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1854] so well, for themselves." There are many such things—some of them exist independently of the injustice in the world. Making and maintaining roads, bridges, and the like; providing for the helpless young and afflicted; common schools; and disposing of deceased men's property, are instances.

But a far larger class of objects springs from the injustice of men. If one people will make war upon another, it is a necessity with that other to unite and coöperate for defense. Hence the military department. If some men will kill, or beat, or constrain others, or despoil them of property, by force, fraud, or non-compliance with contracts, it is a common object with peaceful and just men to prevent it. Hence the criminal and civil departments.

The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves, in their separate and individual capacities. In all that the people can individually do as well for themselves, government ought not to interfere. The desirable things which the individuals of a people cannot do, or cannot well do, for themselves, fall into two classes: those which have relation to wrongs, and those which have not. Each of these branches off into an infinite variety of subdivisions.

The first—that in relation to wrongs—embraces all crimes, misdemeanors, and non-performance of contracts. The other embraces all which, in its nature, and without wrong, requires combined action, as public roads and highways, public schools, charities, pauperism, orphanage,


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xii display it. He tells in his autobiography how he used to delight his old friend Von Olenschleger by graphically, and often through mimicry, depicting the characters and circumstances of the Middle Ages which the historian has related only as a matter of course. The French occupation of Frankfort, when Goethe was a boy of ten, had already turned his attention to the stage. A French theatre was established, and he, as the grandson of the mayor, had a free ticket, which he seems to have used without restraint. He scraped acquaintance with the actors, learned to speak excellent French, by playing with their children, and became familiar with the whole range of the French drama, classic and popular. It was characteristic of him to fall to imitating the French forms; he wrote a little piece for the stage, of which he afterward remembered only that the scene was rural, and that there was no lack in it of kings' daughters, princes, or gods. He took it to a youth connected with the theatre, and had to learn his first lesson in the classic dramatic liturgy. It was an instructive lesson, for it taught the boy to think for himself. He listened to what his friend Derones told him about the three unities of Aristotle, the regularity of the French drama, the harmony of the verse, the probability of the action, and then, after reinforcing it by reading Corneille's "Treatise on the Three Unities," and devouring the whole of Racine, Moliere, and a large part of Corneille, he came to the conclusion that the dramatic freedom of the English drama was far preferable to the artificial scheme of the French. It was not strange that one who as a child had begun by imitating Terence, who before he was eleven had got such an understanding of the three greatest dramatists of France, should become the manager of theatrical affairs for his sovereign, and should produce masterpieces that have held the stage for a century.

Goethe's simple apparatus and reliance on nature for his philosophical researches find their counterpart in his literary work. Only as a child he imitated; though, of course, his acting dramas had to be constructed on familiar lines, he

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216 estates of the deceased, and the machinery of government itself.

From this it appears that if all men were just, there still would be some, though not so much, need of government.

Equality in society alike beats inequality, whether the latter be of the British aristocratic sort or of the domestic slavery sort. We know Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers among us. How little they know whereof they speak! There is no permanent class of hired laborers amongst us. Twenty-five years ago I was a hired laborer. The hired laborer of yesterday labors on his own account to-day, and will hire others to labor for him to-morrow. Advancement—improvement in condition—is the order of things in a society of equals. As labor is the common burden of our race, so the effort of some to shift their share of the burden onto the shoulders of others is the great durable curse of the race. Originally a curse for transgression upon the whole race, when, as by slavery, it is concentrated on a part only, it becomes the double-refined curse of God upon his creatures.

Free labor has the inspiration of hope; pure slavery has no hope. The power of hope upon human exertion and happiness is wonderful. The slave-master himself has a conception of it, and hence the system of tasks among slaves. The slave whom you cannot drive with the lash to break seventy-five pounds of hemp in a day, if you will task him to break a hundred, and promise him pay for all he does over, he will break you a hundred and fifty. You have substituted


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 Rh A Serbian carol represents him in constant activity at sea. Once all the saints were enjoying wine together; when the cup out of which they all drank in turn reached St. Nicolas he was too sleepy to hold it, and let it drop. St. Elias shook him by the arm, and aroused him. "Oh! I beg the company's pardon", said St. Nicolas, " but I have been very busy, and was absent from your festival. The sea was rough, and I had to give my help to three hundred ships that were in danger; that is the reason of my being tired, and letting the cup fall out of my hands."

In Russia you will always find an "ikon" of St. Nicolas in every merchantman. In Germany it was customary for sailors who had escaped shipwreck to dedicate a piece of old sail to St. Nicolas.

In studying those Christian saints, who play a great part in the Christian mythology, the school of Grimm tried to find what heathen gods they replaced. In this way, St. Nicolas turns out to be a substitute of Neptune, or of Odin, or of Fro.

Mr. Zingerle has lately proposed a new hypothesis. After drawing our attention to a number of analogies, known already to other investigators, between St. Nicolas and Nikuz, Hnikor, Nix, he differentiated Nikuz from Odin, and concluded that Nikuz is at the root of all representations that are connected with the name of St. Nicolas. "Even the names," says Mr. Zingerle, "are


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 110  strikingly alike. But also the appearance of the saint has an analogy to that of the Waterman. The long grey beard is an attribute of the saint. We generally see Nix the Waterman also represented with a long beard." I think it unnecessary to dwell on the superficial character of the analogy just quoted. All Eastern saints, if aged, are represented with beards, and the Byzantine images of St. Nicolas belonging to the fifth century of course represent him with a beard, but generally a short round one. In this case why should St. Nicolas more than any other saint make us think of the Waterman?

The other argument brought forward by Mr, Zingerle is not of more value. "The souls of the drowned are kept by Nix in pots. When we remember," continues Mr. Zingerle, "that souls were generally represented in the shape of children, we find that the pots of the Waterman have an analogy to St. Nicolas' tub, containing three children."

The picture of St. Nicolas standing near a large tub, with three youths in it, has its origin in the legend of a miracle, in which St. Nicolas raised from the dead three young men, who were killed and robbed by an innkeeper in Myra. Their bodies were cut to pieces and thrown into a tub. St. Nicolas prayed over the tub, and the youths came to life again. This story is found in almost all countries in the Middle Ages. It is undoubtedly of Greek origin, and taken from the saint's life.

It lies at the root of the saint's fame as a friend of

ihn als Wassergott bezeichnen ist zweifelhaft, doch wiirde sich daraus noch besser erklaren, warum der h. Nicolaus auf einem Schimmel geritten kommt und als Patron der Schiffer gilt."


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 Rh children. We may add that the fixing of St. Nicolas' Day on the 6th of December had a great influence in confirming this idea; December being, as pointed out by Prof. Vesselovsky, the special month of children's feasts.

The representation of this miracle in an image or picture may, if we strain our imagination to the utmost, make us think of the Waterman with the souls of the drowned. But the resemblance is purely accidental. Moreover, this miracle is quite lost in the mass of the saint's other miracles, and has never, so far as I know, been chosen as the subject of a separate representation, but only has its place among a number of miniature pictures in a series forming one "ikon".

So far the resemblance between the names of Nikuz and St. Nicolas, and the marine activity of the saint, remain unexplained. To explain both we must make a detailed inquiry into the life and Lycian cult of St. Nicolas. There we may perhaps trace the relation between the Christian cult and some ancient Greek cult it has replaced. In the life of St. Nicolas we find two suggestions of ancient mythology. First, the festivals of the Rosalia {dies Rosarum) are mentioned: "When came the time of the Rosalia (τῶν Ῥοσσαλων) St. Nicolas went to the metropolis"; he therefore himself took part in the performance of a heathen rite. We must not be surprised to find a mention of the Rosalia in Lycia. The Rosalia were a Thracian spring-festival, imported thither, it is said, from Phrygia.'

Secondly, we hear of the strife between our saint and Artemis. It is written in the Vita that St. Nicolas


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 112 molished the Temple of Artemis, and out of vengeance the goddess gave to pilgrims on the road to Myra some oil that was to burn the church of the saint. But the saint appeared to them when they were at sea, and commanded them to throw the oil overboard. They obeyed, and the oil burned on the surface of the water with an infernal flame. In a Syriac text of the British Museum this Artemis is called Mater Deorum. She evidently is not the Greek, but the Ephesian, Artemis; not a virgin like the former, but a symbol of motherhood, as is plainly shown by her being represented with many breasts. "The goddess of Ephesos is the goddess of fecundity, as her attributes indicate." She is thus related to the goddesses of Asia Minor, Cybele and Anaitis, who are also akin to the Greek Aphrodite. In the town of Perga, in Pamphilia, a coin was stamped with the representation of the Pergasian Artemis, very like the goddesses of Love and of Fecundity of Asia Minor.

The cult of the Ephesian Artemis is at once Eastern and Greek; as lunar deities, Anaitis and Cybele were confounded with the Moon-goddess Artemis, who in her turn received from them qualities foreign to her original nature. Hence the difference between the Ephesian goddess and her Greek namesake. In Armenia there was a goddess called Artemis-Anaitis, and her cult had a purely bacchic character. From Cybele and Anaitis there is but one step


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 Rh to the Mater Deorum; indeed, Strabo made no difference between the Mater Deorum and Cybele.

