NOTE S. P. 22, 1. 19. Then did his horse the homeward track descry. The memory of the horse forms the ground-work of a pleasing little romance of the twelfth century, entitled, "Lai du Palefroi vair." See Fabliaux du XII Siecle. Ariosto likewise introduces it in a passage full of truth and nature. When Bayardo meets Angelica in the forest, Va mansueto a la Donzella, Ch'in Albracca il servìa già di sua mano. ORLANDO FURIOSO, canto i. 75. NOTE t. P. 24, 1. 7. Sweet bird! thy truth shall HARLEM's walls attest. During the siege of Harlem, when that city was reduced to the last extremity, and on the point of opening its gates to a base and barbarous enemy, a design was formed to relieve it; and the intelligence was conveyed to the citizens by a letter which was tied under the wing of à pigeon. THUANUS, lib. lv. c. 5. The same messenger was employed at the siege of Mutina, as we are informed by the elder Pliny. NOTE u. P. 24, l. 16. Hark! the bee, &c. Hist. Nat. x. 37. This little animal, from the extreme convexity of her eye, cannot see many inches before her. १ NOTES ON THE SECOND PART. NOTE X. P. 32, 1. 5. These still exist, &c. THERE is a future Existence even in this world; an evermore. It is a state of rewards and punishments; and, like that revealed to us in the Gospel, has the happiest influence on our lives. The latter excites us to gain the favour of Gop; the former to gain the love and esteem of wise and good men; and both lead to the same end; for, in framing our conceptions of the DEITY, we only ascribe to Him exalted degrees of Wisdom and Good ness. NOTE y. P. 37, 1.3. Yet still how sweet the soothings of his art! The astronomer chalking his figures on the wall, in Hogarth's view of Bedlam, is admirable exemplificaSee the RE'S PROGRESS, plate 8. tion of this idea. de legum at NOTE Z. P. 38, 1. 2. Turns but to start, and gazes but to sigh! The following stanzas are said to have been written on a blank leaf of this Poem. They present so affecting a reverse of the picture, that I cannot resist the opportunity of introducing them here. Pleasures of Memory!—oh supremely blest, Memory makes her influence known By sighs, and tears, and grief alone: I greet her as the fiend, to whom belong The vulture's ravening beak, the raven's funeral song. 3-19 She tells of time mispent, of comfort lost, Of fair occasions gone for ever by; Of hopes too fondly nursed, too rudely crossed, Of many a cause to wish, yet fear to die; For what, except th' instinctive fear Lest she survive, detains me here, What, but the deep inherent dread, Lest she beyond the grave resume her reign, NOTE a. P. 40, 1. 1. Hast thou thro' Eden's wild-wood vales pursued On the road-side between Penrith and Appelby there stands a small pillar with this inscription: "This pillar was erected in the year 1656, by Ann Countess Dowager of Pembroke, &c. for a memorial of her last parting, in this place, with her good and pious mother, Margaret, Countess Dowager of Cumberland, on the 2d of April, 1616; in memory whereof she hath left an annuity of 47. to be distributed to the poor of the parish of Brougham, every 2d day of April for ever, upon the stone-table placed hard by. Laus Deo!" The Eden is the principal river of Cumberland, and rises in the wildest part of Westmoreland. NOTE b. P. 40, 1. 12. O'er his dead son the gallant ORMOND sighed. Ormond bore the loss with patience and dignity: though he ever retained a pleasing, however melancholy, sense of the signal merit of Ossory. "I would not exchange my dead son," said he, "for any living son in Christendom." HUME, vi. 340. 66 The same sentiment is inscribed on Miss Dolman's urn at the Leasowes. Heu, quanto minus est cum reliquis versari, quam tui meminisse!" NOTE C. P. 42, 1. 16. High on exulting wing the heath-cock rose. This bird is remarkable for his exultation during the spring. NOTE d. P. 42, 1. 21. Derwent's clear mirror Keswick-Lake in Cumberland. Down by St. Herbert's consecrated grove. A small island covered with trees, among which were formerly the ruins of a religious house. NOTE f. P. 48, 1. 9. When lo! a sudden blast the vessel blew. In a lake surrounded with mountains, the agitations are often violent and momentary. The winds blow in gusts and eddies; and the water no sooner swells, than it subsides. See BOURN's Hist. of Westmoreland. NOTE g. P. 50, 1. 3. To what pure beings, in a nobler sphere, The several degrees of angels may probably have larger views, and some of them be endowed with capacities able to retain together, and constantly set before them, as in one picture, all their past knowledge at once. LOCKE on Human Understanding, b. ii. c. x 9. |