Amadis returned, however, in sufficient time to rescue his beloved princess from the power of the Romans, to whose ambassadors Lisuarte had given her up, to be espoused by the emperor's brother. Their fleet having been intercepted by Amadis, and totally defeated, Oriana was conveyed to the Firm Island by her lover. A long war was then carried on betwixt Lisuarte and Amadis, in which the former was worsted; and when weakened by two dreadful battles, he was unexpectedly attacked by an old enemy, Aravigo, who was urged on by the enchanter Arcalaus. When in this dilem ma, he was saved by the generosity of Amadis, who having turned to his assistance the arms he had lately employed against him, defeated his enemies, slew Aravigo, and took Arcalaus prisoner. On account of this conduct, and a discovery that the delights of matrimony had been anticipated, Lisuarte consents to the formal union of his daughter with Amadis. The nuptials were celebrated on the Firm Island, and Oriana terminated the wonderful enchantments of that spot, by entering the magic apartment, which could only be approached by the fairest and most faithful woman in the world. The greater part of Amadis de Gaul is occupied with combats, which are generally described with much spirit, but are tiresome by frequent repetition; and at length scarcely interest us, as we become almost certain of the success of the hero from the frequent recurrence of victory. There are few magical adventures in the commencement of the romance, but the wonders mul. tiply as the work advances, and the giants grow more numerous and bulky. Though the story does not lead us, like many other romances, through the adventures of a multitude of knights, changing without method from one to another, it suspends our attention between the exploits of Amadis and those of his brother Galaor. Amadis excels the French romances of chivalry in the delineation of character. There is much sweetness in the account of the infancy and boyhood of the Child of the Sea, and the early attach ment betwixt him and Oriana. This princess, however, proves to be of weak intellect and peevish disposition, and is frequently disquieted with ill-founded jealousy. Amadis is an interesting cha racter, and is well distinguished from his brother Galaor; they are equally valiant, but the elder wants the gaiety of the younger; he also remains faithfully attached to one mistress, while Galaor is constantly changing the object of his affections, a fraternal contrast which has been exhibited in most of the Spanish romances relating to the descendants of Amadis. In the morals displayed, and in the general conduct of the incidents, these continuations are much inferior to the work which they follow, but they become, as they advance, more splendid in their decorations, and more imposing in their machinery. The Urganda of the original Amadis, as has been remarked by Mr Southey, is a true fairy, like Morgaine le Fay, and the Lady of the Lake, but the Urganda, who, in the after-books of Amadis, sails about in the green serpent, is an enchantress of a more formidable description, and her rivals, Zirfea and Melia, are as tremendous as the Medea of classical fiction. The first romance in this series is the EXPLOITS OF ESPLANDIAN, the son of Amadis, the greater part of which is the work of Montalvo, the Spanish translator of Amadis. The author, to shelter him. self under a popular name, called it the fifth book of Amadis; on which it thus became the burden and excrescence. This example was imitated by the followers of Montalvo-the history of Lisuarte formed the sixth book, and that of Amadis of Greece the seventh and eighth books of Amadis de Gaul. The Spanish romancers thus proceeded from generation to generation; and, in order to give some plausibility to the title they bestowed, they kept Amadis himself alive, who thus became the perennial prop of his imbecile descendants. None of the progeny degenerated more from the merits of the parent than his immediate successor Esplandian, and Cervantes hath most justly decreed " that the excellence of the father should not avail the son, but that he should be thrown into the court to give a beginning to the bonfire." The part of Amadis de Gaul, however, which contains an account of the infancy of Esplandian, is one of the most beautiful portions of that romance. Oriana having giving birth to a son, the fruit of her stolen interviews with Amadis, delivered the child to her confidants, that he might be conveyed to a remote part of the country for the sake of concealment. Those to whom the infant was entrusted, in order to travel more privately, struck into a forest. A lioness, which resided in this quarter, made free to carry off the child as provender for her whelps. Unfortunately for them she had a respectable hermit for a neighbour, who met and rebuked her before she reached the den with her prey. She was quite disconcerted at being thus unexpectedly caught, and at length, by her good neighbour's seasonable remonstrances, was brought to a better way of thinking, and was induced to undertake the office of nurse to the child, who was now conveyed to the hermitage. There Esplandian was accordingly suckled with much blandishment by the reformed lioness, and when she went to prowl, her place was supplied by an ewe and a she-goat. Other heroes of chivalry, particularly Isaie Le Triste, it may be recollected, were fostered in a similar manner; fictions, no doubt, suggested by the classical fable of Romulus and Remus. As Esplandian grew up the lioness acted as a dry nurse; she guarded him when he walked out from the hermitage, and afterwards accompanied him in the chase. One day King Lisuarte, in the course of his field sports, entered the forest where Esplandian was bred up by the hermit and the motherly lioness, and perceived the boy leading in a leash this animal, which he loosed, when a stag was started, and hallooed her to the prey. When the game was overtaken, the lioness and two spaniels had their shares of the spoil. The king was surprised at beholding this singular group, and Esplandian being carried to the verge of the forest, where the queen had pitched her pavilion, was recognised by Oriana as her son, by means of certain characters on his breast. In the subsequent romances |