by heart: after which
he offered it to the pedagogue with a smile, to burn like the others.

The decision of these ascetic bigots was founded in their opinion of the
immorality of such works. They alleged that the writers paint too warmly
to the imagination, address themselves too forcibly to the passions, and
in general, by the freedom of their representations, hover on the
borders of indecency. Let it be sufficient, however, to observe, that
those who condemned the liberties which these writers take with the
imagination could indulge themselves with the Anacreontic voluptuousness
of the wise _Solomon_, when sanctioned by the authority of the church.

The marvellous power of romance over the human mind is exemplified in
this curious anecdote of oriental literature.

Mahomet found they had such an influence over the imaginations of his
followers, that he has expressly forbidden them in his Koran; and the
reason is given in the following anecdote:--An Arabian merchant having
long resided in Persia, returned to his own country while the prophet
was publishing his Koran. The merchant, among his other riches, had a
treasure of romances concerning the Persian heroes. These he related to
his delighted countrymen, who considered them to be so excellent, that
the legends of the Koran were neglected, and they plainly told the
prophet that the "Persian Tales" were superior to his. Alarmed, he
immediately had a visitation from the angel Gabriel, declaring them
impious and pernicious, hateful to God and Mahomet. This checked their
currency; and all true believers yielded up the exquisite delight of
poetic fictions for the insipidity of religious ones. Yet these romances
may be said to have outlived the Koran itself; for they have spread into
regions which the Koran could never penetrate. Even to this day Colonel
Capper, in his travels across the Desert, saw "Arabians sitting round a
fire, listening to their tales with such attention and pleasure, as
totally to forget the fatigue and hardship with which an instant before
they were entirely overcome." And Wood, in his journey to Palmyra:--"At
night the Arabs sat in a circle drinking coffee, while one of the
company diverted the rest by relating a piece of history on the subject
of love or war, or with an extempore tale."

Mr. Ellis has given us "Specimens of the Early English Metrical
Romances," and Ritson and Weber have printed two collections of them
entire, valued by the poeti