan. A. D. 1488. Jo. LINCOLN. Whoever ſhall obliterate or deſtroy this writing, let him be anathema ^x."’ About [] the year 1225, Roger de Inſula, dean of York, gave ſe⯑veral Latin bibles to the univerſity of Oxford, with a condition that the ſtudents who peruſed them ſhould de⯑poſit a cautionary pledge ^y. The library of that univerſity, before the year 1300, conſiſted only of a few tracts, chained or kept in cheſts in the choir of St. Mary's church ^z. In the year 1327, the ſcholars and citizens of Oxford aſſaulted and entirely pillaged the opulent Benedictine abbey of the neighbouring town of Abingdon. Among the books they found there, were one hundred pſalters, as many grayles, and forty miſſals, which undoubtedly belonged to the choir of the church: but beſides theſe, there were only twenty⯑two CODICES, which I interpret books on common ſubjects ^a. [] And although the invention of paper, at the cloſe of the ele⯑venth century, contributed to multiply manuſcripts, and con⯑ſequently to facilitate knowledge, yet even ſo late as the reign of our Henry the ſixth, I have diſcovered the following re⯑markable inſtance of the inconveniencies and impediments to ſtudy, which muſt have been produced by a ſcarcity of books. It is in the ſtatutes of St. Mary's college at Oxford, founded as a ſeminary to Oſeney abbey in the year 1446. ‘"Let no ſcholar occupy a book in the library above one hour, or two hours at moſt; ſo that others ſhall be hin⯑dered from the uſe of the ſame ^b".’ The famous library eſtabliſhed in the univerſity of Oxford, by that munificent patron of literature Humphrey duke of Glouceſter, contained only ſix hundred volumes ^c. About the commencement of the fourteenth century, there were only four claſſics in the royal library at Paris. Theſe were one copy of Cicero, Ovid, Lucan, and Boethius. The reſt were chiefly books of devo⯑tion, which included but few of the fathers: many treatiſes of aſtrology, geomancy, chiromancy, and medicine, originally written in Arabic, and tranſlated into Latin or French: pandects, chronicles, and romances. This collection was principally made by Charles the fifth, who began his reign [] in 1365. This monarch was paſſionately fond of reading, and it was the faſhion to ſend him preſents of books from every part of the kingdom of France. Theſe he ordered to be elegantly tranſcribed, and richly illuminated; and he placed them in a tower of the Louvre, from thence called, la toure de la libraire. The whole conſiſted of nine hundred volumes. They were depoſited in three chambers; which, on this oc⯑caſion, were wainſcotted with Iriſh oak, and cieled with cypreſs curiouſly carved. The windows were of painted glaſs, fenced with iron bars and copper wire. The Engliſh became maſters of Paris in the year 1425. On which event the duke of Bedford, regent of France, ſent this whole li⯑brary, then conſiſting of only eight hundred and fifty-three volumes, and valued at two thouſand two hundred and twenty⯑three livres, into England; where perhaps they became the ground-work of duke Humphrey's library juſt mentioned ^e. Even ſo late as the year 1471, when Louis the eleventh of France borrowed the works of the Arabian phyſician Rhaſis, from the faculty of medicine at Paris, he not only depoſited by way of pledge a quantity of valuable plate, but was obliged to procure a nobleman to join with him as ſurety in a deed ^f, by which he bound himſelf to return it under a conſiderable forfeiture ^g. The exceſſive prices of books in the middle ages, afford numerous and curious proofs. I will mention a few only. In the year 1174, Wal⯑ter prior of St. Swithin's at Wincheſter, afterwards elected abbot of Weſtminſter, a writer in Latin of the lives of the biſhops who were his patrons ^h, purchaſed of the monks of [] Dorcheſter in Oxfordſhire, Bede's Homilies, and ſaint Auſtin's Pſalter, for twelve meaſures of barley, and a pall on which was embroidered in ſilver the hiſtory of ſaint Birinus con⯑verting a Saxon king ^h. Among the royal manuſcripts in the Britiſh muſeum there is COMESTOR'S SCHOLASTIC HIS⯑TORY in French; which, as it is recorded in a blank page at the beginning, was taken from the king of France at the battle of Poitiers; and being purchaſed by William Montague earl of Saliſbury for one hundred mars, was ordered to be ſold by the laſt will of his counteſs Elizabeth for forty livres ⁱ. About the year 1400, a copy of John of Meun's ROMAN DE LA ROSE, was ſold before the palace⯑gate at Paris for forty crowns or thirty-three pounds ſix and ſix-pence ^k. But in purſuit of theſe anecdotes, I am [] imperceptibly ſeduced into later periods, or rather am deviating from my ſubject.

After the calamities which the ſtate of literature ſuſtained in conſequence of the incurſions of the northern nations, the firſt reſtorers of the antient philoſophical ſciences in Europe, the ſtudy of which, by opening the faculties and extending the views of mankind, gradually led the way to other parts of learning, were the Arabians. In the beginning of the eighth century, this wonderful people, equally fa⯑mous for their conqueſts and their love of letters, in ravaging the Aſiatic provinces, found many Greek books, which they read with infinite avidity: and ſuch was the gratification they received from this fortunate acquiſition, and ſo power⯑fully their curioſity was excited to make further diſcoveries in this new field of knowledge, that they requeſted their ca⯑liphs to procure from the emperor at Conſtantinople the beſt Greek writers. Theſe they carefully tranſlated into Arabic ^k. But every part of the Grecian literature did not equally gratify their taſte. The Greek poetry they rejected, becauſe it inculcated polytheiſm and idolatry, which were inconſiſtent with their religion. Or perhaps it was too cold and too correct for their extravagant and romantic conceptions ^l. [] Of the Greek hiſtory they made no uſe, becauſe it recorded events which preceded their prophet Mahomet. Accuſtomed to a deſpotic empire, they neglected the political ſyſtems of the Greeks, which taught republican freedom. For the ſame reaſons they deſpiſed the eloquence of the Athenian orators. The Greek ethics were ſuper [...]eded by their Alcoran, and on this account they did not ſtudy the works of Plato ^m. Therefore no other Greek books engaged their attention but thoſe which treated of mathematical, metaphyſical, and phy⯑ſical knowledge. Mathematics coincided with their natural turn to aſtronomy and arithmetic. Metaphyſics, or logic, ſuited their ſpeculative genius, their love of tracing intricate and abſtracted truths, and their ambition of being admired for difficult and remote reſearches. Phyſics, in which I in⯑clude medicine, aſſiſted the chemical experiments to which they were ſo much addicted ⁿ: and medicine, while it was connected with chemiſtry and botany, was a practical art of immediate utility ^o. Hence they ſtudied Ariſtotle, Galen, [] and Hippocrates, with unremitted ardour and aſſiduity: they tranſlated their writings into the Arabic tongue ^p, and by degrees illuſtrated them with voluminous commentaries ^q. Theſe Arabic tranſlations of the Greek philoſophers produced new treatiſes of their own, particularly in medicine and me⯑taphyſics. They continued to extend their conqueſts, and their frequent incurſions into Europe before and after the ninth century, and their abſolute eſtabliſhment in Spain, imported the rudiments of uſeful knowledge into nations in⯑volved in the groſſeſt ignorance, and unpoſſeſſed of the [] means of inſtruction. They founded univerſities in many cities of Spain and Africa ^r. They brought with them thei [...] books, which Charlemagne, emperor of France and Ger⯑many, commanded to be tranſlated from Arabic into Latin ^s: and which, by the care and encouragement of that liberal prince, being quickly diſſeminated over his extenſive domi⯑nions, ſoon became familiar to the weſtern world. Hence it is, that we find our early Latin authors of the dark ages chiefly employed in writing ſyſtems of the moſt abſtruſe ſciences: and from theſe beginnings the Ariſtotelic philoſo⯑phy acquired ſuch eſtabliſhment and authority, that from long preſcription it remains to this day the ſacred and un⯑controverted doctrine of our ſchools ^t. From this fountain the infatuations of aſtrology took poſſeſſion of the middle ages, and were continued even to modern times. To the peculiar genius of this people it is owing, that chemiſtry became blended with ſo many extravagancies, obſcured with unintelligible jargon, and filled with fantaſtic notions, myſterious [] pretenſions, and ſuperſtitious operations. And it is eaſy to conceive, that among theſe viſionary philoſophers, ſo fertile in ſpeculation, logic, and metaphyſics, contracted much of that refinement and perplexity, which for ſo many centuries exerciſed the genius of profound reaſoners and captious diſputants, and ſo long obſtructed the progreſs of true knowledge. It may perhaps be regretted, in the mean time, that this predilection of the Arabian ſcholars for phi⯑loſophic enquiries, prevented them from importing into Europe a literature of another kind. But rude and barba⯑rous nations would not have been poliſhed by the hiſtory, poetry, and oratory of the Greeks. Although capable of comprehending the ſolid truths of many parts of ſcience, they are unprepared to be impreſſed with ideas of elegance, and to reliſh works of taſte. Men muſt be inſtructed before they can be refined; and, in the gradations of knowledge, polite literature does not take place till ſome progreſs has firſt been made in philoſophy. Yet it is at the ſame time probable, that the Arabians, among their literary ſtores, brought into Spain and Italy many Greek authors not of the ſcientific ſpecies ^u: [] and that the migration of this people into the weſtern world, while it proved the fortunate inſtrument of introducing into Europe ſome of the Greek claſſics at a very early period, was moreover a means of preſerving thoſe genuine models of compoſition, and of tranſmitting them to the preſent gene⯑ration ^u. It is certain, that about the cloſe of the ninth cen⯑tury, polite letters, together with the ſciences, began in ſome degree to be ſtudied in Italy, France, and Germany. Charlemagne, whoſe munificence and activity in propagating the Arabian literature has already been mentioned, founded the univerſities of Bononia, Pavia, Paris, and Oſnaburgh. Charles the Bald ſeconded the ſalutary endeavours of Char⯑lemagne. Lothaire, the brother of the latter, erected ſchools in the eight principal cities of Italy ^w. The number of mo⯑naſteries and collegiate churches in thoſe countries was daily encreaſing ^x: in which the youth, as a preparation to the [] ſtudy of the ſacred ſcriptures, were exerciſed in reading pro⯑fane authors, together with the antient doctors of the church, and habituated to a Latin ſtyle. The monks of Caſſino in Italy were diſtinguiſhed before the year 1000, not only for their knowledge of the ſciences, but their attention to polite learning, and an acquaintance with the claſſics. Their learned abbot Deſiderius collected the beſt of the Greek and Roman writers. This fraternity not only compoſed learned treatiſes in muſic, logic, aftronomy, and the Vitruvian architecture, but likewiſe employed a portion of their time in tranſcribing Tacitus ^y, Jornandes, Joſephus, Ovid's Faſti, Cicero, Seneca, Donatus the grammarian, Virgil, Theocritus, and Homer ^z.

