NOTES TO CANTO III. (1) "He let a volley of his wrath aloud." It should not be thought that Orlando, betrayed by the catastrophe of the ship into a sudden ebullition of language, is guilty of expressions stronger than might be used in venting a slight malediction. It will, however, be discovered, that he is not drawn as faultless as his partner; from the fact, as appears by observation and experience, that religion, while it softens and smooths, does not entirely eradicate the asperities and rough points of our nature, which, in the hardier sex, circumstances do often unexpectedly expose in something of their native deformity. It would seem that some roots of degeneracy are left even in the renewed nature, usually termed weaknesses, to try and test its constancy, as fragments of the Canaanite nations were left in Palestine, to test the obedience of the people of GOD. (2) "Southeast, the course to which we tend, there lie A cluster, known as the Bahamas." The Bahamas are a numerous cluster of islands, lying to the eastward of Cape Florida, and north of Cuba, numbering, it is said, about one thousand, by far the greater number, however, being nothing more than barren rocks. The reader versed in maritime geography, may select from among the larger and more luxuriant, one for the residence of the Lovers,-which include Bahama, Abaco, Eleuthera, Nassau, St. Salvadore, Andras, &c., &c. (3) "When the Red Revers, red with human gore." The period here referred to, has no relation to the times of the Buccaneers. It includes about a quarter of a century, from 1800 to 1824, during all which period the navigation of the Gulf of Mexico was rendered more or less dangerous by the presence of pirates. (4) "That madd'ning thirst, which owns but one desire, To drink,-drink deep,—and in the bliss expire!" It is impossible for those who have never been subjected to the extremity of thirst, to appreciate, in its full extent, the intense suffering to which persons are often fated on the ocean, under a burning sky, in the total deprivation of fresh water,-a suffering a thousand-fold aggravated by the surrounding deep, whose translucent, but briny billows, roll with bitter tantalizing invitation. I have seen one man perish in the fiery trial. (5) "The favorite beverage of Charles the Wise." Charles V. of France, surnamed the Wise. He was successful in repelling the encroachments of England, and compelled Edward III. to sanction the treaty of Bruges, which restored many fine districts to France. (6) "The while reflecting he had not a cross, To keep the devil off,- -as it is said." All coins throughout Christendom were formerly stamped on one side with a cross, and which is continued in some countries at the present day. A piece of silver, with this talismanics device, was believed to be a protection against Satanic influence. Hence the complete poverty of a person was expressed in the popular language of the times, "He hasn't got a cross to keep the devil off;" Not worth a cross," &c. (7) "Thus they, in grateful and confiding prayer, Resign themselves to Heaven." It has been my aim to present the youthful Pair,-the chief, perhaps the only attraction in this poem,--as early imbued with Christian piety, that heavenly principle, which gives the crowning lustre to every other grace in man and woman. And aware that the potency of many an exhibition, whose triumph it is to fascinate the imagination or enchain the intellect, depends as much upon the manner in which it is presented, as upon the beauty or truthfulness of the principle embodied; I could wish (and without any affectation of literary demerit) that my young readers would, for their own sakes, reverse the succession in the present instance, and suffer the principle first to commend itself to the heart and the understanding, in all its native charm and excellence, undimmed and unimpaired by the imperfect, faulty mirror, in which have attempted its reflection. Youthful virtue is the perfection and security of temporal existence; and Divine Revelation is pregnant with counsel, instruction, and invitation, to "seek first the kingdom of GoD and His righteousness," with the assurance that "all other things (necessary to our comfort and happiness) shall be added thereunto." Wherefore it is urged in persuasive tones,-"REMEMBER NOW THY CREATOR, IN THE DAYS OF THY YOUTH, BEFORE THE EVIL DAYS COME." I have not drawn the Lovers as exempt from the common frailty of humanity, the natural fear of death; but as protected, by the omnipotence of an approving conscience, from its bitterness;-that hopeless remorse which attends upon final impenitence. So, when the day of trouble came, that trial day which comes upon all the sons and daughters of Time at some period of life, and often unforewarned,-although it burst suddenly in all its terrors, found them not unprepared :—their constancy is unshaken amid the wild desolation of the wreck, the turbulence and darkness of the deep; and the calm angelic composure in which they sink together in deep slumber on the midnight sea, committing themselves to the guardianship of Him in whom they trust, but feebly exemplifies that "perfect peace" which all may have in the hour of danger and tribulation, "whose mind is stayed on GOD." NOTES TO CANTO IV. (1) O Art divine!-celestial Poesy! URANIA bends in sorrow from the skies, The original and legitimate office of Poetry was to purify, to polish, and inform mankind; and for this purpose she has ever inspired true Genius with a portion of her own immortal spirit; giving to it the power to perceive and to appropriate the beauties, the analogies, the sublimities of the moral and material creation. Like Virtue, Poetry is unchangeable in her essence, though her votaries, it is feared, have sadly degenerated; or rather, like King Uzziah, numbers have presumptuously approached her altars, without the prophetic mantle or character, and met the fate which ever falls on sacrilege. It is also undoubtedly true, that Poetry has long been, and still is, dishonored by the attempts of mere rhymesters and imitators,—vapid sentimentalists, as hopelessly ignorant of her profound and heavenly mysteries, as they seem familiar with the mechanic jingling of her artificial bells. (2) "O thankless he for whom creation spreads Her choicest gifts, for blessing all designed!" The unstable, unsatisfied disposition of many young men, leads them, in the pursuit of what they vainly term "fortune," much oftener into the |