e from home.-F. COLUMBUS, C. 19. Nos pavidi-at paNOTES. ter Anchises-lætus. Note 8, page 28, col. 2. What Fast foundations in the Abyss are there. Tasso employs preternatural agents on a similar ocIn him was fulfilled the ancient prophecy casion, venient annis Trappassa, ed ecco in quel silvestre loco Sorge improvvisa la città del foco. xiii, 33. Gli incanti d'Ismeno, che ingannano con delusioni, altro non significano, che la falsità delle ragioni, e delle perWhich Tasso has imitated in his Gierusalemme Liberata. suasioni, la qual si genera nella moltitudine, e varietà Tempo verrà, che fian d'Ercole i segni de' pareri, e de' discorsi umani. Note 9, page 28, col. 2. The Poem opens on Friday the 14th of September, 1492. Atlantic kings their barbarous pomp display d. Note 2, page 28, col. 2. See Plato's Timæus; where mention is made of mighty the great Commander. kingdoms, which, in a day and a night, had disappeared In the original, El Almirante. • In Spanish America,» in the Atlantic, rendering its waters unpavigable. says M. de Humboldt, « when El Almirante is pronoun Si quæras felicen et Burin, Achaidas urbes, Invenies sub aquis. ced without the addition of a name, that of Columbus is understood; as, from the lips of a Mexican, El At the destruction of Callao, in 1747, no more than Marchese signifies Cortes ;, and as among the Floren- one of all the inhabitants escaped ; and he, by a protines, I Segretario has always signified Machiavel. vidence the most extraordinary. This man was on the fort that overlooked the harbour, going to strike the Note 3, page 28, col. 2. flag, when he perceived the sea to retire to a conside• Thee bath it pleased --Thy will be done ! » be said. rable distance; and then, swelling mountain-high, it re• It has pleased our Lord to grant me faith and as- turned with great violence. The people ran from their surance for this enterprise-He has opened my un- houses in terror and confusion; he heard a cry of Miderstanding, and made me most willing to go.. See serere rise from all parts of the city; and immediately his Life by his son, Ferd. Columbus, entitled, Hist. del all was silent; the sea had entirely overwhelmed it, and Almirante Don Christoval Colon, c. 4 and 37. buried it for ever in its bosom : but the same wave that Note 4, page 28, col. 2. destroyed it, drove a litle boat by the place where he stood, into which he threw himself and was saved. Whose voice is truth, wboxe wisdom is from heaven. The compass might well be an object of superstition. Note 10, page 29, col. 1. A belief is said to prevail even at this day, that it will • Land!, and his voice in faltering accents died. refuse to traverse when there is a dead body on board. Historians are not silent on the subject. The sailors, -Hist. des Navig. aux Terres Australes. according to Herrera, saw the signs of an inundated country (tierras anegadas); and it was the general exNote 5, page 28, col. 2. pectation that they should end their lives there, as Columbus erred not. others had done in the frozen sea, & where St Amaro When these regions were to be illuminated, says suffers no ship to stir backward or forward..-F. CoAcosta, cùm divino concilio decretum esset, prospectum LUMBUS, C. 19. ctiam divinitus est, ut tam longi itineris dux certus hominibus præberetur. -De Natura Novi Orbis, Note 11, page 29, col. 1. A romantic circumstance is related of some early na And (wbence or why from many an age withheld). vigator in the Ilistoire Gen. des Voyages, I. i. 2. . On The author seems to have anticipated his long slum. trouva dans l'ile de Cuervo une statue équestre, cou ber in the library of the Fathers. verte d'un manteau, mais la tête nue, qui tenoit de la Note 12, page 29, main gauche la bride du cheval, et qui montroit l'occi Hast led thy servant-.dent de la main droite. Il y avoit sur le bas d’un roc They may give me what name they please. quelques lettres gravées, qui ne furent point entendues; servant of Him, etc.-F. COLUMBUS, C. 2. mais il parut clairement que le signe de la main regardoit l'Amérique.. Note 13, page 29, col. 1. From world to world their steady course they keep. As St Christopher carried Christ over the deep waters, so Columbus went over safe, himself and his company. The more Christian opinion is that God, at the length, -F. COLUMBUS, C, 1. of compassion as it were looking downe from heaven, intended even then to rayse those windes of mer. Note 14, page 29, col. 1. And, rising, shoot in columns to the skies. cy, whereby---this newe worlde receyved the hope of salvation.