and’vaguegeneralities。’Itwasthe’productionofarudeage’；thesillyjinglingwhichmightbesuitabletosavages，butwasneedlessforthegrown-upman，andwasdestinedtodisappearalongwiththewholerubbishofmythologyandsuperstitioninwhoseserviceithadbeenenlisted。Thereisindeedanaturalsympathybetweenanyseriousviewoflifeandadistrustoftheaesthetictendencies，theologiansofmanydifferenttypeshavecondemnedmenfordallyingwiththemerelypleasurable，whentheyoughttobepreoccupiedwiththegreatethicalproblemsorthesafetyoftheirsouls。JamesMillhadenoughoftheoldPuritaninhimtosympathisewithCarlyle’saspiration，’Maythedevilflyawaywiththefinearts！’tosuchmenitwasdifficulttodistinguishbetweenfictionandlying；andifsomeconcessionmightbemadetohumanweakness，poetsandnovelistsmightsupplytherelaxationsandservetofilluptheintervalsoflife，butmustbesternlyexcludediftheytriedtointrudeintoseriousstudies，Somehowloveofthebeautifulonlyinterferedwiththescientificinvestigationofhardfacts。
Poets，indeed，maytakethesideofreform，ormayperhapsbenaturallyexpectedtotakethatside。
Theidealistandthedreamershouldbeattractedmostpowerfullybythevisionsofabetterworldandtherestorationofthegoldenage。Shelleywasamongthemostenthusiasticprophetsofthecomingera。Hiswords，hehoped，weretobe’thetrumpetofaprophecy’to’unawakenedearth。’
ShelleyhadsatatthefeetofGodwin，andrepresentedthatvaguemetaphysicaldreamingtowhichtheUtilitarianswereradicallyhostile。Totheliterarycritic，Shelley’spoweristhemoreremarkablebecausefromaflimsyphilosophyhespananimaginativetissueofsuchmagicalandmarvellousbeauty。ButShelleydweltinanetherealregion，whereordinarybeingsfoundbreathingdifficult。Therefactsseemedtodissolveintothinairinsteadofsupplyingasolidandsubstantialbase。Hisidealismmeantunreality。His’trumpet’
didnotinfactstimulatethemassofmankind，andhisfameatthisperiodwasconfinedtoafewyounggentlemenofliteraryrefinement。ThemanwhohadreallystirredtheworldwasByron；andifthedeclineofByron’sfamehasresultedpartlyfromrealdefects，itispartlyduealsotothefactthathispoetrywassoadmirablyadaptedtohiscontemporaries。ByronatleastcouldseefactsasclearlyasanyUtilitarian，thoughfactcolouredbyintensepassion，He，liketheUtilitarians，hatedsolemnplatitudesandhypocriticalconventions。IhavenoticedthepointatwhichhecameintocontactwithBentham’sdisciples。Hispatheticdeathshortlyafterwardsexcitedasingularlystrongmovementofsympathy。’Thenewsofhisdeath，’