might be persuaded, or terrified, into the profession of Mahomedanism; but all these sanguinary efforts were ineffectual; and at length, being fully convinced, that though they might extirpate, they could never hope to convert any number of the Hindoos, they relinquished the impracticable idea, with which they had entered upon their career of conquest, and contented themselves with the acquirement of the civil dominion and almost universal empire of Hindostan." Letters from a Hindoo Rajah, by Eliza Hamilton. Note (m.) And braved the stormy spirit of the Cape. See the description of the Cape of Good Hope, translated from Camoens, by Mickle. Note (n.) While famished nations died along the shore. The following account of the British conduct, and its consequences, in Bengal, will afford a sufficient idea of the fact alluded to in this passage. After describing the monopoly of salt, betel nut, and tobacco, the historian proceeds thus:- Money in this current came but by drops; it could not quench the thirst of those who waited in India to receive it. An expedient, such as it was, remained to quicken its pace. The natives could live with little salt, but could not want food. Some of the agents saw themselves well situated for collecting the rice into stores: they did so. They knew the Gentoos would rather die than violate the principles of their religion by eating flesh. The alternative would therefore be between giving what they had or dying. The inhabitants sunk ;—they that cultivated the land, and saw the harvest at the disposal of others, planted in doubt— scarcity ensued. Then the monopoly was easier managed -sickness ensued. In some districts the languid living left the bodies of their numerous dead unburied." Short History of English Transactions in the Note (o.) Nine times hath Brama's wheels of lightning hurled His awful presence o'er the prostrate world! Among the sublime fictions of the Hindoo mythology, it is one article of belief, that the Deity Brama has descended nine times upon the world in various forms, and that he is yet to appear a tenth time, in the figure of a warrior upon a white horse, to cut off all incorrigible offenders. Avater is the word used to express his descent. Note (p.) And Camdeo bright, and Ganesa sublime. Camdeo is the God of Love in the mythology of the Hindoos. Ganesa and Seriswattee correspond to the Pagan deities Janus and Minerva. NOTES ON THE PLEASURES OF HOPE. PART II. Note (a.) The noon of Manhood to a myrtle shade! Sacred to Venus is the myrtle shade.-Dryden. Note (b.) Thy woes, Arion! Falconer in his poem, The Shipwreck, speaks of himself by the name of Arion.-See Falconer's Shipwreck, Canto III. Note (c.) The robber Moor. See Schiller's tragedy of the Robbers, scene v. Note (d.) What millions died that Cæsar might be great. The carnage occasioned by the wars of Julius Cæsar has been usually estimated at two millions of men. Note (e.) Or learn the fate that bleeding thousands bore, Marched by their Charles to Dneiper's swampy shore. In this extremity, (says the biographer of Charles XII. of Sweden, speaking of his military exploits before the battle of Pultowa,) the memorable winter of 1709, which was still more remarkable in that part of Europe than in France, destroyed numbers of his troops: for Charles resolved to brave the seasons as he had done his enemies, anu ventured to make long marches during this mortal cold. It was in one of these marches that two thousand men fell down dead with cold before his eyes. Note (f.) As on Iona's height. The natives of the island of Iona have an opinion, that on certain evenings every year, the tutelary saint Columba is seen on the top of the church spires counting the surrounding islands, to see that they have not been sunk by the power of witchcraft. Note (g.) And part, like Ajut,—never to return! See the history of Ajut and Anningait in the Rambler. NOTES ON GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. PART I. Stanza 3. l. 6. From merry mock-bird's song. The mocking bird is of the form, but larger, than the thrush; and the colours are a mixture of black, white, and gray. What is said of the nightingale, by its greatest admirers, is, what may with more propriety apply to this bird, who, in a natural state, sings with very superior taste. Towards evening I have heard one begin softly, reserving its breath to swell certain notes, which, by this means, had a most astonishing effect. A gentleman in London had one of these birds for six years. During the space of a minute he was heard to imitate the woodlark, chaffinch, blackbird, thrush, and sparrow. In this country (America) I have frequently known the mockingbirds so engaged in this mimickry, that it was with much difficulty I could ever obtain an opportunity of hearing their own natural note, Some go so far as to say, that they have neither peculiar notes, nor favourite imitations. This may be denied. Their few natural notes resemble those of the (European) nightingale. Their song, however, has a greater compass and volume than the nightingales', and they have the faculty of varying all intermediate notes in a manner which is truly delightful.-Ashe's Travels in America, Vol. II. p. 73. Stanza 5. 1. 9. Or distant isles that hear the loud Corbrechtan roar. The Corybrechtan, or Corbrechtan, is a whirlpool on the western coast of Scotland, near the island of Jura, which is heard at a prodigious distance. Its name signifies the whirlpool of the prince of Denmark; and there is a tradition that a Danish prince once undertook, for a wager, to cast anchor in it. He is said to have used woollen instead of hempen ropes, for greater strength, but perished in the attempt. On the shores of Argyleshire I have often listened with great delight to the sound of this vortex, at the distance of many leagues. When the weather is calm, and the adjacent sea scarcely heard on these picturesque shores, its sound, which is like the sound of innumerable chariots, creates a magnificent and fine effect. Stanza 13. l. 4. Of buskined limb and swarthy lineament. In the Indian tribes there is a great similarity in their colour, stature, &c. They are all, except the Snake Indians, tall in stature, straight and robust. It is very sel dom they are deformed, which has given rise to the supposition that they put to death their deformed children. Their skin is of a copper colour; their eyes large, bright, black, and sparkling, indicative of a subtle and discern ing mind: their hair is of the same colour, and prone to be long, seldom or never curled. Their teeth are large and white; I never observed any decayed among them, which makes their breath as sweet as the air they inhale. -Travels through America by Captains Lewis and Clarke, in 1804-5-6. Stanza 14. l. 6. Peace be to thee-my words this belt approve. The Indians of North America accompany every formal address to strangers, with whom they form or recognize a treaty of amity, with a present of a string, or belt, of wampum. Wampum (says Cadwallader Colden) is made of the large whelk shell, Briccinium, and shaped like long beads: it is the current money of the Indians. History of the five Indian Nations, page 34, New-York edition. Stanza 14. 1. 7. The paths of peace my steps have hither led. In relating an interview of Mohawk Indians with the governor of New-York, Colden quotes the following passages as a specimen of their metaphorical manner: "Where shall I seek the chair of peace? Where shall I find it but upon our path? and whither doth our path lead us but unto this house?" Stanza 15. 1. 2. Our wampum league thy brethren did embrace. When they solicit the alliance, offensive or defensive, of a whole nation, they send an embassy with a large belt of wampum and a bloody hatchet, inviting them to come and drink the blood of their enemies. The wampum made use of on these and other occasions before their acquaintance with the Europeans, was nothing but small shells which they picked up by the seacoasts, and on the banks of the lakes; and now it is nothing but a kind of cylindrical beads, made of shells, white and black, which are esteemed among them as silver and gold are among us. The black they call the most valuable, and both together are their greatest riches and ornaments; these among them answering all the end that money does among us. They have the art of stringing, twisting, and interweaving them into their belts, collars, blankets, and moccasins, &c., in ten thousand different sizes, forms, and figures, so as to be ornaments for every part of dress, and expressive to them of all their important transactions. They dye the wampum of various colours and shades, and mix and dispose them with great ingenuity and order, and so as to be significant among themselves of almost every thing they please; so that by these their words are kept, and their thoughts communicated to one another, as ours are by writing. The belts |