Lybeaus Desconus is one of the most striking that I remember. It continues still to be a favourite resource of fancy among the Persian fabulators; and in the Tales of Inatulla, written so late as the seventeenth century, a similar scene of sorcery occurs in "The History of the Prince of Fultan and the Princess Mherbanou." The prince, having passed through a dangerous wilderness, had travelled with much fatigue for some days; when to his great joy there appeared before him, and at a little distance, a large and magnificent capital. "He advanced speedily to the gate, through which he beheld a city of such extent and grandeur, that Canaan would have owned itself inferior to its smallest street; and, in comparison with its humblest edifice, the palaces of Cæsar and the pavilion of Nomaan * shrunk into contempt. The houses were elegantly arranged, and the minarets justly proportioned as the stature of the beautiful of just height. The building of the squares accorded with each other, and the shops were distributed with the most pleasing symmetry. Not the shadow, however, of a mortal struck the mirror of the eye, nor did any inhabitants appear. "The prince, on perceiving these circumstances, became alarmed, and from motives of caution dispatched his companions to the diffe* A famous king of Arabia.

rent quarters of the city; that, passing through the markets and streets, they might explore the track of man. Much as they walked about, and examined all parts with the ken of search, they found every place, house, and window, like the eye of the blind, unblessed by the sight of human beauty; but, what was more wonderful, in each habitation and chamber that they entered, they found the richest effects, preparations for festivity, the most elegant furniture, eatables and drinkables; apparel, beds, culinary apparatus, &c. were so arranged, that you would have supposed the occupiers had only moved to different chambers of the dwellings. Upon this, dread seized the mind of all, and apprehensions prevailed, lest the city might be the abode of Afreets*, or the residence of Peries, and some calamity occur. They were confounded, and, in great alarm returning, informed the prince of the strange appearance of the city.

"The prince observed, Certainly the population of this capital must have been destroyed by the Afreet Hullul; clearing, therefore, our minds from apprehension, let us examine the

* The Afreets were supposed to be the most terrible and cruel of all the orders of the Dives and Genii.

royal palace, as there either a ghole * or human

being may meet us.'

When they entered the edifice, they found it empty; but the buildings were most magnificent, and the gardens in high bloom and fragrance; so that, tempted by the beauty of the palace, the fine views and elegant pavilions scattered here and there, they walked on, till they came to a most splendid hall, after admiring which, they passed through shady allies adorned with fountains; in another quarter, their attention was attracted by flowers in various parterres, the wonderful paintings on the ceilings, the elegant carving on the arches, and the mosaic ornaments of the windows of the apartments they passed through; till at last, on entering a splendid chamber, they, to their surprise, beheld a beautiful youth in royal apparel, and a crown upon his head, reposing upon the bed of death, as if just fallen asleep †."

The twelfth century may, in fact, be consi

*Ghole or Ghul, in Arabic, signifies any terrifying object, which deprives people of the use of their senses. Hence it became the appellative of that species of monster, which was supposed to haunt forests, cemeteries, and other lonely places; and believed not only to tear in pieces the living, but to dig up and devour the dead.

See the Notes to Caliph Vathek, p. 305. + Scott's Translation, vol. ii. p. 316, &c.

dered as the period when Arabian fiction be came familiar, and when romance assumed its perfect form. Two authors, whom we have not yet mentioned, contributed greatly to the spread and popularity of heroic achievements and preternatural adventures. ROBERT WACE, a native of Jersey, finished, in 1155, a poem of several thousand lines in French octosyllabic verse, the materials of which were principally taken from Geoffrey of Monmouth. This production, which Wace presented to Queen Eleanor, the wife of Henry the Second, obtained for the fictions of Geoffrey an almost unlimited circulation. Nor was this the only fruit of his pen; its fertility was great, and a series of poems on Rollo of Normandy, on Richard sans Peur, and on Robert le Diable, charmed in succession the lovers of ro mance. Contemporary with Wace and his rival in the favour of Henry the Second, lived BENOIT DE ST. MORE, who composed in northern French a poem of twenty thousand verses on the Trojan war, and a poetical history of the Dukes of Normandy. These are filled with the most wild and wonderful events, and like the other poetry of the age strongly tinctured with oriental imagery..

In short, to adopt the language of a recent and a very amusing biographer, "the revival of learning is a phrase which might, without any

striking impropriety, be applied to the twelfth century. It was then that the night which threatened to bury all Europe in barbarism began to be dissipated; it was then that certain literary adventurers imported from the Saracens science, the investigation of nature, and the Aristotelian philosophy; it was then that romance was invented, and poetry seemed to be new created; and it was this period which was illustrated by the labours of Abelard, William of Malmesbury, Peter of Blois, John of Salisbury, and Joseph of Exeter; as well as of Turpin, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Benoit, and Wace *."

The thirteenth century opened with an event highly favourable to a still more intimate acquaintance with the East. The fourth crusade, which commenced in 1202, terminated the succeeding year with the important capture of Constantinople, the metropolis of the Greek empire. The possession of this splendid and luxurious city by the crusaders for a period of sixty years, must undoubtedly not only have tended to the improvement of their learning and taste, but must have greatly facilitated their intercourse with Asia, and of course their knowledge of oriental manners, customs, and fable. During this period also fresh swarms of western Europeans were per*Godwin's Life of Chaucer, vol. ii. p. 260.