[] In the mean time England ſhared theſe improvements in knowledge: and literature, chiefly derived from the ſame ſources, was communicated to our Saxon anceſtors about the beginning of the eighth century ^c. The Anglo-Saxons were converted to chriſtianity about the year 570. In conſequence of this event, they ſoon acquired civility and learning. Hence they neceſſarily eſtabliſhed a communication with Rome, and acquired a familiarity with the Latin language. During this period, it was the prevailing practice among the Saxons, not only of the clergy but of the better ſort of laity, to make a voyage to Rome ^d. It is natural to imagine with what ardour the new converts viſited the holy ſee, which at the ſame time was fortunately the capital of literature. While they gratified their devotion, undeſignedly and im⯑perceptibly they became acquainted with uſeful ſcience.

In return, Rome ſent her emiſſaries into Britain. Theo⯑dore, a monk of Rome, originally a Greek prieſt, a native of Tarſus in Cilicia, was conſecrated archbiſhop of Canter⯑bury, and ſent into England by pope Vitellian, in the year 688 ^e. He was ſkilled in the metrical art, aſtronomy, arith⯑metic, church-muſic, and the Greek and Latin languages ^f. The new prelate brought with him a large library, as it was called and eſteemed, conſiſting of numerous Greek and Latin authors; among which were Homer in a large volume, written on paper with moſt exquiſite elegance, the homi⯑lies of ſaint Chryſoſtom on parchment, the pſalter, and Jo⯑ſephus's Hypomneſticon, all in Greek ^g. Theodore was accompanied [] into England by Adrian, a Neapolitan monk, and a native of Africa, who was equally ſkilled in ſacred and profane learning, and at the ſame time appointed by the pope to the abbacy of ſaint Auſtin's at Canterbury. Bede informs us, that Adrian requeſted pope Vitellian to confer the arch⯑biſhoprick on Theodore, and that the pope conſented on condition that Adrian, ‘"who had been twice in France, and on that account was better acquainted with the nature and difficulties of ſo long a journey,"’ would conduct Theo⯑dore into Britain ^h. They were both eſcorted to the city of Canterbury by Benedict Biſcop, a native of Northumber⯑land, and a monk, who had formerly been acquainted with them in a viſit which he made to Rome ⁱ. Benedict ſeems at this time to have been one of the moſt diſtinguiſhed of the Saxon eccleſiaſtics: availing himſelf of the arrival of theſe two learned ſtrangers, under their direction and aſſiſtance, he procured workmen from France, and built the monaſtery of Weremouth in Northumberland. The church he con⯑ſtructed of ſtone, after the manner of the Roman architec⯑ture; and adorned its walls and roof with pictures, which he purchaſed at Rome, repreſenting among other ſacred ſub⯑jects the Virgin Mary, the twelve apoſtles, the evangelical hiſtory, and the viſions of the Apocalypſe ^k. The windows were glazed by artiſts brought from France. But I mention this foundation to introduce an anecdote much to our purpoſe. [] Benedict added to his monaſtery an ample library, which he ſtored with Greek and Latin volumes, imported by himſelf from Italy ^l. Bede has thought it a matter worthy to be recorded, that Ceolfrid, his ſucceſſor in the government of Weremouth-abbey, augmented this collection with three volumes of pandects, and a book of coſmography wonderfully enriched with curious workmanſhip, and bought at Rome ^m. The example of the pious Benedict was imme⯑diately followed by Acca biſhop of Hexham in the ſame pro⯑vince: who having finiſhed his cathedral church by the help of architects, maſons, and glaſiers hired in Italy, adorned it, according to Leland, with a valuable library of Greek and Latin authors ⁿ. But Bede, Acca's cotemporary, relates, that this library was entirely compoſed of the hiſtories of thoſe apoſtles and martyrs to whoſe relics he had dedicated ſe⯑veral altars in his church, and other eccleſiaſtical treatiſes, which he had collected with infinite labour ^o. Bede however calls it a moſt copious and noble library ^p. Nor is it foreign to our purpoſe to add, that Acca invited from Kent into Northumberland, and retained in his ſervice during the ſpace of twelve years, a celebrated chantor named Maban: by the aſſiſtance of whoſe inſtructions and ſuperintendance he not only regulated the church muſic of his dioceſe, but in⯑troduced the uſe of many Latin hymns hitherto unknown in the northern churches of England ^q. It appears that before [] the arrival of Theodore and Adrian, celebrated ſchools for educating youth in the ſciences had been long eſtabliſhed in Kent ^r. Literature, however, ſeems at this period to have flouriſhed with equal reputation at the other extremity of the iſland, and even in our moſt northern provinces. Ecbert biſhop of York, founded a library in his cathedral, which, like ſome of thoſe already mentioned, is ſaid to have been repleniſhed with a variety of Latin and Greek books ^s. Alcuine, whom Ecbert appointed his firſt librarian, hints at this library in a Latin epiſtle to Charlemagne. ‘"Send me from France ſome learned treatiſes, of equal excellence with thoſe which I preſerve here in England under my cuſtody, collected by the induſtry of my maſter Ecbert: and I will ſend to you ſome of my youths, who ſhall carry with them the flowers of Britain into France. So that there ſhall not only be an encloſed garden at York, but alſo at Tours ſome ſprouts of Paradiſe ^t," &c.’ William of Malmesbury judged this library to be of ſufficient im⯑portance not only to be mentioned in his hiſtory, but to be ſtyled, ‘"Omnium liberalium artium armarium, nobiliſſimam bibliothecam ^u."’ This repoſitory remained till the reign of king Stephen, when it was deſtroyed by fire, with great part of the city of York ^w. Its founder Ecbert died in the year 767 ^x. Before the end of the eighth century, the monaſteries of Weſtminſter, Saint Alban's, Worceſter, Malmesbury, Glaſ⯑tonbury, with ſome others, were founded, and opulently en⯑dowed. That of Saint Alban's was filled with one hundred monks by king Offa ^y. Many new biſhopricks were alſo eſtabliſhed in England: all which inſtitutions, by multiplying [] the number of eccleſiaſtics, turned the attention of many perſons to letters.

The beſt writers among the Saxons flouriſhed about the eighth century. Theſe were Aldhelm, biſhop of Shirburn, Ceolfrid, Alcuine, and Bede; with whom I muſt alſo join king Alfred. But in an enquiry of this nature, Alfred de⯑ſerves particular notice, not only as a writer, but as the illuſtrious rival of Charlemagne, in protecting and aſſiſting the reſtoration of literature. He is ſaid to have founded the univerſity of Oxford; and it is highly probable, that in imi⯑tation of Charlemagne's ſimilar inſtitutions, he appointed learned perſons to give public and gratuitous inſtructions in theology, but principally in the faſhionable ſciences of logic, aſtronomy, arithmetic, and geometry, at that place, which was then a conſiderable town, and conveniently ſituated in the neighbourhood of thoſe royal ſeats at which Alfred chiefly reſided. He ſuffered no prieſt that was illite⯑rate to be advanced to any eccleſiaſtical dignity ^y. He invited his nobility to educate their ſons in learning, and requeſted thoſe lords of his court who had no children, to ſend to ſchool ſuch of their younger ſervants as diſcovered a pro⯑miſing capacity, and to breed them to the clerical profeſſion ^z. Alfred, while a boy, had himſelf experienced the inconve⯑niencies ariſing from a want of ſcholars, and even of com⯑mon inſtructors, in his dominions: for he was twelve years of age, before he could procure in the weſtern kingdom a maſter properly qualified to teach him the alphabet. But, while yet unable to read, he could repeat from memory a great variety of Saxon ſongs ^a. He was fond of cultivating [] his native tongue: and with a view of inviting the people in general to a love of reading, and to a knowledge of books which they could not otherwiſe have underſtood, he tran⯑ſlated many Latin authors into Saxon. Theſe, among others, were Boethius OF THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSO⯑PHY, a manuſcript of which of Alfred's age ſtill remains ^a, Oroſius's HISTORY OF THE PAGANS, ſaint Gregory's PASTORAL CARE, the venerable Bede's ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, and the SOLILOQUIES of ſaint Auſtin. Probably ſaint Auſtin was ſelected by Alfred, becauſe he was the favorite author of Charlemagne ^b. Alfred died in the year 900, and was buried at Hyde abbey, in the ſuburbs of Wincheſter, under a ſumptuous monument of porphyry ^c.

