40 
She underftood and relifhed converfation. © 
Her difcourfe was feafoned occafionaily with 
a vem of humour; and having the advan- 
tage (for it is an advantage) of aflociat- 
me in early life with the beft company, 
the eafe and polith of the gentlewoman ac- 
companied the talents of the writer. Her 
perfon was piain: but in her youth fhe 
had a fine voice, and always had a {trong 
taffe for mufic! Mrs. Chapone was one 
of thofe women who have fhewn that it is 
poffible to attain a corre& and elegant 
fiyle, without an acquaintance with the 
clafiics. The French and Italian fhe un- 
derftood ; and from the latter fhe made 
fome tranflations. Mrs. Chapone, Mrs. 
Montague, and another lady, who ftands 
confefiedly at the fummit of female litera- 
ture, and upon a par with the mof diftin- 
guifhed {cholars of the other fex, were 
friends and intimates: the two former 
have left the tage; but their venerable {e- 
mior ftill furvives to receive the homage 
of anothercentury. Mrs. Chapone had been 
From the Port-folo of a Man of Letiers. 
[Feb. 1, 
declining in health for many years. Thelofs 
of a beloved niece, the lady to whom the 
letters were addrefled, and of a more be- 
loved brother to whom fhe was united in 
affection and fimilarity of tafte, haftened the 
infirmities of age; and for fome time before 
her death, the was laid afide from fociety. 
It isnot unufual for thofe, who in fome pe- 
riod of their lives have filled a certain {pace 
in the eye of the public, if they have been 
-fometime withdrawn from it, to glide fi- 
Jently out of life unnoticed, except by the 
attendants at their bedfide; fo was it with 
Mrs. Chapone—But if there are thofe of 
her fex, now happy wives and mothers, 
who have in any meafure been formed to 
thofe characters by the early impreffions 
they may have received from her writings, 
they will drop a grateful tear to the me- 
mory of their benefagtor, and rank her 
among thofe who, in tke French phraie, 
<* have deferved well of their country.” 
Hampfiead. os en as 
Extracis from the Port-fotio of a Man of Letters. 
EE 
The KNIGHTS of THEBES aud TROY. 
| HE origin of tho‘e wild and fantaftic 
fables, which we meet with in the 
romances of the middle ages, concern- 
ing the knights of Thebes and Troy, may 
be traced to the following circumftances. 
About the middle of the thirteenth cen- 
tury, the writings of Diétys of Crete, 
and of Dares the Phrygian, came to be 
known in Europe; but’ the knowledge 
which they imparted of the fables of an- 
cient times was imperfect and confufed, 
as their works were preferved: only in 
that mutilated condition in which they 
had efcaped the ravages of time. They 
wanted, befides, ‘that romantic vatrnifh 
which was requifite to make them aceept- 
able in the age of ‘chivalry. To fupply 
thefe defeé&ts, Guido'di Colonna, a learned 
civilian and eminent poet of his time, 
undertook, abour the year 1216, to inter- 
weave with the ancient legends the roman- 
tic manners cf the middle ages, tourna- 
ments, fingle combats, and adventures of 
knight-errantry.. The favourable recep- 
tion which the world beftowed on this 
amplificationof the Trojan ftories, induced 
the author to compofe a romance in profe 
concerning the tranfaCtions of the “Trojan 
war, inthe Latintongue. In this work, 
he alfo introduced the fiege of Thebes, 
and the expedition of the Argonauts from 
Ovic, Statius, and Valerius Flaccus. 
With a view to embellifh the feats of his 
hero by imaginary adventures, the au- 
thor. mingles together ali manner of orna- 
ments and fables, old and new, Grecian 
and Arabian, Afiatic and European. His. 
heroes are well acquainted with alchemy 
and aftrology, deeply verfed in forcery 
and exorcifm, and frequently engaged with 
dragons and grifins. ‘This book of truly 
wonderful adventures was tranflated into 
the new languages of the feveral coun- 
tries—-into Italian, German, French, and 
the Scandinavian languages of the North, 
and by this means it foon came into uni- 
verfal circulation. ‘The great families of 
Europe were fo captivated with the Gre- 
cian heroes, that they all wifhed to derive 
their origin from them: and the Monks, 
to give procts of their claflical knowledge, 
vied with each other in tracing out fome 
foot of the Greek and Reman names, 
by which the noble families of modern 
times might affert their connection with 
the Trojan heroes. ‘This mixture of an- 
cient and modern fables and manners pro- 
duced the moft wild confufion in the brains 
of the knights-errant. They talked of 
Ajexander the Great as a fecond Charle- 
magne, and furrounded him with twelve 
renowned peers. Thefeus, Jafon, and 
Hercules were made to fit down with Ar- 
thur at his round table. . The Greek he- 
roes broke a lance with the far-famed 
knights 
