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Transcriber's Note.

Minor punctuation inconsistencies have been silently repaired. Original
spelling has been retained. A list of unresolved printer errors can be
found at the end of the book. Formatting and special characters are
indicated as follows: _italic_




[Illustration]




[Illustration]




                          _CLASSICAL ENIGMAS_,
                               ADAPTED TO
                        EVERY MONTH IN THE YEAR,
                             COMPOSED FROM
                    THE ENGLISH AND ROMAN HISTORIES,
                    HEATHEN MYTHOLOGY, AND NAMES OF
                            FAMOUS WRITERS:

           Meant to amuse Youths of all Ages, and at the same
             Time exert their Memories, by calling to mind
                what they have read at different Times.

                               BY A LADY.

                                LONDON:
                PRINTED BY W. DARTON, 58, HOLBORN-HILL.

                                 1811.




                        CLASSICAL ENIGMAS, _&c._


[Aries]

    Name the _Queen_ of Old England, whose bigotted zeal,
    Made her subjects the terrors of Popery feel,
    Then that glorious example of goodness and grace,
    The last _Sovereign_, who reign'd, of the true Stuart race.
    The _King_, who unjustly the sceptre to gain,
    Had his friends, and his kindred most cruelly slain.
    Next _him_, whom the puritan party dethron'd,
    And whose faults, by the loss of his head was atton'd.
    Now name that bold _King_, who threw off the yoke
    Treating the Pope, and his Bulls as a joke:
    Who not from religion, but whimsey of passion,
    Declar'd, that the Bible should come into fashion.
    Place these Monarchs together, the first letters take,
    When a Month in the year, they'll certainly make.

  A. R.

[Illustration]


[Sagittarius]

    That _Monster of Rome_, who no equal can claim,
    For the crimes that for ever, have blacken'd his name.
    _Augustus's sister_, great Anthony's wife,
    Whom he left for that beauty, who cost him his life.
    The _Emperor_, who thought it improper to lay,
    When death call'd his soul from his body away,
    Determin'd the summons undaunted to meet,
    And was plac'd by his courtiers erect on his feet.
    That _Prince_ whom the Romans delighted to name,
    As first of their race, tho' from Venus he came.
    That _Emperor_ gigantic, who for his ring chose
    A bracelet, the wrist of his wife could enclose.
    The harsh _Roman Father_, who sternly sat by
    To condemn, and behold, his own children die.
    The _conquer'd_, whom first Cincinnatus did doom
    To pass through the yoke, for contending with Rome.
    Last one of the _Twins_, who was nurs'd by a goat,
    Yet founded old Rome, that great city of note.
    Now take the _initials_, and put them together,
    They'll tell you a month, that has often wet weather.

  A. R.


[Libra]

    The _Grecian_ fam'd for strength of lungs,
    And voice as loud, as fifty tongues;
    The _Nymph_, who answers every tone,
    And sigh for sigh, when your're alone;
    The _Man_ who boldly did aspire,
    To steal the sun's etherial fire;
    Those _regions dark_, you now may tell,
    Where wicked spirits ever dwell;
    Then name the _fields of bliss_ below,
    Where we are told the happy go;
    That _King_, whose vanity appears
    Rewarded, with enormous ears;
    The _Wind_, whose blustering looks inform,
    He rides upon the raging storm;
    And the _lov'd wife_, whom stories tell,
    Her husband went to seek in hell!
    Last name one of the _Judges_ three,
    Who bliss, or punishment decree;
    On all who pass the Stygian wave,
    By Charon ferry'd, king or slave.
    Unite all the first letters well,
    A month within the year they'll tell.

  A. R.


[Capricorn]

    First name me the _Cinque Port_ that's nearest to France,
    Where the Despot of Paris, would like to advance;
    But he fears with the billows of Neptune to strive,
    Well-knowing, he never shall get back alive.
    Now an _Island_, where in the same shire you will find
    An _University_ large, for great learning design'd;
    The _island_ the prayers of a Bishop can claim,
    And the _College_ boasts proudly of William Pitt's name.
    Then a _College_ in Bucks, founded long time ago,
    By Edward the Sixth, as the records will show.
    Now the _birth-place_ of Henry the Fifth you may tell,
    Who tho' wild as a Prince, as a King govern'd well;
    Then name where the crooked backed Richard the Third
    Was _conquer'd_, and where they his relics interr'd;
    Then _where_ in these modern times it is known,
    To view the horse-racing, that Royaltys shown;
    Last tell me that _lovely unfortunate fair_,
    Whom Henry the Second, protected with care;
    Put these names together, perhaps you will find,
    They'll tell you a month that to mirth is inclin'd.

