ing ftory of an enchanted dra-"me, thou fchalt have all this : gon. "And alfo a zonge Man, that wifte not of the Dragoun, "went out of a Schipp, and "went thorghe the Ifle, till "that he cam to the Caftelle, ❝ and cam into the Cave; and "went fo longe till that he "fond a Chambre, and there he faughe a Damyfelle, that "kembed hire Hede, and lok"ede in a Myrour: and fche "hadde meche Trefoure about "en hire and he trowed that "fche hadde ben a comoun Wo "man, that dwelled there to "refceyve Men to Folye. And "he abode, till the Damyfelle "faughe the schadewe of him "in the Myrour. And fche "turned hire toward him, and "asked him what he wolde: "And he fevde, he welde ben "hire Limman dr Paramour, "and sche asked him, if that "he were a Knyghte. And he fayde, nay. And then fche fayde, that he myghte not "ben hire Limman. But fche "bad him gon azen unto his "Felowes, and make him Knyghte, and come azen'upon "the Morwe, and fche fcholde "come out of her Cave before "him; and thanne come and kyffe hire on the Mowth and "have no drede. For I fchalle "do the no maner harm, alle "be it that thou fee me in like"nefs of a Dragoun. For thoughe though fee me hide"oufe and horrible to loken "onne, I do thee to wytene that "it is made by Enchauntment. "For withouten doubte, I am "none other than thou feeft now, "Trefoure, and be my Lord, and "Lord alfo of all that Ifle. And "he departed, &c." p. 29, 30. Ed. 1725. Here we see the very spirit of a Romance-adventure. This honeft traveller believed it all, and fo, it feems, did the people of the Ifle. And fome men feyn (fays he) that in the Ifle of Lango is zit the Doughtre of Ypocras in forme and lykenefe of a great Dragoun, that is an hundred Fadme in lengthe, as Men feyn: for I have not seen hire. And thei of the Ifles callen hire, Lady of the Land. are not to think then, these kind of ftories, believed by pilgrims and travellers, would have lefs credit either with the writers or readers of Romances: which humour of the times therefore may well account for their birth and favourable reception in the world. We The other monkish hiftorian, who fupplied the Romancers with materials, was our Geoffry of Monmouth. For it is not to be fuppofed, that thefe Children of Fancy (as Shakespeare in the place quoted above finely calls them, infinuating that Fancy hath its infancy as well as manhood) fhould stop in the midst of fo extraordinary a career, or confine themfelves within the lifts of the terra firma. From Him therefore the Spanish Romancers took the ftory of the British “Arthur, and the Knights of his round table, his wife Gueniver, and his conjurer Merlin. But still it was the fame fubject, (effential to books of Chivalry) the Wars of Chriftians againit Infidels. And whether it was by blander or de "eftre raccordé fi non par trois fign, they changed the Saxons into Saracens. I fufpect by de- chofes: premierement par la fign: For Chivalry without a "confeffion de bouche; feconSaracen was fo very lame and "dement par une contrition de imperfect a thing, that even that "cœur; tiercement par peine de wooden Image, which turned "cœur, & par oeuvre d'aumôround on an axis, and ferved the "ne & charité. Telle est la Knights to try their swords, and "droite voye d'aimer Dieu. Or break their lances upon, was "va & fi te confeffe en cette macalled, by the Italians and Spa- " niere & recois la disciplíne des niards, Saracino and Sarazino; "mains de tes confeffeurs, car fo closely were these two ideas "c'eft le figne de merite.connected. "Or mande le roy fes evefques, "dont grande partie avoit en "loft, & vinrent tous en fa "chapelle. Le roy vint devant "eux tout nud en pleurant, & 66 tenant fon plein point de me "nuës verges, fi les jetta de"vant eux, & leur dit en foupirant, qu'ils priffent de luy vengeance, car je fuis le plus vil pecheur, &c.