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P. 265, 1. 14.

and thro' that dismal night,

Aquella noche triste." The night on which Cortes made his famous retreat from Mexico through the street of Tlacopan, still goes by the name of BA NOCHE TRISTE.-HUMBoldt.

P. 265, 1. 15.

By his white plume revealed and buskins white,

Pizarro used to dress in this fashion; after Gonzalo, whom he had served under in Italy.

P. 266, 1. 5.

O'er him a Vampire his dark wings displayed.

A species of Bat in South America; which refreshes by the gentle agitation of its wings, while it sucks the blood of the sleeper, turning his sleep into death.

P. 266, 1. 6.

'Twas MERION's self, covering with dreadful shade.

Now one,

Now other, as their shape served best his end.

Undoubtedly, says Herrera, the Infernal Spirit assumed various shapes in that region of the world.

P. 266, 1. 9.

Then, inly gliding, &c.

Many a modern reader will exclaim in the language of

Pococurantè,"Quelle triste extravagance!" Let a great theologian of that day, a monk of the Augustine order, be consulted on the subject. "Corpus ille perimere vel jugulare potest; nec id modò, verùm et animam ita urgere, et in angustum coarctare novit, ut in momento quoque illi excedendum sit." LUTHERUS, De Missa Privata.

The Roman ritual requires three signs of possession.

P. 268, 1. 3.

And can you shrink? &c.

The same language had been addressed to Isabella.—Hist.

c. 15.

P. 268, 1. 5.

Oh had I perished, when my failing frame

His miraculous escape, in early life, during a sea-fight off the coast of Portugal.—Ibid. c. 5.

P. 268, 1. 8.

The scorn of Folly, and of Fraud the prey;

Nudo nocchier, promettitor di regni!

By the Genoese and the Spaniards he was regarded as a man resolved on "a wild dedication of himself to unpathed waters, undreamed shores;" and the Court of Portugal endeavoured to rob him of the glory of his enterprise, by secretly despatching a vessel in the course which he had pointed out. 'Lorsqu'il avait promis un nouvel hémisphère," says Voltaire,

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"on lui avait soutenu que cet hémisphère ne pouvait exister; et quand il l'eut découvert, on prétendit qu'il avait été connu depuis long-temps."

P. 268, 1. 13.

He spoke not uninspired;

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He used to affirm, that he stood in need of God's particular assistance; like Moses, when he led forth the people of Israel, who forbore to lay violent hands upon him, because of the miracles which God wrought by his means. "So," said the Admiral, " did it happen to me on that voyage." Hist. c. 19." And so easily," says a Commentator," are the workings of the Evil One overcome by the power of God!"

P. 268, 1. 18.

In his own shape shall Death receive you there.

This denunciation, fulfilled as it appears to be in the eleventh canto, may remind the reader of the Harpy's in Virgil.-Æn. III. v. 247.

Salve, regina. Herrera, I. i. 12.-It was the usual service, and always sung with great solemnity. "I remember one evening," says Oviedo, "when the ship was in full sail, and all the men were on their knees, singing Salve, regina," &c. Relacion Sommaria.-The hymn, O Sanctissima, is still to be heard after sunset along the shores of Sicily, and its effect may be better conceived than described.

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P. 270, 1. 13.

Chosen of Men!

"I believe that he was chosen for this great service; and that, because he was to be so truly an apostle, as in effect he proved to be, therefore was his origin obscure; that therein he might resemble those who were called to make known the name of the Lord from seas and rivers, and not from courts and palaces. And I believe also, that, as in most of his doings, he was guarded by some special providence, his very name was not without some mystery: for in it is expressed the wonder he performed; inasmuch as he conveyed to a new world the grace of the Holy Ghost," &c.-Hist. c. I.

P. 270, 1. 14.

First from the prow to hail the glimmering light;

A light in the midst of darkness, signifying the spiritual light that he came to spread there.-F. Col. c. 22. Herrera, I. i. 12.

P. 270, 1. 17.

PEDRO! RODRIGO!

Pedro Gutierrez, a Page of the King's Chamber. Rodrigo Sanchez of Segovia, Comptroller of the Fleet.

P. 272, 1. 3.

Slowly, bare-headed, thro' the surf we bore

The sacred cross,

Signifying to the Infernal Powers (all' infierno todo) the will of the Most High, that they should renounce a world over which they had tyrannized for so many ages.-Ovalle, iv. 5.

P. 272, 1. 5.

But what a scene was there!

"This country excels all others, as far as the day surpasses the night in splendour.-Nor is there a better people in the world. They love their neighbour as themselves; their conversation is the sweetest imaginable, their faces always smiling; and so gentle, so affectionate are they, that I swear to your Highnesses," &c. Hist. c. 30. 33.

P. 272, 1. 5.

Nymphs of romance, &c.

Dryades formosissimas, aut nativas fontium nymphas de quibus fabulatur antiquitas, se vidisse arbitrati sunt.

P. Martyr. dec. i. lib. v.

And an eminent Painter of the present day, when he first saw the Apollo of the Belvidere, was struck with its resemblance to an American warrior.-West's Discourses in the Royal Academy, 1794.

P. 272, 1. 11.

Come and behold, &c.

So, in like manner, when Cortes and his companions appeared at the gates of Mexico, the young exclaimed, "They are Gods!" while the old shook their heads, saying, "They are those who were to come and to reign over us!" HERRERA.

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