100 Author of Jmadls de Gaul— Blight in Fruit-Trees. [Sept. 1, 



Tfl the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



I HAVE afltrted that Vafco Lobeira is 

 the author of " Amadis of Gaul." — 

 As this is a curious point of literary hif- 

 tcry, and fome of the Reviews have con- 

 tradifled tlie allertion, allow me as bri fiy 

 as poflible (o Itate the proofs by which it 

 is fupprrted. 



I. The Portiigueze have always afcrib- 

 ed the ronnnce to this autht^r. 



a. It was evidently written when the 

 Court of Windfor was the inoft fplendid 

 of the Courts of Chriften-km ; therefore 

 it is not older than the time of Lobeira. 



3. The names Oriana, Lifuarte, Gii- 

 ma.iefa, and Briolania, are Poitugueze. 



4. The Spanifli verfion, the oldcft 

 which is known to be extant, refers to a 

 Portugueze original, and fays, that an In- 

 fanta of Portugal had ohjecled to a cer- 

 tain part of the Itory. Theie exifts a fan- 

 net, in old Portugueze, attributed to a 

 Poitugueze Infante, acidrefled to Vafco 

 Lobeira, as author of " Amadis," and 

 objefling to this very part. 



5. Gomer Eanner de Zurara, librarian 

 to the King of Portugal, and keeper of 

 the archives, in a chronicle written 1463, 

 fixty yeais after Lobeira's death, has this 

 decifive paflage : — " Many authors, be- 

 ing defirous to lengthen their woiks, fill 

 Up their books by relating how princes 

 paffed their time in banquettings and 

 games and revels, from which nothing fol ■ 

 lowed except their own diverfion ; as in 

 the ancient feats of England, which is call- 

 ed Great Britain, and in the book of 

 ♦• Amadis," though that was made 

 wholly at the pUafure of a man called 

 Vafco Lobeira, in the time of King D. 

 Fernando, all the things in the faid book 

 being feigned by the author." 



In reply to thefe arguments and this 

 teftimony, it is faid that D'Herberay 

 and TreiVan freak of certain originals in 

 the Picard language. Neither of theie 

 authors fpeak decifively. The one fays, 

 " he remembered luc!> manufcr'pts which 

 he thought might be the originals ;" the 

 other, that " he tbougi)t he had feen fuch 

 among Queen Chriftina's colleftion in the 

 Vatican." Thefe authorities are of little 

 weight. Such manufcripts, however, 

 may probably have exifted, and are eafily 

 accounted for. The daughter of Joani I. 

 who knighted Vafco Lobeira,. marr:cd 

 Philip the Good of Burgundy. What 

 more probable than that this Infanta (for 

 all the family were learned and were pa- 



trons of learning) fhou'd have taken ta 

 her hiifband's court the romance \\'hich 

 was therielight of her father's, and tnat 

 it ftiou'd have been tranflated to pleafe her ? 

 The Picard verfion, theretore, if if c 'uld 

 be produced, would not invalidate Lobei- 

 ra's claim. 



On thefe p;rounds I fhall think mvfelf 

 juftified in afierting, in the litenry Hiftory 

 of Portugal, that Val'co L'ibeiia is the 

 author of " Amadi> of Gaul," the molt 

 celebrated of the profe romances, and the 

 bed. 



I have thus defended my opinion, be- 

 caule, unlel's I miltake, one of the Re- 

 views s in queftion was written by a gen- 

 tleman for whole talents I have the higheft 

 relpeft, whofe knowledge of chivalrous 

 literature exceeds mine, and with whom I 

 would not venture to break a fpear any 

 where except on my ovvn ground. 



ROBEKT SOUTHEY. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine, 



SIR, 



IN the gardens in this neii^hbourhood, 

 our fruit-trees, efpecially the apple, 

 are this year infefted with what the gar- 

 deners call the American blight, which 

 has a white mouldy appearance, and, when 

 rubbed between the fingers, tinges them 

 with a blood-like ftain. I have obferved 

 that it firft attaches to the cancerous part 

 neareft the trunk, and proceeds upward, 

 and, if not checked, I hav- feen it almoft 

 cover all the branches like a hoar-frolt, 

 I firft ufed Mr. Forfyth's compofition, 

 then lye and urine ; but the effcil of thefe 

 were vilible only for two or three days.— 

 I then tried Gallipoli-oil, of which I had 

 fome by me that was rancid, and for a 

 week or two I flattered myfelf that I had 

 completely fucceeded in a remedy of pre- 

 vention, as well a» of deftruftion j but 

 experience has taught me that it dellroys 

 theinfeffs where applied, but that it does 

 not prevent their attaching to other parts 

 of the tree ; fo that I find it neceflary to 

 go round my garden twice a-week withi 

 my oil and brufh to keep under thefe 

 tranfatlantic enemies. 



I fhall be much obliged to any of your 

 horticultural readers to inform me,- 

 through your extenfive and ufeful publi- 

 cation, if this be a new fpecici of blight,; 

 and if there has been difcovercd any effec-' 

 tual remedy for its curt and its preven"* 

 tion, which will very much oblige. 



Sir, your's, &c. T.' 



Forffmouth, July\-j, 1805. 



f4 