The cult of all these divinities is concentrated in the south of Asia Minor. The Mater Deorum was a goddess of Phrygian origin. Besides the Artemis of Perga, on the south coast of Asia Minor, several other like-named deities, reminding us in varying degrees of Ephesian Artemis, were worshipped in this district, where also many material remains of Cybele and Anaitis cults have been found.

The close connection of these goddesses will be still more evident if we consider the manner in which the festivals in their honour were celebrated. At the festival of Artemis of Ephesos "representations of the goddess were borne in triumphal procession, and hymns in her praise were sung. Some of the people who took part in the procession were dressed in fantastic costumes .... they indulged in ludicrous and indecent pantomime, much as is the case later in similar processions of the Middle Ages. This description recalls the processions in honour of the Mater Deorum. The Thracian festivals in honour of Dionysos and the festival of Roses {dies Rosarum, Rosaria, Rosalia) had the same bacchic character with orgiastic processions and dances. Flowers played a great part in all these festivals—wreaths and garlands, paths strewn with roses, representations of goddesses decked with flowers. Roses were essentially a Phrygian ornament; the famous Rosae centifoliae, reputed to be Thracian, were correlated with the myth of Midas, in other words, with Phrygia. The geographical situation of Phrygia and Lycia favoured


text: Cartoon portraits and biographical sketches of men of the day/Professor Owen


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 114 frequent intercourse between them. Myra seems to have been the chief seaport of Phrygia.

We have thus succeeded in establishing some soHdarity between three cults mentioned in our Vita: those of Artemis, of the Mater Deorum, and of the Rosalia. On all three festivals a gay and profligate crowd, with floweradorned heads, whirls past in dance and pantomime to the sound of songs and flutes.

Concerning the dates of the festivities referred to, we cannot, unfortunately, come to such positive conclusions. The Artemision corresponds to the end of April or the beginning of May. The date of the festival itself was probably subject to change, and it took place sometimes at the beginning, sometimes at the end, of that month. The date of the Rosalia and of the feast of the Mater Deorum varied still more. We can only assert that both were spring festivals, and may have been celebrated about the beginning of May.

If we bear in mind that St. Nicolas' Day in the Eastern Church was the 9th of May as well as the 6th of December, we may find a new coincidence between Artemis and our saint. It is generally said that the 9th of May was honoured by the Church in remembrance of the removal of St. Nicolas' relics to Bary in the eleventh century, but the special circumstances of the origin of that feast are unknown, and, in .spite of all that has been said, the most plausible hypothesis is perhaps that it was a continuation of the local spring festival in Myra, that is, the Rosalia.

Artemis of Ephesos, sharing the character both of the Greek virgin goddess and of Aphrodite, is partly a sea and a river goddess, whence her epithet, Potamia. Temples in her honour were often built near springs and rivers. This


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 Rh supplies a new connection between her and St. Nicolas; both are not only spring, but also sea deities.

There is of course no external likeness between the beautiful Greek goddess and the grey-bearded saint, but many of their attributes are alike. Artemis-Cybele is often represented as a sea-monster, with the tail of a fish ; traces of a legend of St. Nicolas in Sicily seem to indicate a similar conception of him, and Sicily must be considered as the starting point from which this legend—of a probably Greek origin—began to spread. In France, "une bête terrible qui prend les petits pêcheurs, qui vont se promener sans permission au bord de l'eau à la nuit tombante, s'appelle St. Nicolas: elle est armée de griffes et dechire la figure des enfants attardés sur les grèves."

This description reminds us of a passage in Beowulf:

In Germany millers throw different things into the water on the 6th of December, St. Nicolas' Day, as an offering to the water-deity. In Northern countries millers are par-


text: Folk-Lore/Volume 2/Mr. Stuart-Glennie on the Origins of Matriarchy


text: Folk-Lore/Volume 2/Notes and News (March)


text: Folk-Lore/Volume 2/Review: The Science of Fairy Tales


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 shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

'''Section. 3.''' The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, [chosen by the Legislature thereof,] for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; [and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next 2


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User talk:Wolfehhgg

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text: Cartoon portraits and biographical sketches of men of the day/The Right Hon. B. Disraeli


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Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 3, 1892.djvu/82

 II.

N my previous paper I made allusion to several wells of greater or less celebrity in the Island; but I find that I have a few remarks to add. Mr. Arthur Moore, in his book on Manx Surnames and Place-Names, p. 200, mentions a Chibber Unjin, which means the Well of the Ashtree, and he states that there grew near it "formerly a sacred ash-tree, where votive offerings were hung". The ash-tree calls to his mind Scandinavian legends respecting the ash, but in any case one may suppose the ash was not the usual tree to expect by a well in the Isle of Man, otherwise this one would scarcely have been distinguished as the Ash-tree Well. The tree to expect by a sacred well is doubtless some kind of thorn, as in the case of Chibber Undin in the parish of Malew. The name means Foundation Well, so called in reference probably to the foundations of an ancient cell, or keeill as it is called in Manx, which lie close by, and are found to measure 21 feet long by 12 feet broad. The following is Mr. Moore's account of the well in his book already cited, p. 181 "The water of this well is supposed to have curative properties. The patients who came to it, took a mouthful of water, retaining it in their mouths till they had twice walked round the well. They then took a piece of cloth from a garment which they had worn, wetted it with the water from the well, and hung it on the hawthorn-tree which grew there. When the cloth had rotted away, the cure was supposed to be effected."


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Rh I visited the spot a few years ago in the company of the Rev. E. B. Savage of St. Thomas's Parsonage, Douglas, and we found the well nearly dried up in consequence of the drainage of the field around it; but the remains of the old cell were there, and the thorn-bush had strips of cloth or calico tied to its branches. We cut off one, which is now in the Pitt-Rivers Museum at Oxford. The account Mr. Savage had of the ritual observed at the well differed a little from that given by Mr. Moore, especially in the fact that it made the patient who had been walking round the well with water from the well in his mouth, empty that water finally into a rag from his clothing: the rag was then tied to a branch of the thorn. It does not appear that the kind of tree mattered much; nay, a tree was not, it seems to me, essential. At any rate, St. Maughold's Well has no tree growing near it now; but it is right to say, that when Mr. Kermode and I visited it, we could find no rags left near the spot, nor indeed could we expect to find any, as there was nothing to which they might be tied on that windy headland. The absence of the tree does not, however, prove that the same sort of ritual was not formerly observed at St. Maughold's Well as at Chibber Undin; and here I must mention another well which I have visited in the Island more than once. It is on the side of Bradda Hill, a little above the village of Bradda, and in the direction of Fleshwick: I was attracted to it by the fact that it had, as I had been told by Mr. Savage, near it formerly an old cell or keeill, and the name of the saint to which it belonged may probably be gathered from the name of the well, which, in the Manx of the south of the Island, is Chibbyrt Valtane, pronounced approximately Chilvurt Valtane or Alðáne. The personal name would be written in modern Manx in its radical form as Baltane, and if it occurred in the genitive in old inscriptions I should expect to find it written Baltagni. It is, however, unknown to me, but to be placed by the side of the name of the saint after whom the parish of Santon is called in the


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 SOME MAGICAL APPLICATIONS OF BROOMS IN JAPAN.

BY W. L. HILDBURGH.

(Read before the Society, March 19th, 1919.)

many parts of the world there exist beliefs as to the supernatural powers inherent in the broom, for man, in his contests with the personified unseen, has often, and in many ways, made use of the broom either as a weapon of defence (or, less frequently, one of offence) or as an instrument of control. An examination of some of the magical applications of the broom in Japan, and of some of the beliefs attached to it there, should consequently prove instructive not only in the study of Japanese popular beliefs, but also in the explaining of certain practices or beliefs, into which the broom enters, amongst European and other peoples. Two collections, each of considerable size, of material concerning the superstitions attached to brooms and to sweeping, but dealing almost exclusively with the peoples of Central Europe, came to my notice after I had originally prepared the present paper. One

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 170 of these is embodied in Ernst Samter's Geburt, Hochzeit und Tod (Leipsic and Berlin, 1911), in which work the author, drawing his deductions almost entirely from the practices of European peoples, arrives at conclusions, as to the origins of a number of those practices, which in large part coincide with those I had independently arrived at mainly through the study of Far Eastern material. This general coincidence in many results is peculiarly striking in view of the various other theories which have been put forward to explain European broom superstitions, connecting them, for example, with the worship of agricultural divinities or with the practising of human fertility rites. The second collection, which forms a considerable portion of Friedrich Kunze's "Der Birkenbesen ein Symbol des Donar," is based largely on an attempt to marshal material indicating that the broom has derived its virtues as a magical implement among European peoples from the birch-tree whose twigs are often used to form it. That this attempt has been ill-founded appears to me to be indicated not only by the existence in many parts of the world of beliefs identical or almost identical with those he cites, but associated with brooms made of many kinds of plants, but also by the fact that—as he himself sometimes recognizes—his conclusions, drawn along lines to support the thesis he sets out to maintain, do not always explain even the examples he brings forward. In my attempt to elucidate the Japanese applications of brooms in what we consider superstitious practices I purpose in general to confine myself to the use of explanatory material drawn from either Japan or China. I shall, however, briefly call attention, for the most part in footnotes, to certain parallels—some of them of peculiar interest because, in spite of their respective bases seeming to lie in complex conceptions,

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 Rh the two sides are so alike—to those applications among European and some other peoples.

