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which they were themselves unconscious. Of the merits of a beautiful mistress or chaste wife we cannot suppose them to have been insensible; but the gallantry of the ancient Romans was very different from the gallantry of the chivalrous ages. After the fall of the Roman empire, new sentiments of devotedness to the softer sex began to be widely diffused; and, as Mallet remarks, these sentiments, so peculiar to the northern nations, could only be diffused by themselves. With this characteristic spirit of gallantry, they are likewise supposed to have conveyed to more southern climates that appropriate vein of composition which belongs to romance. About the beginning of the tenth century, the Northernmen, under the command of Rollo, made a formidable descent upon the coasts of France, and obtained pos session of a considerable territory, which was afterwards denominated Normandy. The Scandinavian chiefs were commonly attended by their scalds ; and at this period the scaldic art, that is, the art of northern poetry, had arrived at a high degree of perfection. It is scarcely to be doubted, although the fact is not recorded in history, that these warriors were accompanied by various scalds, ready to celebrate the achievements of which they themselves were witnesses; and the northern vein of composition seems thus to have been communicated to another climate*. The conquerors were not sufficiently numerous to introduce their native language into this new settlement; they gradually adopted the language of the more numerous inhabitants, imparting to it some of the peculiarities of their northern speech. With

It was in Normandy that some of the earliest specimens of French poetry made their appearance. (La Ravallière, Poësies du Roy de Navarre, tom. i. p. 128, 166. Roquefort de l'Etat de la Poësie Française dans les XIIe et XIIIe Siècles, p. 39. Paris, 1815, 8vo.) The trouveres of the north differed very materially from the troubadours of the south, not merely in the language, but likewise in the general complexion of their poetry: the lively tales of the former are still capable of affording much entertainment; in the compositions of the latter we find more of sentiment and less of character. Many of the ancient fabliaux have been preserved in the French libraries; and some ample collections have been given to the public. The collection originally formed by Barbazan has been enlarged and improved by Meon: Fabliaux et Contes des Poètes François des XI. XII. XIII. XIV. et XVe Siècles.' Paris, 1808, 4 tom. 8vo. The same meritorious editor has likewise published another collection, entitled 'Nouveau Recueil de Fabliaux et Contes inédits.' Paris, 1823, 2 tom. 8vo. A very readable and pleasant book was formed by Le Grand d'Aussy, who transfused a copious selection of fabhaux into prose, and illustrated them in a lively and graceful manner. Fabliaux ou Contes, du XIIe et du XIIIe Siècle, traduits ou extraits d'après plusieurs Manuscrits du tems.' Paris, 1779-81, 4 tom. 8vo. Paris, 1781, 5 tom. 12mo. To the second edition he has added a dissertation on the troubadours, in which the merits of those southern poets are not very favourably estimated. From this publication of Le Grand the late Mr. Way selected a considerable number of tales, and translated them into English verse with uncommon felicity; and the value of the work was not a little enhanced by the preface and notes of Mr. Ellis, written with his usual taste and information. Fabliaux or Tales, abridged from French Manuscripts of the XIIth and XIIIth Centuries by M. Le Grand, selected and translated into English verse.' Lond. 1796– 1800, 2 vols. 8vo,

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the language they likewise adopted the religion of the people with whom they were thus associated. They were apparently unwilling that the memory of the Scandinavian heroes should entirely perish; for Holger the Dane, under the name of Ogier Danois, became a conspicuous character in romance*: but, as the Bishop of Dromore has remarked, they generally substituted the heroes of Christendom for those of their pagan ancestors, and began to celebrate the exploits of Charlemagne, Roland, and Oliver; whose genuine history they embellished with the scaldic figments of dwarfs, giants, dragons, and enchantments. He adds that the earliest mention of those personages as heroes of chivalry, occurs in the song of a Norman minstrel at the battle of Hastingst.

Such is the hypothesis of this accomplished prelate, which, if not completely satisfactory, is at least plausible and ingenious; but other writers have endeavoured to trace this romantic fabling to a very different source. Salmasius supposed it to have been borrowed from the Arabians: a similar opinion was adopted by Bishop Warburton ‡, and was copiously illustrated by Mr. Warton §; but notwithstanding his powerful support, it has not

The story of this hero has been industriously, but not very critically investigated by Thomas Bartholinus, in a little volume entitled 'De Holgero Dano, qui Caroli Magni tempore floruit, Dissertatio historica.' Hafniae, 1677, 8vo.