-Certaine Preambles to the Decades of Water-spouts.-See Edwards's History of the West the Ocean. Indies, 1. 12. Note. Note 15, page 29, col. 1. Though changed my cloth of gold for amice grey.- col. 1. I am with eyes a coverers, if we may believe B. Diaz and other contempo Note 23, page 29, col. 2. rary writers, ended their days in a hermitage, or a He spoke ; and all was silence, all was night! cloister. These scattered fragments may be compared to shreds Note 16, page 29, col. 1. of old arras, or reflections from a river broken and con'T was in the deep, immeasurable cavo fused by the oar; and now and then perhaps the imagiOf Andes. nation of the reader may supply more than is lost. Si Vast indeed must be those dismal regions, if it be true, qua latent, meliora putat. . It is remarkable,» says the as conjectured (Kircher. Mund. Subt. I. 202), that Etna, i elder Pliny, e that the Iris of Aristides, the Tyndarides in her eruptions, has discharged twenty times her origi- of Nicomachus, and the Venus of Apelles, are held in nal bulk. Well might she be called by Euripides higher admiration than their finished works.» And is (Troades, v. 222) The Mother of Mountains; yet Etna it not so in almost every thing? herself is but a mere firework, when compared to the Call up him that left ball-told burning summits of the Andes.» The story of Cambuscan bold- Note 24, page 3o, col. 1. The soldier, etc. Gods, yet confessed later.-Milton.-- Ils ne lais- In the Lusiad, to beguile the heavy hours at sea, Veloso sent pas d'en être les esclaves, et de les honorer plus relates to liis companions of the second watch the story que le grand Esprit, qui de sa nature est bon.- of the Twelve Knights. L. vi. LAFITAU. Note 25, page 30, col. 1. Bo Fortune smiled, careless of sea or land! Among those who went with Columbus, were many Rivers of South America. Their collision with the adventurers, and gentlemen of the court. Primero was tide has the effect of a tempest. the game then in fashion.-Sce Vega, p. 2, lib. iii, c. 9. Note 19, page 29, col. 2. Note 26, page 30, col. 1. Yet who but He undaunted could explore. every year, miles in circumference. Ontario receives the waters of says Herrera.--1, i, 9 and 10. the Niagara, so famous for its falls; and discharges itself Note 27, page 30, col. 2. into the Atlantic by the river St Lawrence. The solemn march, the vows in concert given. His public procession to the convent of Rábida on the day before he set sail. It was there that his sons had received their cducation; and he himself appears to La plâpart de ces îles ne sont en effet que des pointes de montagnes : et la mer, qui est au-delà, est une vrai have passed some time there, the venerable Guardian, mer Méditerranée.-Buffon. Juan Perez de Marchena, being his zealous and affection ate friend.—The ceremonies of his departure and reNote 21, page 29, col. 2. turn are represented in many of the fresco paintings in Hung in the tempest o'er the troubled main; the palaces of Genoa. The dominion of a bad angel over an unknown sca, Note 28, page 30, col. 2. infestandole con sus torbellinos y tempestades, and his Wbile his dear boys-ah, on his neck they hung. flight before a Christian hero, are described in glowing • But I was most aftlicted, when I thought of my two language by Ovalle.-Hist de Chile, IV. 8. sons, whom I had left behind me in a strange country --before I had done, or at least could be known to Note 22, page 29, col. 2. have done, any thing which might incline your highNo voice, as erst, shall in the desert rise; nesses to remember them. And though I comforted Alluding to the oracles of the Islanders, so soon to myself with the retlection that our Lord would not sufbecome silent : and particularly to a prophecy, deliver- fer so carnest an endeayour for the exaltation of his ed down from their ancesters, and sung with loud la-church to come to nothing, yet I considered that, on mentations (Petr. Martyr, dec. 3, lib. 7) at their solemn account of my unworthiness, » etc.