464 
The three last lines allude to the aneo- 
dote related im Dr. Johnson’s Life of 
Collins. 
CHARTERS. 
The ceremony of laying a knife or 
sword upon the altar was the usual mode 
of ratifying grants before the invention of 
seals; and it appears that it was not en- 
tirely laid aside afterwards. King Stc- 
phen’s last charter % the nuns of Bark- 
ing, in Essex, was executed at the mo- 
nastery by the ceremony of laying his 
Original Poetry. 
[June I, 
knife upon the altar of the Virgin Mary 
and St. Ethelburgh. (See Lysons’ En- 
virons of London, vol 11. p. 60). 
CHESS. 
Tn the Matricularium Librarize inal’ 
teri1 Petriburgensis, L. vu. (printed in 
Gunton, p. 195), are ‘* Versus de Ludo 
Scaccarum.” Robert Helcot, who lived 
anno 1349, wrote de ludo Scaccorum ; 
but by Pitts it may seem that his books 
began in prose. ‘ The Matricularium 
(says Gunton), was a very antient one.” 
ORIGINAL POETRY. 
EE 
WERSES WRITTEN BY MISS BETTY 
PITT, (SISTER TO THE LATE EARL 
OF CHATHAM,) ABOUT THE YEAR 
1750. 
AyAPey the virgin state, each maid how 
¢ blest, 
*Tifi cruel love invades her tender breast ! 
¥ once was bless’d with all that heav’n could 
give, 
And Pope and Shakespeare read from morn 
till eve 5 
For those I left th’ embroider’d eldest son, 
Tho” many courted, I ne’er heeded one 3 
Like not Amynta, but in Tasso’s strain, 
While Digby was my. constant swain 5 
Intent alone my joys in books to find,=—= 
And all my wishes an accomplish'd mind : 
My wish arriv’d, and just when happy 
made, 
Digby step’d in, and love must be obey'd! 
Digby, so heay’n ordain’d, my bliss supreme, 
My midday sentiment, my midnight dream ! 
Good humour, beauty, wit, and radiant 
youth, 
With the too specious charm, secure in 
truth ; 
Conspir’d to make that hero.all divine, 
Conspir’d to make me wish that here mine. 
In notes more sweet than Philomela sings, 
He said a thousand, lvok’d ten thousand 
things; 
Gods ! how he look’d, when to my ravish’d 
sight 
My fate first shew’d him as the north-star 
bright 5 
“Where’er he fix’d-like that, or light as air, 
He quits his love and seeks another fair! 
E’en now regardless af my sense or charms, 
He flies to Sally, happy Sally’s arms ! 
Oh! aid me, Murray ;* Call my wand’ring 
Swain, 
Thy tuneful tongue shall never callin vain ; 
Oh! hear me, Murray ! pity, Murray move, 
And plead the cause, the sweetest cause of 
love! 
* Earl of Mansfield. 
But farewell, hope ; 
gdbicnil 
si once lov’d books 
‘Avaunt philosophy and Murray too !— 
Digby, dear Digby, weds this fatal night, 
Pope, I deny, ‘* whatever is, is right.” 
$ = 
TRANSLATION OF A PETITE CHANSON. 
QUE VOS YEUX. 
WHAT mean those eyes, those lovely 
glances ! 
That look which thus my soul entrances ? 
If they speak true, you love me dearly, 
But, Chloe, do they speak sincerely ? 
Say does the tongue of Chioe’s heart 
Prompt the soft language they impart ? 
If they are not Love’s faithful mirror, 
Unveil the dear enchanting error 5 
Nor let those flattering eyes convey, 
What your heart never meant to say. 
Leicester, March, 1807. W. Gewr. 
= 
THE BENIGHTED PEASANTS. 
pr was the night, and o’er the plain 
The shrill blast echoed to the ee 
Loud foaming from afar : 
Deeply the distant thunder roll‘d, 
And light’ning quick each peal Ganctaily 
*Mid elemental war. 
O’er the bleak heath a peasant hied, 
His faithful partner by his side, 
An infant in her arms: 
Quickly, with trembling step, she pasts 
While he, .as tender looks he eA 
Thus quell’d her fond alarms. 
Haste thee, Ermina, to our vot, 
Where, all our present cares forgot, 
Beside our chearful fire, r 
Our sons shall welcome our return, 
Nor shall in vain our bosoms burn 
With every fond desire. 
Nay; start not, love, ’tis but the wind, 
That, rustling through some copse behind, 
Shrill whistles o’er the:plain ; 
While I am near, this faithful arm 
Shall guard you from impending harm, 
And chase away each pain. 
Truth 
