kind of mad despairing revolt against the wrongs of
society, of feudalism, and the Church. It was in very truth the
precursor of Protestantism. Under the name of religion conscience had
been abused, and artificial sins, dooming to hell, been created out of
every trifle, and out of almost every form of natural instincts. The
reaction from this (which was a kind of nihilism or anarchy), was to
declare the antithetic _excess_ of free will. One of the forms of this
revolt was the belief that the greatest sorcerers were born (_ex filio et
matre_) from the nearest relations, and that to dare and violate all such
ties was to conquer by daring will the greatest power. It was the
strongest defiance of the morality taught by the Church, therefore one of
the highest qualifications for an iron-willed magician. It is specially
pointed out in the legend of Diana that she began by such a sin, and so
came to be queen of the witches; and the same idea of entire emancipation
or illumination, or freedom from all ties, is the first step to the
absolute free will which constitutes the very basis of all magic. This,
which is repugnant to humanity, was actually exalted by the Persian Magi
to a duty or religious principle, and it was the same in Egypt as
regarded "first families." The sorcerer pursued by Intialo bases all his
power to resist on the mere fact that he is beloved by a beautiful witch.
This is the Astarte of the Italian drama, or a sister--the terrible tie
which shows that a man is above conscience, and free from all fear of the
powers that be, whether of earth or air. By it his triumph is complete.
He surmounts the accusation of being without morals by utterly denying
their existence from a higher or illuminated point of view. The _magus_
claims to rank with the gods, and if a divinity _creates_ mankind as his
children, and then has a child by a woman, he is in the same state as the
sorcerer, according to wizards.

If any reproach attaches to the employment of such an element in poetry,
then Byron and Shelley are far more to blame than the Italian witch-poet,
who veiled his allusion with much greater care than they did, and who had
the vast excuse of _sincere belief_, while their highest aim was mere
art. The wizard-poet has his heart in this faith, as in a religion, and
he is one with his hero. Manfred is at best only a broken-down magician
who presents a few boldly dramatic daring traits--the Italian sorcerer,
who is