We need, I think, hardly doubt that the main basis of the Japanese employment of the broom as a magical implement lies in its power for cleansing. By means of a broom there may be swept away all manner of small physical impurities, which, powerless to escape it, are pushed out of its way or become entangled within its almost innumerable arms. What then should be more natural than that the broom be believed to be efficacious in the clearing away or the rendering powerless of spectral or of psychical impurities, both such as dwell in or normally hover near to the physical objects of the broom's activities, and such as—whether personified as supernatural beings or regarded merely as vaguely defined causes of evil — are looked upon as being wholly disembodied? However tenuous and impalpable it may be, how can spirit or ghost or demon hope to pass unharmed through the intricate thicket of rods forming the operative portion of a broom? The thoughtful believer in invisible supernatural beings can observe smoke or mist, subtile as the air itself, clinging about the brush of a broom or entangled among its parts; how, if his education does not permit him to conceive of anything more tenuous than the air about him, can he then fail to believe that supernatural beings must beware and fiee, lest they find themselves in its path, to be caught and perchance injured by the twigs or stalks of which the brush is composed } The employment in Japan of the broom as a means for supernatural cleansings seems as if based upon conceptions similar to those underlying the very ancient Japanese practice of washing as a means of ritual purification, and as if in some degree similar to the

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 172 conceptions underlying the use of the nademono, certain prepared papers which are rubbed over the body in order to remove with themselves all psychically impure influences. That very definite supernatural influences (whether they be personified ones or mere undefined impurities) are believed to be pushed—either by themselves or because they are clinging to the particles of dirt displaced—or driven before a broom in action, seems to be shown by the belief that if a person stand directly in front of the sweeping he will be unfortunate in his undertakings [Yokohama ]—i.e. he will have become subject to the influence of the evil supernatural beings to whom the occurrences of misfortune are ascribed—or he will become stupid.

Towards the middle of the last month of the year the Japanese house undergoes a thorough cleaning, the susuharai ("soot-sweeping"), in part of a practical, in part of a ceremonial character. "Orthodox chroniclers state that the custom of new year's dusting in the [12th month, now taken as the] month of December was already in vogue in the 'Age of the Gods,' more than thirty centuries ago, and to prove this point we are directed to certain passages in the 'Kojiki.'" The date fixed for this operation varied in different epochs, but in recent times it was the 13th day of the last month, "when in Yedo and elsewhere furniture was removed, mats carried out of doors and beaten, and floors, galleries, pillars, and so forth were polished bright with scrubbing-cloth, and ceilings and cornices and projections were thoroughly swept of soot,

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 THE LEGEND OF THE GRAIL.

N the history of mediæval romances there is none so complicated as that of the romance of the Holy Grail. Many a scholar has tried to solve the problem of its origin, and yet a final solution is still wanting.

No one who has ever trodden the enchanted land on which the castle which contained the Holy Grail stood could entirely escape the charm that overhangs it. Just as difficult as was the ancient quest in romance, is the modern quest after the origin and sources of this remarkable and weird tale.

This romance now exists in various forms, more or less akin to one another. These have been subdivided into groups, according to the affinity in which the incidents narrated therein stand to one another, and also in how far one tale is developed more than the other: a work which has been successfully carried out by Mr. Nutt, who, in his admirable Studies on the Grail, has endeavoured to disentangle the skein of this complicated problem, and to make some order in the mass of versions, texts, and alterations in which this legend has been preserved. Mr. Nutt rightly distinguishes between an Early history of the Grail and the Quest; the former containing the origin and source of the Grail, and the Quest, on the other hand, consisting of the description of the adventures the expected hero had to undergo until he finally reached his goal. Stripped of all the embellishments which made out of these simple facts the most renowned of mediseval romances, the numerous versions of it are practically one. The differences begin with the detailed accounts given in the Early history, and still more with the peculiarities of the Grail, of the hero and his achievements, The


text: Cartoon portraits and biographical sketches of men of the day/John Hollingshead


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 52 romance, not from one source alone, but from many, sometimes quite different ones.

Two main sources of inspiration have been suggested by the various writers on this subject. To some, the legend in its entirety owes its origin to Christian lore; others have divided the matter, assigning the Early history to the Christian source, whilst the other—Quest—would be of Celtic (Welsh) origin. It is remarkable, however, that both sections have totally ignored another main source of mediæval poetry and of modern civilisation; I mean the old classical literature of Greece and Rome, But before proceeding further, I must first make clear my standpoint.

The Celtic origin does not rest upon documentary proof, upon older texts and MSS. than Chrestien's poem, but on parallels to be found in Celtic folk-lore, and some later versions. I still hold to the theory that these versions are, in fact, only variations of Chrestien's poem of later origin, and that, through the instrumentality of such versions and adaptations, these romances entered into the possession of the people, and became its unwritten lore, the modern folk-lore.

Far, therefore, from being the primitive source for Chrestien or his predecessor, modern tales are merely the reflex of that written literature, and are by no means anterior to it. Parallels adduced from modern tales do not therefore prove that these tales were the direct sources whence Chrestien drew the elements of his poem, but, as I contend, they are the outcome of that literature.

We must look for older parallels than the time of Chrestien, older than the second half of the twelfth century. We must study first the surroundings in which Chrestien grew up, what amount of knowledge was accessible to him, what great events stirred the nations of Europe, and what kind of literary currents swayed the people at that time. It is only by answering such questions that we can come to a more positive result, and


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 Rh then draw our inference also for Wolfram, and for the host of Chrestien's continuators. These also must have had access to some store of similar learning, to be able to tread in his footsteps, and to take up the thread where his dying hand let it fall. A few lays cannot, and could not, suffice for the explanation of the great mass of incidents embodied in these romances.

It must also first be proved how such Celtic tales, if they existed at all, could come to the knowledge of a French poet, living as he did in France, of whose sojourn in England not a trace has been found. One has only to compare the widely different parallels adduced from Celtic lore, to be convinced that Chrestien, or the author of the original which he adopted, must have had a herculean task to perform, to alter and change, to blend and to assimilate, an immense mass of tales, mythical and heroical, and mould them together into one tale, which, after all, does not appear in a coherent form in any of its modern parallels. For it must be borne in mind that such a Celtic tale, containing most of the striking incidents, and older than the time of Chrestien, has not yet been discovered. What we have instead is a number of lays, or other tales, where either the one or the other incident is said to occur, the similarity not being absolutely identical, and in very many cases only the result of skilful interpretation.

If one would follow the same line of argumentation, one could easily adduce parallels to those Celtic lays and tales from various quarters of the globe, which would thus destroy the claim of the Celtic origin. The moment the same incident could be proved to exist elsewhere, we might just as well consider it to have originated there also, and not be limited to Celtic lore alone. We would have then one source more for the supposed origin of the legend: the folk-lore of Europe.

The natural way, however, is to look for one central tale, containing a sufficient number of incidents complete in itself; and round that tale, other minor incidents


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 Rh work is the same, but the contents vary almost in every version.

At the head of the whole literature stands Chrestien de Troyes, the famous minstrel, who, as far as our present knowledge goes, was the first to sing the praise of the Grail, and of the hero in search of it. Next in point of time, and, as I may at once add, first in importance, is the German follower of Chrestien, Wolfram von Eschenbach. In spite of the likeness, there is also a very great diversity in the treatment of the Grail by both these writers. Besides, Wolfram claims an independent source for his poetical composition, ridiculing Chrestien for not following the original closely.

Everything tends to make us believe that there must have existed a common primary source whence both Chrestien and Wolfram drew their tale. Of what kind was this primary source, and how much did it contain? Were both those parts which we find afterwards united, or was only one of them contained in the original? Did Chrestien and Wolfram know the Early history of the Grail or not? I entirely agree with Mr. Nutt that they, or even the original they followed, did not know much of it, the origin and properties of the Grail being only vaguely indicated. It is chiefly the Quest which plays the most important part in their poems. Whence did they take it from? It is round this question that a literary battle has now been fought for over fifty years. I do not flatter myself that I shall be able to bring the battle to an end, but I intend attacking this question from a different point of view altogether.

It is a futile attempt to reduce every incident of these poems to one and the same source. Every work of art, every poetical production is, to some extent, a kind of mosaic, a kind of blending in one of a mass of different, sometimes widely divergent, elements. Composite as our modern knowledge is, so must also have been that of the ancient or mediæval author who drew the elements of the


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 54 drawn from various quarters, could have been added afterwards by the continuator and amplifier of the tale.

But that primary one must already contain the most important incidents, and at the same time this primitive tale must contain that of the Grail as one of its incidents, but only in a vague, indefinite form, so as to afford the possibility for the double interpretation of the Grail as presented on one side by Chrestien, and on the other by Wolfram.

