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and that Charlemaine was killed among his Paladins. The author before us, Zinabi, adverts to the extreme notoriety of the guilt of Ganelon, where he observes,

"And hence that monstrous fatal treachery springs,

With whose report the universe yet rings."

It is remarkable, that Pulci, in the opening of his “ Morgante," speaking of the dreadful overthrow of the Christians at Roncesvalles, uses precisely the words of Dante.

Marsilio, alarmed by the successes of Charles, sends an offer to pay an immense tribute, and to receive baptism, with all his nobility, if the Christians will withdraw into France. The proposal is accepted, and Ganelon is sent to conclude all necessary arrangements. He is brought before Marsilio, who is disposed to treat him rather unceremoniously, until one of his peers, who had accompanied the traitor to Saragossa, informs him that Ganelon was not unwilling to deliver all the Paladins into the power of the Moors. Marsilio then seats Ganelon by his side, but the throne breaking down by a miracle, they retire into the garden of the palace, where the treachery is completed. Ganelon thus explains his project.

"If over all the world you wish to reign,

Thus must you do.-The promis'd tribute bring
You have provided now for Charlemaine,
And let me bear it to your foe the king.

When he obtains it, he will not remain,

But quit your realm, his army summoning:

Thus all, except Orlando's powers, will leave you,
And he at Roncesvalles must receive you.

"I will tell Charles that you to France will speed,
To be baptiz'd on great St. Michael's feast:
Then he will leave Orlando with good heed,

And twenty thousand followers at the least,
To give you convoy through his realm at need.
Then let your force to th' utmost be increas'd;
Into three armies be the whole disperst,
With full one hundred thousand in the first.

"The Christians must this hundred thousand kill,
Against them then the second band address,
Which at the last shall meet a fate as ill :

Yet shall the Christians suffer great distress,
For rivers of their blood your troops shall spill;
And when they hope to rest their weariness,
Must your third army from behind advance,
And hunt the Christians down with sword and lance.

"Them shall it find exhausted and forlorn,

The chief part dead, and wounded all the rest;
Their horses kill'd, their flanks by weapons torn,
The living fain to fight on foot at best.
Your barons will be strong and fresh as morn,

And will accomplish well your high behest.
Of all your foes shall none survive that day,
But great Orlando whom you cannot slay.
"O'er him no power can all your weapons have,
Yet, witnessing the death of every friend,
He alone left of all his comrades brave,

His life with grief shall miserably end.

All comfort lost, Charles too shall fill the grave,

While you your rule o'er France and Spain extend.
Under your sway each town and tower shall come,
And you be lord of subject Christendom."

At the disclosure of this horrible scheme, the waters of a fountain, near which it is concerted, turn to blood. We have detailed it with particularity, not merely because it renders the sequel more intelligible; but because, in our day, few are acquainted with the facts, even by tradition, and Mr. Wharton's" Roncesvalles," and Lucien Buonaparte's "Charlemagne," have not circulated so widely, as to inform many readers. Ganelon,* returning to Charles with a smooth tale of the sincerity of the offer of Marsilio, the emperor retires with his forces to St. Jean piè de Porto, on the other side of the Pyrennees, leaving Orlando, Oliver, and the rest of the Paladins, posted at Roncesvalles, with twenty thousand six hundred men, to escort Marsilio, when he proceeds with his nobility to Paris to receive baptism. Orlando and Oliver think it necessary to keep watch, entertaining some distant suspicions, the first till midnight, and the last till morning. The first view Oliver obtains of the approaching enemy, is thus related.

"When o'er the brighten'd world the sun 'gan rise,
Oliver cast an anxious look t'ward Spain,

As an old tailor at his needle pries:

He saw a host come marching on amain,
But o'er one fourth he could not cast his eyes,

So num'rous were they upon hill and plain;

* Pulci improves upon this romance, in one respect; for he gives to Ganelon a strongly operating motive to procure the destruction of Orlando; viz. envy of his power over Charles. Zinabi represents him influenced only by the rich reward Marsilio promises.

With banners white and red, blue, black, and green,

The cover'd ground on no side could be seen.

This stanza is remarkable, not only for the striking and picturesque manner in which the advance of "numbers numberless" is described, but for the introduction of a simile, in the line printed in italic, copied from Dante, (Inf. XV.)

"Come 'l vecchio sartor far ne la cruna.”

The words of Zinabi are,

"Si come la nell ago il vecchio sarto.*

Perhaps, after all, this might be a proverbial expression, in the time of both the poets. Oliver hastens to awaken his cousin Orlando, and to tell him of the danger; but the son of Aglante, vexed to be roused out of his sleep so early, replies somewhat angrily, and with a degree of coarseness not well suited to our modern ideas of refinement.

"Tu puzzi da vino, e sei ancora imbriaco."

He is, nevertheless, soon convinced, by his own eyes, that the terrible enemy is at hand. Oliver requires Orlando to blow his powerful horn, that Charles might hear it at St. Jean piè de Porto, and come instantly to their assistance; but Orlando entertains too much contempt for the Pagans to comply:

"Why should I sound it in such fearful haste?

Why should I throw on that my strength away?
The road that leads to Charles is quickly past;
Nor would I willingly that men should say,
I did not struggle bravely to the last,

But sounded frighten'd by such poor array.
If thou hast fear, and tremble to advance,
Away, and take the speediest road to France.'
"Lead on, brave cousin!' Oliver replied,

'With Durlindana, thy good sword, in hand:
My lance as deep in blood shall soon be dyed,
Fearless as thou against that Pagan band.
But death from us great Charles shall aye
divide;

And Aldabella, with her accents bland,
Shall never greet thee more with love's delight:
We both must fall with pitiless despite !"

* It is printed Si come la nel lago, &c.; but this is only an error of the press.

Nobody but Orlando would think of charging Oliver with cowardice; and throughout the poem the latter is less of the mere hero, and more of the human being, with the feelings and pulses of humanity, than his somewhat boastful and perhaps fool-hardy cousin. This is especially shewn in the two stanzas, last quoted; and we may say of Orlando and Oliver, what every body feels, and therefore has been over and over again said, of Achilles and Hector, that though we may admire the first, we love the last: the one interests the curiosity, the other the heart. While pointing out this distinction between Orlando and Oliver, we may take the opportunity of praising the general individuality, and the absence of mere abstraction, in all the characters in this poem. There is always some point, some peculiarity, that differs one Paladin, or one personage, from another. Upon the illustration of this position, we regret that we have not more space to dwell.

The Christians prepare on the instant, and the dreadful conflict begins; Turpin having addressed the Christians in a vigorous speech, ending,

"Since on the rood for us our Saviour died,
To die for him be it this day our pride!"

All the peers perform wonders; and among them, Baldwin, the young son of Ganelon, greatly distinguishes himself. By noon, the first hundred thousand of the Pagans are disposed of; but nine thousand Christians are killed, and two thousand more wounded. The fight is then renewed under Grandonio, who leads two hundred thousand Pagans to the field. Here, again, we find the peculiar bravery of young Baldwin dwelt upon, for the sake of introducing an incident of a peculiar kind. Baldwin, in presence of Orlando, mentions the success he had met with; when the Paladin openly attributes it to an agreement made between Ganelon and the Pagans, that they should not assail his son's person, whose armour and device he had made known to them.

"Baldwin reply'd, 'My father's treachery,

If he be false, proves not his son so too.
I ne'er consented to such villainy

As now is charg'd against my sire by you.
But if this day we 'scape with victory,

I swear, by our just God, if it be true,
With my own hand a full revenge to take,
Ev'n upon him, for truth and honour's sake!'
"Orlando answer'd, 'If you wish to show

That by your father we are not betray'd,

Cast off that shield and crest the Pagans know,
And let your harness all aside be laid :—
Then to the field, and we shall see, I trow,

If Gan have not this damned compact made.'
Baldwin his hauberk cast away, and there
Forsook his shield, and laid his temples bare.

"Now more than all his gen'rous valour shines:
For the hot fray the Paladin he left,

And rushing through the Pagan's thickest lines,
Of life at once a Saracen him reft;

Nor paus'd the foe, nor at the blow repines.

Orlando saw young Baldwin's forehead cleft,
Saw his fair limbs upon the earth display'd,
And now was certain Gan had all betray'd."

This test was not only cruel, but most unfair; however, Orlando makes amends by taking instant vengeance on the enemy. Four of the Paladins are killed by the army of Grandonio, and several others wounded; and towards the evening, Balsinello, King of Barbary, takes his station on the field with one hundred thousand fresh troops. The Christians, weak, reduced, and disheartened, still maintain their stand, and Orlando and Oliver, embracing, agree to die struggling to the last extremity. We now approach the catastrophe, the interest of which is worked up with considerable force and ingenuity.

"On ev'ry side was great Orlando found,
Giving and taking most despiteful blows,
Strewing the Pagans on the loaded ground,

While from their wounds in tides the black blood flows.
Nor Oliver, I ween, did less astound

And spread destruction 'mid his coward foes;

While bold Angolier equal glory wins

That fatal day among the Paladins.

"Walter Montlion, although wounded sore
As he fought reckless in his fierce despite,

Still drove the enemy dismay'd before,

Who fled whene'er he desp'rate came in sight;
At length exhausted he could slay no more.
Thus but six Paladins were left to fight,
And King Corbaces with eight thousand men
Renew'd the strife for the dark Sarasen."

Marsilio now enters the field with a large reserve, but Orlando hunts him over the plain until he takes shelter in a cavern.

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