Aldhelm, nephew of Ina king of the Weſt Saxons, fre⯑quently viſited France and Italy. While a monk of Malmeſ⯑bury in Wiltſhire, he went from his monaſtery to Canter⯑bury, in order to learn logic, rhetoric, and the Greek lan⯑guage, of archbiſhop Theodore, and of Albin abbot of ſaint Auſtin's ^d, the pupil of Adrian ^e. But he had before acquired [] ſome knowledge of Greek and Latin under Maidulf, an Hi⯑bernian or Scot, who had erected a ſmall monaſtery or ſchool at Malmeſbury ^f. Camden affirms, that Aldhelm was the firſt of the Saxons who wrote in Latin, and that he taught his countrymen the art of Latin verſification ^g. But a very intelligent antiquarian in this ſort of literature, men⯑tions an anonymous Latin poet, who wrote the life of Char⯑lemagne in verſe; and adds, that he was the firſt of the Saxons that attempted to write Latin verſe ^h. It is however certain, that Aldhelm's Latin compoſitions, whether in verſe or proſe, as novelties were deemed extraordinary performan⯑ces, and excited the attention and admiration of ſcholars in other countries. A learned cotemporary, who lived in a remote province of a Frankiſh territory, in an epiſtle to Ald⯑helm has this remarkable expreſſion, ‘"VESTRAE LATINITATIS PANEGYRICUS RUMOR has reached us even at this diſ⯑tance ⁱ, &c."’ In reward of theſe uncommon merits he was made biſhop of Shirburn in Dorſetſhire in the year 705 ^k. His writings are chiefly theological: but he has likewiſe left in Latin verſe a book of AENIGMATA, copied from a work of the ſame title under the name of Sympoſius ^l, a poem de VIRGINITATE hereafter cited, and treatiſes on arithmetic, aſtro⯑logv, rhetoric, and metre. The laſt treatiſe is a proof that the ornaments of compoſition now began to be ſtudied. Leland mentions his CANTIONES SAXONICAE, one of which continued to be commonly ſung in William of Malmeſbury's time: and, as it was artfully interſperſed with many alluſions [] to paſſages of Scripture, was often ſung by Aldhelm him⯑ſelf to the populace in the ſtreets, with a deſign of alluring the ignorant and idle, by ſo ſpecious a mode of inſtruction, to a ſenſe of duty, and a knowledge of religious ſubjects ^o. Malmeſbury obſerves, that Aldhelm might be juſtly deemed ‘"ex acumine Graecum, ex nitore Romanum, et ex pompa Anglum ^p."’ It is evident, that Malmeſbury, while he here characteriſes the Greeks by their acuteneſs, took his idea of them from their ſcientifical literature, which was then only known. After the revival of the Greek philoſo⯑phy by the Saracens, Ariſtotle and Euclid were familiar in Europe long before Homer and Pindar. The character of Aldhelm is thus drawn by an antient chronicler, ‘"He was an excellent harper, a moſt eloquent Saxon and Latin poet, a moſt expert chantor or ſinger, a DOCTOR EGREGIUS, and admirably verſed in the ſcriptures and the liberal ſciences ^q."’

[] Alcuine, biſhop Ecbert's librarian at York, was a cotem⯑porary pupil with Aldhelm under Theodore and Adrian at Canterbury ^q. During the preſent period, there ſeems to have been a cloſe correſpondence and intercourſe between the French and Anglo-Saxons in matters of literature. Al⯑cuine was invited from England into France, to ſuperintend the ſtudies of Charlemagne, whom he inſtructed in logic, rhetoric, and aſtronomy ^r. He was alſo the maſter of Ra⯑banus Maurus, who became afterwards the governor and preceptor of the great abbey of Fulda in Germany, one of [] the moſt flouriſhing ſeminaries in Europe, founded by Charlemagne, and inhabited by two hundred and ſeventy monks ^s. Alcuine was likewiſe employed by Charlemagne to regulate the lectures and diſcipline of the univerſities ^t, which that prudent and magnificent potentate had newly conſtituted ^u. He is ſaid to have joined to the Greek and Latin, an acquaintance with the Hebrew tongue, which perhaps in ſome degree was known ſooner than we may ſuſpect; for at Trinity college in Cambridge there is an He⯑brew Pſalter, with a Normanno-Gallic interlinear verſion of great antiquity ^w. Homilies, lives of ſaints, commentaries on the bible, with the uſual ſyſtems of logic, aſtronomy, rhetoric, and grammar, compoſe the formidable catalogue of Alcuine's numerous writings. Yet in his books of the ſciences, he ſometimes ventured to break through the pedantic formalities of a ſyſtematical teacher: he has thrown one of [] his treatiſes in logic, and I think, another in grammar, into a dialogue between the author and Charlemagne. He firſt adviſed Bede to write his eccleſiaſtical hiſtory of England; and was greatly inſtrumental in furniſhing materials for that early and authentic record of our antiquities ^y.

In the mean time we muſt not form too magnificent ideas of theſe celebrated maſters of ſcience, who were thus invited into foreign countries to conduct the education of mighty monarchs, and to plan the rudiments of the moſt illuſtrious academies. Their merits are in great meaſure relative. Their circle of reading was contracted, their ſyſtems of phi⯑loſophy jejune; and their lectures rather ſerved to ſtop the growth of ignorance, than to produce any poſitive or im⯑portant improvements in knowledge. They were unable to make [...]xcurſions from their circumſcribed paths of ſcientific inſtruction, into the ſpacious and fruitful regions of liberal and manly ſtudy. Thoſe of their hearers, who had paſſed through the courſe of the ſciences with applauſe, and aſpired to higher acquiſitions, were exhorted to read Caſſiodorus and Boethius; whoſe writings they placed at the ſummit of profane literature, and which they believed to be the great boundaries of human erudition.

I have already mentioned Ceolfrid's preſents of books to Benedict's library at Weremouth abbey. He wrote an account of his travels into France and Italy. But his principal work, and I believe the only one preſerved, is his diſſ [...]rtation con⯑cerning the clerical tonſure, and the rites of celebrating Eaſter ^z. This was written at the deſire of Naiton, a Pictiſh king, who diſpatched ambaſſadors to Ceolfrid for informa⯑tion concerning theſe important articles; requeſting Ceolfrid at the ſame time to ſend him ſome ſkilful architects, who could build in his country a church of ſtone, after the [] faſhion of the Romans ^a. Ceolfrid died on a journey to Rome, and was buried in a monaſtery of Navarre, in the year 706 ^b.

But Bede, whoſe name is ſo nearly and neceſſarily connected with every part of the literature of this pe⯑riod, and which has therefore been often already mentioned, emphatically ſtyled the Venerable by his cotemporaries, was by far the moſt learned of the Saxon writers. He was of the northern ſchool, if it may be ſo called; and was educated in the monaſtery of ſaint Peter at Weremouth, under the care of the abbots Ceolfrid and Biſcop ^c. Bale affirms, that Bede learned phyſics and mathematics from the pureſt ſources, the original Greek and Roman writers on theſe ſubjects ^d. But this haſty aſſertion, in part at leaſt, may juſtly be doubted. His knowledge, if we conſider his age, was extenſive and profound: and it is amazing, in ſo rude a period, and during a life of no conſiderable length, he ſhould have made ſo ſuc⯑ceſsful a progreſs, and ſuch rapid improvements, in ſcientifical and philological ſtudies, and have compoſed ſo many elabo⯑rate treatiſes on different ſubjects ^e. It is diverting to ſee the French critics cenſuring Bede for credulity: they might as well have accuſed him of ſuperſtition ^f. There is much [] perſpicuity and facility in his Latin ſtyle. But it is void of elegance, and often of purity; it ſhews with what grace and propriety he would have written, had his mind been formed on better models. Whoever looks for digeſtion of mate⯑rials, diſpoſition of parts, and accuracy of narration, in this writer's hiſtorical works, expects what could not exiſt at that time. He has recorded but few civil tranſactions: but beſides that his hiſtory profeſſedly conſiders eccleſiaſtical affairs, we ſhould remember, that the building of a church, the preferment of an abbot, the canoniſation of a martyr, and the importation into England of the ſhin-bone of an apoſtle, were neceſſarily matters of much more importance in Bede's conceptions than victories or revolutions. He is fond of minute deſcription; but particularities are the fault and often the merit of early hiſtorians ^r. Bede wrote many [] pieces of Latin poetry. The following verſes from his ME⯑DITATIO DE DIE JUDICII, a tranſlation of which into Saxon verſe is now preſerved in the library of Bennet college at Cambridge ^s, are at leaſt well turned and harmonious.

Some of Aldhelm's verſes are exactly in this caſt, written on the Dedication of the abbey-church at Malmesbury to ſaint Peter and ſaint Paul.

The ſtrict and ſuperabundant attention of theſe Latin poets to proſodic rules, on which it was become faſhionable to write didactic ſyſtems, made them accurate to exceſs in the metrical conformation of their hexameters, and produced a faultleſs and flowing monotony. Bede died in the monaſtery of Weremouth, which he never had once quitted, in the year 735 ^x.

