ERRATA. Page 132, line 18, for descriptive read deceptive. 18, for Aquilina read Aquileia. 261, 282, 23, for Sorv... Antöeor read Soröe... Antvor. TALES AND POPULAR FICTIONS, THEIR RESEMBLANCE AND TRANSMISSION. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION-SIMILARITY OF ARTS AND CUSTOMSSIMILARITY OF NAMES-ORIGIN OF THE WORK-IMITATION-CASUAL COINCIDENCE-MILTON-DANTE. MANY years ago I chanced to read in a newspaper an interesting account of the loss of a ship; but in what part of the world it occurred, I am now unable to recollect. The narrative stated, that the crew and passengers saved themselves on two desert islets at some distance from each other. They remained for some time separate; at length they joined, and made their way to a friendly port. To their no small surprise, they found that during their state of separation they had fallen on precisely the same expedients for the supply of their B wants. As they had been in a state of nearly total destitution, the vessel having gone down, these expedients were necessarily various and numerous, and many of them were remarkably ingenious. This little narrative made a strong impression on my mind. I often reflected on it: I compared with it other phænomena as they presented themselves, and insensibly fell into the habit of viewing man as an inventive and independent, rather than a merely imitative being. Aristotle and his authority is high with me— asserts, in his Politics, that "forms of government, and most other things, have been invented over and over again, or rather an infinite number of times, in the long course of ages; for necessity would of itself teach such as were indispensable, and those relating to comfort and elegance would then follow of course." Of the truth, to a certain extent, of these words of the philosopher, I am firmly convinced; and I will freely confess, that I see little strength in the arguments for the original unity of mankind, founded on a similarity of manners, customs and social institutions; and am also inclined to reject these arguments, when brought forward in proof of migrations and colonisation. I know no proof of the former but the testimony of Scripture and physical characters; I admit no evidence of the latter but language and a constant and credible tradition1. 1 Supposing, what has not been demonstrated, that the ancient inhabitants of Attica were divided into classes re |