The problem, therefore, is to find a tale containing some of the principal elements of the Quest, the Grail or something akin to it being an important one; this Grail, or whatever would be standing for it, must be conceived in a vague, indefinite form, so as to be able to be filled with any kind of interpretation—religious, material, metaphysical, according to the poetical bent and the intentions of the poets. It is, further, an absolute necessity that such a tale should be of an older date than the time of Chrestien, and also it will have to be shown that it was, or could have been, accessible to him.

Before I proceed further, let us first examine the state of things as they existed in Europe at the end of the twelfth century, the psychological condition, in the midst of which Chrestien lived, and moved, and wrote.

It is in the twelfth century that the great French epical poetry flourished. Through patient investigation it has been proved that the history of the old Merovingian period was changed by the trouveur in some of these epopees into the history of Charlemagne. A battle at Roncevalles became the theme of one of the most celebrated old French romances, the chanson de Roland, and this was soon followed by a stately line of Chansons de Geste. Once started on the line of changing old history into modern, poets took a bolder course, and changed heroes of antiquity into national ones. Very well known is the tendency of the age to connect their own national history with that of the Greeks and Romans. The Roman de Brut of Wace, the old chronicles of Geoffrey and others,


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 Rh are examples of this tendency. Homer, i.e., Dictys and Dares, Virgil, and other writers of classical antiquity, furnished the materials for the writers of the middle ages, who drew upon them largely, only altering them, so that from Greek and Latin they became French and English.

The crusades had furnished further new themes for the fancy of the trouveur of the time. The whole world was stirred to its innermost depth by that general upheaving; the exploits of the first and second crusade had already begun to belong to the history of the past, when Chrestien began his poem. How many oriental legends were brought home and circulated by various pilgrims, especially such as were in Jerusalem, now once again in the hands of the infidels? The highest aim of the Christian world of that epoch was to regain possession of those sacred places; and the Order of the Templars represented the most ideal aspirations of the time—to live a chaste life, and to be found worthy to keep watch over the Lord's sanctuary.

Rumours of a great Christian kingdom in the far East, the kingdom of Prester John, reached Europe at the time, and like lightning these tidings spread from country to country, reviving the hopes of the crusaders by announcing help from an unexpected quarter in the deadly fight against the Mahommedan power.

At the same time a great dogmatic change was taking place in the teachings of the Church. The theory of Paschasius Radbertus found many adversaries, but no less adherents, and the twelfth century is the time when that dispute reached its climax, and the dogma of Transubstantiation was finally settled. The mystery of the sacrament, and the more than symbolic meaning of the Eucharist, was the central point of this dogma which has profoundly altered the Catholic Church, and was in later times one of the principal elements of discord between the Reformed church and the Church of Rome.

In naming these factors, classical literature, so to say


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Rh proverbial. Not only gold, but diamonds—these costly and lustrous carbon gems—became the enviable possessions of this lucky company. Mr. Griffith's reputation as a successful prospector and explorer was thus fully established throughout the length and breadth of Cape Colony. Various companies sought his scientific skill and talents to further the promotion of their interests. Gradually his name became a synonym for happy exploit. The next to avail itself of his services was the celebrated Chartered Company—a company which in these latter days has figured with great prominence before the world. Under Dr. Jamieson, the hero of the Transvaal raid, Mr. Griffith went to examine the mineral resources of the Chartered Company's properties, and report exhaustively on the country traversed. He made various journeyings into distant parts, and wrote extensive reports, which were favourably commented on by the Times. Interesting and copious information was furnished on the geographical aspects of these wide territories, and in recognition of his learned results and useful discoveries he was made a Fellow of the Geographical Society, and a Fellow of the Geological Society. It was in the course of this last expedition that he discovered and mapped out new rivers, mountains, and country. These valuable contributions to the geographical and geological knowledge of South Africa cannot be over-estimated.

On reviewing his past consequences in that fascinating realm, we apprehend that he has done a valiant share in the expansion and development of that wealthy colony, and his name, associated with his great discoveries, will always hold its place in the annals of her chief pioneers. But subsequent to his last return South Africa became involved in a serious war. On all sides, surrounding a narrow circle of enterprising pioneers of rigour and daring, were savage hordes of treacherous natives. They did not stand idly by and see their country swallowed up by foreigners. Again and again they made desperate efforts to concentrate their numbers, and equip their uncivilised hosts with warlike weapons to resist the white intruder. Full of resentment, their chiefs called the obedient yelping clansmen to arms, and prepared themselves to meet the enemy. Meanwhile Mr. Griffith had enlisted his services in a common cause. British colonists seized their arms and went out to teach the Matabele the lesson of submission. Twice in this campaign Mr. Griffith saw active service in the engagements at the Tokwi River. The stubborn spirit and trained skill of the Britisher struck terror into the primitive heart of the native.

After a cessation of hostilities, and when peace had been restored, Mr. Griffith was commissioned to proceed into the interior again, and open up and report on the Lake Nyanza district. He was on the point of undertaking this perilous expedition when his health seriously broke down, and he was obliged to seek a complete change and respite from toil. He went to London and remained in comparative leisure, recruiting his health in the country. As soon as he felt restored his old vital energy returned, and he must needs once more seek the free unfettered life of the colonies. In London he became associated with the African Gold Recovery Company, a large and wealthy corporation possessing mines all over the world, and the fortunate patentees of the McArthur-Forest Cyanide Process. He was appointed the representative of their extensive interests in Western Australia, and sailed for his new sphere of enterprise immediately afterwards. His company in Western Australia owns a very large number of properties. In Kalgoorlie it possesses the Bendigo group, of seventy-six acres (which lies due south of the Great Boulder), and the Star of the West, with twenty-four acres. In the Mount Malcolm district it owns the Birk's Find, Mount Alice, West Mount Alice, Mount Alice North-West, the Ruddland Castle, and the Ruddland Castle Extended. At Lake Carey the company possesses 480 acres, which is called Griffithston, after Mr. Griffith, where the great Aber mine is situated. Since ever Mr. Griffith's arrival he has been developing these properties at a rapid rate. Under his management and superintendence they should prove remunerative to the company. If we judge, as we must do, everything by the standard of the past, then, assuredly, Mr. Griffith's career in Western Australia will he as commercially bright as it was in South Africa.

Mr. Griffith, socially, has a highly cultivated and polished mind. All his rough experiences, and his active, energetic enterprises have not blunted his refinement or his demeanour. He is a true type of a British colonist, a man who dared all in the truest interests of his country, and who now deserves her highest awards. While pursuing his explorations he was one of the first to examine the famous ruins of past glories in South Africa—the supposed home of the Queen of Sheba and her vassals. He was the first to thoroughly explore some of those whimsically weird old places, once the luxurious rendezvous of kings and queens and lords of many broad acres of golden lands. He opened up mines, which for centuries had been abandoned, perhaps centuries nearly extending to the period of the Wise King of Jerusalem. Such sights, indeed, has he witnessed that the mind revels in the unfathomable channels of contemplation which they beget, and one feels the spirit of the traveller and searcher for truth course through his veins. Mr. Griffith has full appreciation of the importance of his discoveries of antique things. Consequently he presented to the world much valuable information in his reports, and in a book he produced, Teithian Cymro yu Africa—"Notes from a Welshman's Diary on a Journey Across Africa"—has run through three editions, and is now in its fourth. He has also contributed articles to magazines and journals. In his writings he portrays the immensity of the wildernesses of Africa, the enduring, all-pervading spirit of them, and describes how scenes of old-time activity are now silent—where, as Henry Lawson would say, "Nature cries out to have her wounds covered, and the wilderness replies by reclaiming its own again."

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 56 modernised in an epical form, the French Chansons de Geste, the Crusades and the legends of Palestine, and, finally, the question of transubstantiation and the pseudo-epigraphic literature of the mystery of the sacrament, I have pointed out the chief sources to which the romance of the Holy Grail owes its origin, without any further admixture of Celtic tales or lays, or Celtic mythology. The life that is described in the romances is that of the authors' time. Knightly deeds, adventures, miracles, and spells all belong to the machinery of the romantic literature of the time, and though important for determining the exact character of the surroundings, vary, as is natural, in every version, and if more MSS. had been preserved the number of variations might have increased.

I shall now proceed to prove my case as far as possible in the order indicated.

Classical influence.—Working the romance backwards to its primitive form, we shall find that the main feature of the Quest may be summarised as follows:

A young man starts on an unheard of adventure, which no human being has ever achieved before him. It is by mere chance that he alights at the very spot where he had determined to go, although nothing definite is said as to the nature of that adventure. What he has to do, or to see, or to accomplish, is by no means clear. He himself does not know what to do, and fails thus in his first attempt.

