THE SPIRIT OF DANTE. THE leading idea in Dante's mind was- -God. On God his thoughts were continually fixed. His love, His glory, were ever present to his mind.* In his view, the universe is a manifestation of God-an outpouring of His splendour, infinitely communicated, yet ever undiminished--a mirror, in which are reflected the Power, the Wisdom, and the Love of the great Creator.† In the unity of God, Dante recognised the fountain of that order which prescribes to all things their appropriate functions, and regulates the universe as by one unerring law. Seeing all this admirable order spring from unity.§ Dante considered heavenly government as the true pattern of earthly; and would fain have the kingdoms of this world all subjected to the paternal control of one supreme Governor, who should compose their jarring interests, and maintain on earth that peace which reigns in heaven.|| How opposite to such ideal perfection was the condition of the world when Dante wept over its manifold calamities! Instead of that universal peace which prevailed at the birth of our Saviour, under what he considered the divinely-ordained government of a Roman Emperor, he saw kingdom arrayed against kingdom-state against state-citizen against citizen -and vice so dominant, that earth might rather be deemed a picture of hell than of heaven. The authority of the Caesars he saw had been usurped by a power which professed to be spiritual, but which actually was of a most worldly character, arrogating to itself a pomp and dominion wholly inconsistent with the example and preeepts of the Saviour-His command that the things belonging to God and the things belonging to Cæsar should be kept distinct, had been subverted by an ambitious and rapacious priesthood. The two great means of civilization • Par. x. 54; xiv. 87; xxvi. 55; xxviii. 3, 9; xxx. 40. + Par. xiii. 57; xxix. 11, 142; xxx. 100. De Monarchia, B. i. A De Mon. B. L. p. 48. pp. 24, 50 (Fraticelli's edit.) Par. i. 103, eto had thus been confounded. The sword of Justice, entrusted to the Emperor, and the sword of the Spirit, entrusted to the Pastor of the Church, had ceased to exercise their distinct and appropriate functions. The "two suns" which were ordained to illuminate the world+-the one dispensing to nations the blessings of order and peace, the other shining inwardly in the hearts of men, and by its gentle influence disposing them to respect the paternal government of the civil power-these two luminaries were no more to be distinguished the one had quenched the other; and as the fruits of this rebellion against the law of Heaven, irreligion and anarchy prevailed throughout the earth. : With tears of sorrow and indignation, Dante wept over the vices and miseries of his countrymen. He saw them led astray by the evil example of one who was intended to be their spiritual guide and master§-who sitting in the place of Christ, made a mockery of His humility, and appropriating to himself the revenues of the Church, to the exclusion of their rightful possessors, the untefriended children of poverty, aspired to a throne exalted far above the kings of the earth. Such was the view which Christendom presented to Dante, when in the full maturity of age his transcendent intellect awoke to a sense of the miseries around him, and traced their origin to an unhallowed perversion of divine institutions. The cause of the evil once apparent, Dante hesitated not to apply a remedy-regardless of danger to himself in denouncing the guilty, however exalted their rank in Church or State.¶ To redress the grievances of a benighted people-to redeem them from vice, from wretchedness, and from misgovernment, to inspire them with a reverence for God, and for those laws which He had established for their benefit,-this was the "honoured enterprise" Dante undertook-the grand aim of that "Sacred Poem" to which he thenceforth devoted his entire faculties. He himself tells us, that rejecting all subtle investigation into the many senses in which his work may be understood, "the object of the whole and of each part is simply, to rescue the living from a state of misery, and to conduct them to happiness;" that, "moved with compassion for the miserable condition of those whom he had left behind in the vulgar pastures, he was desirous to communicate to others a portion of the food he had gathered at the feet of those who sate at the blessed table."+ In this view of the Divina Comedia, all minor aims, real or imaginary, are lost and absorbed in the grand idea he proposed to himself. In this view also is exploded the prejudice of judging the man and the poet by the Inferno only. The Inferno becomes mainly an introduction to the poem-a means to an end-a warning to humanity passing through this vale of tears to the regions of eternity. Dante himself warns us not to dwell on the miseries of the tormented, lest we should be dismayed and diverted from our lofty aim. The blessings which follow-the renewal of the soul-the joys of heaven-these are the themes on which he loves to expatiate, luring on his readers by the exquisite tenderness. of the Purgatorio, to the unequalled sublimity of the Paradiso, where light and love and harmony are the sole elements of this most perfect masterpiece. Speculations on the various allusions embraced in so extensive a work may have been interesting to Italians five centuries ago, but they concern not us in the present day. To us, Dante is interesting, not only because his poetry is of the highest order, but because he writes on subjects which deeply concern the whole human family. We regard Dante, not as Guelf or Ghibeline,-as Papist or Antipapist,-as Florentine or Italian. We read his life in the thirstings of his soul for the progress of the human race, and his anticipations of its ultimate happiness. We see in him the Christian-the patriot-the abjurer of party-the asserter of liberty-the defender of truth-the reviver of literature and civilisation; -an earnest and enlightened man, whose mission it was, not to preach new principles or new doctrines, not to arrogate to himself apostolic powers, § but to shew how far the existing government of the world had deviated from that system which God had prescribed, and by a contrast of vice and virtue, misery and happiness, to stimulate mankind to a recovery of their lost inheritance. • Dedication of the Paradiso. l'urg. x. 109. + Convito, Trat. i. cap. 1. EXTRACTS FROM DANTE'S PROSE WORKS, IN ILLUSTRATION OF THE FOREGOING ESSAY, AND OF THE POEM GENERALLY. "O ineffable Wisdom . . . how weak is our mind to comprehend Thee! And you, for whose benefit and gratification I write, in what blindness ye live, not raising your eyes above to these things, but keeping them fixed in the mire of your foolishness."