1802.) Extraéts from the Port-folio of a Man of Letters. 
I mark’d her eyes, that beam’d with living 
fire, 
Her cheeks, that nature’s rofieft hues exe 
pref, 
Her coral lips, her lovely fnowy breaftt, 
Raptur’d I faw, and thus I ftrike my lyre. 
But why, fweet girl, perplex me fo ? 
Why bid me in thy prefence write? 
Let bet one fun its glory fhow, 
Will not thatone expel the night ? 
But thould two funs at once afcend the fkies, 
Beth warm, both thining bright. in rival 
pride, 
When the poor Indian upward cafts his eyes, 
Ah! how fhould he his wavering worthip 
guide P 
But be it fo—two nymphs I view, 
Both fair, yet here fome difference lies, 
Amelia’s eyes are heav'niy blue, 
And black as floes are Charlotte’s eyes. 
So, pretty maid, my Mufe thall both obey, 
Something from both to grace my fong 
fhall borrow 3 
And I will be thy conftant fwain to day, 
A fwain as conftant to thy friend to-more 
row. 
Toa wavy, who, in Verfesaddreffed to her, bad 
been transformed into a Star, from the Frenche 
By Mrs, LENOIR. 
yo change thee, fair Eliza, toa ftar, 
Is far lefs flatt’ring than perhaps defign’d 5 
They make thee only rule by night from far, 
Form’d to give pleafant days to human 
kind. , 
Renounce a claim injurious to thy pow’rs, © 
Content to fhine in our terrefttial ball ; 
A ftar can glitter but a few fhort hours, | 
Whilft thou, bright maid, haft charms to 
gild them all. 
Extracis from the Port-folio of a Man of Letters. ; 
——e 
LEWIS XI. OF FRANCE. 
HIS monarch, who reigned over that 
fi hi kingdom from 1462 to 1483, had no 
Secretary of State, but made ufe of the 
firft feribe, or Efcrivaiz, as they were 
then called, that could be found. Thefe 
Efcrivains, according to BRANTOME, a 
curious writer of biographical anecdotes, 
who lived near that time, went up and 
down, feeking employment or bufinefs of 
writing, with their gallemard, or pens 
and ink-cafe, faftened to their girdles.— 
Lewis, one day, having occafion to write 
fome difpatches, chanced to light upon 
un petit feribe, fin et bon compagnon, to ule 
Brantome’s own words, a@ poor feribe, but 
a fellows of much drollery. As the writer 
was preparing.to fet to his work, and put 
down what the King fhould pleafe to dic- 
tate, he happened to drop a pair of dice ; 
feeing thefe, Lewis faid, A quoi fervoit 
cette dragée ? ** What ufe have you for’ 
thefe pills??? To this the feribe replied 
without hefitation, Sire, ce? un remedium 
contra peftem ; Sire, it is acure for the 
plague.”’ This ready anfwer fo pleafed 
Lewis, that he faid, Tu es un gentil palli- 
ard, tu es a moy; ‘* Thou art awitty black-- 
guard, and I muft have thee.”’ 
POISON, USED AS A STRATAGEM OF 
: WAR. 
The ule of pozfon in war is now very 
juftly confidered as contrary to the law of 
arms, and a praétice by no means allow- 
able to be ufed againit an enemy.’ It does 
not appear to have been Jooked upon in 
the fame light in the age when Brantome, 
 Montuiy Mac. N°. o1. 
* 
the French writer before-mentioned, lived, 
In his hiftcry of M. de Conty, the French 
King’s Lieutenant for the States of Milan 
and beyond the Alps, he fays the wites of 
a villaze near Milan were fozfoned, by his 
order, in order to deftroy an army of Swifs, 
and this he fiyles un des beaux iraits quwil 
jit en fa charge, a notable exploit in the 
execution of “his command. However, 
the horrid ftratagcem failed of its effect, 
owing, as Brantome fuppofes, «to the drug 
finking tothe bottom of the cafks; but 
200 French freebooters (avanturiers Fran- 
gois) who came there afterwards, and pro- 
bably drained the cafks to the lat drop, 
were all pozfoned to a man. 
ROYAL OATHS. 
In former times fovereign princes had 
their favourite oaths, which they made ufe 
of on all occafions when their feelings or 
pafiions were excited. The oaths of the 
Englifh monarchs are on record, and a 
lift of them might eafily be made out by 
having recourfe to the old. writers of our 
hiftory from the conqueft to the reign of 
Elizabeth, who did not feruple, pious 
Queen and good Mother of the Church of 
England as fhe was, to {wear by God's 
wounds, an. oath ifluing at this time fre. 
quently from vulgar mouths, but foften- 
ed down to.2ouads. BRaNTOME, who 
lived in the Court of Francis the Firtt, 
cotemporary with Henry the Eighth, Eli- 
zabeth’s father, has recorded rhe~oaths 
of four fucceeding monarchs immediately 
preceding his time. He informs his 
readers that Lewis the XIth {wore by the 
Pajgue Dizu (God's Eulter) 3 Charles the 
Ss Vilith 
187. 
