Such as once Pallas on the Titan thundered, Thou sendest on thy domes, roof-shattered and wall-sundered. Ideas of Deity 5 None of mortal men Escape unhurt by fortune, nor the gods, Unless the stories of the bards be false. Have they not formed connubial ties to which No law assents? Have they not gall'd with chains Their fathers through ambition? Yet they hold Their mansions on Olympus, and their wrongs With patience bear. Euripides: _Hercules_ 1414. 6 These are your works, ye gods! these changes fraught With horrible confusion, mingled thus That we through ignorance might worship you. Euripides: _Hecuba_ 943. 7 O supreme of heav'n, What shall we say? that thy firm providence Regards mankind? or vain the thoughts, which deem That the just gods are rulers in the sky, Since tyrant fortune lords it o'er the world? Do. 470. 8 Mortal as I am In virtue I exceed thee, though a god Of mighty pow'r; for I have not betray'd The sons of Hercules: well did'st thou know To come by stealth unto my couch, t' invade A bed not thine, nor leave obtain'd; to save Thy friends thou dost not know; thou art a god In wisdom or in justice little vers'd. Euripides: _Hercules_ 385. 9 I deem not of the gods, as having form'd Connubial ties to which no law assents, Nor as oppressed with chains: disgraceful this I hold, nor ever will believe that one Lords it o'er others: of no foreign aid The god, who is indeed a god, hath need: These are the wretched fables of the bards. Euripides: _Hercules_ 1444. 10 O Jove, who rulest the rolling of the earth, And o'er it hast thy throne, whoe'er thou art, The ruling mind, or the necessity Of nature, I adore thee: dark thy ways, And silent are thy steps; to mortal man Yet thou with justice all things dost ordain. Euripides: _Daughters of Troy_ 955. Was this then human, or divine? Did it a middle nature share? What mortal shall declare? Who shall the secret bounds define? When the gods work we see their pow'r; We see on their high bidding wait The prosperous gales, the storms of fate: But who their awful councils shall explore? Euripides: _Helena_ 1235. 12 And those, the Ever-Virgin ones, I call, Erinnyes dread that see all human deeds, Swift-footed, that they mark how I am slain By you Atreidae; may they seize on them. Doers of evil, with all evil plagues And uttermost destruction. Sophocles: _Ajax_ 937 [Plumptre]. Passing bits of Nature-Painting 13