1831.] Who wrote Gil Bias? 489 



sibility; for, since the birth of Dona IMencia, no such war had ever 

 existed. The truth is, that the History of Dona Mencia is a Spanish 

 novel altogether independent of Gil Bias, and which Le Sage inserted 

 because he did not perceive that it belonged to the time of Don Sebas- 

 tian. The same thing occurs with the story of the " IMarriage de Ven- 

 geance/' which Dona Elvira de Silva relates to Dona Aurore de Gus- 

 man. All this history belongs to the time of the celebrated Sicilian 

 Vespers, three centuries anterior to the events related in the novel — an 

 anachronism, which proves at the same time Le Sage's ignorance of his- 

 tory. There are also several instances in which the dates of events 

 have been positively anticipated ; and, although the facts are historically 

 correct, it is certain that they had not transpired at the period in which 

 in the romance they are related as passed. Thus, in the year 1607, Gil 

 Bias was in the service of Don Bernardo de Castilblanco ; and he says 

 that the obscure and mysterious hfe which his master led had given rise 

 to suspicions of his being a spy of the king of Portugal's. Now, there 

 was no king of Portugal till the year 1640. There are numerous other 

 examples of this nature. In fact, Llorente cites no less than twenty-two 

 chronological errors in the course of the work — some resulting from the 

 episodes introduced by Le Sage, foreign to the leading narrative — some 

 from errors of transci'iption— and others from a poetical licence made 

 use of by the original author in anticipating dates and events ; none of 

 which have either been remarked or corrected by Le Sage, who has left 

 by that an infallible proof that he is not the creator of the romance, but 

 that he has compiled it, if we may use the expression, from foreign 

 materials. 



5th. Of the topographical errors, which indicate a Spanish MS. badly 

 copied. 

 The nicest observations of the critics have discovered in Gil Bias a 

 vast number of errors, more or less obvious, principally in the manner 

 of writing the names of places and persons ; to which may be added 

 one or two topographical errors of so glaring a nature that, at first sight, 

 it is difficult to reconcile them with anything in respect to the author. 

 But these rather tend to confirm the supposition that the work is a trans- 

 lation from the Spanish ; for they may be naturally accounted for by 

 considering them the errors of a person but superficially acquainted with 

 the language and geography of the Spanish peninsula. In detailing his 

 journey from Madrid to Oviedo, Gil Bias mentions that he slept the first 

 night at Alcald de Henares, and the second at Segovia. These two 

 places, situated at opposite points of the compass, are among the most 

 noted cities in Spain. The former is celebrated for its university ; the 

 latter was distinguished in its better days as a great manufacturing town, 

 and is now remarkable for its Moorish alcazar, its Roman aqueduct, and 

 gothic cathedral. The first of these edifices acquires additional cele- 

 brity from being the scene of Gil Bias' imprisonment. Alcala is about 

 ten English leagues east of ]Madrid, and Segovia about thirty west. The 

 commentators are sadly at a loss how to reconcile the fact of Gd Bias 

 being made to pass through tlie former place in his way to the latter. 

 An author, whether native or foreign, would scarcely have committed 

 a geographical error of sucli magnitude. Isla dogmatically asserts that 

 Le Mage committed the blunder on ]iurpose, with tin; view of conceal- 

 ing the plagiarism. Neufchateau makes no attempt to account for this 

 circumstance. Llorente considers it as an error of the transcribers : he 