  A. R.


[Leo]

    Take the _writer_, whose size both of body and mind,
    Were much more gigantic, than common you'll find,
    Whose brains were employ'd for the good of the age,
    And perfect the language, you find in each page,
    Whether out with his Rambler, you venture to roam,
    Or stay with his Rasselas, shut up at home.
    When tired of his numbers, I'd have you to name,
    A _Bishop_ of Ireland, recorded by fame,
    Whose writings will ever be held in esteem,
    By those who make sacred religion their theme.
    Next remember the _writer_, whose delicate lay,
    Deserv'd from Apollo, a chaplet of Bay;
    Who in Hagley's sweet groves, for his Lucy did mourn,
    And wept with true sorrow long over his urn.
    There is none but poor Shaw, with his numbers can vie,
    Who so sweetly laments that his Emma should die.
    Then last name the _Poet_, whose anguish and grief,
    Seeks in sorrowful verses some little relief,
    Who o'er his Narcissa, so young, and so fair,
    Laments in a language, uncommon, and rare.
    Place these sons of Parnassus, in proper array,
    And they'll tell you a month that is cheerful and gay.

  A. R.


[Aquarius]

    The _God_ whom Artists always grace,
    By giving him a double face:
    The _food_ divine, that's eat on high,
    By all the inmates of the sky;
    Also the _Liquor_, drank above,
    Which Hebe hands, to mighty Jove;
    _He_, who for fair Calypso's smile,
    Forgot his wife, and native isle:
    Now Thetis' _son_, who chose the strife,
    Of warlike fame, instead of life:
    That _island_, where we're always told,
    The brass Colossus stood of old:
    The _time_, no efforts can regain,
    Tho' oft we spend its hours in vain.
    Take the first letters and they'll tell
    A month, when firing pleases well.

  A. R.

[Illustration]


[Cancer]

    The _King_, who was forc'd Magna Charta to sign,
    Or his crown and kingdom, for ever resign.
    The _term_ which fair Scotland, with England did join,
    And the Roses and Thistles, agree to entwine.
    No king can I find, who will give my next letter,
    So think of an _Admiral_, can you do better?
    Then speak of the Trafalgar Hero whose name,
    Stands high in the records, of glory and fame.
    Then the pride of Old England, that _Queen_ who alone,
    Well guarded her rights, and protected her throne.
    If you join the initials, perhaps you will find,
    A Month in the year, when bright Phoebus is kind.

  A. R.

[Illustration]


[Taurus]

    The _first Roman Emperor_, whose forty years sway,
    His people with pleasure, could always obey.
    The _General_, whom Cæsar contrived to annoy.
    And occasion his army in terror to fly,
    By desiring his soldiers, their faces to wound,
    Which soon made the combatants vacate the ground.
    That _Roman_, whose firmness no sufferings could move,
    Tho' destin'd the cruellest torments to prove.
    The name of that _Horse_, whose vile master did say,
    He wish'd he all Romans, could kill in a day.
    The fair Roman _Matron_, whose cause to espouse,
    The long smother'd spirit of Brutus did rouse.
    These names plac'd aright, the first letters will tell,
    A month in the year, most people love well.

  A. R.

[Illustration]


[Pisces]

    The fickle _Goddess_, false and blind,
    To some profuse, to more unkind:
    The _Shepherd_, who on Latmos height,
    Was courted by the Queen of night;
    The _Maid_, for whom Achilles swore,
    He'd aid the Grecian cause no more:
    _Jove's mother_ name, and _Saturn's wife_,
    Who fled to save her infant life:
    _He_, who when feigning madness try'd,
    With care to turn the plough aside,
    Nor o'er that furrow bend its way,
    Where he beheld his infant lay.
    The _Queen_, whom Jove with love assail'd,
    And in the husband's form prevail'd;
    The _King_, whose horses Diomed,
    And grave Ulysses captive led;
    And now conclude with that _blest time_,
    We should enjoy, while in its prime.
    So place the initials, and they'll say,
    A month, not quite so warm as May.

