hames, was easily ingrafted on the fable of the Aeneid; and the
royal ancestors of Arthur derived their origin from Troy, and claimed
their alliance with the Caesars. His trophies were decorated with
captive provinces and Imperial titles; and his Danish victories avenged
the recent injuries of his country. The gallantry and superstition
of the British hero, his feasts and tournaments, and the memorable
institution of his Knights of the Round Table, were faithfully copied
from the reigning manners of chivalry; and the fabulous exploits of
Uther's son appear less incredible than the adventures which were
achieved by the enterprising valor of the Normans. Pilgrimage, and
the holy wars, introduced into Europe the specious miracles of Arabian
magic. Fairies and giants, flying dragons, and enchanted palaces, were
blended with the more simple fictions of the West; and the fate of
Britain depended on the art, or the predictions, of Merlin. Every nation
embraced and adorned the popular romance of Arthur, and the Knights of
the Round Table: their names were celebrated in Greece and Italy; and
the voluminous tales of Sir Lancelot and Sir Tristram were devoutly
studied by the princes and nobles, who disregarded the genuine heroes
and historians of antiquity. At length the light of science and reason
was rekindled; the talisman was broken; the visionary fabric melted into
air; and by a natural, though unjust, reverse of the public opinion,
the severity of the present age is inclined to question the existence of
Arthur. [141]

[Footnote 138: Bede, who in his chronicle (p. 28) places Ambrosius under
the reign of Zeno, (A.D. 474-491,) observes, that his parents had been
"purpura induti;" which he explains, in his ecclesiastical history,
by "regium nomen et insigne ferentibus," (l. i. c. 16, p. 53.) The
expression of Nennius (c. 44, p. 110, edit. Gale) is still more
singular, "Unus de consulibus gentis Romanicae est pater meus."]

[Footnote 139: By the unanimous, though doubtful, conjecture of our
antiquarians, Ambrosius is confounded with Natanleod, who (A.D. 508)
lost his own life, and five thousand of his subjects, in a battle
against Cerdic, the West Saxon, (Chron. Saxon. p. 17, 18.)]

[Footnote 140: As I am a stranger to the Welsh bards, Myrdhin, Llomarch,
and Taliessin, my faith in the existence and exploits of Arthur
principally rests on the simple and circumstantial testimony of Nennius.
(Hist. Brit. c. 62, 63, p. 114.) Mr. Wh