[19] Shakspeare, it will be observed, represents Hermione as a _colored_ statue. Paulina will not allow it to be touched, because the paint is not yet dry. [20] A kiss appears to have been an established incident in ancient English marriage ceremonies. [21] That by the impression of my kiss forever remaining on thy hand, thou mightst think on those lips through which a thousand sighs will be breathed for thee. [22] A kiss was anciently in England the established fee of a lady’s partner. The custom is still prevalent among some of the country-people. [23] Thus Bassanio, in “The Merchant of Venice,” when he kisses Portia: “Fair lady, by your leave, I come by note to _give_ and to _receive_.” [24] Queen Mab. [25] Probable allusion to the kissing comfits mentioned by Falstaff, “Merry Wives,” v. 5. [26] The poet here, no doubt, copied from the mode of his own time, since kissing a lady in a public assembly was not then thought indecorous. In King Henry VIII., Act i., scene v., Lord Sands is represented as kissing Anne Boleyn, next whom he sat at supper. [27] The handkerchief. [28] In the serious treatment of this idea the following lines from Whittier’s “Angels of Buena Vista” are among the most beautiful: “Whispered low the dying soldier, pressed her hand and faintly smiled: Was that pitying face his mother’s? did she watch beside her child? All his stranger words with meaning her woman’s heart supplied; With her kiss upon his forehead, ‘Mother,’ murmured he, and died.” [29] The readers of Byron’s “Don Juan” will remember the wish “That womanhood had but one rosy mouth, To kiss them all at once, from North to South.” [30] This epigram, though taken from the French, may be traced back to the Latin Anthology: “Kisses my Phillis takes, but ne’er bestows: Taking’s all one with giving, Phillis knows.” [31] There is a similar point in a Greek epigram of Strato: “While thus a few kisses I steal, Dear Chloris, you bravely complain; If resentment you really do feel. Pray give me my kisses again.” [32] Mrs. Thomson, in her “Life of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough,” says: “The proud Duke of Somerset married twice. His second duchess once tapped him familiarly on the shoulder with her fan; he turned round, and, with an indignant countenance, said, ‘My first duchess was a Percy, and she never took such a liberty.’” [33] This riddle was originally published in the “Gentleman’s Magazine.” A correspondent furnished the following answer: “A riddle by Cowper Made me swear like a trooper; But my anger, alas! was in vain; For, remembering the bliss Of beauty’s soft kiss, I now long for such riddles again.” INDEX.