Ercilla's poem, on the whole, is rather deserving of censure than of praise; and, if read through, will certainly be found tedious; but parts of it may be perused with pleasure and admiration. The epithet of Homeric has been both applied and misapplied when bestowed upon his genius. Those qualities which have been praised in him must be admitted by an impartial judge to savour a little of the style of the father of epic poetry. That Ercilla was at an immense distance from his model must, however, be confessed, even by his warmest admirers. NOTES. Note 1.--This date is taken from the life of Ercilla prefixed to the edition of the Araucana, of Madrid, 1776. The author of Ercilla's life in the French Biographie Universelle fixes his birth at Bermeo, in Biscay, in 1525. He was led into error as to the place by the collector of the Parnaso Español: in assigning the year he confesses that he had no foundation but his own conjecture. This spirit led him to fix a date for our poet's death, which is uncertain. Note 2.--Nicolaus Antonius. Bibl. Hisp. Nov. p. 395. Madrid, 1783. It is a remarkable fact, that while Ercilla the poet is slightly mentioned in this work, his father, whose labours are now forgotten, has nearly two columns devoted to a notice of his life and writings. Note 3.--The _Meninos_ were young gentlemen attached to the court. The word is no longer used, though the office is preserved in that of the king's pages. Note 4.--The pedantic allusion, it is needless to say, is made by Ercilla himself, in the taste of his age. Note 5.--Herrera Historia general de los Hechos de los Castellanos en las Islas y tierra firme del Mar Oceano. Dec. VIII. lib. VII. C. X. Our poet is there mentioned as the famous poet and honourable gentleman, Don Alonso de Ercilla. Note 6.--Licentiate Cristoval Mosquera de Figueroa speaks of Ercilla's prowess at the battle of Millarapue, and the engagement at Puren, where, followed by eleven fellow-soldiers, he climbed up a mountain defended by the Indians, and won the day. The writer of Ercilla's life quotes the Chronicle of Philip II., by Calvete de la Estrella, as a testimonial of the poet's exploits, but this must be a mistake. There exists no such chronicle. Suarez de Figueroa only praises Don Alonso's gallant bearing at a mock fight or field-day (p. 60.); but he was prejudiced against him. Note 7.--The last line of the inscription here alluded to, Hic tandem stetimus nobis ubi defuit orbis, was written by the French comic poet Regnard, in Lapland, in 1681. Though the thought is liable to the imputation of gasconade, it is spirited and beautiful. Ercilla's inscription was of a more unpretending nature. He merely says:--