To Hugo only, from the rest conceal'd.

At last he feign'd to yield, and quit the field.

"Swift at his heels the wrathful Hugo flies,

To keep his vantage when his foe gave place:
But when Orlando, not more bold than wise,
Saw themselves only in an open space,
As fresh as rose in May to Hugo's eyes,

He rais'd the vizor that conceal'd his face,
And said I ween, we long enough have fought,
Behold Orlando, whom till now you sought!'

"So great was Hugo's wonder and delight,
In the clear truth he scarcely could believe:
Raising his helm, a scrutinizing sight

He bent on him who could so far deceive,
Then in his arms he snatch'd the long-lost knight.
Orlando cried, 'the Pagans will perceive

How near we stand-keep therefore more aloof,
Or dearly we aby our friendship's proof.'

This is a very pleasant incident, managed with ingenuity, and told with an agreeable mixture of pathos and playfulness. The result is, that the Soldan is victorious, and entering Jerusalem, makes rather a sudden determination to become a Christian: what is more surprising is, that his whole army follows his example, so that Orlando and Hugo, have a great deal to do in performing the ceremony of baptism; but they dismiss it in rather a wholesale way. By the persuasion of Hugo, Orlando consents to return to his uncle Charlemaine, and they are accompanied by Sansonet (son of the Soldan, and afterwards a Paladin) and Pilagi, another converted Pagan. They are, however, soon nearly deprived of the latter in a singular manner; for, all four crossing a deep river on horseback, Pilagi being in some danger, thoughtlessly calls upon Mahoun, or Mahomet for aid: the new proselyte is immediately plunged over head and ears: he is soon afterwards killed by a giant, whom he encounters. Orlando hears of the safety of Alda from a hermit, and magician, and finding that Charles in despondency is about to raise the siege of Pampeluna, he hastens thither. The emperor is informed of his approach, and rides out to meet him: Orlando, at sight of his uncle, leaped from his horse, and embraced his knees.

"Then Charlemaine with fondest reverence,

Stooping, Orlando's open forehead kiss'd;
The generous Count with love not less intense,
His Uncle's greeting strove not to resist.

With joyful cheer then rode the peerage thence,
To th' emperor's high pavilion, as they list,
And seated there, as they were wont of old,
The Count the names of his companions told :

viz. of Sansonet and Hugo, to which he adds a panegyric on their valour and virtues. We now arrive at a part of the historia bella, that on many accounts deserves particular regard. The Soldan of Lamecho, before he departed, gave Orlando a book of magical characters, similar to that of Malagigi in Boiardo, and to that of Atlante in Ariosto,

onde facea

Nascer leggendo l'alta meraviglia.

By the assistance of this necromantic production, he calls up "a thousand devils;" the Coryphæus of whom informs him of the treachery of Machario (nephew of Ganelon of Pontiers) in Paris, who having intercepted the letters of Charlemaine to the Queen for some years, persuaded her that he was dead, and was about to usurp his empire, and compel her to marry him, to strengthen his pretensions to the throne. Orlando compels the fiends to manufacture for him on the instant a steed, something between the griffin-horse of Ariosto, and "the wonderous horse of brass" of Chaucer; and after some debate, he places his uncle upon it, and in the habit of a Pilgrim, of St. James of Compostella, sends him off to Paris, through the air. The emperor arrives at his palace in a single night, but not without being dismounted; for, when within a few yards of the steps of his palace, returning thanks to the Saviour for his safety, his demon-steed at once flings him from his back. This event, which, like some of those in Pulci, produces a very jocose impression on the modern reader, is not at all so intended by the author, who relates the accident with very pious seriousness.

The first place to which Charlemaine goes in his Pilgrim's weed, is the kitchen, for the night air had given him a very keen appetite; but he is driven out by the cooks, upon one of whom he inflicts a very sound beating. At length, a young man named Gione, one of the sons of Salomon King of Britain, hearing that the Pilgrim brings news from Charlemaine and Pampeluna, introduces the disguised emperor into the apartment of his empress, or queen.

"The queen a little favourite dog had kept

For seventeen years, a fondling kind and tame;
Into the chamber where of old they slept,
Each morn and eve by habit long it came :
From Charles alone would it caress accept,
Or from his queen, and answer to its name.

When now it saw the Pilgrim kneel in place,
It leap'd with joy and lick'd his rev'rend face.

"From head to foot the animal would range,
Fawning upon him with a fierce delight:
The empress mark'd the dog's demeanour strange
And wonder'd at the new, unwonted sight,
And what had wrought within her dog such change.
It seem'd as if it knew the Pilgrim wight;
Then said she, Pilgrim, tell me now, I pray,
Why with such joy my dog with thee doth play?

"Hast thou ere now within this palace been,

And serv'd its long-lost lord as squire or page?
Before this day, save Charles, was never seen
One who its playful fondness could engage.'
Then royal Charles made answer to his queen:
'Nor squire nor varlet in my earlier
age!

