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water, which had been for fome time concealed, now murmured through a thousand beds, and vifiting each little flower, added vigour to its vegetation and poignancy to its fragrance. Along the edges of the wood and beneath the fhadows of the trees, an innumerable hoft of glow-worms lighted their innocuous fires, juftrous as the gems of Golconda, ani Sir Gawen, defirous yet longer to enjoy the fcene, went forward with light footsteps on the lawn; all was calm, and, except the breeze of night, that fighed foft and fweetly through the world of leaves, a perfect filence prevailed. Not many minutes, however, had elapfed, before the fame inchanting mu fic, to which he had liftened with fo much rapture in the vale, again arrefted his ear, and prefently he discovered on the border of the lawn, just rising above the wood, and floating on the bofom of the air, a being of the moft delicate form; from his fhoulders ftreamed a tunic of the tendereft blue, his wings and feet were clothed in downy filver, and in his grafp he had a wand white as the mountain fnow. He rose swiftly in the air, his brilliance became exceffive from the lunar rays, his fong echoed through the vault of night, but having quickly diminished to the fize and appearance of the evening ftar, it died away, and the next moment he was loft in ether. Sir Gawen ftill fixed his eye on that part of the heavens where the vifion had difappeared, and fhortly had the pleasure of again feeing the ftar-like radiance, which in an inftant unfolded itfelf into the full and fine dimenfions of the beauteous being, who, having collected dew from the cold vales of Saturn, now defcended rapidly towards the earth, and waving his wand as he paffed athwart the woods, a number of like form and garb flew round bim, and, all alighting in the lawn, feparated at equal diftances on its circumference, and then fhaking their wings, which spread a prefume through the air, burst into one general fong. Sir Gawen, who, apprehenfive of being difcovered, had retreated within the fhadow of fome molly oaks, now waited with eager expectation the event of fo fingular à fcene. In a few moments a bevy of elegant nymphs dancing two by two, iffued from the wood on the right, and an equal number of warlike knights, accompanied by a band of minstrels, from that of the left. The knights were clothed in green; on their bofoms fhone a plate of burnished steel, and in their hands they

grafped a golden targe and lance of beamy luftre. The nymphs, whofe form and fymmetry were beyond whatever poets dream, were dreffe i in robes of white, their zones were azure, dropt with diamonds, and their light brown hair, decked with rofes, hung in ample ringlets. So quick, fo light, and airy was their motion, that the turf, the flowers fhrunk not to the gentle preffure, and each fmiling on her favourite kaight, he flung his brilliant arms afide and inin gled in the dance.

Whilst they thus flew in rapid meafures o'er the lawn, Sir Gawen, forgettings fituation, and impatient to falute the affembly, involuntarily ftept forward, and inftantaneously a fhrill and hollow guft of wind murmured through the woods, the moon dipt into a cloud, and the knights, the dames, and aerial fpirits, vanished from the view, leaving the amazed Sir Gawen to repent at leifure of his precipitate intrunion; fcarce, however, had he time to determine what plan he fhould purfue, when a gleam of light flashed fuddenly along the horizon, and the beauteous being, whom he first beheld in the air, flood before him; he waved his fnowy wand, and pointing to the wood, which now appeared sparkling with a thousand fires, moved gen tly on. Sir Gawen felt an irrefiftible impulfe which compelled him to follow, and having penetrated the wood, he perceived many bright rays of light, which, darting like the beams of the fun, through every part of it, most beautifully illumined the fhafts of the trees. As they advanced forwards, the radiance' became more intense and converged towards a centre, and the fairy being, turning quickly round, commanded Sir. Gawen to kneel down, and having fqueezed the juice of an herb into his eyes, bade him now proceed, but that no mortal-eye, unless its powers of vision were encreased, could endure the glory that would fhortly burft upon them. Scarce had he uttered thede words, when they entered an amphitheatre; in its centre was a throne of ivory inlaid with fapphires, on which fat a female form of exquifite beauty, a plain coronet of gold obliquely croffed her flowing hair, and her robe of white fatin hung negligent in ample folds. Around her food five and twenty nymphs clothed in white and gold, and holding lighted tapers; beyond these were fifty of the aerial beings, their wings of downy filver fretched for fiight, and each a burning