[] I have already obſerved, and from good authorities, that many of theſe Saxon ſcholars were ſkilled in Greek. Yet ſcarce any conſiderable monuments have deſcended to modern times, to prove their familiarity with that language. I will, however, mention ſuch as have occurred to me. Archbiſhop Parker, or rather his learned ſcribe Jocelin, affirms, that the copy of Homer, and of ſome of the other books im⯑ported into England by archbiſhop Theodore, as I have above related, remained in his time ^y. There is however no alluſion to Homer, nor any mention made of his name, in the writings of the Saxons now exiſting ^z. In the Bodleian library are ſome extracts from the books of the Prophets in Greek and Latin: the Latin is in Saxon, and the Greek in Latino-greek capital characters. A Latino-greek alphabet is prefixed. In the ſame manuſcript is a chapter of Deutero⯑nomy, Greek and Latin, but both are in Saxon characters ^a. In the curious and very valuable library of Bennet college in Cambridge, is a very antient copy of Aldhelm DE LAUDE VIRGINITATIS. In it is inſerted a ſpecimen of Saxon poetry full of Latin and Greek words, and at the end of the ma⯑nuſcript ſome Runic letters occur ^b. I ſuſpect that their Grecian literature was a matter of oſtentation rather than uſe. William of Malmeſbury, in his life of Aldhelm, cen⯑ſures an affectation in the writers of this age; that they were fond of introducing in their Latin compoſitions a difficult and abſtruſe word latiniſed from the Greek ^c. There are many inſtances of this pedantry in the early charters of Dugdale's Monaſticon. But it is no where more viſible than in the LIFE of Saint WILFRID, archbiſhop of Canterbury, written by Fridegode a monk of Canterbury, in Latin [] heroics, about the year 960 ^d. Malmeſbury obſerves of this author's ſtyle, ‘"Latinitatem peroſus, Graecitatem amat, Grae⯑cula verba frequentat ^e."’ Probably to be able to read Greek at this time was eſteemed a knowledge of that language. Eginhart relates, that Charlemagne could ſpeak Latin as fluently as his native Frankiſh: but ſlightly paſſes over his accompliſhment in Greek, by artfully ſaying, that he un⯑derſtood it better than he could pronounce it ^f. Nor, by the way, was Charlemagne's boaſted facility in the Latin ſo remarkable a prodigy. The Latin language was familiar to the Gauls when they were conquered by the Franks; for they were a province of the Roman empire till the year 485. It was the language of their religious offices, their laws, and public tranſactions. The Franks who conquered the Gauls at the period juſt mentioned, ſtill continued this uſage, imagining there was a ſuperior dignity in the language of imperial Rome: although this incorporation of the Franks with the Gauls greatly corrupted the latinity of the latter, and had given it a ſtrong tincture of barbarity before the reign of Charlemagne. But while we are bringing proofs which tend to extenuate the notion that Greek was now much known or cultivated, it muſt not be diſſembled, that John Erigena, a native of Aire in Scotland, and one of king Alfred's firſt lecturers at Oxford ^g, tranſlated into Latin from the Greek original four large treatiſes of Dionyſius the Areopagite, about the year 860 ^h. This tranſlation, which [] is dedicated to Charles the Bald, abounds with Greek phra⯑ſeology and is hardly intelligible to a mere Latin reader. He alſo tranſlated into Latin the Scholia of ſaint Maximus on the difficult paſſages of Gregory Nazianzen ⁱ. He frequently viſited his munificent patron Charles the Bald, and is ſaid to have taken a long journey to Athens, and to have ſpent many years in ſtudying not only the Greek but the Arabic and Chaldee languages ^k.

As to claſſic authors, it appears that not many of them were known or ſtudied by our Saxon anceſtors. Thoſe with which they were moſt acquainted, either in proſe or verſe, ſeem to have been of the lower empire; writers who, in the declenſion of taſte, had ſuperſeded the purer and more an⯑ti [...]nt Roman models, and had been therefore more recen [...]ly and frequently tranſcribed. I have mentioned Alfred's tranſ⯑lations of Boethius and Oroſius. Prudentius was alſo per⯑haps one of their favorites. In the Britiſh Muſeum there is a manuſcript copy of that poet's PSYCOMACHIA. It is illuſtrated with drawings of hiſtorical figures, each of which have an explanatory legend in Latin and Saxon letters; the Latin in large red characters, and the Saxon in black, of great anti⯑quity ^l. Prudentius is likewiſe in Bennet college library at Cambridge, tranſcribed in the time of Charles the Bald, with ſeveral Saxon words written into the text ^m. Sedulius's hymns are in the ſame repoſitory in Saxon characters, in a volume containing other Saxon manuſcripts ⁿ. Bede ſays, [] that Aldhelm wrote his book DE VIRGINITATE, which is both proſe and verſe, in imitation of the manner of Sedu⯑lius ^o. We learn from Gregory of Tours, what is not foreign to our purpoſe to remark, that king Chilperic, who began to reign in 562, wrote two books of Latin verſes in imitation of Sedulius. But it was without any idea of the com⯑mon quantities ^p. A manuſcript of this poet in the Britiſh Muſeum is bound up with Nennius and Felix's MIRACLES OF SAINT GUTHLAC, dedicated to Alfwold king of the Eaſt Angles, and written both in Latin and Saxon ^q. But theſe claſſics were moſt of them read as books of religion and mo⯑rality. Yet Aldhelm, in his tract de METRORUM GENERI⯑BUS, quotes two verſes from the third book of Virgil's Georgics ^r: and in the Bodleian library we find a manuſcript of the firſt book of Ovid's Art of Love, in very antient Saxon characters, accompanied with a Britiſh gloſs ^s. And the venerable Bede, having firſt invoked the Trinity, thus begins a Latin panegyrical hymn on the miraculous virgi⯑nity of Ethildryde. ‘"Let Virgil ſing of wars, I celebrate the gifts of peace. My verſes are of chaſtity, not of the rape of the adultereſs Helen. I will chant heavenly bleſ⯑ſings, not the battles of miſerable Troy ^t."’ Theſe however are rare inſtances. It was the moſt abominable hereſy to have any concern with the pagan fictions. The graces of compoſition were not their objects, and elegance found no place amidſt their ſeverer purſuits in philoſophy and theology ³¹⁷.

[] It is certain that literature was at its height among our Saxon anceſtors about the eighth century. Theſe happy be⯑ginnings were almoſt entirely owing to the attention of king Alfred, who encouraged learning by his own example, by founding [...]eminaries of inſtruction, and by rewarding the labours of ſcholars. But the efforts of this pious monarch were ſoon blaſted by the ſupineneſs of his ſucceſſors, the incurſions of the Danes, and the diſtraction of national af⯑fairs. Bede, from the eſtabliſhment of learned biſhops in every dioceſe, and the univerſal tranquillity which reigned over all the provinces of England, when he finiſhed his ec⯑cleſiaſtical hiſtory, flatters his imagination in anticipating [] the moſt advantageous conſequences, and triumphantly cloſes his narrative with this pleaſing preſentiment. The Picts, at this period, were at peace with the Saxons or Engliſh, and converted to chriſtianity. The Scots lived contented within their own boundary. The Britons or Welſh, from a natural enmity, and a diſlike to the catholic inſtitution of keeping Eaſter, ſometimes attempted to diſturb the national repoſe; but they were in ſome meaſure ſubſervient to the Saxons. Among the Northumbrians, both the nobility and private perſons rather choſe their children ſhould receive the mo⯑naſtic tonſure, than be trained to arms ^x.

But a long night of confuſion and groſs ignorance ſuc⯑ceeded. The principal productions of the moſt eminent monaſteries for three centuries, were incredible legends which diſcovered no marks of invention, unedifying homilies, and trite expoſitions of the ſcriptures. Many biſhops and abbots began to conſider learning as pernicious to true piety, and confounded illiberal igno [...]ance with chriſtian ſimplicity. Leland frequently laments the loſs of libraries deſtroyed in the Daniſh invaſions ^y. Some ſlight attempts were made for reſtoring literary purſuits, but with little ſucceſs. In the tenth century, Oſwald archbiſhop of Canterbury, finding the monaſteries of his province extremely ignorant not only in the common elements of grammar, but even in the canonical rules of their reſpective orders, was obliged to ſend into France for competent maſters, who might remedy theſe evils ^z. In the mean time, from perpetual commotions, the manners of the people had degenerated from that mildneſs which a ſhort interval of peace and letters had introduced, [] and the national character had contracted an air of rudeneſ [...] and ferocity.

England at length, in the beginning of the eleventh cen⯑tury, received from the Normans the rudiments of that cultivation which it has preſerved to the preſent times. The Normans were a people who had acquired ideas of ſplendor and refinement from their reſidence in France; and the gallantries of their f [...]udal ſyſtem introduced new magni⯑ficence and elegance among our rough unpoliſhed anceſtors. The conqueror's army was compoſed of the flower of the Norman nobility; who ſharing allotments of land in different parts of the new territory, diffuſed a general knowledge of various improvements entirely unknown in the moſt flou⯑riſhing eras of the Saxon government, and gave a more libe⯑ral turn to the manners even of the provincial inhabita [...]ts. That they brought with them the arts, may yet be ſeen by the caſtles and churches which they built on a more extenſive and ſtately plan ^a. Literature, in particular, the chief object of our preſent reſearch, which had long been reduced to the moſt abject condition, appeared with new luſtre in conſe⯑quence of this important revolution.

Towards the cloſe of the tenth century, an event took place, which gave a new and very fortunate turn to the ſtate of letters in France and Italy. A little before that time, there were no ſchools in Europe but thoſe whic [...] belonged to the monaſteries or epiſcopal churches; and the monks were almoſt the only maſters employed to educate the youth in the principles of ſacred and profane erudition. But at the commencement of the eleventh century, many learned per⯑ſons of the laity, as well as of the clergy, undertook in th [...] [] moſt capital cities of France and Italy this important charge. The Latin verſions of the Greek philoſophers from the Arabic, had now become ſo frequent and common, as to fall into the hands of the people; and many of theſe new preceptors having travelled into Spain with a deſign of ſtudying in the Arabic ſchools ^b, and comprehending in their courſe of in⯑ſtitution, more numerous and uſeful branches of ſcience than the monaſtic teachers were acquainted with, commu⯑nicated their knowledge in a better method, and taught in a much more full, perſpicuous, ſolid, and rational manner. Theſe and other beneficial effects, ariſing from this practice of admitting others beſides eccleſiaſtics to the profeſſion of letters, and the education of youth, were imported into Eng⯑land by means of the Norman conqueſt.

