"Octogesimus octavus mirabilis annus." Concerning the prophecy which contained this verse, see Bayle, Dict., art. Stofler, note E: art. Bruschius, note E.
Essay XXXVII. Of Masques and Triumphs.—
"The colours that show best by candlelight are white, carnation, and a kind of sea-water green; and oes, or spangs, as they are of no great cost, so they are of most glory." Mr. Markby says that Montagu and Spiers take the liberty of altering the word oes to ouches. Halliwell, in his Dictionary, explains oes to mean eyes, citing one manuscript example. This would agree tolerably with the sense of the passage before us. Ouches would mean jewels.
Essay XXXVIII. Of Nature in Men.—See Antith., No. 10. vol. viii. p. 459.
"Optimus ille animi vindex," &c.] "Ille fuit vindex" in Ovid.
"Like as it was with Æsop's damsel, turned from a cat to a woman.">[ See Babrius, Fab. 32.
"Otherwise they may say, 'Multum incola fuit anima mea.'" Whence are these words borrowed?
Essay XXXIX. Of Custom and Education.—See Antith., No. 10. vol. viii. p. 359.
"Only superstition is now so well advanced, that men of the first blood are as firm as butchers by occupation, and votary resolution is made equipollent to custom, even in matter of blood.">[ This is an allusion to the Gunpowder Plot.