father talked with thee, my child, he embraced thee, and knewest him not; O Guido! thou didst look upon thy and didst not tremble; thou didst look upon thy chil kissed him, and blessed him; alas, alas! my husband."

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'I should be loth to agree with Percy, that so beautiful should have been resigned to children," said Herbert, as s Lathom had concluded his version of the old tale.

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"No wonder that the pilgrimage of the warrior was favourite with all nations, as to be claimed by nearly all as liarly their own," said Thompson.

"It was very early translated into French, and is alluded a Spanish romance, written somewhere about 1430.

as the old ballad says,

The story is brought to an end,

Of Guy, the bold baron of price,
And of the fair maid Felice,'

But no

we will conclude our evening with some account of its a tions, as intended by the monk. Sir Guido was symbolical Saviour, Felicia of the soul, and Tyrius of man in genera the weasel was meant the prophets, and especially the Bap prophesying of the coming of the Saviour. The mountain world, the dead dragon the old law of Moses, and the gold it, the Ten Commandments. The sword represented authori seven deadly sins were symbolized in the sons of Plebeus, a good fisherman was the representative of the Holy Spirit."

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There remains one character yet unexplained; the daughter," remarked Herbert.

"The explanation of her duties is peculiar to the religion age in which the tale was written; the Roman Catholic eas cognized in the king's daughter, the Virgin Mary."

"Come, Herbert, we are over our time to work; good n

CHAPTER IX.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF EARLY MANNERS-SORCERY-THE KNIGHT AND THE NECROMANCER-WAXEN FIGURES-DEGENERACY OF WITCHES -THE CLERK AND THE IMAGE-GERBERT AND NATURAL MAGICELFIN CHIVALRY-THE DEMON KNIGHT OF THE VANDAL CAMPSCOTT'S MARMION-ASSUMPTION OF HUMAN FORMS BY SPIRITSTHE SEDUCTIONS OF THE EVIL ONE-RELIGIOUS ORIGIN OF CHARGES OF WITCHCRAFT.

"THE attention of the king's daughter to the wounded knight," remarked Herbert, "reminds me strongly of the patriarchal habits described by Homer in his Odyssey. The daughter of Nestor thinks it no disgrace or indelicacy to attend to the bath of the wandering Telemachus, and Helen herself seems to have performed a like office for his father."

"The tales of chivalry are replete with instances of these simple manners," rejoined Lathom; "the king's daughter, the fair virgin princess, is ever the kind attendant on the honoured guest, prepares his bath after the fatigues of the day, and ministers to his wounds by her medicinal skill."

"Your old monk's tales," said Thompson, "have no little merit, as illustrations of the manners and habits of the middle ages."

"Indeed, the light is curious that is thrown by these tales on the habits of the middle ages," answered Lathom; "in these vivid and strongly delineated fictions, I seem to fight, to tilt, to make love and

war, to perform penances, and to witness miracles with the themselves."

We cannot but feel, however,” remarked Herbert, "that more inclined to laugh at the regulations of their chivalry, appreciate them. The absurd penances with which ima crimes were visited in those days cannot but raise a smile the utter carelessness with which enormous sins were com excites extreme regret."

said Thompson.

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'What fragrant viands furnish forth
Our evening's entertainment ?"

"Some illustrations of witchcraft and sorcery; that mo valent belief, from the middle ages, to the days of the sapien the First."

"Among all curious discoveries, this would be the most c said Herbert, "to find a people in whom there never has ex belief that human beings could be gifted with supernatural for the purpose of accomplishing some good or evil object desire.

"Wherever Christianity spread, witchcraft must be rega a recognized form in which the powers of evil contended w Almighty."

"Of what sex is your witch ?" asked Thompson.

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Oh, in this case, the good and the bad sorcerers are both male sex."

“Your writer, therefore,” replied Thompson, "does not s have held the ungallant notions of Sprenger, that from the inferiority of their minds, and wickedness of their hearts, th always preferred women for his agents. But to the story." Well then, as the old chronicler would say, here begi

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tale of

THE KNIGHT AND THE NECROMANCER.

AMONG the knights that graced the court of the em Titus there was one whom all men agreed in calling

GOOD KNIGHT.

For some years he had been married to one whose beauty was her fairest portion, for she loved not the knight, her husband, but delighted in the company of others, and would gladly have devised his death, that she might marry another courtier.

The good knight could not fail of discovering the wickedness of his wife. Ofttimes did he remonstrate with her; but to all he said, she turned a deaf ear, and would not return the affection he felt for one so unworthy of his love.

"My dear wife," said the good knight, "I go to the Holy Land to perform a vow; I leave you to your own discretion." The knight had no sooner embarked, than the lady sent for one of her lovers, a clever sorcerer.

"Know," said she to him, when he arrived at the house, "my husband has sailed for the Holy Land; we will live together; ay, and for all our lives, if you will but compass his death; for I love him not."

"There is danger," replied the necromancer;

'but for the

sake of thee and thy love, I will endeavour to perform your wishes."

Then took he wax and herbs, gathered at dead of night in secret places, and unguents made of unknown ingredients, and moulded a figure of the good knight, inscribing it with his name, and placing it before him, against the wall of the lady's chamber.

The good knight commenced his pilgrimage towards the Holy Land, and wist not what the lady and her lover were plotting against him and his dear life. As he descended towards the vessel in which he was to embark, he observed a man of some age, and of lofty and commanding stature, regarding him with interest. A long robe covered him, and its hood drawn over the face, concealed in a great degree the features of the wearer. At last the old man approached the

knight.

Good friend," said he, "I have a secret to communicate to thee."

"Say on, good father," rejoined the knight; "what wouldes thou with me?"

"I would preserve thee from death."

"Nay, father, that is in God's hands; I fight not against hi will."

"To-day, then, thou diest; unless thou obeyest my com mands; and listen, the lover of thy unfaithful wife is th murderer."

"Good sir," replied the knight, "I perceive thou art wise man; what shall I do to escape this sudden death ?"

"Follow, and obey me."

Many and winding were the streets through which the good knight followed his mysterious guide. At last they reached a dark dismal-looking house, apparently without any inhabitant. The guide pressed his foot on the door-step, and the door slowly opened, closing again as the knight followed the old man into the house. All was darkness, but the guide seized the knight's hand, and led him up the tottering staircas to a large room, in which were many strange books, and figures of men and animals interspersed with symbolical emblems of triangles and circles, whose meaning was known to that aged man alone. In the midst of the room was a table, on which burned a lamp without a wick, or a reservoir of oil, for it fed on a vapour that was lighter than air, and was invisible to the eye. The old man spoke some words to the knight unknown; in a moment the floor clave asunder, and a bath, on whose sides the same mystic symbols were written as on the walls of the room, arose from beneath.

Prepare to bathe," said the old man, opening a book on the table, and taking a bright mirror from a casket.

No sooner had the knight entered the bath, than the old man gave him a mirror, and bid him look into it.

What seest thou?" asked he of the knight.

"I see my own chamber; my wife is there, and Maleficus, the greatest sorcerer in Rome."

What does the sorcerer ?"