the Age of Elizabeth speak for those who had commanded under him, those whom he calls "the chief men of action."

"Now that I have tried them, I would choose them for friends, if I had them not: before I had tried them, God and his providence chose them for me. I love them for mine own sake; for I find sweetness in their conversation, strong assistance in their employments with me, and happiness in their friendship. I love them for their virtue's sake, and for their greatness of mind (for little minds, though never so full of virtue, can be but a little virtuous), and for their great understanding: for to understand little. things, or things not of use, is little better than to understand nothing at all. I love them for their affections for self-loving men love ease, pleasure, and profit; but they that love pains, danger, and fame, shew that they love public profit more than themselves. I love them for my country's sake: for they are England's best armour of defence, and weapons of offence. If we may have peace, they have purchased it: if we must have war, they must manage it," &c.

P. 243, 1. 19.

The Cross shone forth in everlasting light! The Cross of the South; "una Croce maravigliosa, e di tanta bellezza," says Andrea Corsali, a Florentine, writing to Giuliano of Medicis in 1515, "che non mi pare ad alcuno segno celeste doverla comparare. E s'io non mi inganno, credo che sia questo

il crusero di che Dante parlò nel principio del Purgatorio con spirito profetico, dicendo,

I'mi volsi a man destra, e posi mente

All' altro polo, e vidi quattro stelle," &c.

Un

It is still sacred in the eyes of the Spaniards. sentiment religieux les attache à une constellation dont la forme leur rappelle ce signe de la foi planté par leurs ancêtres dans les déserts du nouveau mond. '

P. 244, 1. 3.

Roc of the West! to him all empire given! Le Condor est le même oiseau que le Roc des Orientaux. Buffon. "By the Peruvians," says Vega, "he was anciently worshipped; and there were those who claimed their descent from him." In these degenerate days he still ranks above the Eagle.

P. 244, 1. 4.

Who bears Axalhua's dragon-folds to heaven;

As the Roc of the East is said to have carried off the Elephant. See Marco Polo.-Axalhua, or the Emperor, is the name in the Mexican language for the great serpent of America.

P. 244, 1. 10.

To where ALASKA's wintry wilds retire; Northern extremity of the New World. See Cook's last Voyage.

P. 244, 1. 11.

From mines of gold

Mines of Chili; which extend, says Ovalle, to the Strait of Magellan. I. 4.

00

P. 244, 1. 14.

High-hung in forests to the casing snows.

A custom not peculiar to the Western Hemisphere. The Tunguses of Siberia hang their dead on trees; "parceque la terre ne se laisse point ouvrir.”

P. 245, 1. 2.

M. Pauw.

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 LA NOCHE HUMBOLDT.

TRISTE.

P. 245, 1. 3.

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. 245, 1. 10.

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. 245, 1. 11.

'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. 245, 1. 15.

Then, inly gliding, &c.

66

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. 247. 1. 5.

And can you shrink? &c.

The same language had been addressed to Isabella. Hist. c. 15.

P. 247, 1. 7.

Oh had I perished, when my failing frame His miraculous escape, in early life, during a seafight off the coast of Portugal. Ibid c. 5.

P. 247, 1. 10.

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 dispatching a vessel in the course which he had pointed out. "Lorsqu'il avait promis un nouvel hémisphère," says Voltaire, "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. 247, 1. 15.

He spoke not uninspired ;

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. 247, 1. 20.

"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. En. 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.