A Fair lady looks out from her lattice--but why Do tears bedim that lady's eye? Below stands the knight who her favour wears, But be mounts not the turret to dry her tears; He springs on his charger--"Farewell;--he is gone, And the lady is left in her turret alone. "Ply the distaff, my maids--ply the distaff--before It is spun, he may happen to stand at the door." There was never an eye than that lady's more bright,-- Why speeds then away her favour'd knight? The couch which her white fingers broider'd so fair, Were a far softer seat than the saddle of war; What's more tempting than love? In the patriot's sight The battle of freedom he hastens to fight; "Ply the distaff, my maids--ply the distaff--before It is spun, he may happen to stand at the door." The fair lady looks out from her lattice, but now Her eye is as bright as her fair shining brow: And is sorrow so fleeting?--Love's tears--dry they fast? The stronger is love, is't the less sure to last? Whose arm sees her knight round her waist?--'Tis his own; By the battle she wept for, her lover is won; "Ply the distaff, my maids, ply the distaff no more; Would you spin when already he stands at the door?" _Monthly Magazine._ * * * * * [Illustration] LORD CORNWALLIS'S MONUMENT, IN INDIA. The annexed cut represents the mausoleum of the Marquess of Cornwallis, whose distinguished connexion with the success of British arms in India will be recollected by the reader. It stands at Ghazepoor, a large town or city, in the province of Benares, on the river Ganges, about 450 miles from Calcutta. His lordship died on the river in the year 1805, while proceeding to make the requisite arrangements for some ceded prisoners. He was, at the time, governor-general of India, having been appointed to succeed the Marquess Wellesley, in 1804. The last act of his life accords with his general activity and vigilance, for he always gave his instructions in person, and attended to the performance of them. His personal character was amiable and unassuming, and if his talents were not brilliant, his sound sense, aided by his laudable ambition and perseverance, effected much good. The monument is built of stone, and cost a lac of rupees, or 10,000_l_. It is surrounded by an iron railing, and its vicinity is the favourite promenade of the gentry of Ghazepoor, which has been termed the Montpellier of India. Bishop Heber, in his interesting Journey through India, objects to the architectural taste of the monument in these critical observations: