Thev  have  no  place  left  for  penitence  on
earth:  they  labour  under  the  most  awful
proscription  of  opinion  that  ever  was  pro-
nounced against  numan  bein^ :  they  have
cut  down  every  bridge  by  which  they  could
retreat  into  the  society  of  men.  Awakened
from  their"  dreams  of  democracy, — the  noise
subsided  that  deafened  their  ears  to  the  voic^
of  humanity, — ^the  film  fallen  from  their  eyes
which  hid  from  them  the  blackness  of  their
own  deedSj — haunted  by"  the  memory  of
their  inexpiable  guilt, — condemned  daily  to
look  on  the  faces  of  those  whom  their  hand
has  made  widows  and  orphans,  thev  are
goaded  and  scourged  by  tnese  real  ruries,
and  hurried  into  tne  tumult  of  new  crimes,
to  drown  (he  cries  of  remorse,  or,  if  they  be


•  Paradise  Lost,  book  ii.— Ed.
too  depraved  for  remorse,  to  silence  the
curses  of  mankind.  Tyraimical  power  is
their  only  refuge  from  the  just  vengeance  of
their  fellow  creatures :  murder  is  their  only
means  of  usurping  power.  Tliey  have  no
taste,  no  occupation^  no  pursuit,  Dut  power
and  blood.  U  their  hands  are  tied,  they
must  at  least  have  the  luxury  of  murderous
projects.  They  have  drunk  too  deeply  of
nnman  blood  ever  to  relinquish  their  cannibal
appetite.
