102 Public Lectures
slave leader, is an Iago-Iike study in pure evil, the primitive
blackness which rises to gain the upper hand over the insti-
tutions of the past. For Don Benito is carefully identified
with the ancient institutions of state and church. In the pres-
ence of this very spirit of evil he becomes powerless. On the
other hand, and here is our main point, his speculations on
the nature of evil are more mature, more profound than the
reactions of the matter-of-fact American, Captain Delano.
As Mr. Williams says,
In the presence of evil Delano is uncomprehending until
that evil becomes visible and tangible . . . Readily he accepts
face values . . . Thus if Amasa Delano stands remotely for the
energy of a new civilization, he suggests also the genial com-
pliance of the everyday mind toward the mysteries of good
and evil. Not without admiration, and, perhaps, envy for
Delano, Melville evidently regards him, in contrast to Don
Benito, as philosophically and ethically immature . . . In
showing us the good Captain’s illusions concerning evil, Mel-
ville underlines our own. As Captain Delano says, the sky is
blue; the sun shines; why “moralize” upon the past? Nothing
could be more sane, more sensible,—or more shallow. Captain
Delano . . . is intellectually a child whose every thought is
inferior in interest to Don Benito’s introspection on the nature
of evil.27
The story might well be Melville’s comment upon an Amer-
ican reading public that persistently ignored or misunder-
stood what he considered his serious work and praised his
potboilers; nevertheless “Benito” is not simply a venting of
personal spleen. It is in theme, conception, and execution
one of Melville’s major works.
One more point is relevant to our consideration of Mel-
ville’s philosophical growth. At the end of the story Don
Benito enters a monastery, blighted by his contact with evil.
As Mr. Williams puts it, “Does Melville hint that for such
spirits as Don Benito, such flight must be, though reason
like Delano’s shows its absurdity, the only refuge? In these
very years MelvilIe himself was nostalgic for Christianity.