Note (1)-page 70. And Thule bellows through her utmost isles. • Thule” was an island in the most northern parts of the Ger man ocean, (North Sea,) which the ancients called ultima. Somo suppose it to have been Iceland. Hence the phrase, “ ultima Thule,” the farthest land. Note (k)-page 70. Thy sons of glory many! Alfred, thine. Alfred the Great ascended the English throne, A. D. 872 Forming the design of freeing his country from the power of tho Danes, he went into their camp in disguise, as a wandering harper. Hay. ing thus ascertained their situation, he returned and led his troops successfully against them. He now made London the capital of his dominions; provided for an impartial administration of justice ; encouraged learning; founded the college at Oxford Finally, he did for his country what Peter the Great afterwards did for Russia. The English cherish, with a good deal of pride, the name of their “immortal Alfred." Note (1)-page 79. -but who can speak The numerous worthies of the Maiden Reign ? The reign of Elizabeth, England's maiden queen, was adorned by a brilliant constellation of statesmen, poets, and men of science. She was, herself, one of the most remarkable of female sovereigns—sagacious, energetic, and ambitious. Haughty and vain, she treated every proposal of marriage with scorn ; declaring that “ England was her husband,” and wishing for no higher character than this simple inscription on her tombstone :-“Here lies Elizabeth, who lived and died a Maiden Queen." She even carried this ambition to such an extent, that when the discoveries of Cabot put her in possession of all North America, from Labrador to the Mexican gulf, she stamped upon it the name of ViRGINIA--at once significant of her sovereignty and character. Note (m)—page 80. Thine is a Bacon. It has been said that Lord Bacon “ drew a sponge over the table of human knowledge." He attacked and swept away the jargon an idle speculation of Aristotle, w ha so long tyrannized over the human mind, and became himself the founder of InducLive Philosophy. He was the great reformer in philosophy, that Luther was in religion. And the encomium which the poet bostows upon him, as a scholar and thinker, is justly merited. But although a man of the most splendid abilities, he lacked stability of virtue. Having been made lord keeper of the seals, and high chancellor of England, he dishonored the high trust committed to him, and became politically degraded. Pope sums up his character in one line "The greatest, wisest, meanest of mankind." Note (n)-page 108. And brought Deucalion's watery times again Deucalion was a son of Prometheus. According to mythology, in his reign the whole earth was overwhelmed in a deluge. Deucalion and his wife saved themselves in a ship, that rested on mount Parnassus when the flood subsided. They were directed by an oracle to repair the loss of mankind, by throwing behind them the bones of their grandmother. These were the stones of the earth. They obeyed; and the stones which Deucalion threw became men, and those which his wife threw became women. So says ancient story. Note (0)- page 137. Lycurgus then, who bowed beneath the force. Lycurgus was the great Spartan lawgiver. He reformed the government and the people, abolished luxury, and substituted iron for money. After he had succeeded in reforming the Spartans, he retired from the country, binding them by an oath, that neither they nor their posterity would alter, violate or abolish the laws he had established, before his return. Soon after, he put himself to death, and commanded that his ashes should be thrown into the sea, lest they should be carried back to Sparta, and thus afford the citizens an excuse for abandoning their oath, and violating the laws. Note (p)-page 137. As at Thermopyla he glorious fell. The strait of Thermopylæ is a narrow pass in the mountains in Greece. The word signifies the gate of warm springs. The place is celebrated for the desperate resistance which Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans made against the Persian army. Every man was slain except one. The Greeks erected a monument on the spot to commemorate their valor, on which. was the following inscription :-“ Stranger, tell the Lacedæmonians that we lie here in obedience to their laws." These laws allowed no Spartan warrior to retreat-he must conquer or die. Note (9)-page 138. And Cincinnatus, awful from the plough. Cincinnatus has always been admired as a noble example of disinterested patriotism. When he was elected consul, the messengers who brought the intelligence, found him at the plough. He accepted the office reluctantly ; saying, “ Then my fields will not be sown this year.” The second year he refused the office, and returned to his farm. He was afterwards chosen dictator by the Romans for six months to terminate a war with the Volscians. In this he was successful; and, after holding the office sixteen days, he resigned it, and returned again to his plough. INDEX. SPRING. Line. 274 381 Age, manners of the, in poet's time,.. pairing of,........ imprisonment of, lamented,. effects of, in youth,. matchless joys of,. 765 5 . deception of,..... 41 Seasons, annual succession of, not distinguished before the flood,. Line 316 319 55 136 1 SUMMER ...1553 Alfred the Great, king of England, ...1478 ...1171 685 .1409 956 1534 ..1256 710 961 .1441 97 .....1527 ..1478 ..1580 600 ..1171 .1576 1491 832 ..1707 ..1550 808 52 29 721 do do ........ ...1270 ...... 142 Friends, social, described,.. Line 1383 1485 516 352 451 67 241 .1669 522 .1567 742 192 822 .... 843 .1541 663 ..1396 750 397 |