s of
Leonnoys, Sir Ysaie, Syr Gyron, &c. &c., and their various and
wondrous achievements were woven into a series of tales which are
known as the "Romances of the Round Table." Of course the main subject
of each tale is interrupted by ten thousand varied episodes, in which
very often the original object seems entirely lost sight of. Then the
construction of many of these Romances, or rather their want of
construction, is marvellous; their genealogies are interminable, and
their geography miraculous.

One of the most marvellous and scarce of these Romances, and one, the
principal passages of which were frequently wrought into Tapestry, was
the "Roman du Saint Greal," which is founded upon an incident, to say
the least very peculiar, but which was perhaps once considered true as
Holy Writ. St. Joseph of Arimathoea, a very important personage in
many romances, having obtained the hanap, or cup from which our
Saviour administered the wine to his disciples, caught in the same cup
the blood which flowed from his wounds when on the Cross. After he had
first achieved various adventures, and undergone an imprisonment of
forty-two years, St. Joseph arrives in England with the sacred cup, by
means of which numerous miracles are performed; he prepares the Round
Table, and Arthur and his Knights all go in quest of the hanap, which
by some, to us unaccountable, circumstance, had fallen into the hands
of a sinner. All make the most solemn vow to devote their lives to its
recovery; and this they must indeed have done, and not short lives
either, if all recorded of them be true. None, however, but two, ever
_see_ the sacred symbol; though oftentimes a soft ray of light would
stream across the lonesome wild, or the dark pathless forest, or
unearthly strains would float on the air, or odours as of Paradise
would entrance the senses, while the wandering and woeworn knight
would feel all fatigue, all sense of personal inconvenience, of pain,
of sickness, or of sorrow, vanish on the instant; and then would he
renew his vows, and betake himself to prayer; for though all unworthy
to see the Holy Grayle, he would feel that it had been borne on
viewless pinions through the air for his individual consolation and
hope. And Syr Galahad and Syr Perceval, the two chaste and favoured
knights who, "after the dedely flesshe had beheld the spiritual
things," the holy St. Grael--never returned to converse with the
world. The first departed to God, and "