taper

taper in his hand; and lafly, on the circumference of the amphitheatre shone one hundred knights in mail of tempered feel, in one hand they thook aloft a targe of maffy diamond, and in the other flafhed a taper. So exceffive was the reflection, that the targes had the luftre of an hundred funs, and, when fhaken, fent forth freams of vivid lightning; from the gold, the filver, and the fapphires rushed a flood of tinted light, that mingling threw upon the eye a feries of revolving hues. Sir Gawen imprefied with awe, with wonder, and delight, fell proftrate on the ground, whil the fairy fpirit advancing, knelt and prefented to the queen a cryftal vafe. She rofe, the waved her hand, and smiling, bade Sir Gawen to approach. "Gentle * ftranger," the exclaimed, "let not "fear appal thine heart, for to him whom courage, truth, and piety have "diflinguifhed, our friendship and our "love is given. Spirits of the bleft we are, our sweet employment to befriend "the wretched and the weary, to lull "the torture of ar guifh, and the horror of defpair. Ah! never fhall the tear

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put to flight the minifters of darknes,

we placed thee in the moon-light vale, "and now, upon thy head I pour the "planetary dew, from Hecate's dread

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agents, it will free thee from wilder "ing fearand gloomy fuperftition." She ended, and Sir Gawen, impatient to exprefs his gratitude, was about to speak, when fuddenly the light turned pale and died away, the fpirits fled, and mufic felt and fweet was heard remotely in the air Sir Gawen ftarted, and in place of the refulgent fcene of magic, he beheld a public road, his horfe cropping the g which grew upon its edge, and a village at a little diftance, on whofe spire, the rifing fun had fhed his earliest beams.

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Still flush'd with Beatty's vernal bloom, Parent of blifs the Queen of Love.

O! you will know her, she has stole
The luftre of my Delia's eye;
Admit her, hail her-for my foul
Breathes double life when she is migh.

If then ftern Wisdom at my gate
Should knock with all her formal train,
Tell her I'm bufy-she may wait,
Or, if the chufes-call again.

No fweet folicitude to know
For others blifs, for others woc,
A frozen apathy to find
A fad vacuity of mind?
O haften back then, idle boy,
And with thine anguish bring thy joy!
Return with all thy torments here,
And let me hope, and doubt, and fear.
O rend my heart with ev'ry pain!
But let me, let me love again.

Go

TO LOVE.

O, idle Boy! I quit thy pow'r;
Thy couch of many a thorn and
flow't;

Thy twanging bow, thine arrow keen,
'Deceitful beauty's timid mien;

The feign'd furprise, the roguish leer,
The tender fmile the thrilling tear,
Have no no pangs, no joys for me,
So fare thee well, for I am free.
Then flutter hence on wanton wing,
Or lave thee in yon lucid fpring,
Or take thy bev'rage from the rofe,
Or on Louifa's breast repose:
I wish thee well, for pleasures paft,
Yet blefs the hour, I'm free at last.

But fure, methinks the altef'd day
Scatters around á mournful ray;
And chilling ev'ry zephyr blows,
And ev'ry stream untuneful flows;
No rapture fwells the linnet's voice,
No more the vocal groves rejoice;
And e'en thy fong, fweet Bird of Eve!
With whom fo oft I lov'd to grieve,
Now fcarce regarded meets my ear,
Unanfwer'd by a figh or tear.
No more with devious ftep I chufe
To brush the mountain's morning dews;
To drink the fpirit of the breeze,
Or wander midft o'er aching trees;
Or woo with undisturb'd delight,
The pale cheek'd virgin of the night,
That piercing thro' the leafy bow'r,
Throws on the ground a filv'ry show'r.
Alas! is all this boafted eafe,
To lofe each warm defire to please,

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HAIL!

ADDRESS

ΤΟ

POES Y.

TAIL! defcendant of the sky!
Hail divineft Poefy!

