of Mrs. Margaret
Bertram of Singleside.--Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George
II.).

=Morte d'Arthur=, a compilation of Arthurian tales, called on the
title-page _The History of Prince Arthur_, compiled from the French by
Sir Thomas Malory, and printed by William Caxton in 1470. It is divided
into three parts. The first part contains the birth of King Arthur, the
establishment of the Round Table, the romance of Balin and Balan, and
the beautiful allegory of Gareth and Linet'. The second part is mainly
the romance of Sir Tristram. The third part is the romance of Sir
Launcelot, the quest of the Holy Graal, and the death of Arthur,
Guenever, Tristram, Lamorake, and Launcelot.

[Asterism] The difference of style in the third part is very striking.
The end of ch. 44, pt. i., is manifestly the close of a romance. The
separate romances are not marked by any formal indication; but, in the
modern editions, the whole is divided into chapters, and these are
provided with brief abstracts of their contents.

This book was finished the ninth year of the reign of King Edward
IV. by Sir Thomas Malory, knight. Thus endeth this noble and joyous
book, entitled _La Morte d'Arthur_, notwithstanding it treateth of
the birth, life and acts of the said King Arthur, and of his noble
knights of the Round Table ... and the achieving of the Holy
Sancgreall, and in the end the dolorous death and departing out of
the world of them all.--Concluding paragraph.

_Morte d'Arthur_, by Tennyson. The poet follows closely the story of the
death of Arthur, as told by Malory. The king is borne off the field by
Sir Bedivere. Arthur orders the knight to throw his sword Excalibur into
the mere. Twice the knight disobeyed the command, intending to save the
sword; but the dying king detected the fraud, and insisted on being
obeyed. Sir Bedivere then cast the sword into the mere, and an arm,
clothed in white samite, caught it by the hilt, brandished it three
times, and drew it into the mere. Sir Bedivere then carried the dying
king to a barge, in which were three queens, who conveyed him to the
island-valley of Avil'ion, "where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,
nor ever wind blows loudly." Here was he taken to be healed of his
grievous wound; but whether he lived or died we are not told.

In his "Idylls of the King," Tennyson has taken the stories as told by
Malory, and has turned them into his own melodious ver