According to Chrestien, he comes to a river, upon which there is a boat, wherein are two men fishing. One of them, in reply to his questions, directs him for a night's shelter to his own castle hard by. Perceval starts for it, and at first, unable to find it, reproaches the fisher. Suddenly he perceives the castle before him, enters therein, is disarmed, clad in a scarlet mantle, and led into a great hall. Therein is a couch, upon which lies an old man; near him is a


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 Rh fire, around which some four hundred men are sitting. Perceval tells his host that he has come from Beau-Repaire. A squire enters, bearing a sword, and on it is written that it will never break, save in one peril, and that known only to the maker of it. 'Tis a present from the host's niece, to be bestowed where it will be well employed. The host gives it to Perceval, "to whom it was adjudged and destined." Hereupon enters another squire, bearing in his hand a lance, from the head of which a drop of blood runs down on the squire's hand. Perceval would have asked concerning this wonder, but he minds him of Goneman's counsel not to speak or inquire too much. Two more squires enter, holding each a ten-branched candlestick, and with them a damsel, a "Graal" in her hands. The Graal shines so that it puts out the light of the candles, as the sun does that of the stars. Thereafter follows a damsel holding a (silver) plate. All defile past between the fire and the couch, but Perceval does not venture to ask wherefore the Grail is used. Supper follows, and the Grail is again brought, and Perceval knowing not its use, had fain asked, but always refrains when he thinks of Gonemans, and finally puts off his questions till the morrow. After supper the guest is led to his chamber, and on the morrow, awakening, finds the castle deserted. Issuing forth, he finds his horse saddled, and the drawbridge down. Thinking to find the castle dwellers in the forest, he rides forth, but the drawbridge closes so suddenly behind him, that had not the horse leapt quickly forward, it had gone hard with steed and rider. In vain Perceval calls: none answer.

More elaborate is the version of Heinrich von dem Türlin. "After monthlong wanderings, he meets with Lancelot and Calocreant, and all three come to the Grail castle. They are led into a hall, which passes in splendour aught earthly eye ever saw. The floor is strewn with roses; on a bed lies an old man in gold-embroidered


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 58 ments, and watches two youths playing at chess. Towards night the hall fills with knights and dames; a youth enters, bearing a sword, which he lays before the old man. . . . Then enter two damsels, bearing lights, followed by two knights, with a spear, and two more damsels, with a toblier of gold and jewels. After them comes the fairest woman ever God created, and with her a maiden weeping. The spear is laid on the table, by it the 'toblier', wherein are three drops of blood. In the box borne by the fair lady is a piece of bread, one-third part of which she breaks off and gives to the old man. Gawain, recognising in her Gansguoter's sister, stays no longer, but asks what these wonders mean. Straightway knights and dames, all with mighty shout, leap from table, and great joy arises. The old man says what he has seen is the Grail; none saw it before save Parzival, and he asked not. By his question Gawain has delivered from long waiting and suffering both those which are dead and those which live. The old man himself and his companions are really dead, though they seem it not, but the lady and her damsels are living; for their unstained womanhood God has granted them to have the Grail, and therewith yearly to feed the old man."

So in all the versions it is a magnificent castle, wherein the one constantly-recurring figure is that of an old, sick or dead man, surrounded by jewels, plates or dishes of gold, and a mysterious thing, a cup with blood, or a box with bread, and a bloody lance. Only in Wolfram is it a mysterious rock or a jewel upon which a dove lays once a year a holy wafer. The hero asks, or omits to ask, and upon that action the whole tale turns. It is not, however, clear from the beginning what kind of task the hero has to achieve, nor is it more clear afterwards when he has achieved it. This portion seems not to be in the original, as not one version can clearly account for it. The original tale must have been also quite obscure on this point, thus affording free scope to the poet to interpret and to use it according to his own fancy. The less definite the task


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 Rh was the easier it was for the subsequent author to introduce into it what was nearest to him, and to give to it either a material or a spiritual meaning; the whole history of the legend points to such a kind of development as that which it really did undergo.

But whence comes that fundamental motive, an adventurous knight endowed with superior gifts, striving after an undertaking quite unique, never attempted before and never afterwards?

A glance over the literary activity in France at the time will give us the answer.

It was in the middle of the twelfth century that the Trojan war had been made the theme of an elaborate epos of 30,000 verses by Benoît de St. More, who, basing his work upon that of Dares Phrygius, Paulus Orosius, Ovid, etc., wrote his Roman de Troie. At about the same time the fabulous history of Alexander the Great was changed into a national epos by Alberic de Besançon, Alexander de Bernay (c. 1150), and very much amplified by Lambert li Tort (c. 1190–1200), the contemporary of Chrestien. One has only to see how they dealt with their originals, how they transferred the whole scenery from hoary antiquity to their own time, and to their own courts, to understand the liberty a poet of those times could take with his originals.

Seeing the manner in which the old kings and heroes were changed into knights and squires, the old gods into magicians and fairies, I do not think that I shall be considered very bold if I say that the legend of the Quest is nothing else but also a transformation of the most interesting episodes of that very legend of Alexander; the hero of the Grail romance is none else but Alexander, the Quest the counterpart of his attempt to force the Gates of Paradise, and the wonderful castle or temple, the one that Alexander saw in his marvellous expedition.

There is not one old version in which that journey—the Iter ad Paradisum—is not contained either in an


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 60 amply developed form, or in an abridged one; but all contain the description of that marvellous castle. As we shall see presently, not only is it contained in the Greek text known under the name of Callisthenes (book iii, ch. 28), but also in the Latin version of Julius Valerius, and in that of the Archipresbyter Leo. The oldest French versions and the German of Lamprecht, which is based upon these French poems, contain it also. Thus, there is no difficulty from a historical and literary point of view; this legend was earlier than Chrestien, this legend was then not only accessible, but surely well known to Chrestien.

Starting from the oldest version, I will give here an accurate translation of the "Pseudo-Callisthenes' " version:

"We sailed away from that river, and came to a large island, 150 furlongs distant from the mainland, and there we found the city of the sun. This city had twelve towers, built of gold and emerald. The walls, the circumference of which was about 150 furlongs, were made of Indian stones. In the middle of the town there was an altar built, like the towers, of gold and emerald. Seven steps led up to the altar, at the top there stood a chariot with horses and driver, made likewise of gold and emerald. But all these things were partly invisible on account of the fog. The priest of the sun, Aeteops, was clothed in real Cyssus. He spoke to us in a savage tongue and ordered us to leave that city. After we had left we wandered about for seven days. Everywhere was darkness; not even fire lit up those parts. So we turned back, and came to the fields of Nysa, and there we saw a high mountain. We climbed to the top, and there beautiful houses, full of gold and silver, met our view; and these were enclosed by a wall of sapphire, with 150 steps cut into it, and upon the top stood a round temple, with seven pillars of sapphire and 100 steps. Inside and outside were images of demigods, bacchantes, satyrs, and of others, initiated in the sacred mysteries, but old Maron sat on a beast of burden. A couch was placed in the middle of the temple; on


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 Rh this couch lay a man clothed in silk. I could not see his face, for it was veiled; but I saw strength and greatness. In the middle of the temple there was a golden chain weighing a hundred pounds, and suspended from it was a transparent wreath; a precious stone which illumined the whole temple, took the place of fire. From the ceiling hung also a gold cage, in which was a bird about the size of a dove. This bird called out to me in the voice resembling man's, the following, in Greek:—'Alexander, cease now to oppose (the) god; return to your home, and hasten not through thoughtlessness (recklessness) your transit to the celestial regions.' And as I was about to take down the bird and the lamp, which I intended to send to you, it seemed to me as if he who was resting on the couch moved. Then my friends said to me, 'Forbear, for it is holy.' And as I was going out into the grounds of the temple, I saw two amphoras of gold which were capable of holding sixty metretes; we measured them at table. I commanded the soldiers to encamp there, and to enjoy themselves.

"A house also stood there, and it contained many beautiful and valuable goblets of precious stones. But just as we and the army were on the point of sitting down to the repast, there was heard suddenly a heavy thunder of flutes and cymbals, and pipes and trumpets, and kettledrums and zitters; and the whole mountain was covered with smoke, as if a heavy storm had broken down on us. Seized with fear, we hastened away, and wandered on until we came to the castle of Cyrus; and we came across many deserted towns, and one beautiful city, in which there was a house, in which the king himself received. I was told that there was a bird that spoke with human voice. I went into the house, and saw many wonderful sights, for the whole house was of gold. From the middle of the ceiling hung suspended a golden cage, like the one which I have mentioned before. In it was a bird like a dove, of gold colour; it was told to me that this bird prophesied to the king through


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HE province of law is wide, and admits of great scope for the exercise of superior intellect. Perhaps, here, more than in any other profession, are acuteness and subtlety of thought, accurate and exact discriminative judgment, called into play. Legal knowledge is a veritable encyclopædia.

In a growing town like Coolgardie, a solicitor's skilful services are indispensable to the common weal; and her people can rest assured that they have able lawyers among them, of whom Mr. Walter J. L. Sinclair is not the least. His experience, intellectual grasp, and keen logical exposition, have rendered him a tower of strength. Mr. Sinclair was born at St. Leonard's, Adelaide, in 1854. Like his partner, Mr. Mann, he received his early education at St. Peter's College, where he finished off with "flying colours." He forthwith expressed a preference for law, and elected to indenture himself to Mr. Justice Bundey, his half brother, then a leading solicitor of Adelaide. After qualifying as a lawyer, Mr. Sinclair went into partnership with the late Hon. Charles Mann, Q.C. (father of his present partner), who was practising at this time with Messrs. Bundey and Dashwood (Government Resident of the Northern Territory).

