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the enchanters, dragons, and other absurdities that were in- 

 termingled with the adventures ; it is rather confirmed by 

 them, as such was the popular belief of the times. In an- 

 other point of view, the early romances must be considered 

 important; they were the first productions written in the 

 vernacular tongue, and were what first made learning popu- 

 lar. The Provenpal writers led the way, by writing in a lan- 

 guage intelligible to the ladies and common people : It was 

 from them Dante formed his idea of writing his Inferno in 

 Italian, and not, as he had originally intended, in Latin : 

 To which circumstance may be traced the perfection of the 

 Italian and of the other European languages. 



Candour thus obliges us to regard the romances, as favour- 

 able to the progress of literature ; at the same time it must be 

 admitted, that they were made use of by the monks, the au- 

 thors of most of them, to cherish a spirit of superstition and 

 fanaticism, very inimical to it. Mons. de Ste. Pala3'e, further 

 informs us that the object of the writers of romances was to 

 excite to emulation ; and had they been actuated by a spirit 

 of genuine Christianity, we might have seen the most bene- 

 ficial consequences resulting from their influence ; — but in all 

 their compositions there was such a mixture of profaneness 

 and immorality with religion, as could not fail of having the 

 most injurious tendency : They inculcated beside, the ridi- 

 culous punctilio of defending women, even on occasions the 

 most dishonourable — We must therefore differ from a learned 