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It may be observed,' says the lamented Mr. Conybeare, that the Song of Beowulf, especially in its latter cantos, affords an additional argument, if any such were wanting after the labours of Percy and Ellis, against the theory which would attribute to the fictions of romance a Saracenic origin. The dragon furnished with wings and breathing flame, the sword which melts at the touch of the Jutish blood, the unearthly light which pervades the cave of the Grendel, and beams from the magic statues presiding over that of the fire-drake, had they occurred in a poem of later date, would in all probability have been considered by the eminent author of that theory as undoubted importations of the crusaders. But the opinions of Warton, even when erroneous, were not taken up without apparent grounds. The fictions in question do assuredly bear, if it may be so termed, an oriental rather than a northern aspect; and the solution of this phenomenon will be most successfully sought for in the hypothesis more recently suggested by those continental scholars, who, regarding the Gothic and the Sanscrit as cognate dialects, and identifying the character and worship of Odin with that of Buddha, claim for the whole of the Scandinavian mythology an Asiatic origin of far more remote and mysterious antiquity.' (Illustrations of Anglo-Saxon Poetry, p. 80. Lond. 1826. 8vo.) The ancient poem to which Mr. Conybeare refers was pub lished under the following title: 'De Danorum Rebus gestis Secul. III. et IV. Poema Danicum dialecto Anglosaxonica: ex Bibliotheca Cottoniana Musai Britannici edidit, versione Lat. et indicibus auxit Grim. Johnson Thorkelin, Dr. J. U. &c. Havniæ, 1815, 4to. It has been translated into Danish verse: Bjowulfs Drape: et Gothisk Helte-Digt fra forrige Aar-tusinde; af Angel-Saxisk paa Danske Riim ved Nik. Fred. Sev. Grundtvig, Præst. Kiöbenhavn, 1820, 8vo. See Deutsche Grammatik, von Jacob Grimm, i. Bl. S. lxvii.

Warburton, in a long and rambling note on Love's Labour Lost, makes the following remark: Nor were the monstrous embellishments of enchantments, &c. the invention of the romancers, but formed upon eastern tales, brought thence by travellers from their crusades and pilgrimages.' (Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 470.)

§ Warton's Dissertation on the Origin of Romantic Fiction in Europe.-Another writer of ingenuity and learning has very recently supported the same opinion. (Fairy Mythology, vol. i. p. 46. Lond. 1828, 2 vols. 8vo.)

generally

*

generally been admitted in its full extent: Bishop Percy and Mr. Tyrwhitt have clearly demonstrated that the superstructure rests on no adequate foundation. Other writers persuade themselves that Armorica was the cradle of romantic fiction † ; nor is this opinion entirely destitute of plausibility. The natives of that country were of a Celtic origin; and they are said to have afforded a place of refuge to a large colony of Britons, who, flying from their Saxon conquerors, carried along with them such historical records or traditions as they possessed. In this manner we may suppose the marvellous tales of King Arthur, and the knights of the round table, to have been imparted to the early poets of France; and it is at least certain that even the Norman poets frequently profess to have derived their stories from the lays of Armorica. Mr. Ellis supposes it is not very safe to adopt any one of these hypotheses, to the exclusion of the other two; and he is of opinion that they are by no means incompatible. There is, as he conceives, no absurdity in supposing that the scenes and characters of romantic story were, to a great extent, derived from the Armoricans or from the Welsh; that much of the colouring, and perhaps some particular adventures, may be of Scandinavian origin; and that occasional episodes, together with some portion of the machinery, may have been borrowed from the Arabians. In fact,' as he very ingeniously remarks, 'there is reason to believe that critics, in their survey of Gothic literature, as well as of Gothic architecture, have too hastily had recourse to a single hypothesis, for the purpose of explaining the probable origin of forms and proportions which appeared unusual, and of ornaments which were thought to arise from a wild and capricious fancy: and in both cases it will perhaps be found that invention is often nothing more than accidental association, and that what has been attributed to originality of design, was only the result of an awkward attempt to combine incongruous materialst.'

Human nature is in all ages and in all countries essentially the same; and similar customs are to be traced among tribes of mankind the most widely removed from each other in time and place. When some modern writers described the process of tattooing, so prevalent among the savages of the present age, they were not perhaps aware that Herodotus had described the very same custom as prevailing among the Thracians §, and

* Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 473. edit. 1821.-See likewise Ritson's Dissertation on Romance and Minstrelsy (p. li.) prefixed to his ancient English Metrical Romances. Lond. 1802, 3 vols. 8vo.

+ See Dr. Leyden's Dissertation on the Complaynt of Scotland, p. 257. Ellis's Specimens of the early English Romances, vol. i. p. 37.

The practice of imprinting marks on the body is prohibited by Moses: 'Ye shall not

Xenophon

Xenophon among the Cappadocians *. When we trace a similar vein of poetry in very remote regions, we must not in every instance impute this similarity to the force of imitation: the Scandinavians and the Arabians, without any mutual communication, might each devise their peculiar order of giants, dragons, and enchantments; nor is it necessary to have recourse to the agency of the crusades, in order to account for the propagation of those excrescences of imagination which seem to be the spontaneous production of almost every climate.

make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you.' (Leviticus, xix. 28.) The first clause refers to a particular occasion, and the second apparently con tains a general prohibition. This method of imprinting marks was practised by the Arabians, a people of kindred origin. (Hottingeri Juris Hebraeorum Leges CCLXI. p. 392. Tiguri, 1655, 4to.) Among the ancient Thracians tattooing was a mark of superior rank. Καὶ τὸ μὲν ἐστίχθαι, εὐγενὲς κέκριται· τὸ δ ̓ ἄστικτον ἀγγενές. (Herodotus, lib. v. p. 374. edit. Wesselingii.) This passage affords a sufficient illustration of the following line of Valerius Flaccus, Argonaut. lib. i. v. 150.

