3 65. Pales. A Roman divinity of flocks and shepherds. Ceres. The goddess of agriculture.
3 67. three campaigns. The Jacobites had found sympathy in Ireland and made a stand there. Vigorous efforts were made by William to dislodge them and subjugate the island; but years passed before civil strife was ended and peace restored.
3 72. relics of mankind. The human beings preserved in the ark, all that was left of mankind after the flood.
3 82, 83. Dryden copies Virgil's golden age,Eclogue IV., 39, 40.
3 87. venom never known. This refers to the absence of reptiles in Ireland.
4 102. New from her sickness. Recently recovered from a serious illness.
4 117. four ingredients. Earth, air, fire, water, then supposed to be the elements of all created substances.
5 125. young Vespasian. Titus Vespasianus, the conqueror of Jerusalem, was so impressed by the beauty of the Temple that he wept as it was destroyed.
5 128. A most detested act of gratitude. The elegy which the danger of her death rendered imminent. Detested because the occasion for the act would fill him with grief.
5 131. Morley. A celebrated physician of the seventeenth century.