183].] Who wrote Gil Bias? 491 



Spanish court in 1656, twelve years before Le Sage was born ; and it 

 appears, from the dates of his literary productions — which succeeded 

 each other, with short intermissions, from 1695 till his death — that it is 

 impossible that he could have been, at any period of his life, absent for 

 any length of time from France. 



These facts serve to shew how Le Sage may have obtained access to 

 the rich store of Spanish materials of which his other works furnish 

 such abundant proof. Llorente maintains that the " Bachelor of Sala- 

 manca," in its primitive form, Avas the original of Gil Bias ; that it con- 

 tained, in the first instance, the substance of both these novels ; and 

 that, for the formation of the first six books, he dismembered the MS. 

 of the " Bachelor" of all that relates to the personal adventures of Gil 

 Bias, and availed himself of the vast number of novels and tales which 

 he found in the abbe's collection to compose the episodes. Thus, in the 

 first book, the history of Dona Mencia is taken from an old Spanish 

 novel. In the second book, the history of the Barber Diego de la Fuenta, 

 from the life of the Escudero Marcos d'Obregon. In the third, the his- 

 tory of Don Pompeyo de Castro, and the story of Don Bernardo de Cos- 

 telblanco, from two Spanish tales. In the fourth book, the history of 

 Dofia Aurora de Gasman, from the old Spanish comedy entitled, " Todo 

 es enredos Amor,y el Diablo son los Mugeres" — " There is no Love with- 

 out Intrigue, and Women are the Devil." The " Marriage de Ven- 

 geance" in the same book, and the histories of Don Raphael and of his 

 mother Lucinda in the fifth book, are likewise taken from Spanish 

 novels. In the sixth book, again, the story of the robbery of the Jew, 

 Samuel Simon, is derived from some narrations of autos-de-fe ; for it 

 appears that a great number of criminals, under the reigns of PhiUp the 

 Third and Fourth, suffered the extreme punishment of the law for 

 offences of this nature. In the formation of the tliird and fourth volumes, 

 the IMS. of the " Bachelor" again underwent a dismemberment. He 

 despoiled it of all that relates to the secretaryship of the Archbishop of 

 Grenada, and to the similar office which Gil Bias held under the suc- 

 cessive prime-ministers, the Duke de Lerma and the Conde d'Olivares, 

 drawing again on the well-stocked collection of his friend, the Abbe 

 de Lyonne, for his episodes. Having thus skilfully wrought up his 

 materials into four volumes, that appeared under the title of Gil Bias, as 

 his own composition, he finally published the remaining portion as an 

 avowed translation. By this manoeuvre, he expected to secure the 

 credit of the authorship of the work, and lull the suspicions of those who 

 were aware that he possessed a manuscript of this kind. The identity 

 of the " Bachelor of Salamanca" and Gil Bias is established on the 

 following grounds. — The general plan and time of action of the two 

 novels is precisely the same. They both consist of a series of adven- 

 tures occurring to a hero taken from the lower walks of life, interspersed 

 with episodes. In each, tlie hero, from a rather humble condition, rises 

 to that of confidential secretary to the prime-minister. Gil Bias fills the 

 station during the ministry of the Duke of Lerma, is enveloped in his 

 disgrace, and recovers iiis former post under the ministry of Olivares. 

 The " Bachelor," on the other hand, figures at court precisely in the 

 same manner during the short ministry of the Duke Useda, son and suc- 

 cessor of the Duke of Lerma, which intervened between those of his 

 father and Olivares. The style of the two Avorks is likewise very similar, 

 and many of the adventures of their respective heroes have a striking 

 rcaenibluncu even in the language. Thus — to give a single instance of 



