[430] Sheridan. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, an Irish dramatist, member of the famous Literary Club to which both Fox and Burke belonged.
[431] Circe. According to Greek legend, Circe was a beautiful enchantress. Men who partook of the draught she offered, were turned to swine.
[432] Captain Symmes. The only real personage of this group. He asserted that there was an opening to the interior of the earth which was stocked with plants and animals.
[433] Clerisy. What word would we be more apt to use here?
[434] St. Michael's (Square). St. Michael's was an order instituted by Louis XI. of France.
[435] Cologne water. A perfumed water first made at the city of Cologne in Germany, from which it took its name.
[436] Poland. This kingdom of Europe was, in the eighteenth century, taken possession of and divided among its powerful neighbors, Russia, Prussia, and Austria.
[438] As Heaven and Earth are fairer far, etc. This passage is quoted from Book II. of Keats' Hyperion.
[439] Waverley. The Waverley novels, a name applied to all of Scott's novels from Waverley, the title of the first one.
[440] Robin Hood. An English outlaw and popular hero, the subject of many ballads.
[441] Minerva. In Roman mythology, the goddess of wisdom corresponding to the Greek Pallas-Athene.
[442] Juno. In Roman mythology, the wife of the supreme god Jupiter.
[443] Polymnia. In Greek mythology, one of the nine muses who presided over sacred poetry; the name is more usually written Polyhymia.
[444] Delphic Sibyl. In ancient mythology, the Sibyls were certain women who possessed the power of prophecy. One of these who made her abode at Delphi in Greece was called the Delphian, or Delphic, sibyl.
[445] Hafiz. A Persian poet of the fourteenth century.
[446] Firdousi. A Persian poet of the tenth century.
[447] She was an elemental force, etc. Of this passage Oliver Wendell Holmes said that Emerson "speaks of woman in language that seems to pant for rhythm and rhyme."
[448] Byzantine. An ornate style of architecture developed in the fourth and fifth centuries, marked especially by its use of gold and color.
[449] Golden Book. In a book, called "the Golden Book," were recorded the names of all the children of Venetian noblemen.