What, however, is thus essentially popular in its sources and character,--what, instead of going out from the more elevated classes of the nation, was neglected or discountenanced by them,--is, from its very wildness, little likely to take well-defined forms, or to be traced, from its origin, by the dates and other proofs which accompany such portions of the national literature as fell earlier under the protection of the higher orders of society. But though we may not be able to make out an exact arrangement or a detailed history of what was necessarily so free and always so little watched, it can still be distributed into four different classes, and will afford tolerable materials for a notice of its progress and condition under each. These four classes are, first, the BALLADS, or the poetry, both narrative and lyrical, of the common people, from the earliest times; second, the CHRONICLES, or the half-genuine, half-fabulous histories of the great events and heroes of the national annals, which, though originally begun by authority of the state, were always deeply imbued with the popular feelings and character; third, the ROMANCES OF CHIVALRY, intimately connected with both the others, and, after a time, as passionately admired as either by the whole nation; and, fourth, the DRAMA, which, in its origin, has always been a popular and religious amusement, and was hardly less so in Spain than it was in Greece or in France. These four classes compose what was generally most valued in Spanish literature during the latter part of the fourteenth century, the whole of the fifteenth, and much of the sixteenth. They rested on the deep foundations of the national character, and therefore, by their very nature, were opposed to the Provençal, the Italian, and the courtly schools, which flourished during the same period, and which will be subsequently examined. * * * * *