Jubilee, and a change in the state of parties at Florence, described by the gay skin of the Panther, present to him the brightest omens of success. But these hopes

are soon dissipated by the appearance of the Lion,— emblematical of France, and her ambitious interference in the government of Florence. The poet is at the same time attacked by the she-Wolf, intended to represent the Court of Rome. These two powers uniting to oppose the virtuous endeavours of Dante, he despairs of reaching the summit of the beautiful mountain. He sees his miserable country, for which he possessed the most ardent love, become a prey to the ambition of foreign potentates, and exposed to all the calamities of tyranny and misgovernment. From the union of temporal with spiritual power in the person of the Pope, these manifold evils derived their source. Hence, to confine the authority of the See of Rome to religious affairs, and to re-establish a constitutional monarchy in Italy, were the two great objects Dante had in view. But to compose the jealousies of the numerous republics, and to unite them under one government, could only be effected by restoring the privileges of the Emperors of Germany, which the Court of Rome, in her lust of sway, had in a great measure annihilated. As heirs of the Cæsars, the Emperors were the lawful monarchs of Italy; and to the revival of their dominion Dante therefore looked forward with anxious expectation.

Disappointed in the hope of executing his benevolent projects, Dante is driven back into the dark valley, where the voice of reason is mute; when the shade of Virgil appears before his eyes, and recommends him to climb the mountain by some other road-declaring it fruitless to attempt a passage in opposition to the Wolf, “whose greediness will permit none to tread the same path with herself, but will assuredly effect their destruction." For the present, he says, Italy is doomed to submit to her controul, and to suffer from the intrigues of the Court of Rome with the kings of the earth, till the arrival of a prophetic conqueror, described under the image of the Greyhound, who, the poet vainly hoped, would restore peace to his country, and chase the Wolf back into her native hell. In the meantime Dante is to awaken the Italians to a sense of their condition, and to prepare them for a return to the primitive simplicity of the Christian Church. Nor are the means his genius suggests unworthy of so noble an undertaking. A poem is to be constructed of a peculiar kind, which shall contain the most convincing evidence, blended with beauties so inimitable as to ensure its never failing reception in the hearts of men throughout all ages. To enable him to execute his arduous design, Virgil offers to become his guide, and to lead him through Hell and Purgatory; -that thus visiting, as it were, in turn, every description of sinner, he might be enabled to make a lasting record

of what he had seen, and reveal to mankind the iniquity of those hypocritical Pastors who had led their flock away from the right path, and covered the land with the darkness of the shadow of death. Should he wish, says Virgil, after reviewing the punishments assigned to the wicked, to behold the blessed abode of the saints in Paradise, and stimulate his country to virtue by a description of heavenly bliss" a soul more worthy shall conduct his flight."

In the opening of the second canto, after an invocation to the Muse, Dante expresses his reverence for that holy place, where, by divine authority the Papal See was established. This respect towards Rome he maintains throughout the poem, and dwells with delight upon its original purity; but, with the warmest indignation and zeal for religion, views the conduct of those evil Shepherds who by adding the sword to the crozier, and aiming at a temporal as well as a spiritual dominion, had brought scandal upon the Catholic Faith. It is only against the usurpers of St. Peter's chair, i. e. against those Popes who belied the holy character they had bound themselves to support, that he declares his uncompromising hostility.

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To avenge the wrongs of the true Christian Church, was the secret hope he cherished in his bosom :bring peace and happiness to mankind, by the restoration of pure religion, was the high reward he proposed to

himself in the execution of "that sacred poem," upon which heaven and earth had laid their hands, and to which, for many years, he devoted himself with painful assiduity.

In contemplating at first this mighty work, the poet feels a distrust of his ability to perform it, and with singular modesty expresses doubt as to his fitness for so arduous an undertaking. Virgil, however, comes to his assistance, and gives an account of his mission. Divine Mercy, commiserating Dante's unhappy state, had been the first, he says, to prevail upon Justice to temper his strict decrees. Lucia or Grace descends accordingly, and intreats Beatrice, or heavenly Wisdom, to exert herself in behalf of one of her most devoted friends, engaged in mortal combat with sin and death on the tempestuous sea of wickedness. Beatrice swiftly leaves her blest abode, and coming to Virgil, with earnest entreaty implores his aid to rescue her friend from the perils by which he is surrounded.

Encouraged by the assurance of heavenly support, the ardour of Dante is revived: he expresses his eagerness to pursue the new path recommended by Virgil, and acknowledges him as his guide and master. He desists from any open contention with the Court of Rome; and summons all the energies of his mind in the execution of his Sacred Poem. Calling up from their graves those Pontiffs who had chiefly been instrumental

in corrupting the Church by their lust of power and wealth, he gives to the world a retrospective view of their lives, and fearlessly exposes the depravity which had brought such manifold evils on the world. Against Pope Boniface in particular he pours forth his utmost indignation, and repudiates his right to exercise any kind of temporal dominion either at home or abroad.

But not only is Dante's poem directed to the severance of ecclesiastical and political power, for the purpose of restoring the Church to apostolical purity; but it aims at effecting a great moral improvement in the individual man. By contemplating the effects of sin-by reflecting on the various and terrible punishments it incurs, the mind is to be impressed in the first place with an awful sense of Divine Justice. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom ;" and the first fruits of righteousness are to be produced by the terrors of hell. Convinced of the dreadful consequences of vice, and of the vanity of earthly pursuits, the soul rises to a contemplation of those joys reserved for the righteous in the blessed regions of Paradise. "Love then casteth out fear," and thus man proceeds "from strength to strength,” till the creature of earth is fitted to become an inhabitant of heaven. Upon considerations of this nature is founded the grand scheme of Dante's poem, and with this object he is conducted by his guide to the gates of Hell.