[492] Como Lake. A lake of northern Italy, celebrated for its beauty.
[493] Madeira Islands. Where are these islands, famous for picturesque beauty and balmy atmosphere?
[494] Common. What is a common?
[495] Campagna. The plain near Rome.
[496] Dilettantism. Define this word and explain its use here.
[497] "Wreaths" and "Flora's Chaplets." About the time that Emerson was writing his essays, volumes of formal, artificial verses were very fashionable, more as parlor ornaments than as literature. Two such volumes were A Wreath of Wild Flowers from New England and The Floral Offering by Mrs. Frances Osgood, a New England writer.
[498] Pan. In Greek mythology, the god of woods, fields, flocks, and shepherds.
[499] The multitude of false cherubs, etc. Explain the meaning of this sentence. If true money were valueless, would people make false money?
[500] Proteus. In Greek mythology, a sea god who had the power of assuming different shapes. If caught and held fast, however, he was forced to assume his own shape and answer the questions put to him.
[501] Mosaic ... Schemes. The conception of the world as given in Genesis on which the law of Moses, the great Hebrew lawgiver, was founded.