Source of many a heart-felt joy,
Known to me a rhyming boy,
Come and bless my humble roof
With thy prefence, while aloof
'Sorrow ftands, and Grief, and Fear,
Nor cares of bus'nefs interfere.
Lo! I render all my foul
To thy gentle fweet controul;
Every thought to thee refign,
For all thy pleasures then are mine.
Time was with thee I crofs'd the moor;
And wander'd meads and mountains o'er
And liften'd to the woodlark's fong,
As through the groves we paft along;
Well pleas'd you heard my first essay,
And prais'd, tho' humble was the lay.
And I remember too full well,
You vow'd with me to come and dwell.
Come, fweet Nymph, in white attire,
My bofom burns with foft defire,
Once more to clafp thee in my arms,
And riot on thy heav'nly charms.
No more I'll draw back, and afraid,
Refufe to kiss thee, fmiling maid;
But here I fwear by Mufes Nine,
And by Apollo's harp divine;.
By modeft Love's fuperb delights,
His am'rous days, more rapt rous nights,
No other fair fhall fhare my breaft.
Or my affectious from thee wreft.-
No-I will ever conftant be

To none, fair Nymph, to none but thée,
If thou will come and live with me.

Monthly Regiaer

For SEPTEMBER 1790.

FRANCE.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.

Sept. 1.

HE Affembly, after hearing the reTHE port of the Committees of Marine and Finances, decreed,

1. From the 1st of September the Minifter of the Marine fhall give in an account monthly of the expences incurred in theports and arfenals, that there may never be more than one month in arrear. That he fhall also addrefs to the Affembly a fummary of the payment, certified by the administrators: Thefe to be examined and reported upon by the Committee of Marine,

2. From the 1ft of January 1790, the accounts of the marine in the colonies fhall be delivered by the Minister in fame way and manner as the former article, as far as the events of the fea will admit.

3. The Minister will furnish, with all poffible hafte, an account of the receipts and difbursements, ordinary and extraordinary, relative to the department of arrears in the marine and colonies.

4 Decrees, That the fum of 47,662,855 livres, voted in December last, under the different heads to which it was then affigned, fhall continue to be at the difpofal of the Minifter at the head of the Marine, at the rate of a twelfth part monthly, to the end of this prefent year. The Minister to be refponfible for the application of the

fame.

A letter and a proclamation of M. de Bouille, addreffed to the Minifter of War, was read by the Prefident. In his letter he ftates, that having learnt from M. de Pecheloche, Aid de Camp of M. de la Fayette, that M. de Marfaigne had been delivered by the carabineers into the hands of the garrifon of Nancy, and fearing that this new circumitance would encreate the fpirit of infurrection of that garrifon, he has published a proclamation, in which he exhorts them to return to their duty, and warns them that he is about to employ against them all that force with which he VOL. XII. No. 69.

E

has been entrusted for the punishment of crimes. The General wifhes to know whether the Affembly approves of this meafure.

M. Pechcloche, Aid de Camp to M. de la Fayette, informed the Affembly that he had been with the foldiers at Nancy, and that they feemed to have full confidence in him when he declared that the accounts which they demanded would be faithfully rendered to them; but the Swifs foldiers had declared, "We are not French, we are Swifs, we must have money."

The fitting was finished by reading the following letter from M. Montmorin"Mr President,

"The King, in commanding me to make known to the National Affembly, that he had fanctioned the decree of the 26th ult. concerning the conformation of our defenfive and commercial engagements with Spain, directed me at the fame time to inform them, that he had charged me to employ the neceffary means to fulfil the views of the Affembly, relative to the explanations of which the treaty that has bound us to Spain fince 1761 is fufceptible.

"I have sent to his Majesty's Ambaflador at the Court of London the requifite inftructions, that, in apprizing the English Ministry of our armaments, he might renew, at the fame time, the most positive affurances of our pacific intentions.

"The Marine minifter has already informed the Affembly of the orders he has received from his Majefty, in regard to the armaments they have deceed, and he has prefented the table of the expence they will require. I thould add to you, that, to fulfil gradually the views of the Affembly, his Majefty has determined to begin by equiping fixteen fhips, which, added to thofe now armed, will encreafe the number to thirty. His Majefty has given orders at the fame time, that the neceffary measures be taken to enable him to compleat the number to forty-five fhips voted by the Affembly, with all the aifpatch which any poffible turn of affairs may require.

"This

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