The conqueror himſelf patroniſed and loved letters. He filled the biſhopricks and abbacies of England with the moſt learned of his countrymen, who had been educated at the univerſity of Paris, at that time the moſt flouriſhing ſchool in Europe. He placed Lanfranc, abbot of the monaſtery of Saint Stephen at Caen, in the ſee of Canterbury; an eminent maſter of logic, the ſubtleties of which he employed with great dexterity in a famous controverſy concerning the real preſence. Anſelm, an acute metaphyſician and theologiſt, his immediate ſucceſſor in the ſame ſee, was called from the government of the abbey of Bec in Normandy. Herman, a Norman biſhop of Saliſbury, founded a noble library in the antient cathedral of that ſee ^c. Many of the Norman prelates [] preferred in England by the conqueror, were polite ſcholars. Godfrey, prior of Saint Swithin's at Wincheſter, a native of Cambray, was an elegant Latin epigrammatiſt, and wrote with the ſmartneſs and eaſe of Martial ^d. A circumſtance, which by the way ſhews that the literature of the monks at this period was of a more liberal caſt than that which we commonly annex to their character and profeſſion. Geoffrey, a learned Norman, was invited from the univerſity of Paris to ſuperintend the direction of the ſchool of the abbey of Dunſtable; where he compoſed a play called the Play of SAINT CATHARINE ^e, which was acted by his ſcholars. This was perhaps the firſt ſpectacle of the kind that was ever at⯑tempted, and the firſt trace of theatrical repreſentation which appeared, in England. Mathew Paris, who firſt records this anecdote, ſays, that Geoffrey borrowed copes from the ſacriſt of the neighbouring abbey of ſaint Alban's to dreſs his characters. He was afterwards elected abbot of that opulent monaſtery ^f.

[] The king himſelf gave no ſmall countenance to th [...] clergy, in ſending his ſon Henry Beauclerc to the abbey of Abingdon, where he was initiated in the ſciences under the care of the abbot Grymbald, and Fa [...]ice a phyſician of Ox⯑ford. Robert d'Oilly, conſtable of Oxford caſtle, was ordered to pay for the board of the young prince in the convent, which the king himſelf frequently viſited ^g. Nor was Wil⯑liam wanting in giving ample revenues to learning: he founded the magnificent abbies of Battel and Selby, wit [...] other ſmaller convents. His nobles and their ſucceſſors co⯑operated with this liberal ſpirit in erecting many monaſte⯑ries. Herbert de Loſinga, a monk of Normandy, biſhop of Thetford in Norfolk, inſtituted and endowed with large poſſeſſions a Benedictine abbey at Norwich, conſiſting of ſixty monks. To mention no more inſtances, ſuch great inſtitutions of perſons dedicated to religious and literary leiſure, while they diffuſed an air of civility, and ſoftened the manners of the people in their reſpective circles, muſt have afforded powerful invitations to ſtudious purſuits, and have conſequently added no ſmall degree of ſtability to the intereſts of learning.

By theſe obſervations, and others which have occurred in the courſe of our enquiries, concerning the utility of monaſ⯑teries, I certainly do not mean to defend the monaſtic ſyſtem. We are apt to paſs a general and undiſtinguiſhing cenſure on the monks, and to ſuppoſe their foundations to have been the retreats of illiterate indolence at every period of time. B [...]t it ſhould be remembered, that our univerſities about the time of the Norman conqueſt, were in a low condition: while the monaſteries contained ample endowments and ac⯑commodations, and were the only reſpectable ſeminaries of literature. A few centuries afterwards, as our univerſities began to flouriſh, in conſequence of the diſtinctions and [] [...]onours which they conferred on ſcholars, the eſtabliſhment of colleges, the introduction of new ſyſtems of ſcience, the univerſal ardour which prevailed of breeding almoſt all perſons to letters, and the abolition of that excluſive right of teaching which the eccleſiaſtics had ſo long claimed; the monaſteries of courſe grew inattentive to ſtudies, which were more ſtrongly encouraged, more commodiouſly purſued, and more ſucceſsfully cultivated, in other places: they gradually became contemptible and unfaſhionable as nurſeries of learn⯑ing, and their fraternities degenerated into ſloth and igno⯑rance. The moſt eminent ſcholars which England produced, both in philoſophy and humanity, before and even below the twelfth century, were educated in our religious houſes. The encouragement given in the Engliſh monaſteries for tranſcribing books, the ſcarcity of which in the middle ages we have before remarked, was very conſiderable. In every great abbey there was an apartment called the SCRIPTORIUM: where many writers were conſtantly buſied in tranſcribing not only the ſervice-books for the choir, but books for the library ^h. The Scriptorium of Saint Alban's abbey was built by abbot Paulin, a Norman, who ordered many vo⯑lumes to be written there, about the year 1080. Archbiſhop Lanfranc furniſhed the copies ⁱ. Eſtates were often granted for the ſupport of the Scriptorium. That at Saintedmonſbury was endowed with two mills ^k. The tythes of a rectory were appropriated to the cathedral convent of ſaint Swithin at [] Wincheſter, ad libros tranſcribendos, in the year 1171 ^k. Many inſtances of this ſpecies of benefaction occur from the tenth century. Nigel, in the year 1160, gave the monks of Ely two churches, ad libros faciendos ^l. This employment appears to have been diligently practiſed at Croyland; for Ingulphus relates, that when the library of that convent was burnt in the year 1091, ſeven hundred volumes were conſumed ⁿ. Fifty-eight volumes were tranſcribed at Glaſtonbury, during the government of one abbot, about the year 1300 ^o. And in the li⯑brary of this monaſtery, the richeſt in England, there were up⯑wards of four hundred volumes in the year 1248 ^p. More than eighty books were thus tranſcribed for ſaint Alban's abbey, by abbot Wethamſtede, who died about 1440 ^q. Some of theſe inſtances are rather below our period; but they illuſtrate the ſubject, and are properly connected with thoſe of more antient date. I find ſome of the claſſics written in the Engliſh monaſteries very early. Henry, a Benedictine monk of Hyde-abbey near Wincheſter, tranſcribed in the year 1178, Terence, Boethius ^r, Suetonius ^s, and Claudian. Of theſe he formed one book, illuminating the initials, and [] forming the brazen boſſes of the covers with his own hands^u. But this abbot had more devotion than taſte: for he exchanged this manuſcript a few years afterwards for four miſſals, the Legend of ſaint Chriſtopher, and ſaint Gregory's PASTORAL CARE, with the prior of the neighbour⯑ing cathedral convent^w. Benedict, abbot of Peterborough, author of the Latin chronicle of king Henry the ſecond, amongſt a great variety of ſcholaſtic and theological treatiſes, tranſcribed Seneca's epiſtles and tragedies^x, Terence, Martial^y, and Claudian, to which I will add GESTA ALEXANDRI^z, about the year 1180^a. In a catalogue of the^b books of the [] library of Glaſtonbury we find Livy ^b, Salluſt ^c, Seneca, Tully DE SENECTUTE and AMICITIA ^d, Virgil, Perſius, and Claudian, in the year 1248. Among the royal manuſcripts of the Britiſh Muſeum, is one of the twelve books of Statius's Thebaid, ſuppoſed to have been written in the tenth century, which once belonged to the cathedral convent of Rocheſter ^e. And another of Virgil's Eneid, written in the thirteenth, which came from the library of ſaint Auſtin's at Canterbur [...] ^f. Wallingford, abbot of ſaint Alban's, gave or ſold from the library of that monaſtery to Richard of Bury, biſhop of Durham, author of the PHILOBIBLON, and a great collector of books, Terence, Virgil, Quintilian, and Jerom againſt Rufinus, together with thirty-two other volumes valued at fifty pounds of ſilver ^g. The ſcarcity of [] parchment undoubtedly prevented the tranſcription of many other books in theſe ſocieties. About the year 1120, one maſter Hugh, being appointed by the convent of Saint⯑edmondſbury in Suffolk to write and illuminate a grand copy of the bible for their library, could procure no parch⯑ment for this purpoſe in England ^h.

In conſequence of the taſte for letters and liberal ſtudies introduced by the Normans, many of the monks became almoſt as good critics as catholics; and not only in France but in England, a great variety of Latin writers, who ſtudied the elegancies of ſtyle, and the arts of claſſical compoſition, appeared ſoon after the Norman conqueſt. A view of the writers of this claſs who flouriſhed in England for the two [] ſubſequent centuries, till the reſtleſs ſpirit of novelty brought on an attention to other ſtudies, neceſſarily follows from what has been advanced, and naturally forms the concluſion of our preſent inveſtigation.