-F. COLUMBUS, C. 37. festivals (Herrera, I, iii, 4) that the country would be laid waste on the arrival of strangers, completely clad, Note 29, page 30, col. 2. The great Gonzalo. from a region near the rising of the sun. Jbid. II, 5, 2. It is said that Cazziva, a great Cacique, after long Gonzalo Fernandes, already known by the name of fasting and many ablutions, had an interview with one The Great Caplain. Granada surrendered on the ad of of the Zemi, who announced to him this terrible event January, 1492. Columbus set sail on the 3d of August (F. Columbus, c. 62), as the oracles of Latona, according following to Herodotus (II, 152) predicted the overthrow of eleven Note 3o, page 30, col. 2. kings of Egypt, on the appearance of men of brass, Though Roldan, etc. risen out of the sea, Probably a soldier of fortune. There were more than Nor did this prophecy exist among the Islanders alone, one of the name on board. It influenced the councils of Montezuma, and extended almost universally over the forests of America. Cortes. Note 31, page 31, col. 1. Herrera. Gomara. « The demons whom they worship The Cross shope forth in everlasting light! ped,» says Acosta, * in this instance told them the truth., The Cross of the South; « una Croce maravigliosa, c di tanta bellezza,» says Andrea Corsali, a Florentine, Call'd on the Spirit within. Disdaining flight, writing to Giuliano of Medicis, in 1515, «che non mi Calmly sbe rose, collecting all ber might.! Dire was the dark encounter! Long unquell'd, pare ad alcuno segno celeste doverla comparare. E s'io Her sacred seat, sovereign and pure, sbe held, non mi inganno, credo che sia questo il crusero di che At length the great Foe binds her for his prize, Dante parlò nel principio del Purgatorio con spirito And awful, as in death, the body lies! profetico, dicendo, Not long to slumber! In an evil hour Inform'd and lifted by the unknown Power, It starts, it speaks! - We live, we breathe no more !, etc. Many a moderu reader will exclaim in the language of Pococurantè, « Quelle triste extravagance!» Let a order, be consulted on the subject. «Corpus ille peritaux. Buffon. «By the Peruvians,» says Vega, - he was mere vel jugulare potest; nec id modo, verùm el anianciently worshipped; and there were those who claim mam ita urgere, et in angustum coarctare novit, ut in ed their descent from him.» In these degenerate days momento quoque illi excedendum sit.»-LUTHERUS, De he still ranks above the Eagle. Missa Privata. Note 42, page 31, col. 2. And can you shrink? eto. The same language had been addressed to Isabella.is the name in the Mexican language for the great ser F. COLUMBUS, C. 15. pent of America. Note 43, page 31, col. 2. Ob had I perish'd, when my failing frame. His miraculous escape, in early life, during a sca-fight Note 44, page 31, col. 2. The scorn of Folly, and of Fraud tho prey. Nudo nocchier, promettitor di regoi! By the Genoese and the Spaniards he was regarded as a man resolved on « a wild dedication of himself to unNote 36, page 31, col. 1. pathed waters, undreamed shores;, and the court of High-hung in forests to the casing snows. Portugal endeavoured to rob him of the glory of bis A custom not peculiar to the Western Hemisphere. enterprise, by secretly dispatching a vessel in the course The Tunguses of Siberia hang their dead on trees; « parce which he had pointed out. Lorsqu'il avait promis que la terre ne se laisse point ouvrir.»— M. Pauw. un nouvel hémisphère,» says Voltaire, on lui avait Note 37, page 31, col. 1. soutenu que cet hémisphère ne pouvoit exister; et quand -and, through that dismal night. il l'eut découvert, on prétendit qu'il avait été connu deAquella noche triste,» The night, on which Cortes puis long-temps. made his famous retreat from Mexico through the street Note 45, page 31, col. 2. of Tlacopan, still goes by the name of LA NOCHE TRISTE. -----Ho spoke not uninspired. -HUMBOLDT. 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 Pizarro used to dress in this fashion; after Gonzalo, upon him, because of the miracles which God wrought whom he had served under in Italy. by his means. - So,» said the Admiral, « did it happen to me on that voyage..-F. COLUMBUS, C. 19.-- And Note 39, page 31, col. 1. so easily, * says a Commentator, « are the workings of O'er him a Vampire bis dark wings display'd. the Evil one overcome by the power of God !» A species of bat in S. America; which refreshes by Note 46, page 31, col. 2. the gentle agitation of its wings, while it sucks the blood of the sleeper, turning his sleep into death. • In his own shape sball Death receive you there.. ULLOA. 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. 'T was Merion's self, covering with dreadful shade. -----Now one, Note 47, page 31, col. 2. Now other, as their shape served best bis end, Rose to the Virgin. Undoubtedly, says Herrera, the Infernal Spirit as Salve, regina. Herrera, I, i, 12.