He remained for some time as partner in this office, and, after realising valuable insight and extensive experience, he thought favourably of individual enterprise as the best method of stimulating energy and intellect. And, no doubt, a display of one's own unaided abilities and judgment, even if it be ephemeral, arouses latent mental talent. A little responsibility quickens and enlivens the mind into a state of vigilant alacrity, and brings in its train cautious and deliberate judgment. His success more than reached the level of his anticipations, and he soon gathered around his door a number of influential clients. About the time of his departure for Western Australia, in 1894, he was amply satisfied with the progress effected. On his arrival in Perth in that year, he joined Mr. Mann, and his six months' residential qualification was wisely spent in Mr. Mann's office, acting pro tempore as his managing clerk. When the six months expired, Mr. Sinclair entered into partnership with Mr. Mann. For many years Mr. Sinclair had made a special study of mining litigation, with its "cruxes" and web-like intricacies. While practising in Adelaide his professional skill was summoned to Bendigo, Maryborough, and St. Arnaud (Victoria). A special knowledge such as this was supremely useful on the new goldfields, and since his advent Mr. Sinclair has been identified, in company with his partner, with many important mining law suits. Apart from his ordinary business duties Mr. Sinclair acts as Crown Prosecutor.

When Councillor Leevers resigned from the Coolgardie Municipal Council, Mr. Sinclair was elected unopposed. He did good work during his term of public office, and put forth every effort to promote the interests of the municipality. His knowledge of municipal legislation was effective, but pressure of private business precluded him from seeking re-election. He knew he could not devote the time that his wishes dictated to disinterested services, and he resisted all approaches. He was asked to stand for the Mayoralty, but he refused to accede to the expressed wishes of an honourable and influential deputation.

He holds many offices of an honorary character. He is a member (1896) of the committee of the Chamber of Mines, and of the Coolgardie Railway League. He acts as vice-president of the Coolgardie Racing Club. In more immediate connection with the province of legal practice, he holds a number of important responsible posts. He is chairman of directors of the General Gordon, and General Gordon South Gold Mining companies, and, with his partner, is largely interested in mining ventures. The firm holds power of attorney for the City Mining Syndicate, Gold Exploration of Western Australia Limited, the Menzies Pioneers Limited, the Macpherson's Reward, and the Golden Gate of Western Australia. The large business connection has necessitated the opening of branches in various parts of the fields—Kalgoorlie, Menzies, &c. The Kalgoorlie partner is Mr. H. G. Parsons.

Mr. Sinclair's mind is peculiarly receptive and retentive; his ideas are broad and sound. In the sphere of legal capacity his skill is not exceeded on the goldfields, where the mention of his name is always couched in terms of the deepest respect. Though he still directly holds aloof from public life, he indirectly, in many ways, strives to further the interests of the town and goldfields. His influence and weight must remain potent weapons of success for the wealthy interests centered in the capital of the goldfields.

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 62 its different tones, and that it was holy. I also saw an amphora capable of holding sixty metretes. The gold-work was marvellous, for all round it were figures, and above these a sea-battle, and in the middle was an inscription; everything was made and finished with gold. This amphora was said to be Egyptian, having been brought from the city of Memphis at the time when the Persians conquered Egypt. There was a house there, built in Greek style, in which the king had held his receptions, and in which there was a picture of the sea-fight of Xerxes. In this house there stood also a golden throne, inlaid with precious stones; and there was also a sweet-sounding zitter, whose strings moved of their own accord. Around it there stood a golden sideboard sixteen ells wide, and next to it another twenty ells wide; six steps led the way to it, and on the top of these stood an eagle with his wings spread out over the whole sideboard. There was also of gold a wild vine, with seven branches all worked in gold." So far Pseudo-Callisthenes. The text of Valerius has some variations, which I think essential, and I therefore mention them here. In fact, we have here two accounts, one of the temple of the sun, and the other of the palace of Cyrus and Xerxes. Being very much like one another, these two have been blended into one tale, some of the first description being left out by ignorant copyists, who took the former to be a mere narration of the latter (Zacher, pp. 170, 171).

The text of Valerius has now the following very remarkable detail in the description as he says of the palace, whilst, in fact, the temple is meant, as will be seen from the very wording, which runs as follows:

"In the temple hung from the ceiling a tropheum aureum (Cod. Mediolan.: stropæum aureum), from that 'trophæum' hung a ball in the form of 'vertiginis cœlitis' (the heavenly). Upon that ball sat the image of a dove, which prophesied to the king. And as I was about to take down that 'trophæum' which I intended to send to you, those present counselled me not to do it, as it was a


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 Rh sacred place, and that I should not expose myself to the dangers awaiting the intruder."

It is obvious that this passage here belongs to the description of the temple, as it has nothing whatsoever to do with the palace of Xerxes; and so we find it also afterwards in the Latin and French versions of the Alexander legend.

Substituting Perceval for Alexander, we have in this chapter the central motives of the Grail legend: the marvellous castle or temple Alexander had been the onlymortal who could reach after long and severe hardship; the mysterious old man on the couch, who appears in the romances as the maimed, sick king; the marvellous stone or cage, with the mysterious dove endowed with supernatural gifts—what could be more welcome for a poet than such a figure as that of the unknown powerful and yet half-concealed man lying on a couch? Fancy was quite free to picture in him either an ideal or a physical sufferer, tortured by a wound, inflicted either by a shaft, or by the dart of sin. Nothing could therefore adapt itself better to another cycle of tales and legends than the things seen in the temple; the jewel, or the dove, the huge amphoras and cauldrons, the numerous demi-gods and mystics, they could afterwards be substituted by Christian emblems or by other conceptions, drawn from different sources. The vagueness of the objects beheld in the temple, which can be seen already in the Latin versions of Valerius, whose words (almost unintelligible) I have retained, is the same which clings to the Grail, to the castle, its inmates, and the task of the hero.

It is, therefore, neither a feud-quest nor an unspelling-quest, to which two formulas Mr. Nutt has reduced the legend (p. 181), but simply the journey to the earthly Paradise, and the marvellous castle or temple of the sun, which form the primitive nucleus of the romance.

Following up that clue we shall be able to explain many an incident in the romance through the legend of Alexander. There is in the romance the chief fisher standing by


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 — continued.

 * Distribution of fresh-water productions — On the inhabitants of oceanic islands — Absence of Batrachians and of terrestrial Mammals — On the relation of the inhabitants of islands to those of the nearest mainland — On colonisation from the nearest source with subsequent modification — Summary of the last and present chapter.

Fresh-water Productions.

As lakes and river-systems are separated from each other by barriers of land, it might have been thought that fresh-water productions would not have ranged widely within the same country, and as the sea is apparently a still more formidable barrier, that they would never have extended to distant countries. But the case is exactly the reverse. Not only have many fresh-water species, belonging to different classes, an enormous range, but allied species prevail in a remarkable manner throughout the world. When first collecting in the fresh waters of Brazil, I well remember feeling much surprise at the similarity of the fresh-water insects, shells, &c., and at the dissimilarity of the surrounding terrestrial beings, compared with those of Britain.

But the wide ranging power of fresh-water productions can, I think, in most cases be explained by their having become fitted, in a manner highly useful to them, for short and frequent migrations from pond to pond, or from stream to stream, within their own countries; and liability to wide dispersal would follow from this capacity as an almost necessary consequence. We can here consider only a few cases; of these, some of the most difficult to explain are presented by fish. It was formerly believed that the same fresh-water species never existed on two continents distant from each other. But Dr. Günther has lately shown that the Galaxias attenuatus inhabits Tasmania, New Zealand, the Falkland Islands and the mainland of South America. This is a wonderful case, and probably indicates dispersal from an Antarctic centre during a former warm period. This case, however, is rendered in some degree less

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 64 the river, who directs Perceval to the castle. In the legend it is not a fisher, but a fish, which is quickened to life by being dipped into the water of the river, which attracts the attention of Alexander and arouses his curiosity. He follows up the river, and is thus led to Paradise. Out of that fish there grew the fisher-king. I need not further insist upon the almost identical legend of the dove sitting on the ball (or jewel) and prophesying to the king in a human voice—i.e., to the man lying on the couch—and the dove which lays a holy wafer upon the stone in Wolfram’s, and the bread by which the sick king is kept alive in Heinrich’s poem. Perceval is led by lights to the magic castle, which are almost identical with the lights that go before Alexander in the version of Valerius.

We shall see presently how deeply these elements taken from the legend of Alexander, have been modified through the agency of Christian ideas and Christian conceptions. This episode with the lights, and especially that of the tree full of lights whereupon one child (two children) sits, will find its explanation later on.

(To be continued.)


