in children, and deadly dispositions in men and nations;--that, in
the end, the God of heaven and earth loves active, modest, and kind
people, and hates idle, proud, greedy, and cruel ones;--on these
general facts you are bound to have but one, and that a very strong,
opinion. For the rest, respecting religions, governments, sciences,
arts, you will find that, on the whole, you can know NOTHING,--judge
nothing; that the best you can do, even though you may be a well-
educated person, is to be silent, and strive to be wiser every day,
and to understand a little more of the thoughts of others, which so
soon as you try to do honestly, you will discover that the thoughts
even of the wisest are very little more than pertinent questions.
To put the difficulty into a clear shape, and exhibit to you the
grounds for INdecision, that is all they can generally do for you!--
and well for them and for us, if indeed they are able "to mix the
music with our thoughts and sadden us with heavenly doubts." This
writer, from whom I have been reading to you, is not among the first
or wisest: he sees shrewdly as far as he sees, and therefore it is
easy to find out its full meaning; but with the greater men, you
cannot fathom their meaning; they do not even wholly measure it
themselves,--it is so wide. Suppose I had asked you, for instance,
to seek for Shakespeare's opinion, instead of Milton's on this
matter of Church authority?--or for Dante's? Have any of you, at
this instant, the least idea what either thought about it? Have you
ever balanced the scene with the bishops in 'Richard III.' against
the character of Cranmer? the description of St. Francis and St.
Dominic against that of him who made Virgil wonder to gaze upon
him,--"disteso, tanto vilmente, nell' eterno esilio;" or of him whom
Dante stood beside, "come 'l frate che confessa lo perfido
assassin?" {9} Shakespeare and Alighieri knew men better than most
of us, I presume! They were both in the midst of the main struggle