the lips of the liar, in the pages of a false book, in the bed of the gluttonous or lustful monk. When more

than usually assailed by the fiends, he caused the Gospel of St. John to be placed on his bosom, when away they flew like birds; but if he happened to take up the history of the Britons by Geoffrey ap Arthur, they reappeared in such swarms as to cover both the book and himself.*

That we may have no need to revert to this famed archdeacon, we may observe, that he was a poet as well as an historian. His "Vita Merlini," consisting of above 1500 hexameter verses, is a curiosity: it is more romantic, if that be possible, than even the Chronicle: we will briefly advert to its contents. This Life gives us no account of the prophet's parentage; it introduces him, for the first time, on the eve of a battle between Gwendolan, governor of Scotland, on the one side, and Peredeo, a king of the Strathclyde Britons, and Rhydderch (Ruderic), the British king of Cumberland, on the other. Merlin is a prince of Dermetia (Dyffid), and brother-in-law of his Cumbrian majesty. Of course he takes the side of his countrymen; but in the battle he loses three brothers, whom he honourably inters at Varia Capella (Falkirk), passes three days and nights over their graves in lamentation, becomes mad, and rushes from the sight of men into the forests of Caledonia. He is followed, at his sister's orders (queen of Rhydderch), by a minstrel, who, by singing some tender strains, such as were likely to make an impression on him from their connection with his past adventures, endeavours, and not without success, to restore him to society. Accompanied by the bard, the prophet hastens to the court of Rhydderch; but- Geoffrey is not without point the crowd of court idlers so annoy him, that he relapses into his madness; he in

-

Galfridus Monumetensis, de Origine et Gestis Regum Britanniæ, lib. i-ix. (in multis capitulis). Daru, Histoire de Bretagne, tom. i. passim. See also History of Spain and Portugal (CAB. CYC.), vol. ii. Appendix. Giraldus Cambrensis, Itinerarium Cambriæ, lib. i. cap. 5.

sists on departing; but the king, being unwilling to part with him, causes him to be bound. He becomes silent and melancholy; but his enlargement is at hand. The queen passing through the hall where the king was sitting, was kindly embraced by her royal mate, and made to sit by him; when, suddenly observing a leaf entangled in her hair, he throws it in sport on the ground. Merlin, who was present, here burst into a loud fit of laughter. When a prophet laughs there

must be meaning in it; and great was the king's curiosity to know the reason; but he refuses to say a word until an oath is taken that he shall immediately be released. He then declares that the queen his sister had just been with her lover in an arbour strewed with leaves; and that the complaisance with which Rhydderch had received this evidence of his partner's guilt, was comical enough to make any body laugh. To the king, however, the discourse is any thing but comical: he turns from the queen in disgust; but when was a woman at a loss for words? She protests that her spiteful brother is a false seer, and engages to prove him one. Taking a young page by the hand, she asks him what death the boy will die. By falling from a rock, was the reply. The same boy is now so effectually disguised as not to be known, and brought up again with the same question. He will meet with his death among the branches of a tree, was the answer. The queen, exulting at this blow to his prophetic skill, causes the same page to be clad as a damsel, and brought up a third time. The third oracle is different from either that the death will be drowning. Eventually the prophet is right: some years afterwards, the page while hunting fell from his horse down a rock into a river; in his descent he was caught by a tree; but so that his feet only were in the branches, his head being under water. This catastrophe could not be foreseen; and Rhydderch, after this manifest exposure of Merlin's want of skill, takes the queen to his favour; and shehere the author loses sight of human nature not only

forgives the prophet, but anxiously joins in begging him to stay. When she perceives that he is obstinately bent on retiring to the forests, she asks him what is to become of his lady Gwendolen. must she partake his wild life, or live henceforth as a widow, or take another husband? Let her take another, if she pleases, was the reply, and she shall not want a suitable marriage present; but added, that in this case it would be just as well not to let the second husband meet him. After an abode of some time with the wild beasts of the woods, Merlin one day perceives that the planet Venus has a strange appearance, which portends no less than that his lady is preparing to remarry. This trifle does not much affect him: on the contrary, he remembers his promise of a present; and collecting together a respectable herd of stags and deer, he mounts one of the animals, and rides, on the very day of the marriage, to Gwendolen's dwelling, with the bridal gift. The new husband seeing the uncouth garb and manner of the man, bursts into a loud fit of laughter; when Merlin, in displeasure. breaks off one of the stag's horns, and throws it at the scoffer, whom he kills on the spot, and then quietly returns to the forest. But he is pursued by the bridal company, is overtaken, bound, and again carried to the court of Rhydderch. Again he becomes sullen and melancholy, when orders are given that he may be allowed to wander through the city. Twice is he seen to laugh; — once when the porter, as he passed by the palace gate, asked for alms; next, on seeing a countryman earnestly bargain for a pair of shoes. As before, he will not explain the cause of his mirth unless the king promise to dismiss him to his old haunts in the forest. He then asserts, that the alms-begging porter had a large quantity of gold hidden in the earth, below the very place where he was standing; and that the countryman who bargained so earnestly for the shoes would never live to wear them, but would be drowned that very day.*