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 surprising by the species of this genus having the power of crossing by some unknown means considerable spaces of open ocean: thus there is one species common to New Zealand and to the Auckland Islands, though separated by a distance of about 230 miles. On the same continent fresh-water fish often range widely, and as if capriciously; for in two adjoining river systems some of the species may be the same and some wholly different. It is probable that they are occasionally transported by what may be called accidental means. Thus fishes still alive are not very rarely dropped at distant points by whirlwinds; and it is known that the ova retain their vitality for a considerable time after removal from the water. Their dispersal may, however, be mainly attributed to changes in the level of the land within the recent period, causing rivers to flow into each other. Instances, also, could be given of this having occurred during floods, without any change of level. The wide differences of the fish on the opposite sides of most mountain-ranges, which are continuous and consequently must, from an early period, have completely prevented the inosculation of the river systems on the two sides, leads to the same conclusion. Some fresh-water fish belong to very ancient forms, and in such cases there will have been ample time for great geographical changes, and consequently time and means for much migration. Moreover, Dr. Günther has recently been led by several considerations to infer that with fishes the same forms have a long endurance. Salt-water fish can with care be slowly accustomed to live in fresh water; and, according to Valenciennes, there is hardly a single group of which all the members are confined to fresh water, so that a marine species belonging to a fresh-water group might travel far along the shores of the sea, and could, it is probable, become adapted without much difficulty to the fresh waters of a distant land.

Some species of fresh-water shells have very wide ranges, and allied species which, on our theory, are descended from a common parent, and must have proceeded from a single source, prevail throughout the world. Their distribution at first perplexed me much, as their ova are not likely to be transported by birds; and the ova, as well as the adults, are immediately killed by sea-water. I could not even understand how some naturalised species have spread rapidly throughout the same country. But two facts, which I have observed — and many others no doubt will be discovered — throw some light on this subject. When ducks suddenly emerge from a pond covered with duck-weed, I have twice seen these little plants adhering to their backs; and it has happened to me, in removing a little duck-weed from one aquarium to another, that I

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 have unintentionally stocked the one with fresh-water shells from the other. But another agency is perhaps more effectual: I suspended the feet of a duck in an aquarium, where many ova of fresh-water shells were hatching; and I found that numbers of the extremely minute and just-hatched shells crawled on the feet, and clung to them so firmly that when taken out of the water they could not be jarred off, though at a somewhat more advanced age they would voluntarily drop off. These just-hatched molluscs, though aquatic in their nature, survived on the duck's feet, in damp air, from twelve to twenty hours; and in this length of time a duck or heron might fly at least six or seven hundred miles, and if blown across the sea to an oceanic island, or to any other distant point, would be sure to alight on a pool or rivulet. Sir Charles Lyell informs me that a Dyticus has been caught with an Ancylus (a fresh-water shell like a limpet) firmly adhering to it; and a water-beetle of the same family, a Colymbetes, once flew on board the "Beagle," when forty-five miles distant from the nearest land: how much farther it might have been blown by a favouring gale no one can tell.

With respect to plants, it has long been known what enormous ranges many fresh-water, and even marsh-species, have, both over continents and to the most remote oceanic islands. This is strikingly illustrated, according to Alph. de Candolle, in those large groups of terrestrial plants, which have very few aquatic members; for the latter seem immediately to acquire, as if in consequence, a wide range. I think favourable means of dispersal explain this fact. I have before mentioned that earth occasionally adheres in some quantity to the feet and beaks of birds. Wading birds, which frequent the muddy edges of ponds, if suddenly flushed, would be the most likely to have muddy feet. Birds of this order wander more than those of any other; and are occasionally found on the most remote and barren islands of the open ocean; they would not be likely to alight on the surface of the sea, so that any dirt on their feet would not be washed off; and when gaining the land, they would be sure to fly to their natural fresh-water haunts. I do not believe that botanists are aware how charged the mud of ponds is with seeds: I have tried several little experiments, but will here give only the most striking case: I took in February three tablespoonfuls of mud from three different points, beneath water, on the edge of a little pond; this mud when dry weighed only 6¾ ounces; I kept it covered up in my study for six months, pulling up and counting each plant as it grew; the plants were of many kinds, and were altogether 537 in number; and yet the viscid mud was all

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 contained in a breakfast cup! Considering these facts, I think it would be an inexplicable circumstance if water-birds did not transport the seeds of fresh-water plants to unstocked ponds and streams, situated at very distant points. The same agency may have come into play with the eggs of some of the smaller fresh-water animals.

Other and unknown agencies probably have also played a part. I have stated that fresh-water fish eat some kinds of seeds, though they reject many other kinds after having swallowed them; even small fish swallow seeds of moderate size, as of the yellow water-lily and Potamogeton. Herons and other birds, century after century, have gone on daily devouring fish; they then take flight and go to other waters, or are blown across the sea; and we have seen that seeds retain their power of germination, when rejected many hours afterwards in pellets or in the excrement. When I saw the great size of the seeds of that fine water-lily, the Nelumbium, and remembered Alph. de Candolle's remarks on the distribution of this plant, I thought that the means of its dispersal must remain inexplicable; but Audubon states that he found the seeds of the great southern water-lily (probably according to Dr. Hooker, the Nelumbium luteum) in a heron's stomach. Now this bird must often have flown with its stomach thus well stocked to distant ponds, and, then getting a hearty meal of fish, analogy makes me believe that it would have rejected the seeds in the pellet in a fit state for germination.

In considering these several means of distribution, it should be remembered that when a pond or stream is first formed, for instance on a rising islet, it will be unoccupied; and a single seed or egg will have a good chance of succeeding. Although there will always be a struggle for life between the inhabitants of the same pond, however few in kind, yet as the number even in a well-stocked pond is small in comparison with the number of species inhabiting an equal area of land, the competition between them will probably be less severe than between terrestrial species; consequently an intruder from the waters of a foreign country would have a better chance of seizing on a new place, than in the case of terrestrial colonists. We should also remember that many fresh-water productions are low in the scale of nature, and we have reason to believe that such beings become modified more slowly than the high; and this will give time for the migration of aquatic species. We should not forget the probability of many fresh-water forms having formerly ranged continuously over immense areas, and then having become extinct at intermediate points. But the wide distribution of fresh-water plants and of the lower animals, whether

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 retaining the same identical form, or in some degree modified, apparently depends in main part on the wide dispersal of their seeds and eggs by animals, more especially by fresh-water birds, which have great powers of flight, and naturally travel from one piece of water to another.

On the Inhabitants of Oceanic Islands.

We now come to the last of the three classes of facts, which I have selected as presenting the greatest amount of difficulty with respect to distribution, on the view that not only all the individuals of the same species have migrated from some one area, but that allied species, although now inhabiting the most distant points, have proceeded from a single area,— the birthplace of their early progenitors. I have already given my reasons for disbelieving in continental extensions within the period of existing species on so enormous a scale that all the many islands of the several oceans were thus stocked with their present terrestrial inhabitants. This view removes many difficulties, but it does not accord with all the facts in regard to the productions of islands. In the following remarks I shall not confine myself to the mere question of dispersal, but shall consider some other cases bearing on the truth of the two theories of independent creation and of descent with modification.

The species of all kinds which inhabit oceanic islands are few in number compared with those on equal continental areas: Alph. de Candolle admits this for plants, and Wollaston for insects. New Zealand, for instance, with its lofty mountains and diversified stations, extending over 780 miles of latitude, together with the outlying islands of Auckland, Campbell and Chatham, contain altogether only 960 kinds of flowering plants; if we compare this moderate number with the species which swarm over equal areas in Southwestern Australia or at the Cape of Good Hope, we must admit that some cause, independently of different physical conditions, has given rise to so great a difference in number. Even the uniform county of Cambridge has 847 plants, and the little island of Anglesea 764, but a few ferns and a few introduced plants are included in these numbers, and the comparison in some other respects is not quite fair. We have evidence that the barren island of Ascension aboriginally possessed less than half-a-dozen flowering plants; yet many species have now become naturalised on it, as they have in New Zealand and on every other oceanic island which can be named. In St. Helena there is reason to believe that the naturalised plants and animals have nearly or quite exterminated many native productions. He who admits the doctrine

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 of the creation of each separate species, will have to admit that a sufficient number of the best adapted plants and animals were not created for oceanic islands; for man has unintentionally stocked them far more fully and perfectly than did nature.

