of pity for him are not far distant from our smiles at his quaint insanities. Since the days of Cervantes one kind only of the chivalrous romances has really survived in literature, and that is the historical romance, of which the "Guerras Civiles de Granada" of the arch-priest Hita, mentioned above, is so good an example. Another satirist, less known than Cervantes, to whom his life bears some resemblance, Quevedo y Villegas (1580-1645), is even a more versatile writer. In prose and verse his writings are very numerous, but his style, learned and obscure, often laboured in the extreme, though pregnant with thought and wit, contrasts unfavourably with the clearness of Cervantes; he holds now in Spanish literature a place nearly analogous to that of Swift among British writers. But we must hurry on. With the downfall of Granada, the discovery of America, the consolidation of the kingdoms of the Peninsula into one nation, real historical study began in Spain. Thus we have in quick succession many works of considerable merit, such as the "Annals of Aragon," by Zurita (1512-80); the "Comunidades of Castille," by Mejia (1549); the great "History of Spain," by the Jesuit Mariana (1536-1632); Herrera's "General History of the Indies" (1549-1625); the "Commentaries on Peru," by the Inca, Garcilasso de la Vega (1540-1616); the monographs of Hurtado de Mendoza on the "Wars of Granada" (1610); the "Expedition of the Catalans," by Moncada (1623); the "Wars of Catalonia," by Melo (1645); and, in literary form superior to all these, the "Conquest of Mexico," by Solis (1685). Of poetry, apart from the stage and from the romances, there is not much of real value to engage our attention. The grandest verses of early Spain are undoubtedly the "Coplas" of Manrique (1476), which have been often translated into English, and which form one of the finest elegies extant in any language. After Garcilassa de la Vega (1503-36), Spanish poets fell into an unworthy imitation of the Italian; and subsequently Gongora (1561-1627) set the example of a still more debased and stilted style, full of affected conceits and mistaken classicalism. The only tolerable epic poem which Spain has yet produced is the "Araucana" of Ercilla, which tells the story of the wars with Indians of that name in Chili, and in which the author had personally taken part.