NOTES.
[PAGE 32, LINES 12 and 13.]
‘And a soft landscape given me by one
Who has a noble nature.’
The gentleman who gave me the picture of ‘Stirling Castle’ will not be surprised that so pleasant a gift holds a place in my memory.
[PAGE 33, LINES 9 and 10.]
‘one
Whose ancestors had been Castilia’s kings.’
This striking anecdote is related of Ponce de Leon, in, I think, ‘A Visit to Spain,’ by Michael Quin.
[PAGE 47, LINE 12.]
‘The glitter of the steeples on the hills.’
Every one who has made the passage of the St Lawrence, will remember the beautiful effect of the steeples on the shore. Occupying almost every swell on the low interval, and tiled universally with tin, they glisten in the moonlight like turrets of silver. It is even in that majestic scenery an impressive and delightful feature.
[PAGE 84, LINE 4.]
‘Child of the sunny brow.’
Perhaps my book will be forgotten before the child, to whom these lines are addressed, is old enough to understand them; but even if it is not, there is little harm in saying that she is at this time the most beautiful human being I ever saw. Her ‘thousand winning ways’ and graceful motion are before me now like a sweet dream, and I shall never forget them. May God bless her!
[PAGE 87, LINE 14.]
‘As dew of the night’s quietness comes down.’
If my readers have neglected meteorology as long as I did, the younger part of them at least, would like to be told that the dew never falls except on a still night.