Although in oceanic islands the species are few in number, the proportion of endemic kinds (i.e. those found nowhere else in the world) is often extremely large. If we compare, for instance, the number of endemic land-shells in Madeira, or of endemic birds in the Galapagos Archipelago, with the number found on any continent, and then compare the area of the island with that of the continent, we shall see that this is true. This fact might have been theoretically expected, for, as already explained, species occasionally arriving, after long intervals of time in the new and isolated district, and having to compete with new associates, would be eminently liable to modification, and would often produce groups of modified descendants. But it by no means follows that, because in an island nearly all the species of one class are peculiar, those of another class, or of another section of the same class, are peculiar; and this difference seems to depend partly on the species which are not modified having immigrated in a body, so that their mutual relations have not been much disturbed; and partly on the frequent arrival of unmodified immigrants from the mother-country, with which the insular forms have intercrossed. It should be borne in mind that the offspring of such crosses would certainly gain in vigour; so that even an occasional cross would produce more effect than might have been anticipated. I will give a few illustrations of the foregoing remarks: in the Galapagos Islands there are 26 land birds; of these 21 (or perhaps 23) are peculiar; whereas of the 11 marine birds only 2 are peculiar; and it is obvious that marine birds could arrive at these islands much more easily and frequently than land-birds. Bermuda, on the other hand, which lies at about the same distance from North America as the Galapagos Islands do from South America, and which has a very peculiar soil, does not possess a single endemic land bird; and we know from Mr. J.M. Jones's admirable account of Bermuda, that very many North American birds occasionally or even frequently visit this island. Almost every year, as I am informed by Mr. E.V. Harcourt, many European and African birds are blown to Madeira; this island is inhabited by 99 kinds, of which one alone is peculiar, though very closely related to a European form; and three or four other species are confined to this island and to the Canaries. So that the islands of Bermuda and Madeira have been stocked from the neighbouring continents with birds,

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 which for long ages have there struggled together, and have become mutually co-adapted. Hence, when settled in their new homes, each kind will have been kept by the others to its proper place and habits, and will consequently have been but little liable to modification. Any tendency to modification will also have been checked by intercrossing with the unmodified immigrants, often arriving from the mother-country. Madeira again is inhabited by a wonderful number of peculiar land-shells, whereas not one species of sea-shell is peculiar to its shores: now, though we do not know how sea-shells are dispersed, yet we can see that their eggs or larvæ, perhaps attached to seaweed or floating timber, or to the feet of wading birds, might be transported across three or four hundred miles of open sea far more easily than land-shells. The different orders of insects inhabiting Madeira present nearly parallel cases.

Oceanic islands are sometimes deficient in animals of certain whole classes, and their places are occupied by other classes; thus in the Galapagos Islands reptiles, and in New Zealand gigantic wingless birds, take, or recently took, the place of mammals. Although New Zealand is here spoken of as an oceanic island, it is in some degree doubtful whether it should be so ranked; it is of large size, and is not separated from Australia by a profoundly deep sea; from its geological character and the direction of its mountain ranges, the Rev. W.B. Clarke has lately maintained that this island, as well as New Caledonia, should be considered as appurtenances of Australia. Turning to plants, Dr. Hooker has shown that in the Galapagos Islands the proportional numbers of the different orders are very different from what they are elsewhere. All such differences in number, and the absence of certain whole groups of animals and plants, are generally accounted for by supposed differences in the physical conditions of the islands; but this explanation is not a little doubtful. Facility of immigration seems to have been fully as important as the nature of the conditions.

Many remarkable little facts could be given with respect to the inhabitants of oceanic islands. For instance, in certain islands not tenanted by a single mammal, some of the endemic plants have beautifully hooked seeds; yet few relations are more manifest than that hooks serve for the transportal of seeds in the wool or fur of quadrupeds. But a hooked seed might be carried to an island by other means; and the plant then becoming modified would form an endemic species, still retaining its hooks, which would form a useless appendage like the shrivelled wings under

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 the soldered wing-covers of many insular beetles. Again, islands often possess trees or bushes belonging to orders which elsewhere include only herbaceous species; now trees, as Alph. de Candolle has shown, generally have, whatever the cause may be, confined ranges. Hence trees would be little likely to reach distant oceanic islands; and an herbaceous plant, which had no chance of successfully competing with the many fully developed trees growing on a continent, might, when established on an island, gain an advantage over other herbaceous plants by growing taller and taller and overtopping them. In this case, natural selection would tend to add to the stature of the plant, to whatever order it belonged, and thus first convert it into a bush and then into a tree.

Absence of Batrachians and Terrestrial Mammals on Oceanic Islands.

With respect to the absence of whole orders of animals on oceanic islands, Bory St. Vincent long ago remarked that Batrachians (frogs, toads, newts) are never found on any of the many islands with which the great oceans are studded. I have taken pains to verify this assertion, and have found it true, with the exception of New Zealand, New Caledonia, the Andaman Islands, and perhaps the Solomon Islands and the Seychelles. But I have already remarked that it is doubtful whether New Zealand and New Caledonia ought to be classed as oceanic islands; and this is still more doubtful with respect to the Andaman and Solomon groups and the Seychelles. This general absence of frogs, toads and newts on so many true oceanic islands cannot be accounted for by their physical conditions; indeed it seems that islands are peculiarly fitted for these animals; for frogs have been introduced into Madeira, the Azores, and Mauritius, and have multiplied so as to become a nuisance. But as these animals and their spawn are immediately killed (with the exception, as far as known, of one Indian species) by sea-water, there would be great difficulty in their transportal across the sea, and therefore we can see why they do not exist on strictly oceanic islands. But why, on the theory of creation, they should not have been created there, it would be very difficult to explain.

Mammals offer another and similar case. I have carefully searched the oldest voyages, and have not found a single instance, free from doubt, of a terrestrial mammal (excluding domesticated animals kept by the natives) inhabiting an island situated above 300 miles from a continent or great continental island; and many islands situated at a much less distance are equally barren. The Falkland

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 Islands, which are inhabited by a wolf-like fox, come nearest to an exception; but this group cannot be considered as oceanic, as it lies on a bank in connection with the mainland at a distance of about 280 miles; moreover, icebergs formerly brought boulders to its western shores, and they may have formerly transported foxes, as now frequently happens in the arctic regions. Yet it cannot be said that small islands will not support at least small mammals, for they occur in many parts of the world on very small islands, when lying close to a continent; and hardly an island can be named on which our smaller quadrupeds have not become naturalised and greatly multiplied. It cannot be said, on the ordinary view of creation, that there has not been time for the creation of mammals; many volcanic islands are sufficiently ancient, as shown by the stupendous degradation which they have suffered, and by their tertiary strata: there has also been time for the production of endemic species belonging to other classes; and on continents it is known that new species of mammals appear and disappear at a quicker rate than other and lower animals. Although terrestrial mammals do not occur on oceanic islands, aerial mammals do occur on almost every island. New Zealand possesses two bats found nowhere else in the world: Norfolk Island, the Viti Archipelago, the Bonin Islands, the Caroline and Marianne Archipelagoes, and Mauritius, all possess their peculiar bats. Why, it may be asked, has the supposed creative force produced bats and no other mammals on remote islands? On my view this question can easily be answered; for no terrestrial mammal can be transported across a wide space of sea, but bats can fly across. Bats have been seen wandering by day far over the Atlantic Ocean; and two North American species, either regularly or occasionally, visit Bermuda, at the distance of 600 miles from the mainland. I hear from Mr. Tomes, who has specially studied this family, that many species have enormous ranges, and are found on continents and on far distant islands. Hence, we have only to suppose that such wandering species have been modified in their new homes in relation to their new position, and we can understand the presence of endemic bats on oceanic islands, with the absence of all other terrestrial mammals.

Another interesting relation exists, namely, between the depth of the sea separating islands from each other, or from the nearest continent, and the degree of affinity of their mammalian inhabitants. Mr. Windsor Earl has made some striking observations on this head, since greatly extended by Mr. Wallace's admirable researches, in regard to the great Malay Archipelago, which is

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 traversed near Celebes by a space of deep ocean, and this separates two widely distinct mammalian faunas. On either side, the islands stand on a moderately shallow submarine bank, and these islands are inhabited by the same or by closely allied quadrupeds. I have not as yet had time to follow up this subject in all quarters of the world; but as far as I have gone, the relation holds good. For instance, Britain is separated by a shallow channel from Europe, and the mammals are the same on both sides; and so it is with all the islands near the shores of Australia. The West Indian Islands, on the other hand, stand on a deeply submerged bank, nearly 1000 fathoms in depth, and here we find American forms, but the species and even the genera are quite distinct. As the amount of modification which animals of all kinds undergo partly depends on the lapse of time, and as the islands which are separated from each other, or from the mainland, by shallow channels, are more likely to have been continuously united within a recent period than the islands separated by deeper channels, we can understand how it is that a relation exists between the depth of the sea separating two mammalian faunas, and the degree of their affinity,— a relation which is quite inexplicable on the theory of independent acts of creation.

The foregoing statements in regard to the inhabitants of oceanic islands,— namely, the fewness of the species, with a large proportion consisting of endemic forms — the members of certain groups, but not those of other groups in the same class, having been modified — the absence of certain whole orders, as of batrachians and of terrestrial mammals, notwithstanding the presence of aerial bats, the singular proportions of certain orders of plants,— herbaceous forms having been developed into trees, &c.,— seem to me to accord better with the belief in the efficiency of occasional means of transport, carried on during a long course of time, than with the belief in the former connection of all oceanic islands with the nearest continent; for on this latter view it is probable that the various classes would have immigrated more uniformly, and from the species having entered in a body, their mutual relations would not have been much disturbed, and consequently, they would either have not been modified, or all the species in a more equable manner.

I do not deny that there are many and serious difficulties in understanding how many of the inhabitants of the more remote islands, whether still retaining the same specific form or subsequently modified, have reached their present homes. But the probability of other islands having once existed as halting-places, of which not a wreck now remains, must not be overlooked. I will

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