And now with equal strength both war again, Then, though with equal views each hoped and feared, As if he had the palm, young Hermes flies Extols his own Black troops, with frequent spite Of this dispute, and do you triumph now? They front the storm of war; around them Fear, All meet in arms, and man to man oppose, Broke off, and, her contempt of death to show, For Hermes now led forward, void of fear, That onward chafed, and pranced, and pawed amain. On the long-wished-for spot, from whence he could Shouted for joy, and filled the air with cries; Fell his brave Knight, beneath the Monarch's spear. But still fought on with courage and with care. And Hermes breathed revenge where'er he strayed. Sole stood the King, the midst of all the plain, As when the ruddy morn ascending high Has chased the twinkling stars from all the sky, Your star, fair Venus, still retains its light, And, loveliest, goes the latest out of sight, No safety's left, no gleams of hope remain; Yet did he not as vanquished quit the plain, But tried to shut himself between the foe,Unhurt through swords and spears he hoped to go, Until no room was left to shun the fatal blow. For if none threatened his immediate fate, And his next move must ruin all his state, All their past toil and labor is in vain, Vain all the bloody carnage of the plain,Neither would triumph then, the laurel neither gain. Therefore through each void space and desert tent By different moves his various course he bent: The Black King watched him with observant eye, Followed him close, but left him room to fly. Then when he saw him take the furthest line, He sent the Queen his motions to confine, And guard the second rank, that he could go. No further now than to that distant row. The sable monarch then with cheerful mien Approached, but always with one space between. But as the King stood o'er against him there, Helpless, forlorn, and sunk in his despair, The martial Queen her lucky moment knew, Seized on the furthest seat with fatal view, Nor left the unhappy King a place to flee unto. At length in vengeance her keen sword she draws, Gave her the men and checkered board, embossed And taught her how the game was to be played. NOTES TO GOLDSMITH. PAGE 23. THE TRAVELLER. This poem was first published in December, 1764, by John Newbery, price 1s. 6d. It went through nine editions in his lifetime, and is here reprinted from the 9th 4to, 1774, compared with the 1st, and with the 6th corrected 4to, 1770. Page 23, line 1.- "Chamier once asked him what he meant by 'slow,'in the first line of 'The Traveller,' 'Remote, unfriended, melancholy, slow.' -the last word Did he mean tardiness of locomotion? Goldsmith, who would say something without consideration, answered, 'Yes.' I was sitting by, and said, 'No, sir; you do not mean tardiness of locomotion; you mean that sluggishness of mind which comes upon a man in solitude.'"-JOHNSON, in Boswell. Page 23, line 3.- Carinthia was visited by Goldsmith in 1755, and still (1854) retains its character for inhospitality. Page 36, line 12. "To stop too fearful, and too faint to go." This line was written by Dr. Johnson. Page 36, line 20.—The concluding ten lines, except the last couplet but one, were written by Dr. Johnson. Page 36, line 28. "Luke's iron crown, and Damiens' bed of steel." When Tom Davies, at the request of Grainger, asked Goldsmith about this line, he was referred for an explanation of Luke's iron crown to a book called Geographie Curieuse ; the poet added, that by Damiens' bed of steel he meant the rack. Mr. Bolton Corney states that the names of the brothers were Zeck, Luke and George; following, probably, the passage to that effect in Boswell's Johnson, referring to the "Respublica Hungarica." We presume that the volume to which Boswell alludes is one cited as Respublica et Status Hungariæ (Elzevir, 1634), in a number of the European Magazine for February, 1790. The passage there cited we translate as follows, placing explanatory words in brackets: "In the year 1514 a great insurrection broke out in Hungary; for while the Cardinal of Strigonium [Gran] was preaching a crusade [against the Turks] to the people, and many thousands had enrolled their names under him, an embassy of Ulasdislaus meanwhile concludes a treaty with Selim the Sultan. Those who had enlisted, however, by no means laid aside their arms on this account: but make Captain George Zeck, who had several times routed the Turks, their king: and first throughout Hungary, as if inflamed by madness, break into numerous castles and monasteries. As many nobles as they can, with their wives and children, they butcher; lay waste their property; violate their virgins; transfix the |