See page 72. of the present volume.

Before his return, however, his sister tells him that nothing can be more dangerous than to face the biting frosts of winter in his solitude, and prevails on him to consent that a house shall be built for him. From one extreme he runs into another. He will have not only a house, but an observatory with sixty doors, sixty windows, and as many secretaries to write down his observations. Here he remains some years, being frequently visited by his sister Gwenddyd. On one occasion he tells her to return home, for her husband is dying; and expresses a wish that Taliessin, who had just finished his studies under the learned Gildas in Armorica, may be sent to him. Great is the joy of the two sages at meeting; and learned, we may be sure, were their conversations. With one of them we are favoured; it contains a new system of the universe a system which no philosopher before or since could ever have divined. It tells us that the firmament is round, and hollow like a nut-shell; that the highest part is occupied by the etherial heaven, the abode of the angels; that the next below is the aerial heaven, inhabited by inferior angels, who carry upwards the prayers of mankind; that our own atmosphere is inhabited by caco-demons, our worst enemies.* Equally edifying is the description of the sea; one part passes round hell, and is of necessity hot; another borders on the poles, and is intolerably cold; but then both duce curious gems, sands, and fishes, on whose properties Taliessin delightfully expatiates. Nor are the islands less wonderful. The Fortunate Island," or "Island of Apples," is governed by nine fair sisters, the eldest of whom, Morgan, is deeply skilled in medicine and magic. To this island, we are informed, the wounded Arthur was taken after the battle of Camblan; and the pilot was Barinth, who had a perfect knowledge of all the stars of heaven, and all the seas of the earth. By Morgan, Arthur and his companions were honourably received; the fairy laid him on her

See page 68. of the present volume.

pro

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to

own bed, and after inspecting his wounds, pronounced
that a cure was possible, provided the king were left in
her care.
Of course the others returned, and Arthur
was left with the fairy, where, no doubt, he yet lives,
and will live for ages. The poem next acquaints us
with the discovery of a wonderful fountain, by drinking
from which Merlin was finally restored to his senses.
He, Taliessin, and his widowed sister Gwenddyd, re-
solve to pass the remainder of their days together in
seclusion from the world, in acts of charity and devo-
tion; and in the end Gwenddyd, like her brother and
his friend, acquire the prophetic gifta proof, we
suppose, that she had in reality repented of her pecca-
dillos. What portion of this poem is of Geoffrey's
invention, we shall not stop to enquire, as the observ-
ations on the Chronicle will equally apply to the poem.
We shall only add, that writers prior to him allude to
many of his traditions. Both are curious productions;
and, as we have before observed, some knowledge of
them is indispensable towards an understanding of
European works of chivalry, especially of our own
ancient romances and poems.
Without this knowledge
the poets of Elizabeth's age, even of the Stuarts, are
often unintelligible; without it Shakspeare, and Spenser,
and Milton must often be thrown aside in despair.*

Of our other Latin historians, one only we shall notice here; not so much because he is an historian, 1220. as because he is a miscellaneous writer of some interest, the greatest ornament, beyond doubt, of our Latin literature during these ages. Giraldus de Barri, or, as he is more usually called, Giraldus Cambrensis, was born about 1146, in the castle of Manorbeer, in Pembrokeshire. His descent was noble, even royal; for his mother Angharad was grand-daughter of Rhys ap Theodor, prince of South Wales. From his infancy he appears to have been equally devoted to literature

Vita Merlini, passim. As we have not access to this poem, which we believe has never been published, we have availed ourselves of the abstract by Ellis (Specimens, vol. i. section 4.), which we have still further condensed.