104 



the angels stand at the opposite extreme of unalloyed purity ; they are 

 all lost to our vision in a dazzling briUiancy of resplendent Hght. 

 They are without sin and even without weakness appreciable to us ; 

 they are consequently all not only of one mould, but of one so super- 

 human, that we look at their actions without ever venturing to identify 

 ourselves with them ; they may command our admiration but they 

 cannot gain human sympathy."-" 



I come now to speak of the human beings which the fable of 

 "Paradise Lost" furnishes. There are indeed two human beings, but 

 alas, they are hardly human. Adam is not like one of ourselves ; he 

 cannot feel and think and act as men do in human society. He is 

 placed under conditions such as no other human being ever was since ; 

 he is of his own kind, incapable of experiencing the thousand-fold 

 variety of human feelings and passions to which his descendants owe 

 so much of misery and of bliss. He has only Eve to associate with ; 

 both are virtuous and happy ; they are provided with every want, they 

 can gratify every wish, they know neither pain, nor denial, nor hostility, 

 nor anything to make them truly moral agents ; there is but one fault 

 that they can be guilty of. In the one act of disobedience is summed 

 up their sinfulness. On this subject the remarks of Dr. Johnson are 

 so just and concise, that I cannot do better than transcribe them, p. 

 166, " Such is the original formation of this poem, that as it admits no 

 human manners till the fall, it can give little assistance to human 

 conduct," p. 171, "The plan of 'Paradise Lost' has this inconveni- 

 ence, that it comprises neither human actions nor human manners," p. 

 173, " The want of human interest is always felt." 



What a difference is presented by the fables of the " Iliad" and the 

 "Odyssey !" Gods and men in an infinite variety of age, of station, of 

 sex, of I'ank, of power and influence ; from the majesty of Zeus, who 

 shakes heaven and earth with the nod of his head, to the low scurrility 

 of Irus the beggar parasite, and the petulance of Thersites the hunch- 

 back : what is there of human beauty or deformity, what of magna- 

 nimity or of vice, which does not furnish its vigorous colours to the 

 adorument of those grandest and most truthful of pictures ? Here we 



* All that Johnson can say on this topic is this, (p. 163,) "Among the angels the rirtue of 

 Raphael is mild and placid, of easy condescension and free communication ; that of Michael 

 is regal and lofty, and, as may seem, attentive to the dignity of his own nature. Abdiel and 

 Gabriel appear occasionally and act as every incident requires. The solitary fidelity of Abdiel 

 is very amiably painted." After descanting on Satan he says, (ibid) " The other chiefs of the 

 celestial rebellion are very judiciously discriminated in the first and second books; and the 

 ferocious character of Moloch appears both in the battle and the council with exact con- 

 sistency." 