-It was the usual sumed various shapes in that region of the world. service, and always sung with great solemnity. member one evening,» says Oviedo, when the ship Note 41, page 31, eol. 1, was in full sail, and all the men were on their knees, Then, inly gliding, ele. singing Salve, regina, etc.» Relacion Sommaria.- The The original passage is here translated at full length. hymn, O Sanctissima, is still to be heard after sunset Then, inly gliding like a subtle flame, -- magoum si pectore possit Thrice, with a cry that thrill'd the mortal frane, Excussisse denm. I re Ceiba. : along the shores of Sicily, and its effect may be better Note 56, page 32, col. 1. conceived than described. See BRYDONE, I, 330. What long-drawn tube, etc. For the effects of the telescope, and the mirror, on an uncultivated mind, see Wallis's Voyage round the I believe that he was chosen for this great service; World, c. 2, and 6. and that, because he was to be so truly an apostle, as Note 57, page 32, col. 2. in effect he proved to be, therefore was his origin Through citron-groves, and fields of yellow maize. obscure; that therein he might resemble those who Ætas est illis aurea. Apertis vivunt hortis. P. MARwere called to make known the name of the Lord from TYR, dec. i, 3. seas and rivers, and not from courts and palaces. And I believe also, that, as in most of his doings he was Note 58, page 32, col. 2. guarded by some special providence, his very name was not without some mystery: for in it is expressed the The wild cotton-tree, often mentioned in History. wonder he performed; inasmuch as he conveyed to a Cortes," says Bernal Diaz, « took possession of the new world the grace of the Holy Ghost, etc. country in the following manner. Drawing his sword, he F. COLUMBUS, C. I. gave three cuts with it into a great Ceiba, and said-- Note 59, page 32, col. 2. There sits the bird that speaks! The Parrot, as described by Aristotle.- Hist. Animal. cual light that he came to spread there.-F. COLUMBUS, viii, 12. C. 22. HERRERA, I, i, 12. Note 60, page 32, col. 2. Half bird, half fly. Here are birds so small, says Herrera, that though Note 61, page 32, col. 2. ----the fairy king of flowers. Note 51, page 32, col. 1. The Humming-bird. Kakopit (florum regulus) is Slowly, bare-headed, through the surf we bore The sacred cross. the name of an Indian bird, referred to this class by Seba. Signifying to the Infernal Powers (all' infierno todo) Note 62, page 32, col. 2. the will of the Most fligh, that they should renounce a world over which they had tyrannised for so many Reigns there, and revels, etc. There also was heard the wild cry of the Flamingo. ages.-OVALLE, iv, 5. What clarion winds along the yellow sands? Far in the deep the giant-fisher stands, Folding his wings of fame. • This country excels all others, as far as the day Note 63, page 32, col. 2. surpasses the night in splendour.- Nor is there a better Soon in the virgin's graceful ear to shine. people in the world. They love their neighbour as Il sert après sa mort à parer les jeunes Indiennes, qui themselves; their conversation is the sweetest ima- portent en pendans d'oreilles deux de ces charmans ginable, their faces always smiling; and so gentle, oiseaux.-Buffon. so affectionate are they, that I swear to your High Note 64, page 32, col. 2. nesses,» etc.-F. COLUMBUS, C. 30, 33. Mid branching palms and amaranths of gold! According to an ancient tradition. See Oviedo, Vega, Herrera, etc. Not many years afterwards a Dryades formosissimas, aut nativas fontium nym- Spaniard of distinction wandered every where in search phas de quibus fabulatur antiquitas, se vidisse arbitrati of it: and no wonder, as Robertson observes, when Cosunl.-P. MARTYR, dec. i, lib. v. lumbus himself could imagine that he had found the And an eminent Painter of the present day, when he seat of Paradise. first saw the Apollo of the Belvidere, was struck with Note 65, page 33, col. 1. its resemblance to an American warrior.-West's Dis And guavas blush'd as in the vales of light. course in the Royal Academy, 1794. They believed that the souls of good men were conNote 54, page 32, col. 1. veyed to a pleasant valley, abounding in guavas and other delicious fruits. — HERRERA, I, iii, 3. F. COLUMAnd see, the regal plumes, the couch of state! bus, c. 62. « The Cacique came down to the shore in a sort of Note 66, page 33, col. 1. palanquin-attended by his ancient men.— The gifts, There silent sate many an unbiddeu Guest. which he received from me, were afterwards carried • The dead walk abroad in the night, and feast with before him..