Can I be recogniz'd by this poor beast,

And thou, my wife, know thine own husband least?

"Behold me, Charles, of royal Pepin son,
The emperor of Rome and king of France;
And though thou now behold'st me here as one
On pilgrimage, the victim of mischance,
Instead of scarlet robes, in vesture dun

To hide my person; at a single glance,
And in one instant, thou ought'st well to know me,
And not compel that I declare and show me!"

He clears the careful wrinkles from his brow, and swears on the cross of his sword how he had been miraculously borne through the air to Paris:

"If so it be (she cried) then shew the ring

That I thee gave, the pledge of marriage band!'

Behold it here, more bright (replied the king)

Than on the day I took it from thy hand!'

Yet did not this complete conviction bring

To the good queen, who did again demand;
'Shew me the cross on thy right arm with speed,
And I shall know thee to be mine indeed!'

"Great Charles compell'd his coarse attire give place,

And to the queen display'd his shoulder bare.

She saw the well-known mark before her face,

And kiss'd it joyfully to find it there.

Then met they in an uncontroul'd embrace:

She thank'd good heav'n that yet his life would spare; 'If heav'n (she cried) had ta'en that life away,

The Christian faith had lost its hope and stay!'

This uncontroulable rapture produces a very strange effect, indeed :

"After their joy's first transport and excess,
They fell exhaust together on the floor,
And thus they lay in utmost tenderness,

In the queen's chamber: through the crevic'd door,
Gione saw them, but he could not guess

The cause why strangely thus themselves they bore,
And to the king some sturdy blows he gave,
Saying, 'What do'st thou, base unmanner'd slave?'

"The queen, Hold! hold thy hand, Gione!' cried,
"This is thy king and emperor, Charlemaine !'
young Gione threw his staff aside,

The

And in his arms the king did fondly strain:

'Oh God (he said) and virgin purified,

The life and power of Charles for aye maintain,

And

every traitor to his rule and joy

Without remorse incontinent destroy !'

This is another proof, not only of the extreme simplicity of the author's mind, but of the uncultivated simplicity of those also to whom he addressed himself. By the aid of Gione and some old remaining friends, Charles puts an end to Machario and his conspiracy; and afterwards hastens back to Pampeluna. Orlando is warned, in a vision of the Virgin Mary, that Mazarigi, by turning a river, is about to overflow the plain where the army of the Christians is encamped, and Charles accordingly removes the tents to higher ground. The fall of Pampeluna is ultimately occasioned by the junction of King Desiderio, with thirty thousand Tuscans and Lombardians, a compliment paid by the author to his own countrymen. The Christians enter the place pell-mell, and Mazarigi, unhorsed by Orlando, is required to renounce his heathenish faith. For so doing, he assigns the following very satisfactory and sufficient reason.

"Son of Aglante, 'tis because I want

My horse, thy strength and valour to defy,

I now renounce Mahoun and Trivigant,

And great Apollo for my god deny."

In the same way the conquered Isolieri tells Sansonet,

non posso altro fare

A te mi rendo, e mi vo battezare.

The death of the faithful Gione, who had rendered such important services to Charles in Paris, is the next event worthy of distinct notice, and the feelings of the reader are very powerfully excited in his behalf. He is sent on an embassy to Marsilio, at Saragossa, and on his return is beset by two hundred Moors; but, through the aid of the virgin, escapes dreadfully wounded. He falls lifeless from his horse, the instant he has delivered to the emperor the defiance Marsilio had sent back. King Salomon, his father, takes ample vengeance for the death of his son, and Orlando kills Serpentino, who trusted in vain to his enchanted armour.

We now arrive at the treachery of Ganelon of Pontiers, that famous piece of infamy, which led to the calamitous event, referred to by Dante, in the thirty-first Canto of his Inferno, in terms that seem dictated by an immediate contemplation of the bloody field, on which were strewed the bodies of the twelve Paladins, and the flower of France. His words are:

Dopo la dolorosa rotta, quando

Carlo magno perdè la santa gesta,

Non sono si terribilmente Orlando.

We know that it was proverbial in England, in the days of Chaucer, who had himself travelled in France and Italy, and has translated much from Dante. He alludes to the treachery of Gan, (as he is often contemptuously called) in his Monk's Tale.

"Not Charles Oliver that toke aie hede

Of troth and honour; but of Armorike,
Genilon Oliver, corrupt for mede,

Brought this worthy king to such a brike."

It is in this tale that Chaucer translates the story of Ugolino, under the title of "Hugeline of Pise." He mentions the punishment of Ganelon, in his Shipman's Tale:

"And but I doe, God take on me vengeaunce

As foule as ever had Ganilion of Fraunce."

It is also noticed by him in his Nun's Priest's Tale, and in the opening of his Prioress's Tale. When Milton, in Paradise Lost, speaks of the time

"When Charlemaine with all his peerage fell,

By Fontarabia,"

it is known that he did not follow the French, but the Spanish historians, who maintain that the battle took place in Biscay,