satisfaction and gratitude. Benigne and Trasimene crowned this great work by a generosity which surpassed all that they had hitherto exhibited. They declared that the Palace and Garden of the Golden Branch should, for the future, be the property of King Sans-pair and Queen Brilliante. A hundred other sovereigns were their tributaries, and a hundred kingdoms their dependencies.
When to Brilliante her aid a Fairy proffer'd,
She might—and much she needed it just then—
Have chosen the rare beauty to her offer'd;
A tempting bait to nine maids out of ten:
Witness the art, the trouble, and the cost
To gain or keep it, of the sex recorded.
But the temptation on Brilliante was lost;
She preferr'd virtue, and was well rewarded.
The rose and lily on the cheek will die
As quickly as the flowers with which they vie;
But beauties of celestial virtue born,
Are deathless as the soul which they adorn.