Soon after the acceſſion of the conqueror, John commonly called Joannes Grammaticus, having ſtudied polite literature at Paris, which not only from the Norman connection, but from the credit of its profeſſors, became the faſhionable univerſity of our countrymen, was employed in educating the ſons of the Norman and Engliſh nobility ⁱ. He wrote an explanation of Ovid's Metamorphoſes ^k, and a treatiſe on the art of metre or verſification ^l. Among the manuſcripts of the library of New College in Oxford, I have ſeen a book of Latin poetry, and many pieces in Greek, attributed to this writer ^m. He flouriſhed about the year 1070. In the reign of Henry the firſt, Laurence, prior of the church of Durham, wrote nine books of Latin elegies. But Leland, who had read all his works, prefers his compoſitions in oratory; and adds, that for an improvement in rhetoric and eloquence, he frequently exerciſed his talents in framing Latin defences on dubious caſes which occurred among his friends. He likewiſe, amongſt a variety of other elaborate pieces on ſaints, confeſ⯑ſors, and holy virgins, in which he humoured the times and his profeſſion, compoſed a critical treatiſe on the method of writing Epiſtles, which appears to have been a favourite [] ſubject ⁿ. He died in 1154 ^o. About the ſame time Robert Dunſtable, a monk of Saint Alban's, wrote an elegant Latin poem in elegiac verſe, containing two books ^p, on the life of ſaint Alban ^q. The firſt book is opened thus:

We are not to expect Leonine rhymes in theſe writers, which became faſhionable ſome years afterwards ^r [...] Their [] verſes are of a higher caſt, and have a claſſical turn. The following line, which begins the ſecond book, is remarkably flowing and harmonious, and much in the manner of Claudian.

Smoothneſs of verſification was an excellence which, like their Saxon predeceſſors, they ſtudied to a fault. Henry of Huntingdon, commonly known and celebrated as an hiſto⯑rian, was likewiſe a terſe and polite Latin poet of this pe⯑riod. He was educated under Alcuine of Anjou, a canon of Lincoln cathedral. His principal patrons were Aldwin and Reginald, both Normans, and abbots of Ramſey. His turn for poetry did not hinder his arriving to the dignity of an archdeacon. Leland mentions eight books of his epi⯑grams, amatorial verſes ^s, and poems on philoſophical ſub⯑jects ^t. The proem to his book DE HERBIS, has this elegant invocation.

[] But Leland appears to have been moſt pleaſed with Henry's poetical epiſtle to Elfleda, the daughter of Alfred ^u. In the Bodleian library, is a manuſcript Latin poem of this writer, on the death of king Stephen, and the arrival of Henry the ſecond in England, which is by no means contemptible ^w. He occurs as a witneſs to the charter of the monaſtery of Sautree in the year 1147 ^x. Geoffrey of Monmouth was biſhop of Saint Aſaph in the year 1152 ^y. He was indefa⯑tigable in his enquiries after Britiſh antiquity; and was patroniſed and aſſiſted in this purſuit by Walter, archdeacon of Oxford, a diligent antiquarian, and Alexander, biſhop of Lincoln ^y. His credulity as an hiſtorian has been deſervedly cenſured: but fabulous hiſtories were then the faſhion, and he well knew the recommendation his work would receive from comprehending all the popular traditions ^z. His lati⯑nity riſes far above mediocrity, and his Latin poem on Mer⯑lin is much applauded by Leland ^a.

We muſt not judge of the general ſtate of ſociety by the more ingenious and dignified churchmen of this period; who ſeem to have ſurpaſſed by the moſt diſproportionate degrees in point of knowledge, all other members of the commu⯑nity. Thomas of Becket, who belongs to the twelfth cen⯑tury, and his friends, in their epiſtles, diſtinguiſh each other by the appellation of philoſophers, in the courſe of their correſpondence ^b. By the preſent diffuſion of literature, even thoſe who are illiterate are yet ſo intelligent as to ſtand more on a level with men of profeſſed ſcience and knowledge; but the learned eccleſiaſtics of thoſe times, as is evident ³⁷² [] from many paſſages in their writings, appear, and not with⯑out reaſon, to have conſidered the reſt of the world as totally immerſed in ignorance and barbarity. A moſt diſtinguiſhed ornament of this age was John of Saliſbury ^b. His ſtyle has a remarkable elegance and energy. His POLICRATICON is an extremely pleaſant miſcellany; replete with erudition, and a judgment of men and things, which properly belongs to a more ſenſible and reflecting period, His familiar ac⯑quaintance with the claſſics, appears not only from the happy facility of his language, but from the many citations of the pureſt Roman authors, with which his works are perpetually interſperſed. Montfaucon aſſerts, that ſome parts of the ſupplement to Petronius, publiſhed as a genuine and valuable diſcovery a few years ago, but ſince ſuppoſed to be ſpurious, are quoted in the POLICRATICON ^c. He was an illuſtrious rival of Peter of Blois, and the friend of many learned foreigners ^d. I have not ſeen any ſpecimens of his Latin poetry ^e; but an able judge has pronounced, that no⯑thing can be more eaſy, finiſhed, and flowing than his verſes ^f. He was promoted to high ſtations in the church by Henry the ſecond, whoſe court was crouded with ſcho⯑lars, and almoſt equalled that of his cotemporary William king of Sicily, in the ſplendor which it derived from encou⯑raging erudition, and aſſembling the learned of various countries ^g. Eadmer was a monk of Canterbury, and endeared [] by the brilliancy of his genius, and the variety of his litera⯑ture, to Anſelm, archbiſhop of that ſee ^h. He was an elegant writer of hiſtory, but exceeded in the artifices of compoſi⯑tion, and the choice of matter, by his cotemporary William of Malmeſbury. The latter was a monk of Malmeſbury, and it reflects no ſmall honour on his fraternity that they elected him their librarian ⁱ. His merits as an hiſtorian have been juſtly diſplayed and recommended by lord Lyttelton ^k. But his abilities were not confined to proſe. He wrote many pieces of Latin poetry; and it is remarkable, that almoſt all the profeſſed writers in proſe of this age made experiments in verſe. His patron was Robert earl of Glo⯑ceſter; who, amidſt the violent civil commotions which diſquieted the reign of king Stephen, found leiſure and opportunity to protect and promote literary merit ^l. Till Malmeſbury's works appeared, Bede had been the chief and principal writer of Engliſh hiſtory. But a general ſpirit of writing hiſtory, owing to that curioſity which more poliſhed manners introduce, to an acquaintance with the antient hiſto⯑rians, and to the improved knowledge of a language in which facts could be recorded with grace and dignity, was now pre⯑vailing. Beſides thoſe I have mentioned, Simeon of Dur⯑ham, Roger Hoveden, and Benedict abbot of Peterborough, are hiſtorians whoſe narratives have a liberal caſt, and whoſe [] details riſe far above the dull unintereſting preciſion of pa⯑tient annaliſts and regular chronologers. John Hanvill, a monk of Saint Alban's, about the year 1190, ſtudied rhe⯑toric at Paris, and was diſtinguiſhed for his taſte even among the numerous and polite ſcholars of that flouriſhing ſemi⯑nary ^m. His ARCHITRENIUS is a learned, ingenious, and very entertaining performance. It is a long Latin poem in nine books, dedicated to Walter biſhop of Rouen. The deſign of the work may be partly conjectured from its af⯑fected Greek title: but it is, on the whole, a mixture of ſatire and panegyric on public vice and virtue, with ſome hiſtorical digreſſions. In the exordium is the following ner⯑vous and ſpirited addreſs.

In the fifth book the poet has the following alluſions to the fables of Corineus, Brutus, king Arthur, and the popula⯑tion of Britain from Troy. He ſeems to have copied theſe traditions from Geoffrey of Monmouth ⁿ.

There is a falſe glare of expreſſion, and no great juſtneſs of ſentiment, in theſe verſes; but they are animated, and flow in a ſtrain of poetry. They are pompous and ſonorous; but theſe faults have been reckoned beauties even in poliſhed ages. In the ſame book our author thus characteriſes the different merits of the ſatires of Horace and Perſius.

In the third book he deſcribes the happy parſimony of the Ciſtercian monks.

