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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
it figures of men on horseback , of fierce demeanour , clad in turbans and robes of various colours , after the fashion of the Arabs , with scimitars hanging from their necks , and crossbows at their saddle hacks , and they carried banners and pennons with divers devices . Above them was inscribed in Greek characters , c Rash monarch ! behold the men who are to hurl thee from thy throne and subdue thy kingdom !* " At sight of these things the king was troubled in spirit , and dismay fell upon his attendants . While they were yet regarding the
paintings , it seemed as if the figures began to move , and a faint sound of warlike tumult arose from the cloth , with the clash of cj 7 inbal and bray of trumpet , the neigh of steed and shout of army ; but all was heard indistinctly as if afar off , or in a reverie or dream . The more
they gazed , the plainer became the motion , and the louder the noise ; and the linen cloth rolled forth , and amplified , and spread out , as it were a mighty banner , and filled the hall , and mingled with the air until its texture was no longer visible , or appeared as a transparent cloud ; and the shadowy figures became all in motion , and the din and uproar became fiercer and fiercer ; and whether the whole were an animated picture , or a vision , or an array of embodied spirits , conjured
up by supernatural power , no one present could tell . They beheld before them a great field of battle , where Christians and Moslems were engaged in deadly conflict . They heard the rush and tramp of steeds , the blast of trump and clarion , the clash of cymbal , and the stormy din of a thousand drums . There was the clash of swords , and maces , and battle-axes , with the whistling of arrows , and
the hurling of darts and lances . The Christians qutnled before the foe ; the Infidels pressed upon them and put them to utter rout ; the standard of the cross was cast down , the banner of Spain was trodden under foot , the air resounded with shouts of triumph , with yells of fury , and with the groans of dying men . Amidst the living squadrons , king Roderick beheld a crowned warrior , whose back was
turned towards him , but whose armour and device were his own , and who was mounted on a white steed that resembled his own war-horse , iErelia . In the confusion of the flight , the warrior was dismounted , and was no longer to be seen , and iErelia galloped wildly through the field of battle without a rider . " Roderick staid to see no more , but rushed from the fatal hall , followed by his terrified attendants . On issuing into the open air they found the two ancient guardians of the tower lying dead at the portal ,
as though they had been crushed by some mighty blow . All nature , which had been clear and serene , whs now id wild uproar . Tin * heavens were darkened by heavy cloud * ; loud hursts of thunder rent the air , tinrf the earth was deluged with rain and rattling hail . "The king ordered thit the iron portal should he eloseil ; but the door was immoveabie , and the cavalier ** were dismayed l > v tlu ?
tremendous turmoil and the mingled shouts and groans that continued to prevail within . The king tuui his train hastened biirk to Toledo , pursued and pelted by the tempest . The mountains shook and echoed with the thunder , trees were uprooted and blown down , and the Tngus raged and roared , and flowed above ith hanks . It seemed to the affrighted courtiers as if the phantom legions ol the tower had isniud forth and mingled with the storm ; for amidst the claps of thunder
Untitled Article
Legends of the Conquest of Spain . 85
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1836, page 85, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2654/page/21/
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