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Is founded every virtue, came to thee."

"The flood," I answer'd, " from the Spirit of God
Rain'd down upon the ancient bond and new1,—
Here is the reasoning, that convinceth me
So feelingly, each argument beside

Seems blunt, and forceless, in comparison."
Then heard I: "Wherefore holdest thou that each,
The elder proposition and the new,

Which so persuade thee, are the voice of heaven?" "The works, that follow'd, evidence their truth;"

I answer'd: "Nature did not make for these
The iron hot, or on her anvil mold them."

"Who voucheth to thee of the works themselves," Was the reply, "that they in very deed

Are that they purport? None hath sworn so to thee." "That all the world2," said I, "should have been To Christian, and no miracle been wrought, [turn'd

i.e. That the Spirit of God doth so fully discover itself both in the Old and New Testament, that all other arguments are but dull and heavy if compared with this." Stillingfleet. Or. Sa. b. ii. chap. ix. sect. xix. 4. The reader will perceive that our learned divine has made an error in his quotation of this passage.

1 The ancient bond and new.] The Old and New Testament. 2 That all the world.] "We cannot conceive how the world should be at first induced to believe without manifest and uncontrouled miracles. For as Chrysostom speaks, i onμείων χωρὶς ἔπεισαν, πολλῷ μεῖζον τὸ θαῦμα φαίνεται. It was the greatest miracle of all, if the world shou'd believe without miracles. Which the poet Dantes hath well expressed in the twenty-fourth canto of Paradise. For when the Apostle is there brought in, asking the Poet upon what account he took the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the Word of God; his answer is,

Probatio quæ verum hoc mihi recludit,

Sunt opera, quæ secuta sunt, ad quæ Natura

Non candefecit ferrum unquam aut percussit incudem. i.e. The evidence of that is the Divine Power of miracles which was in those who deliver'd those things to the world. And when the Apostle catechiseth him further, how he knew those miracles were such as they pretended to be, viz. that they were true and divine; his answer is,

Si orbis terræ sese convertit ad Christianismum
Inquiebam ego, sine miraculis; hoc unum

Est tale, ut reliqua non sint ejus centesima pars.

i. e. If the world shou'd be converted to the Christian faith without miracles, this would be so great a miracle, that others were not to be compared with it. I conclude this, then, with that known saying of St. Austin, Quisquis adhuc prodigia, ut credat, inquiret, magnum est ipse prodigium qui mundo credente non credit: He that seeks for miracles still to induce him to faith, when the world is converted to the Chris

Would in itself be such a miracle,

The rest were not an hundredth part so great.
E'en thou went'st forth in poverty and hunger
To set the goodly plant, that, from the vine
It once was, now is grown unsightly bramble."
That ended, through the high celestial court
Resounded all the spheres, "Praise we one God!"
In song of most unearthly melody.

And when that Worthy' thus, from branch to branch,
Examining, had led me, that we now [sumed:
Approach'd the topmost bough; he straight re-
"The grace, that holds sweet dalliance with thy soul,
So far discreetly hath thy lips unclosed;
That, whatsoe'er has past them, I commend.
Behoves thee to express, what thou believest,
The next; and, whereon, thy belief hath grown."
"O saintly sire and spirit!" I began,

"Who seest that, which thou didst so believe,
As to outstrip2 feet younger than thine own,
Toward the sepulchre; thy will is here,
That I the tenour of my creed unfold;
And thou, the cause of it, hast likewise ask'd.
And I reply: I in one God believe;

One sole eternal Godhead, of whose love

All heaven is moved, himself unmoved the while. Nor demonstration physical alone,

Or more intelligential and abstruse,

Persuades me to this faith: but from that truth

tian faith, he needs not seek for prodigies abroad; he wants only a looking-glass to discover one. For as he goes on, Unde temporibus eruditis, et omne quod fieri non potest respuentibus, sine ullis miraculis nimium mirabiliter incredibilia credidit mundus? Whence came it to pass that in so learned and wary an age as that was which the Apostles preach'd in, the world without miracles shou'd be brought to believe things so strangely incredible as those were which Christ and his Apostles preach'd." Stillingfleet. Or. Sa. b. ii. chap. x. sect. v. §í.

Donne, in his Sermons, (Vol. ii. p. 215. fol. edit.) quotes a similar passage from Augustine, and applies it to the demand for miracles, made by Roman Catholics on Protestants.

1 That Worthy.] Quel Baron. In the next Canto, St. James is called "Barone." So in Boccaccio. G. vi. N. 10. we find "Baron Messer Santo Antonio."

2 As to outstrip.] Venturi insists that the Poet has here "made a slip;" for that John came first to the sepulchre, though Peter was the first to enter it. But let Dante have leave to explain his own meaning, in a passage from his third book De Monarchiâ: "Dicit etiam Johannes ipsum (scilicit Petrum) introiisse subito, cum venit in monumentum, videns alium discipulum cunctantem ad ostium." p. 146.

It cometh to me rather, which is shed

Through Moses; the rapt Prophets; and the Psalms; The Gospel; and what ye yourselves did write, When ye were gifted of the Holy Ghost.

In three eternal Persons I believe;

Essence threefold and one; mysterious league
Of union absolute, which, many a time,
The word of gospel lore upon my mind

Imprints and from this germ, this firstling spark
The lively flame dilates; and, like heaven's star,
Doth glitter in me." As the master hears,
Well pleased, and then enfoldeth in his arms
The servant, who hath joyful tidings brought,
And having told the errand keeps his peace;
Thus benediction uttering with song,

Soon as my peace I held, compass'd me thrice
The apostolic radiance, whose behest

Had oped my lips: so well their answer pleased.

CANTO XXV.

ARGUMENT.

