"Is not thy king a man? What hath he then That I should gaze on him, more than on thee? Thou see'st yon blossom-gather it, I pray, And bear it to thy King, and say, I bid him La Cisma de Inglaterra. NOTES. [The following notes are the author's own, except where inclosed in brackets.] Page 255. The Blessed Hand. There is a legend of an English monk who died at the monastery of Aremberg, where he had copied and illuminated many books, hoping to be rewarded in Heaven. Long after his death his tomb was opened, and nothing could be seen of his remains but the right hand with which he had done his pious work, and which had been miraculously preserved from decay. [From a personal friend of Mr. Wallis we have the following account of the circumstances under which "The Blessed Hand" was written: "After the war ended, it was found that there was so much want and destitution throughout the South, as well as an entire lack of seeds and implements with which to start in life, that some ladies in Baltimore conceived the idea of holding a Fair for the purpose of raising a sum of money which should be applied to relieving the great want known to be widespread throughout the South. The result was the 'Southern Relief Fair,' which proved a great success, as the expenses were almost nothing, while all found something to give for the Fair. The amount realised was about $165.000. "Among those who entered into the work of the Fair with great enthusiasm, was Mr. Wallis; and soon after the opening, when he had seen the way in which the ladies worked, and how true and earnest was their desire to help those who were suffering, the legend of 'The Blessed Hand' came to his mind, and he wrote the poem here given. He had it printed and sent to the Fair for sale. So perfectly did the lines agree with the feeling that filled every heart, and so beautiful were they in themselves, that great numbers of the printed copies were sold." Elfric relates a similar miracle in the case of King Oswald of Northumbria.] Page 261. The Last of the Hours. In the famous fresco, known as the Aurora, by Guido Reni, in the Rospigliosi palace at Rome, the last of the Hours-the farthest from the chariot of the Sun—wears a darker robe than her companions, and is the only one whose head is covered. Her face is by far the most beautiful in the group, though its expression is pensive. [Printed in the Metropolitan Magazine, September, 1857.] 263. Truth and Reason. Fabricius, in his Bibliotheca Graeca, mentions the theory of the universe propounded by Cosmas Indicopleustes, who, among other things, accounted for the motion of the heavenly bodies by the assertion that they were carried round in their orbits by celestial spirits. August 20, 1849. 265. Beauty and Faith. "Guido was so distinguished by his passionate enthusiasm for the Madonna that he was supposed to have been favored by a particular vision which enabled him the more readily to represent her divine beauty. . . . But, though he painted lovely Virgins, he went every Saturday to pray before the little black Madonna della Guardia, and, as we are assured, held this ancient Eastern relic in devout veneration." Mrs. Jameson's Legends of the Madonna. [Printed in the Metropolitan Magazine, March, 1857.] Page 267. The Exile's Prayer. In his work on the Mind, Dr. Rush maintains the fact, attested by clergymen of his acquaintance, that the aged foreigners whom they attended generally prayed on their death-beds in their native language, though in many cases they had not spoken it for fifty or sixty years. 268. The first interment in Greenmount Cemetery was that of an infant. 1845. 66 66 270. [The Spectre of Colalto was contributed by Mr. Wallis to The Baltimore Book, a literary miscellany published in 1838, and edited by W. H. Carpenter and T. S. Arthur. To the poem was prefixed the following quotation :-] "The White Lady of Avenel is not quite so good as a real well-authenticated White Lady or spectre in the Marca Trevigniana, who has been repeatedly seen. . . . She always appeared upon particular occasions, before the deaths of the family, &c. . . . She was a girl attendant, who one day, dressing the hair of a Countess of Colalto, was seen by her mistress to smile upon her husband, in the glass. The Countess had her shut up in the wall of the castle, like Constance de Beverley. She is described as beautiful and fair. It is well authenticated." BYRON, Letter 463. very 277. In Fort Warren. [Lines written on the occasion of the release of several Confederate officers, fellowprisoners of the author.] "278. Worship. April 29, 1852. 289. Christmas Eve at Sea. On board ship Argo, Decem ber 24, 1846. 66 294. "The Lord Gave." January 22, 1854. 66 296. "And the Lord hath taken away." Annapolis, Janu ary 14, 1856. 298. Memnon. September 19, 1850. Page 299. God's Acre. The Germans call a grave-yard Gottes 66 66 Acker, or "God's Acre," and Friedhof, the "Peaceyard." 299. Starlight. September 20, 1853. 300. Quo Fata Trahunt. January 10, 1854. "301. For an Album. I was requested to write some verses in the album of a charming little girl. I wrote the first of the following pieces, and did not insert it, because I found on examination that there was another, by another hand, in the volume, with pretty nearly the same application of its moral. It was suggested by an engraving of a landscape in the album. 66 302. For an Album. These lines, suggested by another engraving, which represented a butterfly upon a bunch of cut flowers, were returned with the volume. 306. To a Friend. In answer to a poem written by a friend on Campbell's lines "To live in hearts we leave behind, Is not to die." October 10, 1852. "310. To a Friend. These verses were inclosed in a letter to my friend, James W. Miller, of New Orleans, with whom I had spent a good many very happy hours at Pigeon Hills. When the letter containing them reached New Orleans, he was dead. Sit illi terra levis! December 23, 1838. 312. No More. Madame de Staël, I think it is, who says that the words no more" are the sweetest in the English language. 1841. "314. The Curfew. October 1, 1845. 66 317. The Fount. An answer to the following lines in a friend's letter: "As the weary traveller draweth nigh To a spring which refresheth his longing eye, And joyfully bendeth o'er the brink Of the limpid and crystal stream to drink |