  A. R.


[Scorpio]

    I would have you that great _University_ name,
    From whence many good scholars, have risen to fame;
    Then _where William the Conqueror_, rested in peace,
    And all his vexations in this world, did cease;
    Then tell me the _River_, on whose verdant sides,
    The noble, the merchant, the trader resides,
    Whose opulent stream wild meandring flows,
    Well laden with riches, to proud London goes:
    Then _where_, the best medicine is to be had,
    For those who are bitten, by dogs raving mad.
    The fam'd _Wells_ in Derbyshire, which we are told,
    Tho' close by each other, are one hot, t'other cold:
    That _commotion_, which troubles the bowels of earth
    And causes confusion, when 'ere it bursts forth;
    Then a _place_ name in Berkshire, where Henry the first
    Lays quietly resting, that Fates done her worst.
    Join the first letters together, and soon they will make
    A month, when its pleasant a ramble to take.

  A. R.


[Gemini]

    The _Bard_, tho' wanting sight inspir'd,
    Was with poetic rapture fir'd;
    His noble strains, and verse to raise,
    Singing of heaven, his tuneful lays,
    In numbers born to lasting fame,
    I beg you'll tell this writer's name.
    Next him, another _Author_ tell,
    Who wrote in numbers soft and well;
    Whose lines were tutor'd to convey,
    To every heart the moral lay,
    Whose Cato and Spectators shine,
    With many beauties of the nine;
    Now _he_, whose gloomy thoughts appear,
    For ever damp'd with sorrows tear,
    Whose discontented numbers show,
    The cause, from which his murmurs flow,
    And disappointment marks the name,
    Of him, who grumbling sought for fame.
    These writers, when their names yon know,
    Will tell a month when flowrets blow.

  A. R.


[Virgo]

    The _goddess_ of the rosy morn,
    Whose smiles with health, our cheeks adorn;
    Then tell as quickly as you can,
    The Poets _much enduring man_;
    The _Youth_ who gave the cup on high,
    When fair Hebe left the sky;
    The _Muses name_, I'd have you find,
    Most to astronomy inclin'd;
    Then take the _River_, at whose sound,
    The gods, eternally are bound;
    The _Muse_, before whose comic eye,
    Despair and melancholy fly;
    The initials join'd, will surely find,
    Amusement for your active mind,
    And rightly plac'd, will soon appear
    A month, within the circling year.

  A. R.

[Illustration]




                          KEY TO THE ENIGMAS.


[Aries]

  Mary,
  Anne,
  Richard the Third,
  Charles the First,
  Henry the Eighth.


[Sagittarius]

  Nero,
  Octavia,
  Vespasian,
  Eneas,
  Maximum,
  Brutus,
  Equi,
  Romulus.


[Libra]

  Stentor,
  Echo,
  Prometheus,
  Tartarus,
  Elysian,
  Midas,
  Boreas,
  Eurydice,
  Rhadamanthus.


[Capricorn]

  Dover,
  Ely,
  Cambridge,
  Eton,
  Monmouth,
  Bosworth,
  Epsom,
  Rosamond.


[Leo]

  Johnson,
  Usher,
  Littleton,
  Young.


[Aquarius]

  Janus,
  Ambrosia,
  Nectar,
  Ulysses,
  Achilles,
  Rhodes,
  Youth.


[Cancer]

  John,
  Union,
  Nelson,
  Elizabeth.


[Taurus]

  Augustus,
  Pompey,
  Regulus,
  Incitatus,
  Lucretia.


[Pisces]

  Fortune,
  Endymion,
  Briseis,
  Rhea,
  Ulysses,
  Alcmena,
  Rhesus,
  Youth.


[Scorpio]

  Oxford,
  Caen in Normandy,
  Thames,
  Ormskirk,
  Buxton,
  Earthquake,
  Reading.


[Gemini]

  Milton,
  Addison,
  Young.


[Virgo]

  Aurora,
  Ulysses,
  Ganymedes,
  Urania,
  Styx,
  Thalia.


Darton, Printer, Holborn Hill.




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[Illustration]




Errata.

The first line indicates the original, the second how it should read:

p. 9:

  And sigh for sigh, when your're alone;
  And sigh for sigh, when you're alone;

p. 23:

  Whose opulent stream wild meandring flows,
  Whose opulent stream wild meandering flows,

p. 24:

  A month, when its pleasant a ramble to take.
  A month, when it's pleasant a ramble to take.

p. 26:

  These writers, when their names yon know,
  These writers, when their names you know,