The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-03-24

The following Il an extract from
the lecture on "The Lost Paradise, ,
delivered by the Rev. o. S. Twom.
bly, at the y. VI. G. \. Hall last
evening. There was a fair-sized
audience present, and the lecture
was greatly enjoyed by those pres
ent:
The theory of life in Millions Spar
adise Lost" is mainly the supernatur-
al and impassioned side of life, as he
beheld il amid the splendors of his
imaginative creations, and the cata-
clysm of his symbolic fancy. The
poem moves through the celestial part
of its majestic verse. with a cadence
whirh creation might nave chosen for
its accompaniment, never descending
to the jaugle and discord of mere
earth sounds. For the terrestrial
portion of the song, the Homeric
poems were MiltOn's models, but
he swept by them far out into
space, and took the heights and
depths for his field of action. Tie
general theory of life in this poem is
as follows:
The Almighty is superior to all, in
his Omni-cience and omnipotence. The
way IN which he hurls his rebellious
subjects down to hell, is surprisingly
easy, like the story of the creation in
six days. The son Is next to the
Father, but not equal, for to him was
given the glory OF overwhelming the
rebelliOus angels.
Then comes Satan, who was able for
a time to repulse the loyal hosts. Man
is inferior in power to Satan, in that
being tempted by him he is overcome.
Adam was created little lower than
the angels (including Satan). He can
resist and vanquish Satan only by the
aid of the Sou of God. Woman is
inferior to mau, more easily over
come by Satan. Man and woman
are above the brutes whom they con-
troll.
Milton reflected the theology of his
times, but he scared so far above the
religious ideal of his countrymen that
few read his poems or celebrated his
renown. On his solemn and severe
ideas, as Puritan, tiDctured with
Arianism, he built a structure too
lofty either for his auStere co religion
lists. He did OF remain a Puritan and
in his later years belonged to no sect.
Producing the highest result of the
ideals of his age, his conceptions were
beyond the doctrines as they were
dogmas of TIN : Independents, into sub
lime perceptions, by peTsonihcations
too subtitle, spectacular events too
transcenient. and achievements too
far removed for his contem pOrarieS to
accept them as possibilities. The
stars sang together aud electric thun-
ders intoned the tragic conflict be-
tween God and Satan, in the i'm mense
cathedral of the universe, while his
countrymsn heard scarcely a note of
the celestial symphony; but he fast
ened much of the theology, which he
had thought out for himself, for gen.
eratious to- come in a sure place. His
Satan, not the Hebrew, became the
Satan of popular belief. HIS angels
became models which painters and
poets reproduced. For eight or nine
years, till after Charles Ills restora-
ton, he brooded over the problem of
human destiny, like Michael Angelo
in the solitude of the Sistine Chapel,
until he could stand in the presence of
God, without bewilderment or fear.
The persistence of his Satan, in OPP
posing and defying the good, almost
III not quite equals the perseverance OF
the Almighty in resisting him. 1t is
brute force in which God is superior,
not In force of will. Satan was also
susceptible to goodness and grace, as
of serpent, Ewes
% Heavenly form. her graceful innocence
Overawed his malice. and be-
Teavef
His fierceness of the fierce intent it
brought"
The Almighty, "a portrayed by Mil
ton, il Jupiter on Olympus, holding
tbunderbolIs. The poet Uenies the
of Son his self
existence and co equality; and says OF
HIM,
- By merit more than birthright,
Son of God: Found wOrihie>t TO be so
Bv b-ing good. far more than great or
high"
MIIton's idea of spirits disembodied |
is that
They limb themselves. and color. shape /,
Assume as likes them best, condense or I
rare"
They cannot, but by annihilation, /
die; nor can they receive mortal \
wound. They see, smell, touch and /
taste. Milton enlarges no human per-
ception of glory or The spiritual state, |
except as his lofty periods lift Us into
the overpowering brightness OF the |
unsearchable, and make the mystery
of the other life intense and ecstatIc-
His theory of life under mortal con
ditions, that is, after the expulsion
from Eden, leaves man scientifically
and morally, i'm a hard place: Adam
had been taught by Raphael "to live
the easiest way, nor with perplexing
thoughts to interrupt the sweet OF
life" Adam knew more OF "DeVlIu-
tion" than Evolution" or It's Kindred
ideas. He had false theory OF the
Universe tn begin with, and false idea
of the Almighty. The book Of nature
in its reality, was closed to him 10y
the perempr0ry command that he ac
cept the absurd notions revealed 10
him by the angel. and he was whe,e
We shnnIh b.. to-day if com peIIeu 10