“I will speak, Not as upbraiding them, but my own gifts Commending. ’Twas I who brought sweet hope To inhabit in their hearts; I brought The fire of heaven to animate their clay, And through the clouds of barbarous ignorance Diffused the beams of knowledge. In a word, Prometheus taught each useful art to man.” He was called upon to explain how his goodness could have brought upon him such extreme suffering, and he says: “See what, a god, I suffer from the gods! For mercy to mankind I am not deemed Worthy of mercy; but in this uncouth Appointment am fixed here, A spectacle dishonorable to Jove! On the throne of heaven scarce was he seated, On the powers of heaven He showered his various benefits, thereby Confirming his sovereignty; but for unhappy mortals Had no regard, but all the present race Willed to extirpate and to form anew. None save myself opposed his will. I dared, And, boldly pleading, saved them from destruction— Saved them from sinking to the realm of night; For which oflënce I bow beneath these pains, Dreadful to suffer, piteous to behold!” None remained to be witnesses of his dying agony but the chorus of ever-faithful women, who bewailed and lamented him. The earth trembled and the whole frame of nature was convulsed, and the curtain fell on the sublimest scene ever presented to human sight—a _dying god!_ The preternatural darkness was exhibited on the stage, and the most agonizing and heartfelt sorrow manifested by the weeping audience. It was the “Passion Play.” Let it be kept in mind that all of the incidents of the Gospels have been acted in the theatres or illustrated in the sacred rites and religious ceremonies of pagan peoples from time immemorial. Are not the Gospels a plagiarized and adapted _drama?_ We close this chapter with a further quotation from Mr. Johnson: