il, who is represented as an enchanter, places a magical image in
the centre of Rome, which every day communicates to the Emperor Titus
all the secret offences committed in the city.

From such fanciful sources, and with a discrimination such as they
display, Geoffrey of Monmouth drew up in the eleventh century a fabulous
history of England. His story of Gogmagog, the British giant, supposed
to have been destroyed by Brutus, the great grandson of AEneas, on his
landing in this country, is said to have been derived from that of two
Arabian giants Gog and Magog. The stones which compose Stonehenge, each
containing some medicinal virtue, are fabled to have been transported by
giants from the deserts of Africa to Ireland, and to have been carried
thence by Merlin's enchantment to form a monument over the British slain
by Hengist. The state of criticism existing at this time may be imagined
from the fact that even afterwards, in the reign of Edward I., the
descent of the Britons from the Trojans through Brutus was solemnly
alleged in a controversy of great importance concerning the subjection
of the crown of England to that of Scotland, showing an amount of
credulity which might almost have credited the legend that St. James,
mounted on horseback, led the Christian armies in Spain in their battles
against the Moors, or that there was in that country a golden image of
Mahomet as high as a bird could fly, in which the false prophet had
sealed up a legion of devils.

But the imaginative powers were soon to be developed upon more
attractive themes. War and Religion were about to be blended in the
grand drama of the Crusades, prompted alike by zeal for the faith, by
hatred of the Moslem, and by thirst for military glory. The first nobles
of the West arrayed themselves in their armour, collected their
retainers, and set out for the lands of the rising sun. Here they came
into contact with an Eastern civilization, ornate and dazzling, superior
to their own, but still in a state of childhood, and revelling in the
fanciful creations which please the infantine mind.[38] Foremost among
the Christian knights went the Barons of Provence, accompanied by troops
of minstrels--troubadours to sing their praises; and we might well
suppose that some of the wonders of the dreaming East would now find
their way into Europe, interwoven with the doughty deeds of the
Christian heroes. This view is corroborated by the fact that almost all
our early