Pagina 570 di 1391

The lusts and treacheries of the gods are to be banished; the

terrors of the world below are to be dispelled; the misbehaviour

of the Homeric heroes is not to be a model for youth. But there

is another strain heard in Homer which may teach our youth

endurance; and something may be learnt in medicine from the

simple practice of the Homeric age. The principles on which

religion is to be based are two only: first, that God is true;

secondly, that he is good. Modern and Christian writers have

often fallen short of these; they can hardly be said to have gone

beyond them.