art of this century could only cull his
knowledge--he had no Spencer and no Mill, at whose feet to sit--he had
in science none of the conclusions of Darwin, of Huxley, of Tyndall,
of Murchison, of Lyell, to refer to, and yet I think, that the careful
reader will, like myself, find prefigured in Shelley's works much of
that of which the world is in full possession to-day, and which the
mystical Occultists, Rosicrucians, and Cabalists have now, and have
ever had, conjoined to a mysterious command over the active hidden
material and spiritual powers in the infinite domain of nature.

The idea of the _Supreme Power_ or _God_, as emanating from Shelley,
is one of the most sublime to be found in the pages of metaphysical
learning at the command of ordinary mortals. By many it may be
considered only a vague pantheism; yet, rightly regarded in a
reconciliative spirit, it is of such an universal character as to
harmonize with not only Deism, Theism and Polytheism, but even
Atheistical Materialism. Listen to the following, which I select out
of numerous examples, as a finger-post for others who seek the living
springs of undefiled truth, as in Shelley:

"Whosoever is free from the contamination of luxury and
license may go forth to the fields and to the woods,
inhaling joyous renovation from the breath of Spring, and
catching from the odors and sounds of autumn some diviner
mood of sweetest sadness, which improves the softened heart.
Whosoever is no deceiver and destroyer of his fellow-men--no
liar, no flatterer, no murderer--may walk among his species,
deriving, from the communion with all which they contain of
beautiful or majestic, some intercourse with the Universal
God. Whosoever has maintained with his own heart the
strictest correspondence of confidence, who dares to examine
and to estimate every imagination which suggests itself to
his mind--whosoever is that which he designs to _become_,
and only aspires to that which the divinity of his own
nature shall consider and approve--he has already seen God."

Can any one cavil with these beautiful expressions, this outpouring of
genius? If such there be, his heart and understanding must be sadly
warped, any appeal would be in vain, for him the Veil of Isis could
never be lifted. After a careful study of Shelley's works I can find
nothing to warrant the execration formerly levelled at his head, not
ev