[78] “Avoid profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science, falsely so called.”—1 _Tim._ vi. 20. [79] He alludes to the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, significant of the limited duration of his kingdom.—See _Daniel_ ii. 33, 41. [80] Mahomet proselytized by giving to the nations which he conquered, the option of the Koran or the sword. [81] “To deeds so dreadful could religion prompt.” The poet refers to the sacrifice by Agamemnon, the Grecian leader, of his daughter Iphigenia, with the view of appeasing the wrath of Diana.—_Lucret._ i. 95. [82] He alludes to the massacre of the Huguenots, or Protestants, in France, which took place on St. Bartholomew’s day, August 24, 1572, by the order of Charles IX. and his mother, Catherine de Medici. On this occasion about 60,000 persons perished, including the Admiral De Coligny, one of the most virtuous men that France possessed, and the main stay of the Protestant cause. [83] More generally known as “The Gunpowder Plot.” [84] Isa. xiv. 14. [85] Allusion is made to the “caduceus,” with which Mercury, the messenger of the Gods, summoned the souls of the departed to the infernal regions. [86] “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”—_James_ i. 20. [87] He alludes to Cosmo de Medici, or Cosmo I., chief of the Republic of Florence, the encourager of literature and the fine arts. [88] Job ii. 10.—“Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” [89] By “public revenges,” he means punishment awarded by the state with the sanction of the laws. [90] He alludes to the retribution dealt by Augustus and Anthony to the murderers of Julius Cæsar. It is related by ancient historians, as a singular fact, that not one of them died a natural death. [91] Henry III. of France was assassinated in 1599, by Jacques Clement, a Jacobin monk, in the frenzy of fanaticism. Although Clement justly suffered punishment, the end of this bloodthirsty and bigoted tyrant may be justly deemed a retribution dealt by the hand of an offended Providence; so truly does the Poet say:— “neque enim lex æquior ulla Quam necis artifices arte perire suâ.” [92] Sen. Ad Lucil. 66. [93] Ibid. 53. [94] Stesichorus, Apollodorus, and others. Lord Bacon makes a similar reference to this myth in his treatise “On the Wisdom of the Ancients.” “It is added with great elegance, to console and strengthen the minds of men, that this mighty hero (Hercules) sailed in a cup or ‘urceus,’ in order that they may not too much fear and allege the narrowness of their nature and its frailty; as if it were not capable of such fortitude and constancy; of which very thing Seneca argued well, when he said, ‘It is a great thing to have at the same time the frailty of a man, and the security of a God.’”