world, to the dismal realm, you are delivered by your own doings, by your own conscience, O Sinners."

The first judgment, which was in a sense private, was to be followed by a second judgment which was to be public and general. "No longer then would there be a separation between heaven and earth. The sun would for ever shine, and the faithful would enjoy complete and deathless welfare in the fellowship of Ahura and his saints."

The theory that the ideas of immortality, resurrection, and retribution, existing, in a rudimentary form, in some Hebrew minds, were fostered "under the influence of a congenial though foreign religion," is confirmed not only by a comparison of certain psalm-passages with the Zoroastrian scriptures, but also by a study of later Jewish literature, especially the Psalms of Solomon and the Book of Enoch, a deeply interesting subject upon which, however, it is unnecessary for me to enter.1

The influence of Zoroastrianism upon the later psalmists and prophets of Israel was transmitted by them to Christianity, which, on emerging from Judaism, formed the turning-point in human history, dividing the ancient from the modern world; it will be necessary, therefore, as an introduction to the poets and poetry of the latter, to dwell very briefly upon Medieval Christianity, as embodied in the Medieval Church.

1 The subject is discussed at length in the "Bampton Lectures," by the Rev. T. K. Cheyne M.A., D.D., to which I beg to express my obligation.

MEDIEVAL CHRISTIANITY.

BELIEF in the existence of a righteous God, supreme and universal; all holy, all merciful, and all wise; omniscient, and omnipresent; invisible, yet holding spiritual communion with his worshippers; together with the vision of a Kingdom of Heaven upon earth, to be inaugurated by the promised Messiah; these conceptions, developed through a long roll of psalmists and prophets, constitute the contributions of Judaism to the progress of humanity.

At length, in the fulness of time, the more spiritual elements of Judaism, transfigured by transmission through the mind of Christ, after having been for ages the exclusive possession of a remote Semitic tribe, freed from their local and temporary associations, became the regenerating and life-giving principles of the civilized world. The divinities of the heathen pantheon, the ruins of whose manificent temples still excite our wonder and admiration, in process of time were dethroned, and the Supreme Deity of the Hebrews, whose glory was reflected in the Son of Man, came to be recognized as the God and Father of the whole human race.

Thus, on the decline of Hellas, and when the power of Rome was on the wane, Christianity went forth, a new and vitalizing power, which has very gradually changed the aspect of the world. No contrast can be conceived more striking than that between the lofty idealism of the new faith, embodied in the exalted character and life of its founder, and the low moral tone, the materialism and sensuality which characterized the decline of ancient civilization.

Among the most terrible features of paganism, there is none more revolting than the cruelty which found excitement and gratification in gladiatorial combats, and other savage amusements of the amphitheatre, where vast multitudes of men, and where even women were "butchered to make a Roman holiday." It is impossible for us even to conceive the savage thirst for blood awakened in the Roman populace by these brutal sports. Another frightful evil which characterized ancient civilization was the system of slavery upon which it was based; a prolific source of depravity and corruption. Existing on an immense scale in Imperial Rome (Cæcilius, as stated by Pliny, left 4,116 slaves after his death), it generated that indifference to human suffering, culminating in heartless cruelty, together with that contempt for labour, which are utterly opposed to the genius of Christianity.

The false position of women, illustrated alike by the severity of the old Roman law, where the husband had power of life and death over his wife, and by the frightful license which prevailed at the close of the Republic, is another characteristic of heathendom, repugnant to the new spiritual power introduced into the world; while the systematic exposure and abandonment of infants, practised alike by rich and poor, and to which frequent allusions are made by classical authors, reveals, under another aspect, the heartless depravity which, notwithstanding the exalted morality of the Stoics and other redeeming features of paganism, characterized pre-christian civilization, as embodied in the vast empire of Rome.

Gradually, however, as the icy bonds of winter melt away before the balmy airs of spring, these gigantic evils, and many other pagan survivals, vanished, in the course of time, before the genial influences of the new religion, till at length the words of the Apostle were in a measure realized: "Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.'

Nevertheless, the Christians soon became aware that

the forces of the world, antagonistic to their faith, were so formidable as to preclude an early realization of their fondly cherished dream, of establishing upon earth a Kingdom of Heaven.

Accordingly, their aspirations were transferred from earth to Heaven; shrinking with abhorrence from the profound corruption by which they were surrounded, many of the more spiritually minded secluded themselves from the world, and, exulting in self-mortification, looked forward to the glory to be revealed beyond the grave. It is necessary to call attention to this phase of Medieval Christianity, the embodiment of which, in poetry and art, presents one of the most striking contrasts to Hellenism, and revulsion from which constitutes the most characteristic feature of the Renaissance.

The Hellenes, with their passionate admiration for the Beautiful, regarded the human frame, in its supreme types, as the fittest vehicle for the manifestation of their divinities, and aimed, consequently, at its harmonious development. Asceticism, on the contrary, looked upon the body, with its appetites and passions, as the vehicle of temptation, and consequently as a deadly foe, to be held in absolute subjection by the higher nature.

This condition being fulfilled, it was believed that the soul, uplifted on the wings of faith and prayer, could, in contemplation of beatific visions, enjoy a foretaste of celestial bliss. Hence the expression of wrapt ecstasy, impressed upon the countenances of the Mediæval Saints; hence also the mystical rapture, the passionate devotion, which find expression in many of the Mediæval hymns. This artificial antagonism between the spiritual and the corporeal element in human nature, and the consequent suppression of its primary passions and affections had, however, a reverse side in the glorification of physical deformity, together with that distortion of the moral sense, by which it was too frequently accompanied, and of which we find such striking illustrations in the legendary history of many Medieval Saints. This false and unnatural system led, in process of time, to a

reaction, which, stimulated towards the close of the fourteenth century by the recovery of the ancient classics, culminated in the Renaissance.

The results of this remarkable movement must not, however, be anticipated, and in the meantime it must be remembered that asceticism constituted only one phase of Medieval Christianity, which, in its conflict with paganism, enlisted in the service of the Catholic Church, the various elements of culture inherited from the past, including philosophy and art.

Seeking a solution of problems which lie at the very root of religion, the Fathers of the Christian Church addressed themselves, for the most part, to questions of theology; coming in contact, at Alexandria, with the school of the Neo-Platonists, while triumphantly vindicating the fundamental truths of Christianity, their own views were profoundly modified by those of their opponents.

It is an interesting consideration, as illustrating the continuity of culture, that while, through Judaism, Christianity was, to a certain extent, influenced by the religion of Zoroaster, it should, at a subsequent period have been still more deeply influenced by its contact with Hellenism, another modification of the Aryan genius.

For a poetical embodiment of Mediævalism, under its varied aspects, theological, philosophical, and political, in the centuries anterior to the Renaissance, we must turn to the "Divina Commedia " of Dante, wherein tendencies may be discerned which prepare us for the subsequent transition from the Medieval to the modern world.