-Convito, Trat. iii. cap. 5. "It is the intention of God that every created thing should represent the Divine likeness as far as its nature allows, according to the saying, Let us make man in our own image.' And though it cannot be said that inferior natures are made in the image of God, still, all may be said to bear a similitude to Him, since the whole universe is nothing else but a trace of the Divine goodness."-De Monarchià, B. i. p. 24 (Fraticelli's edition.) "Be it known in the first place that God and Nature make nothing idle; but that whatever he brings into being is ordained to some active purpose. For the creature is not the ultimate object of the Creator, as such, but the proper operation of that creature. Hence, not the end for the being; but the being is created for the end."-De Mon. B. i. p. 11. "Unerring Providence has appointed to man two ends to be aimed at,— viz. the happiness of this life, which consists in the active operation of his peculiar function, and is figured by the Terrestrial Paradise; and the happiness of the life eternal, which consists in the enjoyment of the Divine aspect, to which man's own proper virtue cannot ascend, unless assisted by Divine light,-which is represented by the Heavenly Paradise. To these two kinds of happiness, as it were to different conclusions, we must arrive by different means. For to the first we arrive by means of philosophical studies; following them up by the practice of moral and intellectual virtue. The second we reach by means of spiritual writings, which surpass human reason; following them up by the practice of the theological virtues, viz. hope and charity."-De Mon. B. iii. p. 194. "The best state of man is that in which he is most free . . . . and the foundation of our liberty is freedom of the will, which many prate of, but few understand. And this liberty, or source of all liberty, is the greatest blessing that God hath bestowed on human nature; since by means of this is socured our happiness here as men, and our happiness hereafter as gods." De Mon. p. 35, 38. "Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. He Himself is the rock upon which the Church is built." (In Dante's own words," Fundamentum aliud nemo potest ponere, præter id quod positum est, qui est Christus Jesus. Ipse est petra, super quam edificata est Ecclesia.")-De Monarchia, B. iii. p. 170. "Relying on that reverence which a pious son owes his father and mo. ther, -pious towards Christ, pious towards the Church, pious towards the Pastor, pious towards all Christians, I commence in this book a struggle for the preservation of the truth." (This struggle for the restoration of the Church to its primitive purity and simplicity is carried on throughout the Divina Comedia.)—De Mon. B. iii. p. 138. "Before the Church are the Old and New Testament. . . . . After the Church are Traditions, which they call Decretals. . . . It follows therefore that the authority of the Church depends not on traditions, but traditions on the Church." (In Dante's words: "Ante quidem Ecclesiam sunt vetus t novum Testamentum. . . . Post Ecclesiam vero sunt traditiones, quas Decretales dicunt," &c.) - De Mon. B. iii. p. 136. "Every divine law is found in one or other of the two Testaments; but n neither can I find that the care of temporal matters was given to the priesthood. On the contrary, I find that the first priests were removed from them by law, and the later priests by command of Christ to his disciples' ("Omnis namque divina lex, duorum testamentorum gremio continetur: in quo quidem gremio reperire non possum, temporalium sollicitudinem sive curam sacerdotio primo, vel novissimo commendatam fuisse," &c.) -De Kon. B. iii. p. 186. "It is manifest that universal peace is of all things best suited to the pronotion of human happiness. . . . Hence, the voice from heaven spoke not of riches, nor of honours, nor of beauty, but of peace. For the heavenly host cried: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards all men.'"-De Mon. B. i. pp. 14, 16. "Since the human mind, in limited possession of earth, does not rest, but ever desires to obtain glory, as we see by experience, wars and discord successively arise between kingdoms, . . . and thus happiness is frustrated. Wherefore, in order to do away with these woes and their causes, it is necessary... that there should be a monarch, i.e. one sole prince, who, possessing every thing, and unable to desire more, should keep kings content within the boundaries of their kingdoms, so as to secure peace among them, that states may reform, neighbours love one another, families obtain all their wants; by the attainment of which peace man enjoys happiness. Wherefore it is evident that to the universal perfection of the universal religion of the human race, there is need of one steersman as it were, who convidering the different conditions of the world, and regulating various and necessary duties, should have a universal and unquestionable right of government. And this office is called par excellenee, "Imperium," without any addition, because it is the commandment of all other commandments; and thence he who is appointed to this office is called "Imperadore," because he is the commander of all commandments; and what he declares is law to all, and ought to be obeyed by all . . . and thus it is manifest that the Imperial majesty and authority is the highest in human society."-Convito, Trat. iv. B. 4. "I affirm that the temporal kingdom does not receive being from the spiritual. . . . It does not follow, because God acted by means of his messenger Samuel, that the Vicar of God can do the like. For God does, and will do, many things by means of the angels, which the Vicar of God, the suc |