the popular imagination. The characters of Arthur, of Launcelot and of
Tristram became the objects of an ardent admiration, and the standards
of excellence to which many strove to attain. The most exaggerated
ideas of chivalry contained in the romances were adopted in actual
life. Knights and ladies took upon themselves adventures and cultivated
manners, which vied in extravagance with those of imaginary beings. The
personality of King Arthur was so intensely realized, that for
centuries it was believed that he would one day return from beyond the
grave to resume his glorious rule. On his tomb were supposed to be
inscribed the words:

Hic jacet Arthurus rex, quondam rexque futurus.

Henry II visited his legendary grave at Glastonbury, and named his
grandson Arthur. Edward I held a Round Table at Kenilworth. Remarkable
features of nature--rocks, caves, and mounds were associated in the
popular mind with the achievements of Arthur, and many are connected
with them by name at the present day.

But the romances relating to Arthur were far more than the reflection
of passing thoughts and customs destined to perish with the
generations who read them. They embodied the ideals of the English race
six centuries ago, and although appearing in a different form, those
ideals are still our own. The examples presented in romantic fiction of
manly courage, of self-sacrificing devotion, of simplicity of
character, and of chivalric consideration for the weakness of the
female sex, may excite our admiration and sympathy, as well as that of
a fierce and untutored knighthood. These tales were the product of the
English mind in its boyhood, and it is to the youth of our day that
they are best adapted and most attractive; but the rationalism of the