BLACKWOOD’S
EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.
No. CCCCXLII. AUGUST, 1852. Vol. LXXII.
Dies Boreales.
No. IX.
CHRISTOPHER UNDER CANVASS.
Camp at Cladich.
Scene—The Pavilion. Time—Sunset.
North—Talboys—Seward.
NORTH.
The great Epic Poets of Antiquity began with invoking superhuman aid to their human powers. They magnified their subject by such a confession, that their unassisted strength was unequal to worthily treating it; and it is perfectly natural for us to believe that they were sincere in these implorations. For their own belief was that Gods presided over, ruled, and directed, not only the motions of the Visible Universe, and the greater and outward events and destinies of nations and individuals, but that the Father of Gods and Men, and peculiar Deities under him, influenced, inspired, and sustained, gave and took away the powers of wisdom, virtue, and genius, in every kind of design and in every kind of action.