CERVANTES. 



Tervantes. however, that the circumstance above alluded to, is 

 to be regarded only as the occasion which brought 

 the great work of our author to light. The com- 

 position of such a piece must have been often in his 

 thoughts. The plan, the incidents, and the texture 

 of the performance, must have been matured in ela- 

 borate reflection : but it may, perhaps, be said, with 

 truth, that had not the circumstance in question ta- 

 ken place, the plan, the incidents, and the whole 

 work, might have remained forever lost to the world, 

 and buried in the breast which conceived them. 



To enter into any lengthened criticism on the his- 

 tory of Don Quixote, would, in a work of this 

 kind, be improper. We shall not, therefore, detain 

 our readers with many observations. The hero of 

 the performance is represented as a person of most 

 amiable dispositions, and naturally of a sound under- 

 standing, but whose mind had become so far disor- 

 dered by the incessant perusal of the old romances, 

 as to mistake the fictions which they contained for 

 sober and authentic history. In the workings of his 

 imagination, he forms the design of assuming to him- 

 self the character of a knight-errant, and of sallying 

 forth in quest of adventures. Every thing he meets 

 brings to his recollection something which he had 

 read in his favourite books. The slightest noise in- 

 dicates an approaching rencounter ; trees, and wind- 

 mills, and flocks of sheep, are metamorphosed into 

 giants ; and whenever untoward or disastrous in- 

 cidents occur, they are referred at once to the power 

 of enchantment. Out of the reality of the appear- 

 ances of nature, and occurrences of actual life, and 

 the extravagant fancies and conduct of Don Quixote 

 with respect to them, the ridicule arises. Attached 

 to the hero, and in the capacity of his squire, ap- 

 pears Sancho Panza, who had left his family and his 

 home, to take upon him the government of a king- 

 dom which the knight had promised him, and whose 

 simplicity and credulity, whose vulgar jokes and 

 vulgar acuteness, add much to the humour of the 

 piece. The effect of the whole is irresistible ; the 

 absurdity of knight-errantry, relatively at least to 

 the time when Cervantes wrote, is represented in the 

 most glaring colours ; and, in point of fact, soon 

 after the book was published, knight-errantry dis- 

 appeared from among the nations of Europe. 



After making these observations, it may be reck- 

 oned almost unnecessary to enquire, whether the 

 satire of our author be directed against a pro- 

 per object ; whether the ridicule be well founded. 

 Should the question be entertained at all, it might 

 be answered, that chivalry and knight-errantry ought 

 to be distinguished from the abuse to which, in com- 

 mon with every thing of a similar nature, they are 

 undoubtedly liable. When the power of the feudal 

 aristocracy was at its height, when every baron was 

 the enemy of every other baron, and murders and 

 rapine were frequent, the institutions of chivalry must 

 be regarded as of the highest benefit. Though the 

 neighbouring lord was his hereditary, and perhaps 

 "his implacable foe, yet the knight who had imbibed 

 the true spirit of the character, disdained to attack 

 or to injure him by dishonourable means. He was 

 to. valiant, and too confident in his valour, to have 

 recourse to stratagem. He challenged his antago- 

 nist to combat in open day, either alone or attended 

 by a specified number of followers. All the little 



arts of cunning men and of polished times were de- Cervantes, 

 spised ; and an elevation of soul, and an erect and *~~~Y^~' 

 open demeanour, were cultivated and acquired. As 

 every man bore arms, and as the inferior persons at- 

 tached to the great families were mucl addicted to 

 plunder, the traveller could not pursue his path with 

 safety, and the feeble were always at the mercy of the 

 strong. Hence the true knight declared himself 

 bound to protect the weak, and to succour the dis- 

 tressed ; and hence bravery, open and witnessed, and 

 compassion frequently exercised, gave the tone and 

 aspect to this best period of the feudal times. 



In the progress of society, however, the dominion 

 of laws was gradually established ; justice was ob- 

 tained by other means than those of arms, and the 

 blessings of peace came at length to be better known 

 and duly estimated. It was no longer necessary that 

 individuals should proclaim themselves the guardian 

 of innocence and the protectors of the feeble : the 

 law bore rule over the conduct of men, and the 

 haughty baron himself was constrained to submit to 

 its power. Chivalry, therefore, and knight-errantry, 

 were no longer wanted ; and to have continued the 

 profession and the labours of knighthood, when the 

 circumstances of society were changed, would have 

 been to contrive the remedy after the disease had 

 disappeared. Before Cervantes wrote, knighthood 

 was become little more than a distinction ; the young 

 lord bore indeed the name or title, but was seldom 

 or never required to discharge the duties which it 

 formerly implied. The ancient building had for 

 many years been decaying, some of its parts were 

 already in ruins, and by the efforts of Cervantes, its 

 last towers were shaken and fell to the ground. 



When Cervantes was engaged in writing Don 

 Quixote, he is said to have been under restraint from 

 his fears of the Inquisition. In support of this as- 

 sertion, there is an anecdote related in the second 

 volume of the Curiosities of Literature. " M. du 

 Boulay," says the author of that entertaining work, 

 " accompanied the French ambassador to Spain, 

 when Cervantes was yet alive. He has told me 

 that the ambassador one day complimented Cer- 

 vantes on the great reputation which he had ac- 

 quired by his Don Quixote, and that Cervantes whis- 

 pered in his ear, Had it not been for the Inquisi- 

 tion, I should have made my book much more en- 

 tertaining." But if this was actually the case, it 

 may be questioned whether the restraint alluded to 

 was not, upon the whole, of a salutary nature ; for 

 had Cervantes felt himself at perfect liberty when 

 writing his Don Quixote, we might perhaps have 

 been disgusted with profanity and blasphemy in the 

 perusal of that inimitable work. 



Besides Don Quixote, Cervantes wrote also seve- 

 ral novels and comedies, and a satirical poem, entitled, 

 '* A Voyage to Parnassus." The novels have been 

 read, but the comedies were not very favourably re- 

 ceived. Perhaps the talents of our author were not 

 fitted for dramatical writing, or perhaps the reputa- 

 tion of Cervantes was marred by the successful at- 

 tempts of Lopez de Vega. And with regard to 

 the satire, it had no other effect than that of pro- 

 curing for its author very many and powerful ene- 

 mies. The last work of Cervantes bears the title of, 

 The Troubles of Persiles and Sigismunda. While 

 employed in the composition of this work, he per- 



