The aurora borealis was an uncommon spectacle in England during the 17th century. Its occasional appearance, however, gave foundation to those tales of armies fighting in the air, and similar phenomena with which the credulity of the vulgar was amused. The author seems to allude to some extraordinary display of the aurora borealis on the evening of the battle of Sedgemuir, which was chiefly fought by night. I do not find the circumstance noticed elsewhere. Dryden attests it by his personal evidence. Note XIV. _And then the dew-drops on her silken hide Her tender constitution did declare, Too lady-like a long fatigue to bear, And rough inclemencies of raw nocturnal air._--P. 183. This seems to be a sarcasm of the same kind with the following: "But," says the zealous Protestant of the mother church, "if you repeal the test, you take away the bulwark that defends the church; for if that were once demolished, the enemy would rush in and possess all; and it is a delicate innocent church that cannot be safe but in a fortified place."--"I must confess, it is a great argument of her modesty to own herself weak and unable to subsist without the support of parliamentary laws, to hang, draw, or quarter her opposers, and without a coercive power in herself to fine and excommunicate all recusants and nonconformists."[183] One would wish to ask this Catholic advocate for universal toleration, if he had ever heard of a court in Popish countries for the prevention of heresy, generally called the Inquisition? FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 181: The great civil war broke out in 1641-2, and the king was dethroned in 1648.] [Footnote 182: "The Freeholder's Choice, or a Letter of Advice concerning Elections."] [Footnote 183: New Test of the Church of England's Loyalty.] THE HIND AND THE PANTHER. A POEM. PART THIRD. THE HIND AND THE PANTHER. PART THIRD.