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And now with equal strength both war again,
And bring their second wives upon the plain;

Then, though with equal views each hoped and feared,
Yet, as if every doubt had disappeared,

As if he had the palm, young Hermes flies
Into excess of joy; with deep disguise,

Extols his own Black troops, with frequent spite
And with invective taunts disdains the White.
Whom Phoebus thus reproved with quick return-
As yet we cannot the decision learn

Of this dispute, and do you triumph now?
Then your big words and vauntings I'll allow,
When you the battle shall completely gain;
At present I shall make your boasting vain.
He said, and forward led the daring Queen;
Instant the fury of the bloody scene
Rises tumultuous, swift the warriors fly
From either side to conquer or to die.

They front the storm of war; around them Fear,
Terror, and Death, perpetually appear.

All meet in arms, and man to man oppose,
Each from their camp attempts to drive their foes;
Each tries by turns to force the hostile lines;
Chance and impatience blast their best designs.
The sable Queen spread terror as she went
Through the mid ranks: with more reserved intent
The adverse dame declined the open fray,
And to the King in private stole away :
Then took the royal guard, and bursting in,
With fatal menace close besieged the King.
Alarmed at this, the swarthy Queen, in haste,
From all her havoc and destructive waste

Broke off, and, her contempt of death to show,
Leaped in between the monarch and the foe,
To save the King and state from this impending blow.
But Phoebus met a worse misfortune here:

For Hermes now led forward, void of fear,
His furious horse into the open plain,

That onward chafed, and pranced, and pawed amain.
Nor ceased from his attempts until he stood

On the long-wished-for spot, from whence he could
Slay King or Queen. O'erwhelmed with sudden fears,
Apollo saw, and could not keep from tears.
Now all seemed ready to be overthrown;
His strength was withered, every hope was flown.
Hermes, exulting at this great surprise,

Shouted for joy, and filled the air with cries;
Instant he sent the Queen to shades below,
And of her spoils made a triumphant show.
But in return, and in his mid career,

Fell his brave Knight, beneath the Monarch's spear.
Phoebus, however, did not yet despair,

But still fought on with courage and with care.
He had but two poor common men to show,
And Mars's favorite with his ivory bow.
The thoughts of ruin made them dare their best
To save their King, so fatally distressed.
But the sad hour required not such an aid;

And Hermes breathed revenge where'er he strayed.
Fierce comes the sable Queen with fatal threat,
Surrounds the monarch in his royal seat;
Rushed here and there, nor rested till she slew
The last remainder of the whitened crew.

Sole stood the King, the midst of all the plain,
Weak and defenceless, his companions slain.

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,
Slew him, and ended thus the bloody cause:
And all the gods around approved it with applause.
The victor could not from his insults keep,
But laughed and sneered to see Apollo weep.
Jove called him near, and gave him in his hand
The powerful, happy, and mysterious wand
By which the Shades are called to purer day,
When penal fire has purged their sins away;
By which the guilty are condemned to dwell
In the dark mansions of the deepest hell;
By which he gives us sleep, or sleep denies,
And closes at the last the dying eyes.
Soon after this, the heavenly victor brought
The game on earth, and first the Italians taught.
For (as they say) fair Scacchis he espied
Feeding her cygnets in the silver tide,
(Scacchis, the loveliest Seriad of the place)
And as she strayed, took her to his embrace.
Then, to reward her for her virtue lost,

Gave her the men and checkered board, embossed
With gold and silver curiously inlaid;

And taught her how the game was to be played.
Even now 't is honored with her happy name;
And Rome and all the world admire the game.
All which the Seriads told me heretofore,
When my boy-notes amused the Serian shore.

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

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