Among Digby's manuſcripts in the Bodleian library, are Hanvill's Latin epigrams, epiſtles, and ſmaller poems, many of which have conſiderable merit ^r. They are followed by a metrical tract, entitled DE EPISTOLARUM COMPOSITIONE. But this piece is written in rhyme, and ſeems to be poſterio [...] to the age, at leaſt inferior to the genius, of Hanvill. He [] was buried in the abbey church of ſaint Alban's, ſoon after the year 1200 ^s. Gyraldus Cambrenſis deſerves particular regard for the univerſality of his works, many of which are written with ſome degree of elegance. He abounds with quotations of the beſt Latin poets. He was an hiſtorian, an antiquary, a topographer, a divine, a philoſopher, and a poet. His love of ſcience was ſo great, that he refuſed two biſhopricks; and from the midſt of public buſineſs, with which his political talents gave him a conſiderable connection in the court of Richard the firſt, he retired to Lincoln for ſeven years, with a deſign of purſuing theolo⯑gical ſtudies ^t. He recited his book on the topography of Ireland in public at Oxford, for three days ſucceſſively. On the firſt day of this recital he entertained all the poor of the city; on the ſecond, all the doctors in the ſeveral faculties, and ſcholars of better note; and on the third, the whole body of ſtudents, with the citizens and ſoldiers of the gar⯑riſon ^u. It is probable that this was a ceremony practiſed on the like occaſion in the univerſity of Paris ^w; where Giraldus [] had ſtudied for twenty years, and where he had been elected profeſſor of canon law in the year 1189 ^x. His ac⯑count of Wales was written in conſequence of the obſerva⯑tions he made on that country, then almoſt unknown to the Engliſh, during his attendance on an archiepiſcopal viſitation. I cannot reſiſt the pleaſure of tranſcribing from this book his picture of the romantic ſituation of the abbey of Lantony in Monmouthſhire. I will give it in Engliſh, as my meaning is merely to ſhew how great a maſter the author was of that ſelection of circumſtances which forms an agreeable deſcrip⯑tion, and which could only flow from a cultivated mind. ‘"In the deep vale of Ewias, which is about a bowſhot over, and encloſed on all ſides with high mountains, ſtands the abbey church of ſaint John, a ſtructure covered with lead, and not unhandſomely built for ſo loneſome a ſituation: on the very ſpot, where formerly ſtood a ſmall chapel dedicated to ſaint David, which had no other ornaments than green moſs and ivy. It is a ſituation fit for the exer⯑ciſe of religion; and a religious edifice was firſt founded in this ſequeſtered retreat to the honour of a ſolitary life, by two hermits, remote from the noiſe of the world, upon the banks of the river Hondy, which winds through the midſt of the valley.—The rains which mountainous countries uſually produce, are here very frequent, the winds exceedingly tempeſtuous, and the winters almoſt [] continually dark. Yet the air of the valley is ſo happily tempered, as ſcarcely to be the cauſe of any diſeaſes. The monks ſitting in the cloiſters of the abbey, when they chuſe for a momentary refreſhment to caſt their eyes abroad, have on every ſide a pleaſing proſpect of moun⯑tains aſcending to an immenſe height, with numerous herds of wild deer feeding aloft on the higheſt extremity of this lofty horizon. The body of the ſun is not viſible above the hills till after the meridian hour, even when the air is moſt clear."’ Giraldus adds, that Roger biſhop of Saliſbury, prime miniſter to Henry the firſt, having viſited this place, on his return to court told the king, that all the treaſure of his majeſty's kingdom would not ſuffice to build ſuch another cloiſter. The biſhop explained him [...]elf by ſaying, that he meant the circular ridge of mountains with which the vale of Ewias was encloſed ^y. Alexander Neckham was the friend, the aſſociate, and the correſpondent of Peter of Blois already mentioned. He received the firſt part of his education in the abbey of ſaint Alban's, which he afterwards completed at Paris ^z. His compoſitions are va⯑rious, and croud the department of manuſcripts in our public libraries. He has left n [...]merous treatiſes of divinity, philoſophy, and morality: but he was likewiſe a poet, a philologiſt, and a grammarian. He wrote a tract on the mythology of the antient poets, Eſopian fables, and a ſyſtem of grammar and rhetoric. I have ſeen his elegiac poem on the monaſtic life ^a, which contains ſome finiſhed lines. But his capital piece of Latin poetry is On the Praiſe of DIVINE WISDOM, which conſiſts of ſeven books. In the introduc⯑tion h [...] commemorates the innocent and unreturning plea⯑ſures of his early days, which he paſſed among the learned monks of ſaint Alban's, in theſe perſpicuous and unaffected elegiacs.

Neckham died abbot of Cirenceſter in the year 1217^c. He was much attached to the ſtudious repoſe of the monaſtic profeſſion, yet he frequently travell [...]d into Italy^d. Walter Mapes, archdeacon of Oxford, has been very happily ſtyled the Anacreon of the eleventh century^e. He ſtudied at Paris^f. His vein was chiefly feſtive and ſatirical ^g: and as his wit was frequently levelled againſt the corruptions of the clergy, his poems often appeared under fictitious names, or have been aſcribed to others^h. The celebrated drinking odeⁱ of this genial archdeacon has the regular returns of the monkiſh rhyme: but they are here applied with a characteriſtical propriety, are ſo happily invented, and ſo humourouſly in⯑troduced, that they not only ſuit the genius but heighten the ſpirit of the piece ^k. He boaſts that good wine inſpires [] him to ſing verſes equal to thoſe of Ovid. In another Latin ode of the ſame kind, he attacks with great livelineſs the new injunction of pope Innocent, concerning the celibacy of the clergy; and hopes that every married prieſt with his bride, will ſay a pater noſter for the ſoul of one who had thus hazarded his ſalvation in their defence.

But a miracle of this age in claſſical compoſition was Joſeph of Exeter, commonly called Joſephus Iſcanus. He wrote two epic poems in Latin heroics. The firſt is on the Trojan War; it is in ſix books, and dedicated to Baldwin archbiſhop of Canterbury ^m. The ſecond is entitled ANTIOCHEIS, the [] War of Antioch, or the Cruſade; in which his patron th [...] archbiſhop was an actor ⁿ. The poem of the Trojan war is founded on Dares Phrygius, a favorite fabulous hiſtorian of that time ^o. The diction of this poem is generally pure, the periods round, and the numbers harmonious: and on the whole, the ſtructure of the verſification approaches nearly to that of poliſhed Latin poetry. The writer appears to have poſſeſſed no common command of poetical phraſeology, and wanted nothing but a knowledge of the Virgilian chaſtity. His ſtyle is a mixture of Ovid, Statius, and Claudian, who ſeem then to have been the popular patterns ^p. But a few ſpecimens will beſt illuſtrate this criticiſm. He thus, in a ſtrain of much ſpirit and dignity, addreſſes king Henry the ſecond, who was going to the holy war ^q, the intended ſubject of his ANTIOCHEIS.

The tomb or mauſoleum of Teuthras is feigned with a brilliancy of imagination and expreſſion; and our poet's [] claſſical ideas ſeem here to have been tinctured with the deſcription of ſome magnificent oriental palace, which he had ſeen in the romances of his age.

He thus deſcribes Pentheſilea and Pyrrhus.

Afterwards a Grecian leader, whoſe character is invective, inſults Pentheſilea, and her troop of heroines, with theſe reproaches.

I will add one of his compariſons. The poet is ſpeaking of the reluctant advances of the Trojans under their new leader Memnon, after the fall of Hector.

His ANTIOCHEIS was written in ſame ſtrain, and had equal merit. All that remains of it is the following fragment ^t, in which the poet celebrates the heroes of Britain, and par⯑ticularly king Arthur.

Camden aſſerts, that Joſeph accompanied king Richard the firſt to the holy land ^z, and was an eye-witneſs of that he⯑roic monarch's exploits among the Saracens, which after⯑wards he celebrated in the ANTIOCHEIS. Leland mentions his love-verſes and epigrams, which are long ſince periſhed ^a. He^b flouriſhed in the year 1210 ^c.

[] There ſeems to have been a rival ſpirit of writing Latin heroic poems about this period. In France, Guillaume le Breton, or William of Bretagny, about the year 1230, wrote a Latin heroic poem on Philip Auguſtus king of France, about the commencement of the thirteenth century, in twelve books, entitled PHILIPPIS ^d. Barthius gives a prodi⯑gious character of this poem: and affirms that the author, a few galliciſms excepted, has expreſſed the facility of Ovid with ſingular happineſs ^e. The verſification much reſembles that of Joſeph Iſcanus. He appears to have drawn a great part of his materials from Roger Hoveden's annals. But I am of opinion, that the PHILIPPID is greatly exceeded by the ALEXANDREID of Philip Gualtier de Chatillon, who flouriſhed likewiſe in France, and was provoſt of the canons of Tournay, about the year 1200 ^f. This poem celebrates the actions of Alexander the Great, is founded on Quintus Curtius ^g, conſiſts of ten books, and is dedicated to Guillerm archbiſhop of Rheims. To give the reader an opportunity of comparing Gualtier's ſtyle and manner with thoſe of our countryman Joſephus, I will tranſcribe a few ſpecimens from a beautiful and antient manuſcript of the ALEXANDREID in the Bodleian library ^h. This is the exordium.

A beautiful rural ſcene is thus deſcribed.

He excells in ſimilies. Alexander, when a ſtripling, is thus compared to a young lion.

The ALEXANDREID ſoon became ſo popular, that Henry of Gaunt, archdeacon of Tournay, about the year 1330, complains that this poem was commonly taught in the [] rhetorical ſchools, inſtead of Lucan^l and Virgil ^m. The learned Charpentier cites a paſſage from the manuſcript ſtatutes of the univerſity of Tholouſe, dated 1328, in which the profeſſors of grammar are directed to read to their pupils ‘"De Hiſtoriis Alexandri ⁿ."’ Among which I include Gualtier's poem ^o. It is quoted as a familiar claſſic by Thomas Rod⯑burn, a monkiſh chronicler, who wrote about the year 1420 ^p. An anonymous Latin poet, ſeemingly of the thir⯑teenth century, who has left a poem on the life and miracles of ſaint Oſwald, mentions Homer, Gualtier, and Lucan, as the three capital heroic poets. Homer, he ſays, has ce⯑lebrated Hercules, Gualtier the ſon of Philip, and Lucan has ſung the praiſes of Ceſar. But, adds he, theſe heroes much leſs deſerve to be immortaliſed in verſe, than the deeds of the holy confeſſor Oſwald.

I do not cite this writer as a proof of the elegant verſifica⯑tion which had now become faſhionable, but to ſhew the popularity of the ALEXANDREID, at leaſt among ſcholars. About the year 1206, Gunther a German, and a Ciſtercian monk of the dioceſe of Baſil, wrote an heroic poem in Latin verſe entitled, LIGURINUS, which is ſcarce inferior to the PHILIPPID of Guillaum le Breton, or the ALEXANDREID of Gualtier: but not ſo poliſhed and claſſical as the TROJAN WAR of our Joſephus Iſcanus. It is in ten books, and the ſubject is the war of the emperor Frederick Barbaroſſa againſt [] the Milaneſe in Liguria ^q. He had before written a Latin poem on the expedition of the emperor Conrade againſt the Saracens, and the recovery of the holy ſepulchre at Jeruſalem by Godfrey of Bulloign, which he called SOLYMARIUM ^r. The ſubject is much like that of the ANTIOCHEIS; but which of the two pieces was written firſt it is difficult to aſcertain.

