700 
ce J fear not death, but hope my worth to 
shew, 
And, nobly, on the bloody field to lie ; 
To deal the wrath of Heav’n, and tenfold 
woe, 
On baneful fraud, and curs’d impiety. 
Death is nog to be fear’d, but when we know 
The soul shall also, with the body, die ; 
The loss of life is gain, if spirits flee 
From this cold clay to immortality ! 
6¢ Think how the self-devoted Decii died, 
And many other gallant souls of yore, 
Who fell, to satisfy a glorious pride, 
And leave their mem’ries when they were 
no more. 
To you, Death is a pilot, and will guide 
Your parted spirits to an happier shore. 
Oh, how much greater than all earthly 
love, 
Ys that which hopes and pants for things 
above! 
s¢ And now, my friends and brothers, oh re- 
ceive 
The last fond blessing that your chief can 
give! 
Your parting souls shall holy Turpin shrieve, 
Assur’d in heav’n eternally to hve 
Ev’n now, in faith’s bright mirror I perceive 
The undoubted sign of your prerogative. 
The gates of heav’n are open’d wide around, 
And radiant angels guard the fatal ground.” 
Thus said, he once more vaulted on his 
steed, 
And loudly cried, ‘* Now for our treache- 
rous foes !” 
Yet, when he saw his comrades doom’d to 
bleed, 
Some tender tears of human pity rose. 
6¢ Oh vale accurst !”” he cried, ** Oh vale, 
decreed 
For orphan’s sufferings, and the widow’s 
woes ! 
The latest ages shall thy name deplore, 
And mark with bleod, till time shall be no 
more !”” 
On every head the holy Turpin trac’d 
A sacred cross, and benediction gave ; 
And pardon’d them thro’ him in whom were 
plac’d 
Their hope and trust, who died mankind to 
save. 
Then all the valiant band in tears embrac’d, 
And drew their swords, and stood resolv’d 
and brave 5 
Almonte’s banner wav’d their bands before, 
The banner won in Aspramount of yore.” 
Canto 26, St. 24. 
One of the last wishes expressed by 
Orlando was, in effect, about to be grant- 
ed him; for Rinaldo, after an aérial voy- 
age of three days from the pyramids of 
Egypt, arrived at Roncesvalles before 
the fatal conflict ended. ‘The whole in- 
Critical Observations on the Morgante Maggiore. 
feynal machinery of Astaroth and his at- 
tendant spirit first making themselves 
known to the Paladin and his brother 
Richardetto, and of the Ethiopian plant 
by which they were rendered invisible, 
is managed with a great deal of spirit. 
Astaroth entertains them with an account 
of the state of Hell, the Laws of the 
lower Empire, and the several ranks and 
conditions of the Demons. When ail is 
ready for their departure, the two De- 
mons enter into the bodies of the 
Knights’ horses, and bear them on their 
backs over hill and dale with greater 
rapidity than imagination can conceive. 
Their first halt is on the banks of the 
African river Bagrada, where they are 
provided by their infernal conductors 
with a magnificent entertainment pre- 
viously fetched from Marsilius’s stores; 
and Rinaldo is a little scandalized at the 
assurance of Astaroth, that their next 
meal shall be taken out of the kitchen of 
the Christian Emperor. The arrival of 
the aérial voyagers at the straits of 
Gibraltar, and pillars of Hercules, gives 
occasion to a grave dissertation of the 
Demon on an undiscqvered hemisphere 
existing far beyond those fabled limits of 
the world. Pulci must have written be- 
fore the first voyage of Columbus, so that 
this passage is either a subsequent in- 
terpolation, or is very remarkable in the 
light of a prophecy of the astonishing 
discovery that was shortly to be made. 
The latter supposition is not perhaps im- 
probable; for Columbus’s expectations 
were formed on a solid theory, and were 
long known and canvassed in man 
societies throughout Spain and Italy. 
Lorenzo de Medici cannot be supposed 
to have been ignorant of them; and 
among the philosophers of his court, some 
were, doubtless, inclined to favour the 
belief. The ardent mind of a Poet is 
still more likely to have caught at so sub- 
lime a vision, and to have embodied it 
into a real existence. 
We cannot pursue this romantic journey 
of the Demons and Paladins through all 
its particulars, but will refer to the book 
for the curious incidents relating to the 
aleridemonic Fountain at Toledo, the 
Victory of Astaroth over the Spirit 
Squarciaferro, and for the ludicrous ad- 
venture at the Palace of Saragossa, where 
Rinaldo enters invisible into the presence 
of his guondaum mistress, the fair Luciana, 
for whom he feels his ancient passion re- 
kindled. To amuse the Paladins for 
some part of their voyage, Astaroth re- 
sumes the unorthodox discourse that he 
formerly 
