NOTE g.

The hand that snatch’d it sparkling in the tide,

The drinking cups of the Islanders, if we may believe a contemporary of Columbus, were ex lignu...lucido confecta, el arte mira lalorata. P. Martyr, dec. i. 5.

NOTE h.

Rose to the Virgin.

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.  See Brydone, I. 330.

NOTE i.

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 be 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.  F. COL. c. 1.

NOTE k.

Slowly to land the sacred cross we bore,

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

NOTE l.

But how the scene pourtray?

’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.  F. COL. c. 30, 33.

NOTE m.

Nymphs of romance,

Dryades formosissimas, aut nativas fontium nymphas, de quibus fabulatur antiquitas, se vidisse arbitrati sunt.  P. MARTYR, dec. i. lib. 5.

NOTE n.

Youths graceful as the Faun,

An eminent Painter, when he first saw the Apollo of the Belvidere, was struck with its resemblance to an American warrior.  West’s discourse in the Royal Academy, 1794.

NOTE o.

But see, the regal plumes, the couch of state!

’The Cacique came down to the shore in a sort of palanquin—­attended by his antient men.—­The gifts, which he received from me, were afterwards carried before him.’  F. COLUMBUS, c. 32.

NOTE p.

The wondrous ring, and lamp, and horse of brass.

The ring of Gyges, the lamp of Aladdin, and the horse of the Tartar king.