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aud subsequently seduced mau into disobedience against God, for which 

 act he and all his hosts were plunged into hell, and doomed to everlast- 

 inf' perdition. The scene is in heaven. The characters are : — Beelze- 

 bub, Belial, and Apollyon, rebel chiefs ; Gabriel, God's herald ; Lucifer, 

 the chief ; Luciferists, rebellious angels ; Michael, general ; Eaphael, 

 guardian angel ; and Uriel, Michael's armour-bearer. 



It will be perceived from this brief outline that the contents of 

 Vondel's " Lucifer" is identical with that of Milton's " Paradise Lost." 

 Yet the former preceded the latter by fourteen years, which led some to 

 suppose that it formed the basis of Milton's work. There are some 

 grounds to justify such a conjecture. It is a notorious fact, that it was 

 the original intention of Milton to execute his ideas in the form of a 

 play, as Vondel had done ; and, in comparing the two works, we discern 

 a marked similarity in the speeches of the rebel angels. It is, more- 

 over, worthy of remark that this is not the only subject on which both 

 poets have treated ; but that Vondel, as well as Milton, composed a 

 drama on Sampson, both very similar in the execution. It is not im- 

 probable that the excitement caused in Amsterdam by the performance 

 of " Lucifer" may have reached the ears of Milton, especially at a time 

 when Holland and England came into frequent contact. If it be main- 

 tained that Milton, when he composed his poem, was not aware of the 

 existence of such a work as " Lucifer" — as may not unreasonably be 

 inferred from his introductoiy lines — we have to account in some other 

 way for this coincidence, and this can only be in the circumstances 

 of those times. At a time when law, right, and authority, were in 

 continual collision, it is not improbable that the thinldng patriots, miable 

 to trace out the proper path, may have turned to the Bible for their 

 ouide, and may have found in the first history of man analagous 

 circumstances in a higher sphere. It appears tolerably certain that 

 such was the object of Vondel ; and, as in " Palamedes," he may have 

 concealed his political opinions under the guise of a celestial conflict. 

 The rebellion of angels against their God, and the consequent ruin of 

 mau, is not an inappropriate representation of the opposition to law and 

 authority so prevalent in his days, and the injury caused thereby to the 

 innocent. If these same sentiments inspired Milton to compose 

 his " Paradise Lost," his commentators may find another source of 

 investigation, and draw from his poem his opinions on the grave ques- 

 tions that were agitated in his day. 



Before entering on the relative merits of Vondel and Milton, I will 

 read to you an extract from the first act of " Lucifer;" and, however 

 imperfect my translation may be, it will nevertheless convey an idea of 



