1796.] 
Ver erat.| A defcription of Spring, 
gradually opening with all the beautics 
-of a fine climate, enrapturing the fenfes, 
and fhedding its genial influence over 
the heart, cannot afford fewer than fifty 
lines of the fineft defcriptive poetry, to 
a writer poffefled of a happy imagina- 
tion, or—a good memory. ‘This,/too, isa 
{pring decorated with the prefence of 
Flora herfelf; and, therefore, may, at 
pleafure, be dreffed out with a profufion 
of the flowers of every climate and fea- 
Yon. 
Errabom.|,’The lady tells the ftory 
herfelf, which makes it the more inte- 
refting, though it may be a check upon 
dome paris of the defcription. “ I was 
roving ;” fays fhe (for fuch is the force 
of the Latin imperfeét tenfe). Was fhe 
roving without an object? Probably not. 
W har, then, was this object? At leatt, fhe 
was thinking: What were her thoughts ? 
Without doubt, they partook, in fome 
degree, of the foftnefs of the feafon. 
Here is fair feope for fome pretty fenti- 
mental writing, of which an adept will 
make good ule. A defcriptien of her 
drefs would naturaliy employ the pen of 
a pociefs; and, though Flora cannot di- 
retly praife her own beauty, the may 
give fome delicate hints about figure and 
complexion, which wi! agreeably im- 
prefs the reader. 
Lephyrus confpexit.4 A blooming young 
leity, the very model of grace and agi- 
dity, who fuddenly appears, catches a 
glimpfe of the fair-one, ftops fhort, 
amazed and enraptured, and gazes with 
all the fervour of admiration and defire, 
will certainly furnifh matter for two or 
three hundred lines, highly interefting 
to every heart fufceptible of the tender 
paffion, 
Abibam.| A treafure of fentiment lurks 
under this fingle word. ‘* I was de- 
parting,” fays the ; but with what lin- 
gering reluctant fteps! with what a 
ftruggle between unfatisfied curiofity and, 
perhaps, a rifing emotion of a more ten- 
der kind, on the one hand, and modefty’ 
and apprehenfion on the other! A full 
and fair confeffion, to a confidante of all 
that paffed in her bofom on this very 
interefting occafion, will be worth a 
whole letter in Roufleau or Richardfon. 
Infequitur.| A word of alarm! I fee 
the amorous god, his face glowing with 
defire, and every mufcle in agitation, 
unable to bear the lofs of the object 
which had fo deeply impreffed itfelf 
upon his imagination, follow her, in- 
ftingtively, with hurried pace, refolved 
Refearches of Fauvel in Greece, Se 
845 
to overtake, though fearful of urging 
her to flight. 
Fugio. | Poor Flora! with what energy 
wilt thou paint thy fenfations, when, 
turning thy head at the found, thou per- 
ceivedft thy fond purfuer clofe upon thee, 
and ready to feize thee as his prey! Away 
fhe {prings, with all the velocity that fear 
can give; anda race commences, which 
may be made as long as the relator 
choofes; for Ovid fays nothing to limit 
itr. "The flight of Daphne, Svrinx, and 
Arethufa, may be contulted on the occa-~ 
fion, for cireumftances and fimiles.’ Flora, 
doubrlefs, ran her beft4 and why fhould 
fhe not be as nimble as other nymphs in 
the fame emergency ? 
Fortior ille fut.\ “ He preved the 
ftrongeft,” favs Flora, with equal delt- 
cacy and.exprefiivenets. The misfortune 
and the excufe are implied im the fame 
words. It is not for one to fuggeft, to 
a fentimental writer, how much, or how 
little, of the cataftrophe fhould enter in- 
tothe paraphrafe. Obvioutly a good deal 
may be faid, and yet not 7/00 much (aid. 
I inall only hint, that, from the modera- 
tion and lenity of Flora’s words, and 
from our knowledge that Zephyr and 
the afterwards lived on intimate terms 
together, there is reaion to believe, that 
her terror and de{pair on the occafon, 
did not rife to the pitch fometimcs ex- 
perienced in fimilar cafes; and that an- 
ger and refifiance were, In a reafonable 
time, fucceeded by patience and refip- 
nation. 
From the topics here fuggefted, I 
fhould not gueftion, that a piece, at leaft 
as long as any in Dedfley’s collection, 
might, with eafe, be formed; nor can = 
doubt, that, in cer/aim bands, it would 
prove highly interefting to all lovers of 
poetry and fentiment. That this well- 
intended hint may not be neglected, 1s 
the earnef with of 
PHILOMUSE. 
——=a 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
Qo in a former Number 
of your much admired Mitcellany, 
a fhort notice, relative to the Jabours and 
objeéts of FAUVEL, the French painter, 
I conceive a more detailed account of 
the refearches of that laborious antiqua- 
rian and artift, may be highly interefting 
to your readers. 
For the laft fifteen years, FAUVEL has 
been engaged in making unportant dif- 
coveries in Greece, and the Hlands of 
Ee the 





