While this ſpirit of claſſical Latin poetry was univerſally prevailing, our countryman Geoffrey de Vineſauf, an accom⯑pliſhed ſcholar, and educated not only in the priory of ſaint Frideſwide at Oxford, but in the univerſities of France and Italy, publiſhed while at Rome a critical didactic poem en⯑titled, DE NOVA POETRIA ^s. This book is dedicated to pope Innocent the third: and its intention was to recommend and illuſtrate the new and legitimate mode of verſification which had lately begun to flouriſh in Europe, in oppoſition to the Leonine or barbarous ſpecies. This he compendiouſly ſtyles, and by way of diſtinction, The NEW Poetry. We muſt not be ſurpriſed to find Horace's Art of Poetry entitled HORATII NOVA POETRIA, ſo late as the year 1389, in a catalogue of the library of a monaſtery at Dover ^t.

Even a knowledge of the Greek language imported from France, but chiefly from Italy, was now beginning to be diffuſed in England. I am inclined to think, that many [] Greek manuſcripts found their way into Europe from Con⯑ſtantinople in the time of the cruſades: and we might ob⯑ſerve that the Italians, who ſeem to have been the moſt po⯑liſhed and intelligent people of Europe during the barbarous ages, carried on communications with the Greek empire as early as the reign of Charlemagne. Robert Groſthead, biſhop of Lincoln, an univerſal ſcholar, and no leſs conver⯑ſant in polite letters than the moſt abſtruſe ſciences, culti⯑vated and patroniſed the ſtudy of the Greek language. This illuſtrious prelate, who is ſaid to have compoſed almoſt two hundred books, read lectures in the ſchool of the Franciſcan friars at Oxford about the year 1230 ^w. He tranſlated Dio⯑nyſius the Areopagite and Damaſcenus into Latin ^x. He greatly facilitated the knowledge of Greek by a tranſlation of Suidas's Lexicon, a book in high repute among the lower Greeks, and at that time almoſt a recent compilation ^y. He promoted John of Baſingſtoke to the archdeaconry of Lei⯑ceſter; chiefly becauſe he was a Greek ſcholar, and poſſeſſed many Greek manuſcripts, which he is ſaid to have brought from Athens into England ^z. He entertained, as a domeſtic [] in his palace, Nicholas chaplain of the abbot of ſaint Alban's, ſurnamed GRAECUS, from his uncommon proficiency in Greek; and by his aſſiſtance he tranſlated from Greek into Latin the teſtaments of the twelve patriarchs ^a. Groſthead had almoſt incurred the cenſure of excommunication for preferring a complaint to the pope, that moſt of the opulent benefices in England were occupied by Italians ^b. But this practice, although notoriouſly founded on the monopoliſing and arbitrary ſpirit of papal impoſition, and a manifeſt act of injuſtice to the Engliſh clergy, probably contributed to introduce many learned foreigners into England, and to propagate philological literature.

Biſhop Groſthead is alſo ſaid to have been profoundly ſkilled in the Hebrew language ^c. William the conqueror permitted great numbers of Jews to come over from Rouen, and to ſettle in England about the year 1087 ^d. Their mul⯑titude ſoon encreaſed, and they ſpread themſelves in vaſt bodies throughout moſt of the cities and capital towns in England, where they built ſynagogues. There were fifteen hundred at York about the year 1189 ^e. At Bury in Suffolk [] is a very complete remain of a Jewiſh ſynagogue of ſtone in the Norman ſtyle, large and magnificent. Hence it was that many of the learned Engliſh eccleſiaſtics of theſe times be⯑came acquainted with their books and language. In the reign of William Rufus, at Oxford the Jews were remark⯑ably numerous, and had acquired a conſiderable property; and ſome of their Rabbis were permitted to open a ſchool in the univerſity, where they inſtructed not only their own people, but many chriſtian ſtudents, in the Hebrew litera⯑ture, about the year 1054 ^f. Within two hundred years after their admiſſion or eſtabliſhment by the conqueror, they were baniſhed the kingdom ^g. This circumſtance was highly favourable to the circulation of their learning in England. The ſuddenneſs of their diſmiſſion obliged them for preſent ſubſiſtence, and other reaſons, to ſell their moveable goods of all kinds, among which were large quantities of Rab⯑binical books. The monks in various parts availed them⯑ſelves of the diſtribution of theſe treaſures. At Huntingdon and Stamford there was a prodigious ſale of their effects, containing immenſe ſtores of Hebrew manuſcripts, which were immediately purchaſed by Gregory of H [...]ntingdon, prior of the abbey of Ramſey. Gregory ſpeedily became an adept in the Hebrew, by means of theſe valuable acquiſitions, which he bequeathed to his monaſtery about the year 1250 ^h. Other members of the ſame convent, in conſequence of theſe advantages, are ſaid to have been equal proficients in the ſame language, ſoon after the death of prior Gregory: among which were Robert Dodford, librarian of Ramſey, and Laurence Holbech, who compiled a Hebrew Lexicon ⁱ. [] At Oxford, great multitudes of their books fell into the hands of Roger Bacon, or were bought by his brethren the Franciſcan friars of that univerſity ^k.

But, to return to the leading point of our enquiry, this promiſing dawn of polite letters and rational know⯑ledge was ſoon obſcured. The temporary gleam of light did not arrive to perfect day. The minds of ſcholars were diverted from theſe liberal ſtudies in the rapidity of their career; and the arts of compoſition, and the ornaments of language were neglected, to make way for the barbarous and barren ſubtleties of ſcholaſtic divinity. The firſt teachers of this art, originally founded on that ſpirit of intricate and metaphyſical enquiry which the Arabians had communicated to philoſophy, and which now became almoſt abſolutely neceſſary for defending the doctrines of Rome, were Peter Lombard archbiſhop of Paris, and the celebrated Abelard: men whoſe conſummate abilities were rather qualified to re⯑form the church, and to reſtore uſeful ſcience, than to cor⯑rupt both, by confounding the common ſenſe of mankind with frivolous ſpeculation ^l. Theſe viſionary theologiſts never explained or illuſtrated any ſcriptural topic: on the contrary, they perverted the ſimpleſt expreſſions of the ſacred text, and embarraſſed the moſt evident truths of the goſpel by laboured diſtinctions and unintelligible ſolutions. From the univerſities of France, which were then filled with mul⯑titudes of Engliſh ſtudents, this admired ſpecies of ſophiſtry was adopted in England, and encouraged by Lanfranc and Anſelm, archbiſhops of Canterbury ^m. And ſo ſucceſsful was its progreſs at Oxford, that before the reign of Edward the ſecond, no foreign univerſity could boaſt ſo conſpicuous a catalogue of ſubtle and invincible doctors.

[] Nor was the profeſſion of the civil and canonical laws a ſmall impediment to the propagation of thoſe letters which humaniſe the mind, and cultivate the manners. I do not mean to deny, that the accidental diſcovery of the imperial code in the twelfth century, contributed in a conſiderable degree to civiliſe Europe, by introducing, among other be⯑neficial conſequences, more legitimate ideas concerning the nature of government and the adminiſtration of juſtice, by creating a neceſſity of transferring judicial decrees from an illiterate nobility to the cogniſance of ſcholars, by leſſening the attachment to the military profeſſion, and by giving ho⯑nour and importance to civil employments: but to ſuggeſt, that the mode in which this invaluable ſyſtem of juriſpru⯑dence was ſtudied, proved injurious to polite literature. It was no ſooner revived, than it was received as a ſcholaſtic ſcience, and taught by regular profeſſors, in moſt of the univerſities of Europe. To be ſkilled in the theology of the ſchools was the chief and general ambition of ſcholars: but at the ſame time a knowledge of both the laws was become an indiſpenſable requiſite, at leaſt an eſſential re⯑commendation, for obtaining the moſt opulent eccleſiaſtical dignities. Hence it was cultivated with univerſal avidity. It became ſo conſiderable a branch of ſtudy in the plan of academical diſcipline, that twenty ſcholars out of ſeventy were deſtined to the ſtudy of the civil and canon laws, in one of the moſt ample colleges at Oxford, founded in the year 1385. And it is eaſy to conceive the pedantry with which it was purſued in theſe ſeminaries during the middle ages. It was treated with the ſame ſpirit of idle ſpeculation which had been carried into philoſophy and theology, it was over⯑whelmed with endleſs commentaries which diſclaimed all elegance of language, and ſerved only to exerciſe genius, as it afforded materials for framing the flimſy labyrinths of caſuiſtry.

[] It was not indeed probable, that theſe attempts in elegant literature which I have mentioned ſhould have any per⯑manent effects. The change, like a ſudden revolution in go⯑vernment, was too rapid for duration. It was moreover premature, and on that account not likely to be laſting. The habits of ſuperſtition and ignorance were as yet too powerful for a reformation of this kind to be effected by a few polite ſcholars. It was neceſſary that many circumſtances and events, yet in the womb of time, ſhould take place, before the minds of men could be ſo far enlightened as to receive theſe improvements.

But perhaps inventive poetry loſt nothing by this relapſe. Had claſſical taſte and judgment been now eſtabliſhed, ima⯑gination would have ſuffered, and too early a check would have been given to the beautiful extravagancies of romantic fabling. In a word, truth and reaſon would have chaſed before their time thoſe ſpectres of illuſive fancy, ſo pleaſing to the imagination, which delight to hover in the gloom of ignorance and ſuperſtition, and which form ſo conſiderable a part of the poetry of the ſucceeding centuries.