Picta manus, ustoque placet sed barbara mento.

Ποικίλους δὲ τὰ νῶτα, καὶ τὰ ἔμπροσθεν πάντα ἐστιγμένους ἀνθέμιον. Ἐζήτουν δὲ καὶ ταῖς ἑταίραις αἷς ἦγον οἱ Ἕλληνες ἐμφανῶς συγγενέσθαι· νόμος γὰρ ἦν σφίσιν οὗτος. (Xenophon de Cyri Expeditione, lib. v. p. 375. edit. Hutchinson. Cantab. 1785, 4to.) Those who are described as marked in this manner, were the children of rich parents; and among these tribes tattooing may likewise have been a distinction of rank. The last sentence it is not necessary to translate. The first is thus rendered by Dr. Hutchinson: Tergis vario colore imbutis, anterioribusque partibus omnibus pictura florida distinctis.' Mr. Spelman translates it thus: 'Their backs were painted with various colours, and all their foreparts impress'd with flowers. But the words ought rather to be translated, pricked or punctured with a florid colour;' and the passage then exhibits a description of the process of tattooing. Both these sentences may be very aptly illustrated from Dr. Hawkesworth's Voyages, vol. ii. p. 387. vol. iii. p. 24. 3d edit.

6

Ísidorus Hispalensis, a writer of the sixth century, has stated that the Picts derived their name from the circumstance of their bodies being punctured, or, to express the same meaning by another word, tattooed: 'Nec abest genti Pictorum nomen a corpore, quod minutis opifex acus punctis et expressus nativi graminis succus illudit, ut has ad sui specimen cicatrices ferat pictis artubus maculosa nobilitas.' (Origines, lib. xix. cap. xxiii. p. 383. edit. Matrit. 1599, fol.) In the Islandic language, the verb picka signifies to prick or puncture. (Gudmundi Andreae Lexicon Islandicum, p. 191. Havniae, 1683, 4to. Haldorsonii Lexicon Islandico-Latino-Danicum, tom. ii. p. 171. Havniae, 1814, 2 tom. 4to. Magnusen om Picternes og deres Navns Oprindelse, S. 44. Kiöbenhavn, 1817, 8vo.) This etymology, borrowed, not from the Latin, but from the Scandinavian, involves nothing absurd or improbable: we may naturally enough suppose this northern tribe to have described itself as that of the tattooed men, in contradistinction to some neighbouring tribes, who were not accustomed to decorate their bodies in the same manner. When Claudian, de III. Cons. Honor. v. 54. mentions this people as nec falso nomine Pictos,' he may therefore be understood as employing terms sufficiently appropriate.

ART.

ART. III.-1. L'Agent immédiat du Mouvement vital dévoilé dans sa nature et dans sa mode d'action chez les Végétaux et chez les Animaux. Par M. H. Dutrochet, Correspondant de l'Institut, &c. 8vo. pp. 226. Paris. 1826.

2. Note sur des Effects qui peuvent être produits par la Capillarité et l'Affinité des Substances hétérogénes. Par M. Poisson, (Ann. de Chim. et de Phys. Mai, 1827, tom. xxxv. pp. 98.) 3. Nouvelles Observations sur l'Endosmose et l'Exosmose, et sur la Cause de ce double Phénomène. Par M. Dutrochet, (Ann. de Chim. et Phys. Aout, 1827, pp. 393-401.)

4. Nouvelles Recherches sur l'Endosmose et l'Exosmose. Par M. Dutrochet. (Ann. de Chim. et de Phys. Fev. 1828, pp. 191-222.)

WHILE the spirit of philosophy has been taking possession

of almost all the other natural sciences, it seems somewhat unaccountable that it should have been so long in transfusing itself into the accumulated mass of observation and experiments which constitute the science of vegetable physiology. By the labours of Grew, Lewenhoek, and many accurate observers who followed in their footsteps, the structure of the organs of plants has been ascertained with tolerable correctness; and a very considerable amount of information respecting the functions of those organs has been derived from the experiments and reasonings of Duhamel, Hales, Malpighi, and others. Still, however, the physiology of plants has never yet assumed the form and dignity of a science. The mens divinior was wanting, to separate its essential from its useless facts, to groupe them under general principles, and to exhibit those primary laws, which are absolutely necessary to the progress of science. The accumulation of facts and experiments had almost overwhelmed the few points of rational theory of which vegetable physiology could boast, and a number of doctrines half established, and speculations ingenious and plausible, usurped the place of fixed principles and rigorous views.

That such was lately the state of this branch of natural science will probably be disputed by its more ardent votaries; but a few observations, will, we think, satisfy the candid inquirer of its truth. That plants derive their nourishment from the soil in which they grow, and that this nourishment, in the state of a fluid, is absorbed by the roots, and ascends through the stem and branches, are facts which must have forced themselves upon the notice of the most careless observer; but, through what channels the fluids thus absorbed rise in the plant, and by what forces they

are

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