| Citation |
RPG.778.038
26 May 1778:32, 33 (25)
At the request of the printer of one of the other papers,
the following description of the Meschianza was hastily
penn'd the day after that celebrated entertainment. . . [18
lines introduction]
From three to four o'clock the company continued to
assemble at Knight's wharf, at the north-end of the city,
when, the embarkation being compleated, the barges and row-
gallies, accompanied by three full bands of music, proceeded
down the river to the southern extremity. . . [15 lines]
After parading the field, and saluting the pavilion, their
heralds proclaims, by sound of trumpet, that the White
Knights are ready to prove by dint of arms, that their
mistresses are the fairest the world can produce. A second
trumpet now sounds, and a herald advancing on the part of
seven black knights, insists upon the superior beauty of the
ladies of the Burning Mountain. . . [17 more lines] This
part of the entertainment afforded the most sensible
satisfaction to the spectators, for, besides the novelty of
the scene, the dresses of the combatants were in the highest
stile of elegance, and their joining the dance in them
afterward, had a most pleasing effect.
Soon after tea, the dances began, and about nine o'clock
the fireworks, which were very grand, and played off with
uncommon success.
. . . [29 lines, and then the following lyrics, which "in
delicacy to the General, were then suppressed."]
Mars, conquest-plum'd, the Cyprian Queen disarms,
And victors vanquish'd yield to beauty's charms.
Here, then the laurel--here the palm we yield,
And all the glories of the tilted field.
. . . [44 more lines]
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