--Apres prinft difcipline & d'eux & moult "doucement la receut." Hence we find the divinity lectures of Don Quixote and the penance of his Squire, are both of them in the ritual of Chivalry. Laftly, we find the Knight-errant, after much turmoil to himself and disturbance to the world, frequently ended his course, like Charles V. of Spain, in a Monastery; or turn'd Hermit, and became a Saint in good earnest. And this again will let us into the spirit of those Dialogues between Sancho and his master, where it is gravely debated whether he fhould not turn Saint or Archbishop. In thefe old Romances there was much religious fuperftition mixed with their other extravagancies; as appears even from their very names and titles. The firft Romance of Lancelot of the Lake and King Arthur and his Knights, is called the Hiftory of" Saint Greaal. This St. Greaal " was the famous relick of the holy blood pretended to be collected into a veffel by Joseph of Arimathea. So another is called Kyrie Eleifon of Montauban, For in those days Deuteronomy and Paralipomenon were fuppofed to be the names of holy men. And as they made Saints of their Knights-errant, fo they made Knights-errant of their tutelary Saints; and each nation advanced its own into the order of Chivalry. Thus every thing in those times being either a Saint or a Devil, they never wanted for the marvellous. In the old Romance of Lancelot of the Lake, we have the doctrine and difci pline of the Church as formally delivered as in Bellarmine himfelf. "La confeffion (Jays the preacher) ne vaut rien file cœur n'eft repentant; & fi tu es moult et eloigné de l'amour "de noftre Seigneur, tu ne peus 66 There were feveral caufes of this ftrange jumble of nonfenfe and religion. As first, the na ture of the fubject, which was a religious War or Crufade 2dly, The quality of the fir Writers, Writers, who were religious Men: And 3dly, The end in writing many of them, which was to carry on a religious purpofe. We learn, that Clement V. interdicted fufts and Tournaments, because he understood they had much hindered the Crufade decreed in the Council of Vienna. "Torneamenta ipfa & Hafti"ludia five Juxtas in regnis "Franciæ, Angliæ, & Alman"niæ, & aliis nonnullis provinciis, in quibus ea confue"vere frequentiùs exerceri, fpe"cialiter interdixit." Extrav. de Torneamentis C unic. tem. Ed. I. Religious men, I conceive, therefore, might think to forward the defign of the Crufades by turning the fondness for Tilts and Torneaments into that channel. Hence we see the books of Knight-errantry fo full of folemn Jufts and Torneaments held at Trebizonde, Bizance, Tripoly, &c. Which wife project, I apprehend, it was Cervantes's intention to ridicule, where he makes his Knight propofe it as the best means of fubduing the Turk, to affemble all the Knights-errant together by Proclamation *. * See Part II. lib, v. c. I. WARBURTON. Another Sicilian Lord. Archidamus, a Bohemian Lord. Rogero, a Sicilian Gentleman. An Attendant on the young Prince Mamillius, Old Shepherd, reputed Father of Perdita. A Mariner. Goaler. Servant to the old Shepherd. Autolicus, a Rogue. Time, as Chorus. Hermione, Queen to Leontes. Perdita, Daughter to Leontes and Hermione, Paulina, Wife to Antigonus. Emilia, a Lady. Two other Ladies. Satyrs for a Dance, Shepherds, Shepherdeffes, Guards, and Attendants. SCENE, fometimes in Sicilia; fometimes in Bohemia, F I An Antichamber in Leontes's Palace. : Enter Camillo, and Archidamus. ARCHIDAMUS. you fhould chance, Camillo, to vifit Bohemia, on the like occafion whereon my fervices are now on foot; you shall fee, as I have faid, great difference betwixt our Bobemia and your Sicilia. Cam. I think, this coming fummer, the King of Sicilia means to pay Bohemia the vifitation, which he justly owes him. The Winter's Tale.] This play, throughout, is written in the very fpirit of its author. And in telling this homely and fimple, tho' agreeable, country tale, Our feeteft Shakespeare, Fancy's child, Warbles his native wood-notes wild. Milton. This was neceffary to obferve in 7 mere juftice to the Play, as the meannefs of the fable, and the extravagant conduct of it, had mifled fome of great name into a wrong judgment of its merit; which, as far as it regards fentiment and character, is scarce inferior to any in the whole collection. WARBURTON. |