Saint James questions our Poet concerning Hope. Next Saint John appears; and, on perceiving that Dante looks intently on him, informs him that he, Saint John, had left his body resolved into earth, upon the earth; and that Christ and the Virgin alone had come with their bodies into heaven.

IF e'er the sacred poem, that hath made
Both heaven and earth copartners in its toil,
And with lean abstinence, through many a year,
Faded my brow, be destined to prevail
Over the cruelty, which bars me forth
Of the fair sheep-fold', where, a sleeping lamb,
The wolves set on and fain had worried me;
With other voice, and fleece of other grain,
I shall forthwith return; and, standing up
At my baptismal font, shall claim the wreath
Due to the poet's temples: for I there
First enter'd on the faith, which maketh souls
Acceptable to God: and, for its sake2,
Peter had then circled my forehead thus.

Next from the squadron, whence had issued forth The first fruit of Christ's vicars on the earth,

1 The fair sheep-fold.] Florence, whence he was banished. 2 For its sake.] For the sake of that faith.

Toward us moved a light, at view whereof
My Lady, full of gladness, spake to me:
"Lo! lo! behold the peer of mickle might,
That makes Galicia throng'd with visitants1.”
As when the ring-dove by his mate alights;
In circles, each about the other wheels,
And, murmuring, cooes his fondness: thus saw I
One, of the other2 great and glorious prince,
With kindly greeting, hail'd; extolling, both,
Their heavenly banqueting: but when an end
Was to their gratulation, silent, each,

Before me sat they down, so burning bright,
I could not look upon them. Smiling then,
Beatrice spake: "O life in glory shrined!
Who didst the largess of our kingly court

1 Galicia throng'd with visitants.] See Mariana. Hist. lib. xi. cap. xiii. "En el tiempo," &c. At the time that the sepulchre of the apostle St. James was discovered, the devotion for that place extended itself not only over all Spain, but even round about to foreign nations. Multitudes from all parts of the world came to visit it. Many others were deterred by the difficulty of the journey, by the roughness and barrenness of those parts, and by the incursions of the Moors, who made captives many of the pilgrims.-The canons of St. Eloy, afterwards, (the precise time is not known) with a desire of remedying these evils, built, in many places, along the whole road, which reached as far as to France, hospitals for the reception of the pilgrims." In the Convito, p. 74, we find "la galassia, &c." the galaxy, that is, the white circle which the common people call the way of Saint James;" on which Biscioni remarks: "The common people formerly considered the milky way as a sign by night to pilgrims, who were going to Saint James of Galicia; and this perhaps arose from the resemblance of the word galaxy to Galicia. I have often," he adds, "heard women and peasants call it the Roman road," "la strada di Roma."

Lo there (quod he) cast up thine eye,

Se yondir, lo! the Galaxie,

The whiche men clepe the milky way,
For it is white, and some perfay,
Ycallin it han Watlynge Strete.

Chaucer, The House of Fame, b. ii.

2 One of the other.] Saint Peter and Saint James.

3 Who.] The Epistle of St. James is here attributed to the elder apostle of that name, whose shrine was at Compostella, in Galicia. Which of the two was the author of it, is yet doubtful. The learned and candid Michaelis contends very forcibly for its having been written by James the Elder. Lardner rejects that opinion as absurd: while Benson argues against it, but is well answered by Michaelis, who, after all, is obliged to leave the question undecided. See his Introduction to the New Testament, translated by Dr. Marsh. ed. Cambridge, 1793, vol. iv. cap. xxvi. § 1, 2, 3. Mr. Horne supposes, that as the elder James "was put to death by Herod

Set down with faithful pen; let now thy voice,
Of hope the praises, in this height resound.
For well thou know'st, who figurest it as oft1,
As Jesus, to ye three, more brightly shone."
"Lift up thy head; and be thou strong in trust:
For that, which hither from the mortal world
Arriveth, must be ripen'd in our beam."

3

Such cheering accents from the second flame 2
Assured me; and mine eyes I lifted up3
Unto the mountains, that had bow'd them late
With over-heavy burden. "Sith our Liege
Wills of his grace, that thou, or e'er thy death,
In the most secret council with his lords
Shouldst be confronted, so that having view'd
The glories of our court, thou mayst therewith
Thyself, and all who hear, invigorate

With hope, that leads to blissful end; declare,
What is that hope? how it doth flourish in thee?
And whence thou hadst it?" Thus, proceeding still,
The second light and she, whose gentle love
My soaring pennons in that lofty flight
Escorted, thus preventing me, rejoin'd:

Agrippa, A.D. 44, (Acts xii.) it is evident that he was not the author of the epistle which bears the name of James, because it contains passages which refer to a later period, viz. v. 1-8, which intimates the then immediately approaching destruction of Jerusalem, and the subversion of the Jewish polity." Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, Ed. 1818, vol. ii. P. 600.

Largess.] He appears to allude to the Epistle of James, chap. i. v. 5. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." Or, to v. 17: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights." Some editions, however, read "l'allegrezza," "joy," instead of "la larghezza."

As oft.] Landino and Venturi, who read "Quanto," explain this, that the frequency with which James had commended the virtue of hope, was in proportion to the brightness in which Jesus had appeared at his transfiguration. Vellutello, who reads "Quante," supposes that James three times recommends patient hope in the last chapter of his Epistle; and that Jesus, as many times, showed his brightness to the three disciples; once when he cleansed the lepers (Luke, v.); again when he raised the daughter of Jaïrus (Mark, v.); and a third time when he was transfigured. As to Lombardi, who also reads "Quante," his construction of the passage seems to me scarcely intelligible.

lift

2 The second flame.] St. James.

3 I lifted up.] "I looked up to the Apostles."

"I will

up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.' Psalm cxxi. 1.

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