-F. COLUMBUS, C. 32. the living. (F. Columbus, c. 62); and « eat of the fruit Note 55, page 32, col. 1. called Guannàba..-P. MARTYR, dec. i, 9. The wondrous ring, and lamp, and horse of brass. Note 67, page 33, col. 1. The ring of Gyges, the lamp of Aladdin, and the And sires, alas, their sons in battle slain! horse of the Tartar king. War reverses the order of nature. In time of peace, . ed; 1 says Herodotus, the children bury their fathers; in time Note 79, page 33, col. 2. of war the fathers bury their children! But the Gods Thy reverend form. have willed it so.-1, 87. His person, says Hererra, had an air of grandeur. Vis hair, from many hardships, had long been grey. In him you saw a man of an unconquerable courage, and high thoughts; patient of wrongs, calm in adverin cient Cacique, in his life-time and after his sity, ever trusting in God:-and, had he lived in ancient death, employed by the Zemi to alarm his people. - See times, statues and temples would have been erected to F. COLUMBUS, C. 62. him without number, and his name would have been Note 69, page 33, col. 1. placed among the stars. Unscen, unheard !-Hence, Minister of Ni. Note 80, page 34, col. 1. The Author is speaking in his inspired character. By dogs of carnage.-Hidden things are revealed to him, and placed before One of these, on account of his extraordinary sagahis mind as if they were present. city and fierceness, received the full allowance of a sol dier. His name was Bezerillo. Note 81, page 34, col 1. Swept-till the voyager, in the desert air. effectually prevented the progress of the Faith, than by With my own eyes I saw kingdoms as full of people, desolating the New World; by burying nations alive in as hives are full of bees; and now where are they? mines, or consigning them in all their errors to the sword. Las Casas. – Relacion de B. De Las Casas. Note 82, page 34, col. 1. Starts back to hear his altered accents there. No unusual effect of an exuberant vegetation. « The air was so vitiated,says an African traveller, « that our Not man alone, but many other animals became ex torches burnt dim, and seemed ready to be extinguishtinct there. and even the human voice lost its natural tone.. Note 83, page 34, col. 1. Here, in His train, shall arts and arms attend. • There are those alive, said an illustrious orator, count of the European Settlements. — P. I, c. 8. whose memory might touch the two extremities. Lord Bathurst, in 1704, was of an age to comprehend such things and, if his angel had then drawn up the It is remarkable that these phenomena still remain curtain, and, whilst he was gazing with admiration, had among the mysteries of nature. pointed out to him a speck, and had told him,* Young man, there is America--which, at this day, serves for Note 74, page 33, col. 2. little more than to amuse you with stories of savage He stood, and thus his secret soul address d. men and uncouth manners; yet shall, before you taste Te tua fata docobo. VIRG. of death,' etc..-Burke in 1775. Note 84, page 34, col. 1. Assembling bere, etc. How simple were the manners of the early colonists ! When he entered the Tagus, all the seamen ran The first ripening of any European fruit was distinguishfrom all parts to behold, as it were some wonder, a shiped by a family-festival. Garcilasso de la Vega relates that had escaped so terrible a storm. F. COLUMBUS, how his dear father, the valorous Andres, collected toc. 40. gether in his chamber seven or eight gentlemen to share Note 76, page 33, col. 2. with him three asparaguses, the first that ever grew on And Thee restore thy Secret to the Deep. the table-land of Cusco. When the operation of dressI wrote on a parchment that I had iscovered what ing them was over (and it is minutely described) he I had promised ;-—and, having pul it into a cask, 1 distributed the two largest among his friends; begging threw it into the sea.-Ibid. c. 37. that the company would not take it ill, if he reserved the third for himself, as it was a thing from Spain. North America became instantly an asylum for the oppressed ; huguenots, and catholics, and sects of every Cum sociis, natoque, Penatibus, et magnis dis. Note 85, page 34, col. 1. Untouch'd shall drop the fetters from the slave. Je me transporte quelquefois au-delà d'un siècle. J'y to be buried with his body.-F. COLUMBUS, C. 86. vois le bonheur à côté de l'industrie, la douce tolérance |
Get this book in print
0 Reviews Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified Write review |